Crazy Girls and Broken Promises
"I don't want you to go," Danielle argued when Jeff's alarm went off. "I never get to see you and this is our first holiday together. Soon you'll be gone for 2 weeks because you are going overseas with her and I don't want you there this morning."
"What don't you get that this is our tradition," Jeff yelled at her. "We've been doing this since we moved out of parents' houses. It's our way of independence and I don't want her doing this by herself because of everything that she is going through."
"You know what I didn't complain when you guys went on the camping trip because it was something that you guys always used to do. I sat home and let you guys go."
"Don't kid yourself, the only reason that you didn't go was because you hate the outdoors. I don't want you thinking that you gave me permission to go. I am going and helping Annie today because I promised her."
"You promise her a lot," Danielle said hurt. "You promise that you will stay there, that you'll always be there for her, that you'll fall in love with her onscreen in order to keep your jobs and that you will be there for Thanksgiving and the other holidays. Why can't you promise those things to me? I'm the one that's your girlfriend."
"You knew when you got into this relationship that Annie was a big part of my life and I thought that you understood that. We have been friends for almost 30 years and I'm not going to throw that away because you and I have been in a relationship for like 4 months."
"I'm not telling you that you can't go over there for dinner but do you really have to be with her all day? I'm not trying to force you to give up all of your traditions but I just want you to at least consider my feelings in all of this. I know that you are always worried about her feelings when it comes to your decisions but what about me. Do you even really care about how I feel?"
"Of course I care," Jeff stated calmly.
"Then go over there for dinner and spend the day with me. I don't get to see you very much and I am going to miss you."
"You could always come to the shows this week."
"I know but I want you to be focused and having me there would be a distraction."
Danielle had tried everything in her power to get Jeff to stay with her for the day. She was sick of the control that Annie had over Jeff and the saddest part was that he didn't even notice that she was doing it. Danielle would have loved to go and see Jeff at work but she didn't to have to deal with Annie. She couldn't just sit there and watch them act like a couple while she was sitting on the sidelines having to watch all of it. She couldn't even watch it on TV so she always just got filled in on Jeff's matches so she could pretend like she watched it.
Danielle understood that Annie was his best friend but there was a very thin line between best friends and something more and Jeff and Annie were always teetering on that line. She had never met Annie but from the way that Jeff talked about her, she knew that there was something there. She knew that Jeff didn't know that anything was going on between him and Annie and she was banking on that. Jeff was too stubborn to admit anything to himself when it came to his feelings for Annie and most of the time Danielle was okay with being second best because she at least had Jeff. It was better than not having him at all.
"Is everything okay," Matt answered Jeff's phone call.
"I need you to go to Annie's house like now."
"Why? Don't tell me that you're bailing on her?"
"I have to," Jeff said sadly. "Danielle wants me to spend the day with her."
"Jeff," Matt said disappointed. "You do realize that this is probably the one thing that could mend you friendship fully with Annie."
"I know it is but I can't risk losing Danielle over this."
"So you're choosing Danielle over Annie. You are messing this all up Jeff. She is finally ready to forgive you and I don't see why you can't get it through your head that you two are meant to be together. I know that you don't want to hurt Danielle because you can't bear to be alone but in case you haven't noticed Annie and I are both single and we aren't lonely. I don't know where all of your fear comes from. You need to stop lying to yourself."
"Matt I can't stand another lecture from you right now. I didn't go home until Wednesday because I slept at Annie's house on Monday and then we went camping Tuesday and today is my last day at home and I do need to spend some time with her before this schedule starts up. We have house shows Saturday through Tuesday, 2 days home and then we're gone for 2 weeks. I can't just abandon her."
"You can't abandon Annie either."
"She'll have you and I'll be there for dinner. I'm not going to completely miss dinner with my family."
"Jeff at this point I'm not sure that anybody even wants you there."
Matt aggressively hung up his phone and moaned on his bed. It was 830 and he had barely gotten any sleep. He grunted as he got up and headed to the shower before he would take the drive over to Annie's house to break the bad news to her.
Annie woke up early on Thanksgiving morning to an empty house, which was a nice change of pace. She had surprisingly slept well without somebody with her which was unlike her. She stepped out of bed and into her slippers before walking down the stair and into her living room to blare her music. She danced around the kitchen as she prepped the turkey for the day. It was only 8 o'clock by the time the turkey was stuffed and in the over so she decided to make herself breakfast since she was already in the kitchen.
