Again, my apologies for the long waits in between chapters. Life has been very busy and hectic and it's been hard to find time and inspiration to write. That being said, I literally wrote this entire mini chapter in one night and, because it managed to accomplish what I needed it to to get over the hump, here it is. Better, longer, more interesting stuff to follow. Eventually. Lol

Chapter 11

It's Not That Simple

Janet and Phillip talked (and bickered and fought) for what felt like hours while Jack paced back and forth in front of their bedroom door. Vicky hovered nearby, reaching out intermittently to persuade Jack to sit down and relax, only for him to stubbornly shrug her off with each touch. By the time Janet opened the door, her indecipherable eyes landing immediately upon Jack, it was nightfall.

He stood there, waiting for her to say something to assure him that she'd decided to end it with Phillip. He braced himself for everything to come flooding out, for her to finally agree to run away with him and leave Phillip and Vicky behind. When Janet pulled her gaze from him and sighed, he knew – as always – that things wouldn't be quite that simple.

"Um..." Janet began slowly, as if she weren't quite confident in the words that she began to carefully choose. "Phillip and I have been talking and, um...well, we decided that we should all get some rest and then leave in the morning. Maybe if we all just go home we can...we can see things more clearly and...and I guess we can figure out where to go from there."

"Janet!" Jack said incredulously before running his hand down his face in frustration.

"Jack, please don't make this any more difficult than – "

"You're really going home with him?"

"Jack..."

"Because I'm not going home with her," he said, pointing his thumb behind him toward Vicky, who shook her head and rolled her eyes with embarrassment.

"It is not that simple and you know it's not!"

"It is that simple!"

"Alright, alright," Phillip chimed in, making his way out of the bedroom to stand in between Jack and Janet. "Now hold on just a gosh darned second, you two."

Jack balled his fists, "Phil, if you say one more word..."

It was Janet's turn to move in between the two men, but Vicky interjected before she had to intervene.

"Jack, you really ought to listen to them. We should go home. As soon as possible."

He turned toward Vicky. "And why should I listen to anything you have to say?"

Vicky suddenly looked as if she were about to cry and for a moment Jack almost felt sorry for her. It was clear she had something important to say, but whatever it was seemed to have trouble escaping from her lips. Instead she only said, "I think it's our turn to talk now, Jack."

"I don't want – "

"Jack," she said sternly before turning toward their bedroom. But before entering, she paused as if to second guess the suitability for a discussion in that room and made her way outside onto the porch instead.

Jack looked back toward Janet, but she only looked at him sadly and nodded toward the front door.

Gritting his teeth, he made his way outside. Vicky stood there twiddling her fingers nervously and looked up when she heard the door. "Go ahead," he sighed. "Say whatever it is that you have to say."

She sighed and took a deep breath before nodding as if to amp herself up to speak her piece. "...Jack, first understand that this isn't easy for me to say..."

Jack furrowed his brow, finding himself growing panicked as he ran through the possibilities of what she had to say in his head. What was she getting at? What more could she possibly have to reveal? He stopped for a second, and his heart fluttered to his throat. "Vicky, you're not..."

"I'm not pregnant, Jack," she rolled her eyes. For crying out loud, they'd barely touched each other in months.

He sighed heavily with relief and sat down to catch his breath. He looked up at her. "So what it is, then?"

She swallowed heavily. "It's daddy."

His mind ran once more. Sick? Dying? "W-what about him?"

"...I got a call from him the other day. The day of the ball game? He told me something. Something terrible. And before you say anything Jack I want you to please know that I had nothing to do with – "

Jack stood back up, growing concerned. "Nothing to do with what?"

Vicky began to cry for real now. "I told him it was terrible, Jack, what he was doing. I never wanted it to come to this and..."

"Vicky, what is going on?!" Jack was visibly agitated now.

"He's not renewing the lease, Jack. You either have to move the restaurant or shut it down. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I really had no idea. I wanted you to take over the family business too, but not like this."

He stood there stunned. He wasn't even entirely sure that he was hearing her correctly. Surely she couldn't land two blows like this on him in one day. It would be cruel. It'd be insane. He couldn't speak. All he could do was pace over to the other side of the porch, lean his elbows onto the rail, and bury his head In his hands. He muttered something unintelligible, but Vicky couldn't quite understand what it was. When she pried, he raised his voice. "How could you do this to me?"

"Jack I promise you I didn't know!"

"But you knew when he called you! You knew when we went hiking and you knew when you – " He stopped himself for a moment, looking for an apt insult. "When you slept with Poindexter in there! What were you thinking, Vicky? You already killed me and now this is your final nail in the coffin?"

She was sobbing now, feeling the burden and the weight of her choices. "Jack I tried to – I wanted to smooth things over. That day I found out...that's why I apologized. But I just couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth yet. I knew how much it would hurt you."

"So you slept with my best friend's husband instead?"

"I did that after – "she stopped and paced, trying to find words to smooth over her series of unfortunate choices. "I did that after I realized."

"After you realized what?"

She shook her head and managed to smile sadly through her tears. "That you're in love with her, Jack."

Jack's brow remained furrowed and he said nothing for a moment before turning to look toward the door. She didn't have to say Janet's name for them to both know who she was talking about. He felt a tinge of guilt, though it was slight, and he looked back at Vicky. "Nothing happened between her and I, Vicky."

She nodded. "I know. I know that now. And Phillip and I did a stupid thing by retaliating to try to prove a point but..."

"Very stupid. Extremely stupid," Jack added.

Vicky sighed and continued, "I guess in some weird, twisted way I did it in order to let you go. You're so stubborn Jack. You wouldn't leave me unless you had a good enough reason to. Well. Now you have one."

He felt uncomfortable admitting the inevitable back to Vicky, so, after a brief silence, he glazed over the subject. "What am I supposed to do now." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I'm going to talk to daddy about the restaurant. I promise to do whatever I can. But as far as everything else goes, Jack...I guess that's for you to decide."

And with that she strode over toward Jack, kissed him chastely on the cheek, and walked inside.