Chapter One
"I think Jenn and I should've just stayed good friends," Steve confided.
Jaime was shocked – they'd seemed so happy less than a month ago, at the wedding – but she stayed calm on the phone, for Steve's sake. "I'm so sorry to hear that....I had no idea..."
"Do you think we could meet somewhere?" Steve asked. "Just to have a cup of coffee and talk? I think it might really help to hear a woman's viewpoint – and I know you'll be honest with me."
"I wish I could, but Michael won't let me go out when it's this cold -"
"Won't let you?" Steve bristled. "I don't like the sound of that."
"It's too dangerous. My...um...power pack could freeze."
"I go outside all the time."
"Your legs are thicker," Jaime said sensibly. "More insulated."
Steve frowned. The Jaime he knew wasn't this easily dissuaded from what she truly wanted to do. He suddenly got the feeling she needed to see him just as badly as he needed to see her. "I think it'd do you some good to be out of there for an hour or two. I could pick you up in a nice, well-heated car...?"
Jaime laughed. "Tell you what. You come over here and I'll make a fresh pot of coffee. Michael's headed down to the lab as soon as he shovels out the car, so we'll have time to talk."
"I'll bring the donuts."
- - -
"Are you alright?" Steve asked gently, passing the white pastry box to Jaime.
"We're here to talk about you – remember?" Jaime said, avoiding the issue entirely.
"We will. But...I'm worried about you."
"Me? Why?"
Steve looked directly into Jaime's eyes – and was truly alarmed by what he saw before she quickly looked away. "I've never known you to let anybody call the shots for you," he said simply.
"Michael loves me and he just wants me to stay safe."
"He's controlling you, Jaime. I can't believe you're letting him."
"He means well. And he and Rudy are working on a new heating component, so this won't be forever."
Steve was quiet, taking in this new persona she had suddenly acquired. A quiet, obedient housewife – Jaime? Not in a million years. "You said he loves you, but...do you love him?"
"Yes!" she insisted.
"Are you in love with him?" Steve probed.
"He's my husband!" Jaime smooshed what was left of her donut in her clenched fist, then bustled around the kitchen looking busy until she'd settled down a bit. "Tell me about you and Jenn," she requested, pouring two more cups of coffee.
"Jenn is sweet, she's a good wife and...I love her," Steve said slowly.
"Okay – so what happened?"
"Nothing, really," Steve hedged. "Like I said, she's a good wife – and I really thought we could be happy together – but she's a wife and not a partner. Not like..." Steve's voice trailed off before he could allow himself to say not like we would've been. "Not like what I expected," he concluded.
Jaime nodded in complete understanding. "I don't think marriage is ever what we expect it to be. But you have to give it time to grow. It's only been a month for you two! You have to nurture what's between you to keep the bond strong."
"Are you happy, Jaime?"
In truth, her husband was at the lab far more than he was home with her...and Jaime was beginning to prefer it that way. It was so hard to separate Doctor Marchetti from just plain Michael. His firm, confident bedside manner didn't translate well into a true partnership with his wife – and being just a homemaker had never been one of Jaime's ambitions. She'd moved with him from Colorado to DC because Rudy was based there and Jaime hoped her proximity to OSI Headquarters would prompt Oscar to give her more than the occasional assignment. Since the move, though, she hadn't worked at all – and strongly suspected Michael had a great deal to do with that. Was she happy....?
"Sometimes...." she finally admitted.
- - - - -
