CHAPTER VII
Those Who Prefer To Be Late Will Undoubtedly Get No Fruit Cup
Jane lolled back in her padded chair, her shoulder and chin securing the telephone snuggly against her ear and a yogurt covered spoon sticking out of her mouth.
"…I mean, it's not like I can't trust him." Jane continued, oblivious to the bustle of productiveness going on outside her corner office. The spoon muffled her words, but being her best friend on the other line, there was no complication.
"I'm not saying that." Liz retorted, her addiction of cigarettes getting the best of her as she slipped out a Slim and put it between her lips, cupping her hands around a lighter. "All I'm saying is that you should watch him."
"Well…" Jane's eyes glanced out the window suspiciously before rising to shut the door. "He has been going out for walks more often than I and the doctor thinks he should…"
Jane could hear Liz's exasperated inhale on the other line and she quickly tried to recover.
"But, come on, I mean, why would he do that to me?" Jane felt herself losing ground.
"Jane. Hello?" Liz spoke as if Jane were an incompetent child. "You think he would just drop all his womanizing cold turkey just because you walked into his life? No offense. But to him, women are like cigarettes, you have to leave 'em step by step."
Jane rolled her eyes, and absently watched her busy coworkers rush by her window, occasionally turning in her direction for a nod of hello. Her mind fizzed over important subjects elsewhere.
"Jane? Jane? Are you there?" Liz's cracking voice suddenly brought Jane back into the mad bustle of the present.
"Huh? What?" Jane retook her mind.
"I said: 'Where is Eddie now?'" She emphasized. Blowing smoke into the receiver as she shimmied onto the desk near the open window to allow the smoke to billow out into the already well polluted atmosphere of New York City.
"He's at home, just sleeping."
"Last time you checked?"
"Yeah."
"Well…" She dragged out her word long enough to touch a nerve in Jane.
"'Well' what?" Jane's eyes bulged as she tried to mimic Liz's temperance.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe you should, you know…" Liz did terrible at acting nonchalant when something was on her mind and floating on her lips.
"Spill it." Jane said, looking at the clock on the wall, noting that it was about three minutes away from her sixty minute lunch break, plenty of time for Liz's coming plan.
"Okay." Liz's voice jumped as though she was about to tell the biggest gossip passed this side of the office cubicles. "Why don't you make an unscheduled stop home and see if he's 'just sleeping'." She breathed out in mock tone.
Jane huffed at the thought. "Oh Jesus," she sighed, "I appreciate the love knowledge you so idly contribute to my life, but don't you think you're crossing the line into uncharted territory?"
Liz made a naively loud sigh into the telephone and leaned over, her cigarette still burning strong between her fingers. "Say what you want," She retorted, and Jane knew she was holding up her hand defensively. "But you never know."
With that, she hung up the phone and left Jane pining over ridiculous thoughts of Eddie's shadowing past and how he just might not be able to shake it…
*MOO*
Jane quietly turned her keys to her apartment, the door clicking softly open as she stepped inside. She was met with a cold draft and noted that the window was open, a light wind blowing in.
She tiptoed across the floor and slid her purse onto the counter, immediately turning her attention to the bedroom.
With the little voice nagging at the back of her mind, Jane peeked into their room, seeing the still messy sheets strewn about the bed and floor, and no sign of Eddie or a pilfering woman.
Satisfied with the fact that there was no such scene as Liz had effectively carved into her mind, Jane was still disheartened and uncomfortable to find no Eddie hobbling about the apartment.
After a quick scan of both bedrooms and the bathroom, her thread of discomfort turned to fear as she slipped back out into the living room, and her fear immediately dissolved into coddling pity.
Eddie lay sprawled on the couch, a blanket thrown dismally across him and a light snore emitting from his open mouth.
Jane smiled to herself as she came forward, approaching him cautiously before bending down at the side of the couch and looking across at the top of his head, which rested comfortably on the armrest of the sofa.
