Chapter 11
Jed Bartlet had a very fitful night's sleep. He knew he'd done the right thing by leaving Abbey at her front door. He knew that. Didn't he? If he had done the right thing, why did he feel guilty? He'd wanted to go inside with her. He relived the feeling of having her in his arms, kissing her breathless. The look of her eyes, changing from desire to disappointment kept haunting him.
As soon as he got up the next morning, he picked up the phone and dialed.
"No one I know would call me this early," a groggy voice answered.
"Oh, sorry, Leo."
It took him a moment to fully wake up and realize who he was talking to. "Jed? What's the matter? Shouldn't you still be with Abbey?"
"No, of course not!" Jed replied, perhaps a bit more forceful than he should have. He was still kidding himself, clearly.
"Didn't the date go well?" Leo asked, curious to find out the purpose of the phone call.
"It went really well. I really like her, Leo."
"Then why didn't you…oh, I see." He put the pieces together and shook his head. "Jed Bartlet, you are too Catholic for your own good. Come on, man, you're both grown adults. There is nothing wrong with acting like it."
"Yeah, well…"
"So why are you calling?"
Jed's voice got a little quieter. "I really like her, Leo."
Leo smiled. "I know you do. You're just going to have to figure it out. When are you going to see her again?"
"I told her I'd call her today. I think I'll see if she's free for dinner."
"Good. You can fix any misunderstandings tonight."
Jed wasn't so sure about that, but he knew Leo had a point. "Yeah," was all he said in response.
Leo could tell his friend wasn't quite convinced, but, frankly, it was far too early in the morning to deal with Jed Bartlet's insecurities. He was a smart guy. He'd figure it out.
After hanging up the phone, Jed figured it was still too early to call Abbey. Besides, he needed to clear his head. He took a long, hot shower and made himself a big breakfast, eating while he read the newspaper.
At long last, he couldn't wait anymore. He just wanted to hear her voice. He dialed her phone number. It was answered on the third ring.
"Hello?" This was not the voice that Jed had been expecting.
"Hi, Zoey? It's Jed Bartlet. I was wondering if I could speak to your mother, please."
Zoey was extremely excited that Bartlet had called asking for her mother. Hopefully this meant that they'd start dating. Her plan had worked! "Sure, Professor Bartlet. Give me just a second."
It took a moment before Abbey came to the phone. "Hi, Jed?"
"Hi, Abbey," Jed said with a grin. She sounded happy.
"A man who calls when he says he will. What a novel concept." Abbey did her best to come across casual and upbeat. No reason Jed needed to hear the sting of disappointment in her voice.
"I like to keep my word," he replied simply. "I had a really great time last night."
"Yeah, me too," she said sincerely. She was just sad it had ended so soon.
"Listen, I know it's a little last minute, but I was hoping you'd let me take you out again tonight."
"Oh, I can't tonight. I'm going to the movies with Zoey tonight. How about tomorrow? Can we do dinner tomorrow night?"
Jed liked that eager tone in her voice. Maybe he hadn't done such a bad thing after all. "Tomorrow works just fine. What movie are you guys seeing tonight?"
Abbey told him all about her monthly ritual with her daughter, where they chose the most obscure film they could find at the local theater and bought a bunch of junk food to eat while watching it. From there, the conversation moved along to this and that. There was a lot of laughter.
Zoey watched her mother sit on the sofa, smiling more on that phone call than she'd seen in years. And beyond being impressed with her own matchmaking skills, Zoey was genuinely excited to see her mother looking so wonderfully happy.
At the movie that night (a German arthouse film that neither of them had any actual interest in), Zoey tried to get Abbey to talk about Bartlet. But Abbey kept changing the subject.
"Zo, we're here to watch the movie."
"Mom, we're here to eat popcorn and candy and read subtitles. It doesn't matter. Tell me why Professor Bartlet called!"
"He called because he told me he would. We're friendly. We spend most of our time talking about you and about Charlie," Abbey fibbed.
"Wait, what?"
"Watch the movie."
And on and on it went for the full ninety minutes. The more frustrated Zoey got, the more amused Abbey became.
On Sunday, Zoey resigned herself to spending the day at Charlie's, working on their research reports. They often did their independent work in each other's company, reading over what they'd written, taking breaks to talk or do whatever else. Abbey was happy to have the house to herself. She had some grading to catch up on before Jed picked her up for dinner.
Once again, he arrived at seven on the dot. She opened the door, this time wearing a black skirt and purple blouse.
"Oh dear."
That was not the reaction Abbey had expected. "Oh dear?"
"I should have told you where we were going. I thought we could go over to the Fall Carnival. Your clothes are far too nice for that."
Abbey noticed that he was wearing jeans and a sweater. "Give me three minutes to change. Here, come in and sit a while. Do you want a drink while you wait?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm fine."
She turned to go back upstairs but he stopped her, grabbing her arm.
"Hmm?"
Jed gently pulled her toward him. "I didn't get to give you a proper hello."
"Oh?"
He leaned in a kissed her softly, lingering just slightly longer than an innocent greeting.
Abbey pulled back and took a deep breath, blinking back to reality. "You know, we don't have to go anywhere…"
Jed chuckled. "Go change."
