The next few days were blissfully uneventful for me. Finally, it was Sunday.
Phil and I hadn't talked, except through video chats with the girls. The chats were normal enough, but I could feel an argument simmering under his surface. He was always good to hold onto things. Which is why I was surprised that he called me Sunday morning and asked to go out to dinner.
"Me and AJ with you and Moxley. What do you say?"
"A double date?" I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice.
"I think it'll be fine. Something different. What do you say?"
I didn't know what to say, I was completely taken aback.
"I won't be able to find a sitter for the girls on such short notice." I tried to backpedal.
I should have known better with Phil. He had already thought ahead.
"Actually, Brie and Bryan offered to watch them."
"Seriously?"
"It's already taken care of, Jess. Meet at McClarin's at 8."
McClarin's. I tried my best to keep my voice as natural as possible.
"See you then."
I sat on my sofa for several minutes as Caleb waited for me to begin my little interview segment.
"McClarin's was were Phil and I went on our first date. It actually used to be our place. Imagine how uncomfortable it's going to be going there with him and his new girlfriend." I gave a fake smile towards the camera.
"I don't think this is a good idea." Jon said as he entered the house. "I really don't think I should go."
"No way, you aren't leaving me alone with those two." I insisted.
"I don't see why we can't just hang out here, order a pizza or something?"
"Because he and I are trying to be friends, remember? He feels like it's important for the girls' sake if we are all as normal as possible. This will go a long way."
"Come on, Jessie. I have to work with the guy. That means I have to play nice with him after hours, too?"
"I'll owe you." I told him.
That caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes dancing as I wrapped my arms around his waist.
"Oh yeah?"
"Big time." I said with a nod.
"Why didn't you just say that to begin with?" He flashed a crooked grin.
"Come with me tonight, and be nice, and I'll pay you back."
"No questions asked?" He playfully asked.
"Whatever you want." I promised.
"I don't think you know what you just got yourself into. Alright, I'm in. I still think this is a bad idea." Jon said, kissing the tip of my nose.
"Noted."
As we head into the restaurant hand-in-hand, Jon pulls me to a stop, sliding an arm around my waist.
"I wanted to tell you how beautiful you look tonight. Regardless, no woman in that place will be able to hold a candle to you."
I felt my cheeks turn crimson. "You look pretty dashing yourself." I said, tugging on his sports coat.
"I know, I clean up pretty well." He grinned.
Phil and AJ were already seated when we arrived. Phil stood up and gave me a hug, planting a soft kiss on my cheek. He politely extended his hand to Jon.
"Good evening." Phil greeted.
"We're all friends here, right? There's no reason for this to be awkward." Jon said as he accepted the handshake.
"Absolutely right." AJ agreed.
"So, the girls' behaved?" I asked, handing Jon a menu.
"Oh yeah, they were wonderful. Little balls of energy. We had a lot of fun." AJ said with a smile.
"Well, you are closer to their age than me." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
Everyone at the table turned to me, their mouths wide open.
"I am so sorry." I looked at her incredibly embarrassed. "I didn't mean that, I'm sorry."
AJ looked at me for a moment, leaning her head to the side, before grinning. "It's okay. You're old, you forget things." She joked.
We all laughed. I apologized again for my genuine lack of thought, but AJ dismissed it.
"It's a little weird. I'm twenty years older than Shannon. I should be babysitting her, not out on a date with her father." She reached over and squeezed my hand. "I didn't take offense, Jess."
"She is right." I said later in my interview. "Under a different circumstance, she would be the one that Phil and I would have hired for a babysitter or even a nanny. Instead, she's dating him. Weird."
Thankfully, the waitress came to get our drink order. A basket of bread was put in front of us, which we quickly devoured.
"Do you remember the first time we came here?" Phil asked.
"October 2003." I quickly replied.
"Seriously? My question was more rhetorical than anything." He looked at me surprised.
"A week before your birthday. We sat in that booth." I pointed to one under one of the windows. "You had calamari for the first time and we split a cheesecake."
"That was our first date." Phil looked slightly taken aback. "I'm surprised your memory is that good."
"You'd be surprised at the things I remember. Still, it seems like a lifetime ago." I commented.
"Wow. Yeah, it was. Do you remember that road trip that we took to New Mexico? You, me, Ace, and Colt?"