Normally Jeff got to her house right after the turkey was in the oven because he hated to watch her clean and stuff it. It grossed him out for some reason even though he could watch every horror movie ever made with all the gore in the world and not get grossed out. She laughed at the memory of him not even wanting to touch the turkey the first Thanksgiving that they had. He tried to pull everything out of the turkey and gagged so badly that she had to take over. Ever since then he made a point to show up around 9 or 10 when the turkey was safely in the oven.
When she finished her breakfast and cleaned up after it she realized that it was 930. She had thought about calling Jeff but he was probably on his way. He never answered his phone anyways so she just went in her living room and turned on the TV. She would start prepping everything else once Jeff actually showed up.
Around 10 she heard tires coming up the driveway. Like a little girl waiting for her mom to get home after work, she ran to the window to look out but she felt a huge piece of her heart break when it was Matt's car coming up the driveway and not Jeff's. She collapsed on the floor in front of her window and broke down crying. When Matt came in the house he ran over to her side and held her as she tried to keep her breathing steady. The last thing that she needed on Thanksgiving was to have a nervous breakdown.
"Annie I'm so sorry that my brother is such an asshole. I can't believe that he's not here right now. He has no right to ditch you today."
"It's was the one thing he could have done," Annie sobbed through her tears. "I don't know if I can ever forgive him."
"Jeff is an asshole. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
Matt tried to let Annie get up on her own but she couldn't. He picked her up bridal style and she cradled her head into his neck and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't want to let go of him as he carried her up the stairs and into her bathroom.
"Can you get in the shower for me," he asked quietly. She shook her head no without letting go of him. "Come on Annie, please. I promise that you'll feel better." She didn't move an inch. "Okay I guess I have to do this."
Matt put her down and gently put his hands on her hips before slowing raising her shirt up. He was hoping that she would react, make him stop and do it on her own but she just stood still, not letting go of his neck. He continued to raise her shirt until it got to her arms. She let go of him with one arm to get her shirt off and then the other before quickly putting them back where they were. He started the bathtub and led her into it. She sat down and released Matt but really wouldn't look up at him.
Annie felt ashamed, like she wasn't good enough. Jeff had chosen his girlfriend over her, which was the way it was supposed to be, but she still felt hurt. Why did he always mess things up just when she was ready to forgive him? He was never really the best at reading Annie when it came to her feelings but how could he not know how much this would hurt.
"Sorry," she said quietly to Matt, who was washing her back with a washcloth.
"It's okay, what are friends for," he said sympathetically. "I'm always here for you Annie, you know that."
"I know and from now on, no matter what Jeff does I'm just not going to care. Every time I feel like forgiving him he messes up so I'm just not going to expect anything from him anymore. If he wants something from me he's going to have to earn it."
"Good for you," he said. "Do you think you can finish yourself, this is just a little too weird?"
"Yeah sorry."
"No problem."
"Can you go downstairs and start peeling the potatoes?"
"I don't know how."
"You don't know how to peel potatoes," Annie asked astonished.
"No I'm not the cook in the family, you should know that."
"I'll be down in a minute then."
Annie finished her bath as quickly as she could before getting out and putting on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. When she got downstairs Matt was sitting at her counter looking at everything that had to be done.
"I'm going to show you how to peel the potatoes. It takes a long time and I don't have enough time now to do that and everything else."
"I guess I can learn," Matt responded.
Annie showed him how to peel potatoes, telling him to make sure that he got all of skins off. There was nothing that bothered her more than having skins in her mashed potatoes. She made another batch of stuffing and cranberry sauce on the stovetop while checking on her turkey at the same time to make sure that it was cooking properly and basting it.
It seemed like the cooking time went by quickly with Matt trying to joke around and have fun with Annie. Having Matt there wasn't the same as Jeff but she knew that she could get over it. She had to be understanding of the fact that Jeff was in a relationship but she didn't want it to destroy their friendship and their traditions like it was. They needed to talk about everything and she didn't want to. Annie just wanted to avoid it at all costs and not have to deal with it.
"I'm going to get going," Jeff told Danielle from his bedroom. "Everybody should be showing up soon."
"You can't stay longer," she questioned.
"I've already missed out on enough don't you think?"
"Fine I guess I'll see you tonight."
"I don't want you to think that I don't want to spend time with you," Jeff reassured her. "It's just the history that Annie and I have is hard to get rid of. We have been through everything together and we always will. We are best friends for a reason."