She reemerged a few minutes later, this time wearing a lowcut brown knit sweater and fitted jeans.
"Wow," he remarked, looking her up and down.
Abbey laughed. "Wow? Really?"
"Yeah. I like you in jeans." He made his way to the front door. "Shall we?"
She watched him walk away from her and smirked. "I like you in jeans too," she muttered to herself.
Jed felt like the carnival was something of a risk; it was outdoors and loud, children running everywhere and lots of crowds and junk food and precarious mechanical rides. Not usually a good romantic date.
He needn't have worried. Abbey's eyes lit up as she took in the sights. She told him that despite living in the area for many years, she'd never been to the carnival. They wandered around, hand in hand. They got hot dogs and funnel cake and beer, eating at a cold wooden picnic table. They looked at all the craft booths, where Jed bought Abbey a crocheted scarf she admired. Before leaving, they went on the Ferris Wheel.
They sat down and buckled into the swinging seat. Abbey confessed, "I really don't like heights, so you'll have to hold my hand."
"Why didn't you say something? We don't have to do this, Abbey."
She shook her head. "No, I want to. Just don't let go of me."
Jed put his left arm around her shoulder and held her hand tight with his right. "I won't let go," he promised.
The ride jerked and Abbey nearly jumped out of her skin. She could feel herself start to panic a bit as they got about ten feet in the air, climbing ever higher. "Distract me," she begged.
"Oh, um, okay." Not knowing what else to do, Jed captured her lips with his.
That certainly did the trick. Abbey relaxed immediately. They kissed for quite a long time. She was a little annoyed that the metal bar was inhibiting their movements, but that was probably for the best. Nothing could bother her now. It wasn't until she got a hard tap on her shoulder that she and Jed broke apart. They'd ended up back on the ground and hadn't even noticed.
They both blushed fiercely as they scurried off the ride. Everyone was staring at the middle-aged couple making out on the Ferris Wheel. But Jed and Abbey just laughed it off as they made their way back to Jed's car.
"I am so mortified!" she laughed. "But I can't be upset, because that's the best ride I've ever been on in my life!"
He laughed with her, giving her hand a squeeze. "I'm glad you had fun."
Abbey was excited for him to take her home. Certainly after their display at the carnival, he would come inside and up to her room this time. She kept sneaking glances at him as he drove, eagerly anticipating getting him into bed. If the way he kissed was any indication, she was sure to have a wonderful time.
Jed felt her eyes on him, and he didn't hate it. She had enjoyed herself, and he loved being with her. It felt like he'd known her forever, like they'd always been together, somehow. It was still new and exciting, but the connection he felt whenever he was with her made him feel so at ease. He was sorry to be taking her home. But they both had to teach in the morning, so they couldn't be out too late, he knew.
He walked her to her front door and kissed her goodnight. But this time, Abbey had her keys ready and took his hand. "Come inside," she invited.
Jed hesitated for a fraction of a second. He took half a step forward before stopping himself. "I don't think so." He kissed her cheek and let go of her hand. "I'll call you."
Abbey was stunned. She was frozen in place on her porch as he walked back to his car, started the engine, and drove away. When the street became dark again, she was able to force herself inside the house.
She didn't even notice that everything was dark. Numbly, she put her keys in the bowl by the door. There was a piece of paper next to it. Zoey had left a note. Apparently, she'd returned from Charlie's but realized she'd forgotten her notebook so she drove back to get it.
So Abbey would be alone for a little while. She sat down on the staircase and stared straight ahead, trying not to cry. She wished she could talk to someone. A girlfriend would be good right about now. But she didn't want to talk to Zoey about this. Dean Fiderer also wasn't the kind of person she wanted to discuss her romantic life with. And her new friends, CJ and Donna, were more friendly with Jed than they were with her, so she couldn't possibly talk to them. Abbey felt so very alone.
All of a sudden, the front door opened in front of her.
"Professor Barrington?"
Abbey looked up to see Charlie standing in front of her. "Hi, Charlie." Her voice cracked and she hated herself for it.
He held up a black book. "Zoey left her notebook at my place. I came to bring it to her."
"She left a note saying she was going back to your place to get it. You must have just missed each other," Abbey replied sullenly. Although she knew better, being a biologist, Abbey felt like her vocal cords were attached to her tear ducts. The more she spoke, the harder it was to keep from crying.
"Are…are you okay?" Charlie asked awkwardly.
And then the tears fell. Abbey let out a thoroughly embarrassing sob. "Why doesn't he want me?" she cried.
"Who?"
"You know who," she replied with hitched breaths.
Charlie took a step towards her. "I feel like I should hug you. Is that okay?"
Abbey nodded her head. Charlie came to sit beside her and put his arms around her shaking form. She sobbed into his shoulder, repeating desperately, "Why doesn't he want me? What's wrong with me? Why doesn't he want me?"
As subtly as he could manage, Charlie pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text message to Zoey, telling her to get home ASAP. Charlie didn't know what had happened, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. All he knew was that he'd never seen Professor Barrington like this, and Professor Bartlet had somehow been the cause.