"Which one? The one where Colt's girlfriend dumped him during the ride or when the car broke down and I had to change the alternator on the side of the road?" I asked.
Phil laughed whole-heartedly, slapping the table. "If only you could have seen it." Phil said, turning to AJ. "Three guys on the side of the road, while the chick is under the hood, barking at us for tools. None of us knew what she was talking about."
"Well, Colt's Jewish who doesn't know how to change a tire." I joked. "I still don't know what yours or Ace's excuse was."
"What's the story behind Colt's girlfriend?" AJ asked.
"He had been seeing this girl for a while. What was her name? Sandy? Tammy?"
"Mandy." Phil reminded me.
"Right, Mandy. Anyway, Colt and Mandy had been dating for several months. He had all these big plans, you know? He was going to save money and they were going to get a house together. He was going to introduce her to his mom. The whole nine yards."
"Only Mandy didn't understand the wrestling and wasn't as invested into the relationship as he was." Phil chimed in.
"Yep. So she sends him a text, telling him that it's over. And he's crying hard all the way through Kentucky." I stated.
"We're talking boo hooing. It was hard to watch." Phil said.
"That was a miserable trip to work a show that promised us that we'd all get paid $300 each and ended up getting $40 for the entire car." I said.
"Lousy promoters." Phil shook his head.
The waitress came back with our drinks so we placed our food order. I looked over at Jon, whose face looked guarded.
"You alright?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said with a quick nod. "Hearing your story just reminded me of something I hadn't thought about in ages."
"Go on." AJ encouraged.
"Do you remember when you came up with me to New York when I wrestled Homicide?" Jon asked.
My eyes lit up. "And we were caught in that snow storm and couldn't get out of the state?"
"Out of the state? I was surprised that we got out of that building." Jon said with a laugh.
"That run down National Guard Armory. You would've thought they did regular maintenance on the building." I replied.
"We sat around the building, waiting for the roads to clear enough for the snow plows to get us to a hotel." Jon remembered, reaching out for my hand.
"We sat around, telling stories and singing songs. Rich Swan had his guitar and we just made things up off of the top of our heads."
Jon and I both had a good chuckle. The look in Phil's eyes said that he wasn't amused.
"See, we've got stories too." Jon flashed a grin towards Phil.
After a couple of tense seconds, both guys seemed to relax a bit. Dinner arrived and we dissolved into different conversations: things the girls said or did, movies and books, among others. I thought everything was going well. The evening seemed to be going along nicely. That was, until Phil decided to bring up more of our past.
"Jess, do you remember when we took our one vacation and went on a cruise?" Phil asked.
"The Christmas cruise." I nodded. "Yeah, I remember that quite well."
"Jess got so sick. I think she spent half the time in the bathroom." Phil told AJ and Jon, shaking his head.
"Only I wasn't sea sick. We found out that I was pregnant with Shannon when we got back." I stated.
"You know what?" Jon began. Gone was his warm tone used throughout the evening. "I have been wondering for the last several days and into this evening why you still had a hold over Jessie. I think it just dawned on me."
"Jon..." I spoke towards him but he ignored the edge of warning in my voice.
"You use the past to remind her of what you two had. But that's...that's just wrong and borderline cruel."
"There is no manipulation here." Phil defended.
"Come on, man. It's pretty clear. Tonight is a prime example. See, Jessie has always been your go-to girl. You would dump her and carry on with someone else until it didn't work out then you would go back to her. And she waited, like a dummy, for you to come back. Except when it came to me. And it just drives you crazy, doesn't it?"
"I seem to recall her leaving you for me last time." Phil sharply told him.
"That's enough." I sharply said.
"No, it's not. It's just beginning." Jon told me before turning back to Phil. "Isn't it, Punk? The idea that she's not sitting at home, waiting for your call is just more than you can handle. So you invite us out here, parade your new relationship in front of her, and remind her of all the things that used to be. But because of that, she can't see the future beside her, which isn't you. It's me."
"Maybe if you weren't so caught up into showing me up, you would see that maybe you are in fact a placeholder for me." Phil accused.
"Excuse me?" AJ and I both sputtered.
"I think I'm done. AJ, want to get out of here?" I asked.
"Absolutely." She said, throwing her napkin down on the table.
"I trust that once you two are done with your pissing contest that you'll find your own ride." I told the two men before AJ and I stormed out.