Cordially, she raised her hand and gently stroked his hair, smiling as he looked up at her through a warm, fuzzy haze of sleep deprivation.
"Hey baby," Jane cooed, her thumb now trailing the curve of his chin.
"Hey." He groaned, his face tightening as he gingerly lifted his still broken body from a horizontal position. "What time is it?" He rubbed his eyes.
"Almost twelve," She smiled and got up from her squatting pose, walking toward the kitchen refrigerator and returning with two white pills and a glass of water, which she set on the table in front of Eddie.
Eddie made a halfhearted, depressed face and leaned his head onto Jane's shoulder as she sat down next to him, and he tried his best to coax her out of the pills.
"Come on," She spoke as though to a little, antagonistic child. "They'll make you feel better." She fingered them and probed them into his mouth, cordially following with the glass of water as he choked them down.
After recovering from his gagging reflex, Eddie once again curled into Jane's lap and she openly welcomed him into her arms, gently rocking as much of his tall frame as she could with her petite body.
"I love you." Jane said, completely consumed in the serenity of their commingling breathing.
And suddenly, Eddie's body went rigid. Jane stopped rocking and moved Eddie so that he faced her.
His face was screwed tight against his skull, his eyes cinched shut.
"Are you alright?" Worry crept into Jane's words.
"Yeah, well, no. No, not really." Eddie choked out, his lips and tongue having trouble expressing his feelings.
"What is it?" She asked, deducting pain from her mind because of the fact he was talking normally.
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you…" His words trailed off as he slid from Jane's lap and hopped on one foot away from Jane, still refusing to look at her, though his eyes were open.
"Eddie," A rock formed in her throat and she tried to copy all the movies she had seen as best she could, "you can tell me anything." Her heart skipped a beat.
Eddie took a long, slow breath, almost too long and slow before turning shimmering, forlorn, puppy dog brown eyes that pierced Jane's heart.
"The truth is…" He put a long pause between his sentence sections.
"Yes?"
He slowly blew out his breath before continuing.
"I've been seeing someone."
Those Who Prefer To Be Late Will Undoubtedly Get No Fruit Cup
Jane lolled back in her padded chair, her shoulder and chin securing the telephone snuggly against her ear and a yogurt covered spoon sticking out of her mouth.
"…I mean, it's not like I can't trust him." Jane continued, oblivious to the bustle of productiveness going on outside her corner office. The spoon muffled her words, but being her best friend on the other line, there was no complication.
"I'm not saying that." Liz retorted, her addiction of cigarettes getting the best of her as she slipped out a Slim and put it between her lips, cupping her hands around a lighter. "All I'm saying is that you should watch him."
"Well…" Jane's eyes glanced out the window suspiciously before rising to shut the door. "He has been going out for walks more often than I and the doctor thinks he should…"
Jane could hear Liz's exasperated inhale on the other line and she quickly tried to recover.
"But, come on, I mean, why would he do that to me?" Jane felt herself losing ground.
"Jane. Hello?" Liz spoke as if Jane were an incompetent child. "You think he would just drop all his womanizing cold turkey just because you walked into his life? No offense. But to him, women are like cigarettes, you have to leave 'em step by step."
Jane rolled her eyes, and absently watched her busy coworkers rush by her window, occasionally turning in her direction for a nod of hello. Her mind fizzed over important subjects elsewhere.
"Jane? Jane? Are you there?" Liz's cracking voice suddenly brought Jane back into the mad bustle of the present.
"Huh? What?" Jane retook her mind.
"I said: 'Where is Eddie now?'" She emphasized. Blowing smoke into the receiver as she shimmied onto the desk near the open window to allow the smoke to billow out into the already well polluted atmosphere of New York City.
"He's at home, just sleeping."
"Last time you checked?"
"Yeah."
"Well…" She dragged out her word long enough to touch a nerve in Jane.
"'Well' what?" Jane's eyes bulged as she tried to mimic Liz's temperance.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe you should, you know…" Liz did terrible at acting nonchalant when something was on her mind and floating on her lips.