"Do you talk to her about me as much as you talk to me about her?"
Jeff stayed silent for a minute, not really knowing how to answer the question. Did he really mention Annie that much to Danielle? "You are usually the one that brings her up," he came up with.
"Even so you don't need to defend her all of the time. I want to be in a relationship with you, not a relationship with you and Annie."
"I understand that Dani, I do, but there is always going to be an Annie and me and if you can't get over that then we can't be in a relationship. I'm not going to throw my friendship down the drain because you want me to. I'm not wired like that and you should know that. Most of the friends that I have I've known for almost 20 years. I don't people easily and for some reason I trust you and I don't want to have a reason not to trust you. Now I've done what you asked, I stayed away from her this morning but it's almost 4 and I have to get over there before I ruin things even further."
"Okay," Danielle said quietly. Jeff gave her a quick kiss before walking out the door. He got in his car and drove angrily down the road to Annie's house. It seemed like Danielle was just trying to push his buttons today. When he got to Annie's house he noticed that Matt was the only one there. Apparently he had shown up early.
As he approached the door his heart started to beat loudly. How could he face her after not showing up in the morning? He had been hoping that he wouldn't be the first one there so that they could just sit in an awkward silence and not really have to talk about anything because he knew that he was in for an ass whooping.
"Hey guys," he said as he walked into the kitchen. He laughed when he noticed Matt trying to mash the potatoes. "You got potato duty," he joked.
"I wouldn't have gotten potato duty if someone had actually shown up," Matt snapped at him.
"Matt do you think you can handle this for a few minutes," Annie asked him. Matt nodded and Annie made eye contact with Jeff. No such luck on the awkward silence for the evening. Annie walked outside after grabbed her coat and walked far away from the house, with Jeff following, to the lake on the property. She sat down on the dock and Jeff sat down beside her.
"I'm so sorry," he said trying to break the tension. "I wanted nothing more than to come here this morning."
"Then why didn't you?"
"I fought with her Annie, I really did. I was trying my best to make it here."
"I don't know why you feel the need to hurt me in order to make her feel better. You coming here this morning would have solved almost everything between the two of us but you messed it up by listening to your girlfriend instead of keeping your promise to me."
"I'm so sorry Annie," he repeated. "I really wanted to be here but I couldn't just leave her."
"Why not," she yelled. "Because you're afraid of being alone. It's not so bad being alone Jeff and if that's your only reason for staying with her then it's not really fair to her or to you. You should love the person that you're with, be able to see your future with them in it. Jeff you can't just stay with her because you are lonely. You deserve to love somebody as much as they love you and I don't want to see either one of you get hurt."
"You don't even know her."
"No I don't know her but nobody deserves to get their heart broken and if she finds out that you are just staying with her until somebody else better comes along then it will probably destroy her. Would you want a guy to stay with me just because he doesn't want to be alone? Would you want him to break my heart when somebody better comes along?"
"No of course I wouldn't and I would probably kill a guy if he ever did that to you, I almost did in the past." Annie shuttered at the memory. "You have to understand Annie it's not that I don't like Daniele because I do. She is a lot of fun to hang around with once you get past the over bearing quality of her and you should know more than anybody that I don't look into the future. If I'm happy now then I don't care what happens in the next year or so."
"We just need to figure this out," Annie said. "We need to figure out our relationship and how everything is going to work between us. I don't want us to keep getting disappointed because you miss something that we have planned. I don't think I can handle getting upset anymore by you. I don't want to end out friendship, that is the last thing that I want to do, but I want us to be able to be friends without making Danielle upset."
"I want to be able to figure that out too. We've been able to do it in the past so I don't understand why it's so hard this time."
"I think it may be harder this time because we care more. We are more considerate then we used to be and most of the time when one of us is in a relationship the other is too. I don't know if I'm being too needy or what."
"You're not being needy," Jeff reassured her. "All you wanted was honesty and our traditions, that's not being needy. You want to keep things the way that they are for the most part and you need to be able to trust me and I think I ruined that."
"You haven't ruined it but showing up this morning would have helped a lot. A phone call would have been nice too not just having your brother show up."
"I understand and I promise that we will work on our communication and find a way to make this work. I want my friendship with you to last."
"I do too."
"So we're still friends," Jeff questioned looking at her.
Annie looked at Jeff and nodded with a smile. "We need work but we're still friends."Jeff wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his body. She wanted to stay there and bask in the sunlight in his arms forever. "I think we should get back before Matt ruins dinner." Jeff laughed.
