Chapter 6
A few days later, Chris calls Jack when she has not heard from him. She is confused as to why he has not reached out. Then she thought might be just cooling off. Part of her is disturbed by how upset he got. The other part is understanding that he might need some time to come to terms with feelings he might not have had in a while.
"Jack, are you ok? Are we ok?" Chris asks after he answers his phone.
"I was going to call you later. I was not sure if you are working yet or if you are still at home recouping. We are ok. I am ok. I just needed some time to sort out my feelings. I thought these feelings were put away. I did not think I was going to use them again after my wife." Jack says trying to explain.
"That is ok. I understand. I am sorry I made you feel that way. Sorry that my team and friends made you feel that way. Maybe you could come over tonight. We can have some dinner and talk about things." Chris says.
"Sure. Is 7 ok? I have a meeting at 6." Jack asks.
"That is fine. What would you like?" Chris asks.
"What were you thinking?" Jack asks.
"I was thinking spaghetti and meatballs. Maybe some garlic bread. A little wine." Chris says trying to make it sound delicious.
"Sure. Are you going to grate the parmesan cheese yourself or get store made?" Jack asks getting a little annoying.
"I can do it myself. If that is what you want. Is there anything else you want?" Chris asks feeling like he is taking advantage. But she wants to talk with him.
"What kind of sauce? I do not like Ragu. I like Prego. Can we have garlic bread sticks and not the bread slices. White wine, not red." Jack says sounding like he is doing something else while he is talking to her.
"Sure. Ok, see you at 7." Chris says feeling disappointed having to go to the store and buy all the stuff she already had. She is determined to work out this issue so they can get back to the sweet and fun times. As Chris hangs up with Jack, Jim comes into the lounge and finds a Chris that seems down.
"Hey, what is wrong?" Jim asks concerned.
"After work today I have to go to the grocery store. I must get new stuff for dinner. Then get home and cook it before 7." Chris says clearly annoyed.
"Why? Did the ingredients go bad?" Jim asks curiously.
"No. I did not get the correct brands. No use to complain about it. I have my list. So, as soon as work is out, I need to get out of here. I must go to talk to my doctor and get an all clear to rejoin the team in the field. Talk to you later." Chris says walking out of the lounge. Jim is still confused but goes about his day. He figures if Chris needed to talk, she knows where to find him.
Later that day, Chris is trying to get all the ingredients. She was happy to be cleared for work in the field. So, she is trying to make tonight another happy win. She could not find any parmesan cheese in a block to grate herself. So, she bought some that looked like it was hand grated. Then nearly had to wrestle a jar of spaghetti sauce from another customer. She could only find one box of breadsticks. She got the meat for the meatballs. She gets out of the store as fast as she can to get home as fast as she could. She does not think she will have it done by the time he gets there. But she was going to try her hardest.
Chris gets home and starts cooking. She takes the parmesan cheese out of the container and puts it in a bowl to make it look like she grated it by hand. She starts the meatballs. She gets the water boiling for the spaghetti. She puts the breadsticks in the oven. She looks to the clock and sees that she has 10 minutes before he is to show up. Chris makes sure she trades the red wine for the white wine in the fridge. Chris sets the table. Then quickly goes to change. When she comes back out, she puts the spaghetti in the pot. She checks the meatballs and the breadsticks. Stirs the spaghetti. Just when she thought he might be late, which she hoped, he shows up. She goes to answer the door.
"Hi honey. Dinner is almost done. Sorry it is going to be a little late. It would have been ready if I had not had to make a trip to the store. How was your meeting?" Chris asks walking back into the kitchen to tend to dinner.
"It was good. I got what I was after. Deal went off without a hitch. Honey, you could have made dinner with what you had." Jack says in an apologetic tone.
"But you said you wanted certain brands and items." Chris says annoyed.
"I was just giving you ideas. If you had all the ingredients, I would have eaten what you had." Jack replies.
"Sit down and I will get the white wine." Chris states as she gets the wine glasses onto the counter next to the fridge. She is about to open the fridge door when Jack makes another statement.
"Babe, red wine goes better with spaghetti." Jack yells from the other room. Chris, upset still gets the white wine out and pours it. She drinks the first glass in one gulp. Then pours another glass and takes both to the living room. She hands him his glass.
"You told me you wanted white. So, we have white. I was going to ask you if you had plans next weekend?" Chris asks, then takes a sip from her glass.
"I do not think so. Why?" Jack asks.
"My boss invited us to a BBQ. He asked me to ask you. That way you can meet Annie and Bonnie. Deacon's wife and Vic's fiancé." Chris replies.
"I guess I can say yes." Jack spits out and then takes a sip of his wine. Chris gets up and goes to get dinner finished. She is not happy with Jack. So, she just finishes dinner and gets it on the table. Chris is afraid to say anything because she is afraid, she might just start yelling. She jumped through hoops to get what he wanted and then pulls this crap of the stuff she had would have been fine. After a few minutes of quiet, Jack looks at Chris.
"So, did you go back to work?" Jack asks taking a bite.
"Yes, I did. I went back the day after I came home from the hospital. It was office work, but I did go back. I was cleared today to get back in the field. What was your meeting about?" Chris states then take a bite.
"That is good Chris. My meeting was work related. I do not want to bore you with details. Just accountant stuff." Jack downplays it.
"Do you think I am stupid?" Chris asks.
"No. Why would you think that? Chris, what is bothering you?" Jack asks confused.
"Jack, you never talk about work. You act like I could not possibly understand what an accountant does. I do know some stuff about accounting. I also was trying to make you a dinner you would like. You told me to get certain brands and items. I do and you act like I should not have gone to the trouble. You do not call me for a few days. You act like you do not want to go to the BBQ. You tell me what is going on with you. Because I cannot figure out how you could be so sweet and charming before. Now you are acting like a Jackass!" Chris yells getting up from the table taking her plate into the kitchen. Even though she had only had a few bites. She just needed a reason to get up and get away from Jack.
"Chris, I'm sorry I gave you the impression that you had to have certain things for this dinner. I am sorry I made you think I thought you were not smart enough to talk about work. I just thought you would be bored. I do not mind going to the BBQ. I just get the feeling your coworkers do not like me. I feel uncomfortable around them." Jack unleashes.
"My coworkers like you. They were just getting a vibe from you. One that made them think you did not like them. So, just relax and enjoy yourself at the BBQ. Annie is a nice lady. Bonnie is nice but can be a handful at times. But Vic loves her, so I let that go. You do that for people you care about." Chris says calmly.
"Chris, you are an amazing lady." Jack says getting up and going to Chris. He puts his arms around her and pulls her into a kiss. Then he lifts her up and carries her to her bedroom. Where they spend the rest of the evening making love for the first time.