The Long And Winding Road
Note: Thanks to spider-man-fan, Angelstargirl, Dark Spell, YellyBelly, cutiepye06655 and Eppie Thenardier for the recent feedback. Hope everyone will enjoy this latest installment.
Chapter 36 - Go Your Own Way
It was a sunny Monday morning in March. JT sat alone at a table at Ryan's. A waitress came over offering him more coffee, but he was lost in thought and didn't notice her presence until she repeated the offer. This time he became aware of the waitress standing before him and accepted the refill. Once she left, he returned to his thoughts, a big brown envelope sitting on the table beside his cup. Several moments later, he had an idea.
JT reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Seconds later, Emma was awakened in her bedroom by the sound of her phone.
"This better be good," Emma said upon answering the call.
"And good morning to you, too. You're ranking your phone calls now?" JT joked.
"No, but I may need to start having someone screen them. It seems there's this attractive but terribly annoying boy who likes to call and wake me up on days when I'm not required to be conscious at any particular time."
"Tragic," JT responded sarcastically.
"Just so you know, JT, you ruined a perfectly good dream."
"I've been called many things by past girlfriends, but you're the first to call me a dream ruiner."
"You know what I mean. In my dream, the two of us were at university, walking to class hand-in-hand. Our professors all thought we made a great team, acing every project we worked on together. And in class…"
"This all sounds very…boring," JT interrupted. "At least tell me that we were naked or something."
"No," Emma replied after laughing, "but the dream WAS in black-and-white."
"I guess that's something in its favor at least."
"And anyway this was a nice dream. Sure, there were no comedy routines or provocative moments, but it was still good."
"Sorry I woke you, Emma. I can hang up now and let you go back to sleep."
"Don't worry about it," she said in a sarcastic tone. "Why would I possibly want to sleep in on a Teacher In-Service Day when we don't have classes?"
"I was thinking. How about you call up the institution this morning and see if today would be a good day for us to take a drive over to Stouffville to see Shane?"
"I…don't think that's a good idea, JT."
"You told me about the phone calls you've made to Ms. Pierson to check up on him. You said that she told you there haven't been any more incidents and that they've even been able to lower his meds back down to the amount they'd been giving him before, and he's doing okay."
"So…have you mailed it yet?" Emma asked, trying to change the subject.
"I was going to in a little while. But that can wait. I thought you were anxious to see him. Anxious for me to see him. But it's been weeks…getting to be months…since we tried and couldn't. Now we've got a day off and I'm surprised you wouldn't want to use it to go back there."
"Don't wait too long, JT. I know it's early, but you know how long those lines at the post office can get."
"You know I'll be with you the whole time, Emma. Especially since I don't really want to chance dealing with crazy fake doctors again. Let's do it. Today."
"I said no," Emma replied, raising her voice. "God, what does it take to get through to you sometimes? He's MY not-really-a-father-but-whatever person. I'll decide when I think it's a good time to visit him, IF I even want to visit him at all. Quit acting like you get a vote."
"Oookay," JT said, not exactly certain how to respond. "It was…just a thought. No big thing. I'll talk to you later."
"Jamie, wait!" Emma spoke up quickly, not wanting him to hang up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. Hey, you know how cranky I can be when I get awakened before I'm ready. I'd probably bite the head off someone calling to tell me I won the lottery."
"No problem."
"I'm just not ready yet to go back there and try again."
"Don't worry about it."
"See you later?"
"You bet, Emma."
"Love you, Jamie."
"You too."
"And don't wait around much longer. Quit stalling and get over to the post office."
"Yeah, Emma…I'm on it."
JT put away his phone, took a sip from his cup and stared down at the envelope. Soon, Ellie walked into Ryan's. She ordered some toast and coffee at the counter before she noticed JT sitting at his table. She walked over toward him, motioning for the waitress to bring her order to JT's table once it was ready.
"JT Yorke."
She noticed that he wasn't responding.
"Earth to JT."
JT finally noticed Ellie's presence.
"Hey Ellie."
"You looked lost in thought. Would you rather be alone?"
"No. I'm fine. Go ahead and sit down."
Ellie sat facing JT. Moments later, the waitress brought over Ellie's order.
"I'm off today, but what about you?" JT asked. "Shouldn't you be in a class right now?"
"My early morning classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays," Ellie explained. "On the other days, my first class isn't until 10:00. So some mornings I jog, and other times I come in here for breakfast. It's nice to get away from campus for awhile."
"I'm not much of a late sleeper either."
"Just coffee?" Ellie asked, noticing the lack of a plate next to JT's coffee cup.
"I'm not that hungry this morning."
"JT, even though we've only really become friends in the last year or two, I'm willing to bet that you saying you're not that hungry is a first."
Ellie's comment made JT laugh for the first time that day.
"Now if we were sitting in the campus cafeteria, I could understand," Ellie continued.
"The food's that bad?"
"No, not so much bad as monotonous. The cooks were apparently never told about how variety is supposed to be the spice of life."
"Thanks for the warning," JT responded.