"Now I know why I always have you help me and not him. The boy didn't even know how to peel potatoes."
"Seriously," Jeff questioned helping her off the ground.
"Seriously," Annie responded with a chuckle. Jeff smiled as he put his arm around Annie and they walked back to her house. Thankfully Matt hadn't burnt it down while they were gone and he managed not to mess anything up with dinner.
AJ, Liz, Gil and Ted arrived almost at the same time a little less than an hour later. Nobody knew what had happened earlier, nobody knew that Jeff didn't show up and that he and Annie were working on their friendship. Dinner passed like every other year, with everybody joking and having fun, like nothing in their lives had changed. It was nice to be able to spend the holiday with their family members and it was great that not only were Matt and Jeff friends with Annie but their parents got along really well too. Elizabeth had been best friends with Ruby and Ted and Gil were forced to be friends because of it. However, after all of these years, Ted and Gil managed to become the best of friends even without their wives around.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay tonight," Matt questioned. "I know you've had a long day."
"No I should be fine. I'm probably just going to pass out as soon as you leave anyways"
"Are you sure?"
"Matt I'm fine, I promise. Stop worrying about me and I will call you if I need you."
"Okay," he said wearily. "Good night Annie."
"Night Matt," she responded with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I promise that I'll be okay."
Matt drove off and Annie was finally alone again. She looked around her house and she was scared by the silence. Marble was sleeping quietly on the couch in the living room and she walked around, cleaning up the plates from dessert. Once she was done with the dishes she sat with Marble on the couch. Annie was about to turn on the TV but she saw headlights streaming through the window. She scrunched her eyebrows confused before getting up off the couch and heading to her door.
When she opened her door a woman dressed in a blue sweatshirt and jeans with shoulder length brown hair was standing and staring at her.
"Can I help you," Annie asked.
"I don't believe we've met," she said nicely extending her hand. "I'm Danielle." Annie stood in shock for a moment. A million thoughts and questions seemed to race through her mind. Why was she here? How did Danielle know where she lived? Why did she have to come today when everything seemed to be going okay? She had gotten her way earlier in the day so why couldn't Annie have a moment of peace and quiet? "I think we should talk," Danielle continued. Apparently she was impatient.
"Umm, okay," Annie said inviting her into the house. Annie led her to the living room, where Danielle's eyesight immediately went to the large framed poster about Annie's fireplace. The office had sent her the cover of next month's magazine. It was the picture of her and Jeff from their photo-shoot where Jeff was coming up from behind her and lifting her into the air as they both had profound smiles on their faces. They had also sent a photo album with all of the other pictures from the photo-shoot so she and Jeff could pick the ones that they liked. She didn't have the heart to open it yet, considering the shot that they had put on the front of it.
"That is some picture," Danielle pointed out.
"Yeah it came in yesterday. I haven't had time to put it down in the basement with the rest of them yet."
"It's a good picture," she said nicely. "You guys look happy."
"Thanks," Annie responded. "It was a good day. So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Honestly I felt like we should meet. I hear about you constantly and I haven't really met many of Jeff's friends yet."
"That's probably because he was keeping you a secret," Annie replied bitterly. "It takes an awful lot of effort to find my house and to actually get here so I know that you didn't just come here to meet me. The least that you could is to tell me the truth."
"I'm honestly intimidated by you," Danielle confessed. "I feel like I have a lot to live up to."
"Jeff and I have never done anything, I swear. We've never tried dating, we've never even kissed, not even on a dare." Danielle focused her attention to the coffee table where the photo album was. They had put the picture of Annie and Jeff as they were about to kiss on the cover. "We honestly didn't kiss there. The photographer yelled cut. You can look through all of them if you don't believe me."
"But it's going to happen soon?"
"Yes but you need to realize that it's only our job. Neither Jeff nor I could have afforded to get suspended. If I was suspended then I would be out of a job and the last thing that Jeff needed was to be suspended again. If I would've known that you guys were dating I wouldn't have agreed to this. You need to understand that I'm not going to steal him away from you. We are friends, that's it."
"I have a hard time believing that," Danielle snapped. "How could you not have known that we were in a relationship?"
"Jeff kept it a secret from me," Annie defended. "I didn't find out until Wednesday of last week. And honestly it caught me off guard."
"Why?"
"Because every time he's dated somebody he's told me about it when it first happens and he waited a long time to tell me. It's not like him."
