Author Note: Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews! Very appreciated. It's Friday the 13th...beware of cats and ladders! Just kidding!
Chapter 29 – Breakfast With the Enemy
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The small Sparks café was the happening place in Point Place on Sunday mornings. As Eric entered the small café, the scents of fresh croissants and pots of honeyed butter tickled his nostrils. He wondered how long this little establishment had been here – heck, he was discovering a lot about Point Place he never knew existed!
Eric found a small table by the window so he could see when Jackie parked and walked through the doors. She wasn't going to surprise him this time! As a waitress came by to take his order, Eric indicated he was waiting for someone, but could he have a few extra napkins. The waitress looked at him like he was daft, but returned with a small pile of Sparks napkins.
He thanked her with a smile.
From across the street, Jackie hesitated by her car. She watched as Eric walked into the small café and saw him through the panes as he procured a seat by the window. Ever the optimist. She smiled. The long talk she had with Abby was tough but needed.
Ever the wisest roommate, Abby answered somberly, "Jackie, I think you are enjoying the drama. Give Eric a chance. Sit down with him and seriously get out your grievances. You've carried this on too long. Don't you want a happily ever after?"
"Well….well, yes!" Jackie sputtered.
With a tilt of her head, Abby replied, "You can't get a future if you keep dragging the past behind you. Let it go. Drop it and move on." She sipped her coffee and gazed at the brunette. "It's over honey, he's probably spinning his wheels wondering what is expected of him next. Don't make him wonder. Take him to coffee and talk. I mean really talk. I guarantee you'll feel a whole lot better."
Jackie tightened her jacket and murmured, "Let it go. Drop it. Move on." Jackie took a deep breath began the long walk across the street. It was time.
She was going to made amends.
Eric looked up at the same time Jackie found his little table. She smiled. He smiled. Eric gestured for her to sit which she did. "I didn't order yet….is that okay?" Eric asked.
Jackie nodded. "I just want some coffee and an English muffin."
Eric waved over the waitress and gave her his order. Seconds later, Eric turned his attention back to the brunette. "So….we're meeting again?"
Jackie smiled, "I promised to buy you breakfast and here I am." Looking down, Jackie appreciated the small pile of napkins. "You remembered."
Eric chuckled, "Kinda hard to forget."
Jackie pushed a lavender envelope across the table. "This is for you to read after we finish breakfast."
Curious, Eric traced the edges of the thin package with his fingertips. "Too small to be a bomb."
"It's not a weapon." Jackie corrected.
Eric tested the weight in the palm of his hand. "You're right. Too light to blow up. Perhaps it is a…..poisonous powder?"
She laughed, "It's a card. With a note. I actually don't think it's going to kill you." Jackie looked up as the waitress was bringing over their order. The coffee smelled wonderful. Jackie reached for a couple packets of sweetener and tore open the tops. She was aware that Eric was watching her.
Eric knew that Jackie was aware that he was watching her tear apart those tiny packages of Sweet N Low….her dainty fingers tearing a perfect line across the top. The fake sugar was aggressively stirred into her beverage and then those small hands brought the cup to Jackie's lips. She was wearing some kind of shiny gloss. What would that taste like? What? Was he thinking about kissing her again?
When Eric's brain bounced back into the present, he found Jackie was talking about some special event she was working on for the December holidays. Eric nodded politely and pretended he knew what in the hell she was talking about when all he could think about was kissing her.
Jackie ripped her last napkin and smiled. "So….I'm extending you an invitation….if you want it."
Eric shook his head, "To what? I'm sorry."
"The New Year's Eve Bash. It's going to be an open bar and we're having a live band. Olivia is working on the venue right now."
"Oh." Eric didn't remember hearing any of that. "So…can I let you know?"
Jackie sat back, startled at his rejection. "Um…yeah…sure. I was just putting it out there, you know…in case you didn't have any plans." She started to put on her jacket. "Well, read the card. Get back with me if you have any….questions, I guess."
Eric felt dim. Why was she leaving in such a hurry? Did he say something stupid? That had to be it. While he was looking at her lips, his ears were disconnected from his brain. "Oh….kay. I'll call you?"
Jackie touched his hand and static electricity sparked from her fingers. She smiled sadly and left a twenty dollar bill on the table. "Enjoy your breakfast."
Eric was dumbfounded and could only watch her leave. He didn't know what to say or how to call her back without making things more uncomfortable. He saw her red coat walk past the café windows and then Jackie ran across the street to her car. All he had left of the morning breakfast was this purple envelope.
With a sigh, he slid the clean edge of a butter knife under the flap. A Hallmark card with a small girl holding a balloon bouquet was on the front. Inside the card was the same girl handing the balloons to a little boy. Beneath the picture was Jackie's signature.
Within the card was some folded stationery in a softer lavender color. Eric unfolded the notepaper and began to read..
