That Night Part 5
Rating: PG-13
Nigel. . . So Woodrow and I went over to Jordan's apartment. We went up the stairs and got to Jordan's large, red door.
Woody tapped my shoulder and leaned in to whisper something. "Alright, Cyrano, what do we do?" Now how did he know what I had thought on my way over to his place?
"You stay over here out of view of the door. I'll knock and see if she'll open up. Then you can come into view and talk with her. Once that's all done, I'll make myself scarce."
"You're sure this will work?"
"No. We're talking about Jordan here. But if you'd rather not even try to. . ."
"No, no. Go ahead. I was just. . ."
"Gee, I can tell who never took a drama class in school." We turned to see Jordan, dressed in sweats and a tank top, her hair hanging in waves around her shoulders, in her open doorway. "Honestly, if you thought you were whispering, well," she dropped her voice to slightly below a stage whisper, "I could teach you a few things."
"Jordan, I was just talking with Woody and. . ."
"Do you want to stand out here in the hallway all night or are you coming in?"
"Both of us, or. . .?"
"Whatever." And she turned and started into her loft.
I looked at Woody. "Well, mate, what do you want me to do? Stay or go?"
"Woody, come on in here. Nigel, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright. Night Jordan. See you tomorrow!" I turned to Woody and gave him what I hoped was a reassuring squeeze on the shoulders. "Just listen to her, Woodrow. Don't be too hard on her." And I was off.
Woody. . . As I went inside her apartment, Jordan stood nervously by the counter/table in the middle of the kitchen area. She seemed almost afraid to look at me. I moved towards her.
"So. . . I guess I've got some explaining to do, huh?"
"Jordan, Nigel told me what happened."
"I swear we never meant for anything. . . But I guess that doesn't really matter ~ the why I mean. It happened, and there's not much I can do about it. I'm so sorry Woody."
"Jordan, it's ok."
"Huh?"
"Nigel pointed one very important thing out to me when he came to my place."
"What's that?"
"We're not exactly in a relationship ~ at least not that kind of a relationship. Jordan, I had no right to. . ."
"No, I wouldn't exactly say that."
"What?"
"We never really did talk about that kiss and I never really discouraged any of your. . .um. . .attention. I feel like I sort of led you on."
"Well, I let you and. . . Hell, Jordan, we could go around like this for hours on end. The bottom line is. . ."
Woody. . . I was interrupted by the sounds of some kind of altercation in the alley ~ screaming, things being thrown around. It sounded like some kind of domestic dispute. I looked at Jordan. . .
"I better go and see what that is. I mean, I'm not on duty, but. . ."
"No, go. I'll call 911 and then. . ."
"And then you'll stay up here."
"What?"
"I don't have time to argue with you. Call 911 and STAY PUT!"
So I went downstairs and out into the alley. At first I didn't see anything. Then from out of nowhere a foot shot into my gut as a woman screamed something about she knew I'd be back. I managed to get her name, but she continued beating on me. Fortunately, Jordan was Jordan and didn't listen to my orders. She barged out the side door into the alley just before the squad car showed up.
Once we got done with things at the station and I was put on the disabled list for a couple of weeks, I told Jordan about a decision I'd made ~ something to do with my free time. My brother goes quail hunting every year and is always trying to rope me into it. Maybe that was just what I needed. Jordan didn't seem thrilled, but she didn't try to stop me ~ just asked if I'd miss her. As if she had to ask.
. . .the next day ~ at the morgue. . .
Jordan. . . Well, it was an interesting night. I wished Woody hadn't left for Wisconsin ~ we hadn't exactly finished our conversation the night before. There was still so much to tell him ~ even I couldn't believe how much I wanted to tell him, how much I had to say about things between us. But he was out hunting quail. There was, however, one person I needed to talk to who was in Boston.
"Nige?" Ok, Nigel sitting at his desk and staring into nothingness is definitely not normal. Hell, Nigel sitting is not exactly normal.