"Annie I'm trying to be considerate of your feelings here but I don't want Jeff to be over here so much."
"You got your way today," Annie said sadly. "You ruined one of our only traditions, one that we've had for over 10 years and you wouldn't even let him call me. We didn't talk pretty much all of last week because of you. I'm not being selfish but I'm going through a lot of shit right now and it would be nice if Jeff was around."
"Big friggin' deal, you're quitting drinking," Danielle replied sarcastically. "You have plenty of other friends."
"I've helped Jeff with his drug problems in the past and he is just returning the favor. You do know that he's had a bag drug problem right? He's not keeping secrets from you too is he?"
"He's mentioned it," she said quietly. "But honestly, you don't need my boyfriend here helping you out all the time."
"And you need to understand that we can't go a day without talking. In case you don't know what a friend is supposed to be, they are there for each other, especially when one of them is going through something like this."
"We'll see how long that lasts," Danielle stated with an attitude standing up. "If he wants to stay with me you guys will be changing."
"Trust me honey, you don't want to tell him to choose because it won't turn out well for you. It's happened before and Jeff picked me, he will pick me every time."
Danielle didn't say anything else as she stormed out of her house. Annie stood in the window as she watched Danielle drive away. She grabbed her phone and scrolled down to Jeff's number.
"Annie," he answered. "Is everything okay?"
"You need to keep your girlfriend in line."
"Wait, Danielle showed up at your house," he questioned surprised. "What did she say?"
"The norm. The 'I don't believe you guys have never done anything'; the 'I don't want Jeff over here as much' and oh, my favorite; she told me that my quitting drinking wasn't a big deal."
"She said what," he yelled. "I can't believe that she would say that to you. How did she even find out where you lived?"
"I thought you told her," Annie said.
"No I don't tell anybody where you live."
"Well that's just creepy then," Annie chuckled. "Guess I have to lock my door every night. Oh yeah she also pulled the 'if he wants to stay with me, you guys won't be friends.'"
"I'll talk to her Annie, I'm so sorry. Are you doing okay? Do you want me to come over?"
"No, I'll just call Matt. You just have fun dealing with her."
"Are you sure you don't want me there? I honestly don't want to be here if and when she decides to stay over."
"And what are you going to tell her when she asks where you were?"
"The truth."
"You can stay here if you want to, we need to look at those pictures anyways. We need them ready for Saturday."
"That sounds like a plan," Jeff told her. "Jack is over at dad's house tonight so I'll be there shortly."
"Okay, see you in a bit," she said with a smile.
Annie laughed to herself. Danielle hadn't even had a chance to talk to Jeff yet and he had already chosen her. Danielle had not right to come to her house and say the things that she said. Annie was really wishing that she could've had a drink but she knew that shouldn't, that she couldn't.
Annie waited impatiently for Jeff to get to her house. Not 5 minutes later she heard his dirt bike coming towards her house. She went out to greet him as he turned it off. He had his backpack on his shoulders. It reminded her of when they were teenagers and neither of them had a license so they would just ride their bikes over to the other's house when they needed to escape from their parents. Jeff wrapped her in a hug and kissed the top of her head when she greeted him outside.
"I'm so sorry Annie," he soothed. "I'm so angry with her for saying those things to you, you have no idea."
"You're probably not as angry as I am right now. I could really use a drink, it's been a long day."
"Come on, let's go inside," he said putting his arm around her shoulder leading her back into the house. "I'll make you some tea."
Once Jeff had finished making them tea, they went and sat in the living room.
"I meant to say earlier that I love the cover," Jeff told her. "Mine's hanging in my gallery. It has to be my favorite cover."
"There's no way that's your favorite," Annie doubted him. "You've had other covers where you've looked better."
"Maybe so but this one means the most to me. You and I have never been on the cover together. It may have taken 10 years but we finally have one together."
"Yeah now if only Matt was in it too."
"Speaking of Matt, did you tell him about Danielle?"
"No I called you first. I know that if I told him that she came here that he would be over here and sitting with us."
"You don't want him here?"
"It's not that I don't want him here and it's not that I don't love him but you and I don't get to hang out just you and I anymore and I saw this as a good opportunity."
"Sounds good to me," he said before grabbing the photo album and leaning back on the couch. Annie leaned back also as he opened up the album. It took them around an hour or so to pick the pictures just because they kept arguing. Almost every time that there was a picture that Annie liked Jeff didn't like it and vice versa. It was just like old times again."