"Speaking of campus, is that your application?" Ellie asked, pointing to the envelope on the table. "I wasn't being nosy. I just noticed the mailing address was to the university, and it looks like the kind of envelope one would use for sending in all the necessary paperwork."
"Right you are, Ellie. In a little while I've got to head over to the post office."
"I see."
"One might say that my entire future is only a postage fee away," he said sarcastically.
"Try to tone down the enthusiasm," she joked. "Otherwise, with your high level of excitement, the university might try to get you to do some public relations spots."
"I'll work on it."
"What's the problem? Not worried that you won't get in, are you? Because I'm sure you don't have any reason to be concerned."
"Thanks. I'm not worried about that. Actually, a part of me would be relieved if I didn't get in. Then I could say, 'Hey, I tried, but it didn't work out.'"
"I take it you're not too thrilled with the idea of attending in the Fall."
"You could say that."
"Then there's a simple solution," Ellie offered. "Don't go."
"Just like that."
"Just like that. You'll find something else to do. I assume nobody's pointing a gun to your head and demanding your presence on campus."
JT laughed.
"Not that it's any of my business one way or the other," Ellie added.
"I told Emma I would give it a shot."
"So what? Did she make you sign an oath in blood or something?"
"I haven't really wanted to do any of this, but Emma's so into it. And after a lot of convincing, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try it, at least for a couple of semesters."
Just from the look on his face, Ellie could tell JT was really conflicted about this situation. Part of her wanted to reach down and put her hand on top of his, which was resting on the table. She stopped herself, however. Though the two were friends, she believed that even casual physical contact would be inappropriate considering the feelings for JT that had been slowly starting to develop within her in recent weeks. She soon re-focused her attention after realizing that JT was still talking.
"Maybe none of this makes much sense to you, Ellie, since you're already going to college."
"No, I get it. You know that the main reason I'm even there is because Caitlin Ryan helped me get in."
"I remember you once told me about it."
"I worked for her and her show after school for a few years. I still work on occasional projects with her when I have time. She's the one who convinced me I should attend university and helped with recommendation letters and scholarships."
"Thinking of becoming the next big-time broadcaster?"
"No. If anything, I'd much rather do the legwork. I think I'd like to get further involved with research. Maybe more of the same kind that I've done for the show, where I got to learn about a wide variety of topics. Or maybe I'll want to focus more on one particular area of research. Right now I'm not sure, which I guess is a good enough reason to spend some time trying out various courses."
"You've got a good reason to be there."
"But you don't think you do," Ellie said, confirming what she already knew rather than asking.
"Not really."
"Then, like I said before, don't go. Tell Emma you changed your mind."
"That would be a fun conversation," JT said, rolling his eyes.
"She loves you, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then she'll accept it. It might take a moment to get used to, but there's no reason why she shouldn't back you up if it's the choice you want to make."
"You're right, Ellie. In fact, just this morning she was going on about how certain things are up to her to decide on her own. That I don't get a vote, which I already knew but she seemed to feel the need to say anyway. So there's no reason why I shouldn't get to use the same rule with her."
"Exactly," Ellie agreed. "When it comes to something like this, you may want her advice. You may even take her advice. But you're the only one who can – or should – make certain decisions. Ultimately, you're the one who has to live with the choices you make. And the choices you don't make."
"What you're saying makes a lot of sense. I just…"
"JT," Ellie interrupted, "stop for a second."
He stopped talking and they looked at one another.
"JT, just for a moment put everything and everyone else off to the side. Now think. What is it that you really want? If you could do anything at all after you graduate in May, what would it be?"
For several moments, JT neither moved nor spoke. Then, he looked down once more at the envelope. After another moment, he looked up at Ellie and smiled. There was no doubt in his mind about what he truly wanted and he was now determined to make it happen.
That evening at the Yorke house, JT was sitting at the kitchen table looking over some papers when there was a knock at the door.
"Hey Emma," he greeted upon answering the door.
"Hi, stranger. Long time no see."
"Busy day. Come on in."
She entered the house and they kissed.
"Want something to drink?" JT offered.
"Sure. Water is fine."
They went into the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, she happened to notice something that caught her attention. She looked closer and saw that sticking up out of a trash sack in the corner was the envelope JT had planned to mail that morning. It appeared to be torn in half.
"So…uh…what have you been up to today? I called earlier but never could reach you."
"Sorry," JT said, handing her a bottle of water from the refrigerator while grabbing a Coke for himself. "You should have tried me on my cell. I've been in and out all day. Mostly out."
They both sat down at the table.
"What's all this?" Emma asked, pointing to the various papers.
"Just looking over some paperwork for The Movie Difference."
"Working on a day off from both school and the job? You sure you're feeling okay?"
JT laughed.
"Never better, Emma."
"Did it take much time at the post office this morning?" she asked, despite now knowing he couldn't have gone there.
"I didn't make it over there."
"Oh?"
"Guess what, Emma."
"JT…"
"No, come on. Guess what happened today."
"I couldn't begin to guess."
"I talked to Sal.
"He's your boss. That's not surprising."
"I'm buying the theater from him."
Emma's eyes widened in surprise.
"So, Emma, want to go out and grab some dinner?"