"Oh, morning Jordan. You get things talked out with Woody last night?"
"Well, sort of. There was some kind of fight out in the alley and, well, long story short Woody's on a two week leave and he's quail hunting with his brother in Wisconsin. But I think things are going to be ok with us."
"That's good."
"Nige?" I bent down and gave him a hug. "Thanks."
"For what, Jordan?"
"For helping explain to Woody what happened. For being a great friend. For just being yourself."
"Glad I could help."
"Hey Eeyore, why so glum?"
"Nothing Jordan. I'm just tired."
"Oh, ok. Well, if you need anything. . ."
"I know where to find you."
I started down the hall pondering what Nigel could be moping about. I mean, it's not like he's in love with me or something, right? Oh my God. Maybe he is. But why. . .? Maybe it's time for me to take my own advice I've told Woody at least once ~ "ours is not to wonder why." I guess I should just be thankful that he isn't making a big deal about it. I was almost to my door when Emmy caught up with me.
"Dr. Cavanaugh, there's a phone call for you on line one. I said I wasn't sure if you were in, but she insisted I find you."
"Ok, thanks Emmy." Oh God, it can't be anything to do with. . . No, how would anyone know to contact me if something had happened? "Cavanaugh."
"Jordan?"
"Yes. Who's this?"
"It's Kaidlyn ~ your cousin? The one who. . ."
"Kaid? Oh my God! Where on earth are you?"
"At Logan."
"What are you doing there?"
"I'm on my way back to Duke. I did a semester in Kenya and. . ."
"Kenya?"
"Yeah. It was amazing! Anyway, I've got about a six hour layover and I'm bored at the airport. I thought I remembered Mom said that you'd gone back to Boston and thought I'd take a chance that you were back at the M.E.'s office."
"Give me a ~ hang on a second." I'd seen Garret in the hall, so I put my hand over the mouthpiece and yelled for him. He came down the hall. . .
"What?!?"
"Sorry Garret, I was just going to ask if I could take a couple of hours to. . ."
"Yeah, sure."
"Just like that?"
"Yes, Jordan. It's ok. Whatever it's for, take the time you need."
"Ok. . .thanks Garret." Back to the phone. "Kaid? I'm not sure what's up, but it's fine. I'll be there in about 30 minutes. What airline?"
She gave me the information and in no time I was there and she was in the car. I hadn't seen Kaid since. . .since Mom's funeral. I think she was three then. God, she'd grown. Looking at her it was hard to believe that she was really in college ~ she could pass for a high school student. She had the Cavanaugh blue eyes and a few freckles sprinkled across her nose. I remembered her as a cute kid and that hadn't changed as she'd grown up. I was almost glad Woody wasn't here to meet her.
We chatted the whole way back to my office. She loved school ~ was majoring in psychology and political science, but she didn't know what she was going to do with it. The semester in Kenya was partly school and partly just to explore ~ sort of like when I went to Italy, minus a few things. . .I think. She didn't seem freaked out by going to the morgue, and I felt like I needed to check in with Garret and make sure they could afford for me to take this time off. As we were getting off the elevator, we almost ran into Nigel.
"Sorry Nigel. I didn't know that you would be. . ." I noticed he wasn't really paying attention to anything I was saying.
"Hello there. Jordan, I'm assuming you know this person with you. Are you going to introduce me?"
Oh Jeeze, I hadn't even thought of this. But, well, why not. It's not like she was moving here. "Nigel, this is my cousin Kaidlyn. Kaidlyn, Nigel. She's just coming back from Kenya and had a six hour lay over at Logan and was understandably bored." I decided to go check in with Garret while they were chatting.
"Hi. Nigel was it? It's nice to meet you."
"My pleasure. Where are you from ~ I can't quite place. . ."
"North Carolina. I was born here, but we moved when I was like three. Just never moved back."
"I see. And you go to school there?"
"Yeah, Duke."
"You're in college?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, Garret's said I can take you to lunch. Why don't we go by Dad's bar and. . ."