"Spill it." Jane said, looking at the clock on the wall, noting that it was about three minutes away from her sixty minute lunch break, plenty of time for Liz's coming plan.
"Okay." Liz's voice jumped as though she was about to tell the biggest gossip passed this side of the office cubicles. "Why don't you make an unscheduled stop home and see if he's 'just sleeping'." She breathed out in mock tone.
Jane huffed at the thought. "Oh Jesus," she sighed, "I appreciate the love knowledge you so idly contribute to my life, but don't you think you're crossing the line into uncharted territory?"
Liz made a naively loud sigh into the telephone and leaned over, her cigarette still burning strong between her fingers. "Say what you want," She retorted, and Jane knew she was holding up her hand defensively. "But you never know."
With that, she hung up the phone and left Jane pining over ridiculous thoughts of Eddie's shadowing past and how he just might not be able to shake it…
*MOO*
Jane quietly turned her keys to her apartment, the door clicking softly open as she stepped inside. She was met with a cold draft and noted that the window was open, a light wind blowing in.
She tiptoed across the floor and slid her purse onto the counter, immediately turning her attention to the bedroom.
With the little voice nagging at the back of her mind, Jane peeked into their room, seeing the still messy sheets strewn about the bed and floor, and no sign of Eddie or a pilfering woman.
Satisfied with the fact that there was no such scene as Liz had effectively carved into her mind, Jane was still disheartened and uncomfortable to find no Eddie hobbling about the apartment.
After a quick scan of both bedrooms and the bathroom, her thread of discomfort turned to fear as she slipped back out into the living room, and her fear immediately dissolved into coddling pity.
Eddie lay sprawled on the couch, a blanket thrown dismally across him and a light snore emitting from his open mouth.
Jane smiled to herself as she came forward, approaching him cautiously before bending down at the side of the couch and looking across at the top of his head, which rested comfortably on the armrest of the sofa.
Cordially, she raised her hand and gently stroked his hair, smiling as he looked up at her through a warm, fuzzy haze of sleep deprivation.
"Hey baby," Jane cooed, her thumb now trailing the curve of his chin.
"Hey." He groaned, his face tightening as he gingerly lifted his still broken body from a horizontal position. "What time is it?" He rubbed his eyes.
"Almost twelve," She smiled and got up from her squatting pose, walking toward the kitchen refrigerator and returning with two white pills and a glass of water, which she set on the table in front of Eddie.
Eddie made a halfhearted, depressed face and leaned his head onto Jane's shoulder as she sat down next to him, and he tried his best to coax her out of the pills.
"Come on," She spoke as though to a little, antagonistic child. "They'll make you feel better." She fingered them and probed them into his mouth, cordially following with the glass of water as he choked them down.
After recovering from his gagging reflex, Eddie once again curled into Jane's lap and she openly welcomed him into her arms, gently rocking as much of his tall frame as she could with her petite body.
"I love you." Jane said, completely consumed in the serenity of their commingling breathing.
And suddenly, Eddie's body went rigid. Jane stopped rocking and moved Eddie so that he faced her.
His face was screwed tight against his skull, his eyes cinched shut.
"Are you alright?" Worry crept into Jane's words.
"Yeah, well, no. No, not really." Eddie choked out, his lips and tongue having trouble expressing his feelings.
"What is it?" She asked, deducting pain from her mind because of the fact he was talking normally.
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you…" His words trailed off as he slid from Jane's lap and hopped on one foot away from Jane, still refusing to look at her, though his eyes were open.
"Eddie," A rock formed in her throat and she tried to copy all the movies she had seen as best she could, "you can tell me anything." Her heart skipped a beat.
Eddie took a long, slow breath, almost too long and slow before turning shimmering, forlorn, puppy dog brown eyes that pierced Jane's heart.
"The truth is…" He put a long pause between his sentence sections.
"Yes?"
He slowly blew out his breath before continuing.
"I've been seeing someone."