Dear Eric;
I have been awful to you this past year and you had no idea why.
I cheated you out of returning home to spend holidays with your parents (aka Mother's & Father's Day) but know this, those holidays were my pleasure since I technically have no parents. For this I am sorry.
I took out my anger of failed relationships on you. Michael left me, but he always did that anyways. He is happy with Brooke and Betsy, so I put that behind me. Steven married a stripper – this you already know, but that wasn't a real marriage and in the end, he and I are much better as friends because we will always care about each other.
Donna waited for you a year, I was her constant companion as she tried to get on with her life without you, but while she truly cared, she still needed to go to college. I knew she was holding back and I missed her. She stayed waiting for you, but I had hoped she stayed to be my friend. We met recently and reconnected our relationship so I guess I have you to thank for coming back on that account. I still have her friendship.
Laurie. I had found your sister as an act of vengeance, but your parents had been so concerned about her, my act of hostility had turned out to be a blessing and I apologize if you don't see it for the good act it was. The breakfast reunion would have brought a tear to your eyes.
Yes, I laughed when you got arrested. I laughed when you had to walk on hot concrete after spying on my friends. I laughed because I needed to feel something besides pain, anger and betrayal.
Yes, you read that correctly. I was angry with you.
You come back from Africa and pretended like nothing had changed. I was sleeping in my car in the snow while you were snuggled in a bed housed by two loving parents. I was freezing! The worst part was you never asked about me. You never asked Fez how I was doing at my job or you would have learned he fired me because I wouldn't sleep with him.
For Fez, I think I was just a conquest. He loved me, but it's only as a friend. Not your fault, but had you been here, you would have seen this and warned me.
I was upset because you had three hot meals a day and I was scrounging for food, heat, and shelter. I felt like you didn't appreciate the luxuries you had and didn't deserve.
These are my feelings. I own them.
But most of all Eric, you abandoned the basement. Our lives had to go on without you. You were the glue that held us all – held me together. You were my lighthouse in a storm. I knew that when things were shitty, I could always come to the basement and you had the right words or just a kind smile. Sometimes even a rare hug.
I missed that. I missed it more than you could ever know. Yes, we never had a *relationship* but I felt like what we had was better than that and you still left. You left without a goodbye. I called you and you passed the telephone to your dad.
That crushed me.
You let me down.
Even worse, I let myself down when I thought that taking my anger out on you would make me feel better. Make me better than you. I wanted you to be hurt and wanting for comfort and security like I did.
I wanted you to be miserable.
But now, I regret those decisions. I chose the wrong actions and sent the wrong messages and that damned toothpaste will never go back in the tube so I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I need you as my friend.
Jackie
PS: All these coffees where we talk about nothing or dance without touching mean more to me than just hanging out in the old basement. I would give anything to change my sad choices.
Can you forgive me?
Eric hadn't realized he was holding his breath as he read Jackie's confession. Somehow he knew all these things but seeing it in writing was something entirely different. This must have been difficult for her to write. She was apologizing to him.
What happened to the "an apology has three parts?" line Jackie emphasized so long ago? Wasn't Jackie demanding an apology from Eric? How did this get all twisted around? Now he was really confused.
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Kitty read the letter and wiped a tear from her eye. She looked at her son, "This is very sweet. I never really knew your friends thought about you and us like that. We did help raise them didn't we?"
Eric shrugged. "I guess. I knew that the basement was the place we hung out at the most and yeah, after finding Jackie sleeping with Hyde cuz her father left…well, you and dad did get her a place to stay with the Pinciottis. I think she appreciated that.
"Oh, don't forget I taught that girl how to cook! And she taught me how to make some great mixed drinks." Kitty laughed. She sipped on her cocoa and pointed to a paragraph on the letter. "And look here… You were the glue that held us all – held me together. You were my lighthouse in a storm. ….You were her lighthouse in a storm. That is terribly romantic." His mother gently folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope.
"So what are you going to do?" Kitty asked simply.
Eric threw up his hands, "I don't know what to do! She admitted that she was trying to hurt me….."
"Oh Eric, she didn't really hurt you honey….more like she inconvenienced you and while you complained…A LOT….I think you liked the attention." His mother confessed.
He was stymied. He didn't like the attention. Wait, did he? Even bad attention was still attention. Damn, why was his mother always right? "Mom, I have no idea of what I'm gonna do. All this time, Jackie wanted me to apologize to her and I didn't know why."
"Well, now you do."
"But I want her to apologize for all of the – the inconveniences." Eric replied.
Kitty tapped the lavender envelope on the kitchen table. "Honey, it looks like she already did. The ball is in your court so I'm going to ask you one more time. What are you going to do?"
He took a deep breath and cradled his head in his hands, "I don't know….I guess I'm gonna have to think about it."
Kitty stood up, "Well, don't think too long, dinner will be ready in about an hour."
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