"Uncle Max owns a bar now?"
"Yeah. It's. . ." I noticed that Nigel wasn't moving ~ and he wasn't taking his eyes off Kaid. "Nigel, would you like to come to lunch too?"
"Alas, I can't. I've got an identification pending and. . ."
"Nigel, go to lunch." Garret had apparently been observing the whole conversation. He turned to Kaidlyn and I introduced them. "It's nice to meet some more of Jordan's family. I hope you'll come back and visit sometime when you can stay a little longer."
"Thanks! Nice to meet you too!"
"Ok, if we're going to eat and get you back to the airport in time, we need to get going. Thanks Garret ~ and we'll see you later."
So Nigel, Kaidlyn and I headed over to the Pogue, but Dad wasn't there. I tried the house and he was there in bed ~ apparently he'd managed to get a spring cold and was staying in for the day. He talked to Kaid briefly. We realized that by the time we actually got in somewhere to eat, we'd hardly have time to eat, much less talk, so we opted for fast food eaten in the park. Kaidlyn and Nigel seemed to hit it off well, and though I wasn't necessarily thrilled about that prospect ~ Nigel dating my cousin ~ I knew that for the immediate future she was going back to school and he was staying here. And who knows, maybe it would work out.
We drove back to Logan and Kaid hopped out to go and get checked in for the last leg of her flight home ~ but not before she and Nigel exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. I got out to give her a hug. "Bye sweetheart. I hope you'll come back soon! It's been way too long since we've seen each other!"
"I know! Bye Jordan. I love you!" And she turned and bounced into the airport.
I got back in the car and we started back to the morgue. Nigel was looking out the window. "Nige? You ok?"
"Yeah, Jordan. I am. Thanks for including me with you and your cousin at lunch. It. . .well. . .It was really great to meet her."
"You're welcome Nige." We were at a stoplight, so I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He turned to me, somewhat surprised. I just laughed and said "Well, I guess we're even now!"
"Yeah Jordan, I guess we are."
The End.
Nigel. . . So Woodrow and I went over to Jordan's apartment. We went up the stairs and got to Jordan's large, red door.
Woody tapped my shoulder and leaned in to whisper something. "Alright, Cyrano, what do we do?" Now how did he know what I had thought on my way over to his place?
"You stay over here out of view of the door. I'll knock and see if she'll open up. Then you can come into view and talk with her. Once that's all done, I'll make myself scarce."
"You're sure this will work?"
"No. We're talking about Jordan here. But if you'd rather not even try to. . ."
"No, no. Go ahead. I was just. . ."
"Gee, I can tell who never took a drama class in school." We turned to see Jordan, dressed in sweats and a tank top, her hair hanging in waves around her shoulders, in her open doorway. "Honestly, if you thought you were whispering, well," she dropped her voice to slightly below a stage whisper, "I could teach you a few things."
"Jordan, I was just talking with Woody and. . ."
"Do you want to stand out here in the hallway all night or are you coming in?"
"Both of us, or. . .?"
"Whatever." And she turned and started into her loft.
I looked at Woody. "Well, mate, what do you want me to do? Stay or go?"
"Woody, come on in here. Nigel, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright. Night Jordan. See you tomorrow!" I turned to Woody and gave him what I hoped was a reassuring squeeze on the shoulders. "Just listen to her, Woodrow. Don't be too hard on her." And I was off.
Woody. . . As I went inside her apartment, Jordan stood nervously by the counter/table in the middle of the kitchen area. She seemed almost afraid to look at me. I moved towards her.
"So. . . I guess I've got some explaining to do, huh?"
"Jordan, Nigel told me what happened."
"I swear we never meant for anything. . . But I guess that doesn't really matter ~ the why I mean. It happened, and there's not much I can do about it. I'm so sorry Woody."
"Jordan, it's ok."
"Huh?"
"Nigel pointed one very important thing out to me when he came to my place."
"What's that?"
"We're not exactly in a relationship ~ at least not that kind of a relationship. Jordan, I had no right to. . ."
"No, I wouldn't exactly say that."
"What?"
"We never really did talk about that kiss and I never really discouraged any of your. . .um. . .attention. I feel like I sort of led you on."
"Well, I let you and. . . Hell, Jordan, we could go around like this for hours on end. The bottom line is. . ."
Woody. . . I was interrupted by the sounds of some kind of altercation in the alley ~ screaming, things being thrown around. It sounded like some kind of domestic dispute. I looked at Jordan. . .
"I better go and see what that is. I mean, I'm not on duty, but. . ."
"No, go. I'll call 911 and then. . ."
"And then you'll stay up here."
"What?"
"I don't have time to argue with you. Call 911 and STAY PUT!"
So I went downstairs and out into the alley. At first I didn't see anything. Then from out of nowhere a foot shot into my gut as a woman screamed something about she knew I'd be back. I managed to get her name, but she continued beating on me. Fortunately, Jordan was Jordan and didn't listen to my orders. She barged out the side door into the alley just before the squad car showed up.
Once we got done with things at the station and I was put on the disabled list for a couple of weeks, I told Jordan about a decision I'd made ~ something to do with my free time. My brother goes quail hunting every year and is always trying to rope me into it. Maybe that was just what I needed. Jordan didn't seem thrilled, but she didn't try to stop me ~ just asked if I'd miss her. As if she had to ask.
. . .the next day ~ at the morgue. . .
Jordan. . . Well, it was an interesting night. I wished Woody hadn't left for Wisconsin ~ we hadn't exactly finished our conversation the night before. There was still so much to tell him ~ even I couldn't believe how much I wanted to tell him, how much I had to say about things between us. But he was out hunting quail. There was, however, one person I needed to talk to who was in Boston.
"Nige?" Ok, Nigel sitting at his desk and staring into nothingness is definitely not normal. Hell, Nigel sitting is not exactly normal.
"Oh, morning Jordan. You get things talked out with Woody last night?"
"Well, sort of. There was some kind of fight out in the alley and, well, long story short Woody's on a two week leave and he's quail hunting with his brother in Wisconsin. But I think things are going to be ok with us."
"That's good."
"Nige?" I bent down and gave him a hug. "Thanks."
"For what, Jordan?"
"For helping explain to Woody what happened. For being a great friend. For just being yourself."
"Glad I could help."
"Hey Eeyore, why so glum?"
"Nothing Jordan. I'm just tired."
"Oh, ok. Well, if you need anything. . ."
"I know where to find you."
I started down the hall pondering what Nigel could be moping about. I mean, it's not like he's in love with me or something, right? Oh my God. Maybe he is. But why. . .? Maybe it's time for me to take my own advice I've told Woody at least once ~ "ours is not to wonder why." I guess I should just be thankful that he isn't making a big deal about it. I was almost to my door when Emmy caught up with me.
"Dr. Cavanaugh, there's a phone call for you on line one. I said I wasn't sure if you were in, but she insisted I find you."
"Ok, thanks Emmy." Oh God, it can't be anything to do with. . . No, how would anyone know to contact me if something had happened? "Cavanaugh."
"Jordan?"
"Yes. Who's this?"
"It's Kaidlyn ~ your cousin? The one who. . ."
"Kaid? Oh my God! Where on earth are you?"
"At Logan."
"What are you doing there?"
"I'm on my way back to Duke. I did a semester in Kenya and. . ."
"Kenya?"
"Yeah. It was amazing! Anyway, I've got about a six hour layover and I'm bored at the airport. I thought I remembered Mom said that you'd gone back to Boston and thought I'd take a chance that you were back at the M.E.'s office."
"Give me a ~ hang on a second." I'd seen Garret in the hall, so I put my hand over the mouthpiece and yelled for him. He came down the hall. . .
"What?!?"
"Sorry Garret, I was just going to ask if I could take a couple of hours to. . ."
"Yeah, sure."
"Just like that?"
"Yes, Jordan. It's ok. Whatever it's for, take the time you need."
"Ok. . .thanks Garret." Back to the phone. "Kaid? I'm not sure what's up, but it's fine. I'll be there in about 30 minutes. What airline?"
She gave me the information and in no time I was there and she was in the car. I hadn't seen Kaid since. . .since Mom's funeral. I think she was three then. God, she'd grown. Looking at her it was hard to believe that she was really in college ~ she could pass for a high school student. She had the Cavanaugh blue eyes and a few freckles sprinkled across her nose. I remembered her as a cute kid and that hadn't changed as she'd grown up. I was almost glad Woody wasn't here to meet her.
We chatted the whole way back to my office. She loved school ~ was majoring in psychology and political science, but she didn't know what she was going to do with it. The semester in Kenya was partly school and partly just to explore ~ sort of like when I went to Italy, minus a few things. . .I think. She didn't seem freaked out by going to the morgue, and I felt like I needed to check in with Garret and make sure they could afford for me to take this time off. As we were getting off the elevator, we almost ran into Nigel.
"Sorry Nigel. I didn't know that you would be. . ." I noticed he wasn't really paying attention to anything I was saying.
"Hello there. Jordan, I'm assuming you know this person with you. Are you going to introduce me?"
Oh Jeeze, I hadn't even thought of this. But, well, why not. It's not like she was moving here. "Nigel, this is my cousin Kaidlyn. Kaidlyn, Nigel. She's just coming back from Kenya and had a six hour lay over at Logan and was understandably bored." I decided to go check in with Garret while they were chatting.
"Hi. Nigel was it? It's nice to meet you."
"My pleasure. Where are you from ~ I can't quite place. . ."
"North Carolina. I was born here, but we moved when I was like three. Just never moved back."
"I see. And you go to school there?"
"Yeah, Duke."
"You're in college?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, Garret's said I can take you to lunch. Why don't we go by Dad's bar and. . ."
"Uncle Max owns a bar now?"
"Yeah. It's. . ." I noticed that Nigel wasn't moving ~ and he wasn't taking his eyes off Kaid. "Nigel, would you like to come to lunch too?"
"Alas, I can't. I've got an identification pending and. . ."
"Nigel, go to lunch." Garret had apparently been observing the whole conversation. He turned to Kaidlyn and I introduced them. "It's nice to meet some more of Jordan's family. I hope you'll come back and visit sometime when you can stay a little longer."
"Thanks! Nice to meet you too!"
"Ok, if we're going to eat and get you back to the airport in time, we need to get going. Thanks Garret ~ and we'll see you later."
So Nigel, Kaidlyn and I headed over to the Pogue, but Dad wasn't there. I tried the house and he was there in bed ~ apparently he'd managed to get a spring cold and was staying in for the day. He talked to Kaid briefly. We realized that by the time we actually got in somewhere to eat, we'd hardly have time to eat, much less talk, so we opted for fast food eaten in the park. Kaidlyn and Nigel seemed to hit it off well, and though I wasn't necessarily thrilled about that prospect ~ Nigel dating my cousin ~ I knew that for the immediate future she was going back to school and he was staying here. And who knows, maybe it would work out.
We drove back to Logan and Kaid hopped out to go and get checked in for the last leg of her flight home ~ but not before she and Nigel exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. I got out to give her a hug. "Bye sweetheart. I hope you'll come back soon! It's been way too long since we've seen each other!"
"I know! Bye Jordan. I love you!" And she turned and bounced into the airport.
I got back in the car and we started back to the morgue. Nigel was looking out the window. "Nige? You ok?"
"Yeah, Jordan. I am. Thanks for including me with you and your cousin at lunch. It. . .well. . .It was really great to meet her."
"You're welcome Nige." We were at a stoplight, so I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He turned to me, somewhat surprised. I just laughed and said "Well, I guess we're even now!"
"Yeah Jordan, I guess we are."
The End.