Title: Two Sides of the Same Coin -- Chapter 5
Author: StuckHereWithNoTV
Author's Email: stuckherewithnotvyahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Jake 2.0 and all related elements, characters and indicia copyright Roundtable Entertainment and Viacom Productions, Inc., 2003. All Rights Reserved. All characters and situations-save those created by the authors for use solely on this website-are copyright Roundtable Entertainment and Viacom Productions, Inc.
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"Diane? Um... Diane? Di-- ow! Diane!"
"Huh?"
Jake looked down. "I might not be the doctor here, but I'm pretty sure that no part of my body should be purple."
"What?" Diane shook her head, dazed. She followed his gaze down to his arm which was turning a shade of violet below the cuff of the blood pressure device. "Oh. Sorry," she mumbled with no trace of apology in her voice, "I'll have to measure again."
He frowned. "Is there something bothering you?"
The loud hiss of escaping air seemed to answer him as she pressed the air release valve. "No, I'm fine," she replied.
"Well, it's just that you seem a little... tense."
"Nope," she said, succinctly pronouncing each consonant and vowel.
Jake swallowed as he watched her rhythmically clench the inflation bulb with more force than necessary. "Oh, o-okay. Well, um, I'm taking Jess out for dinner tonight; just wondering if you'd like to come..."
Diane raised an eyebrow sardonically, "Ah, no thanks."
"Diane, what is going on?" he suddenly snapped, getting sick of the charade she had been putting up all day. "Was it something I said this morning, because I don't understand why you're--"
"No, Jake," she sighed irritated. "It's just been a really... stressful week for me lately."
"Yeah, I've noticed. Mind clueing me in on what's been going on 'cause you're starting to stress me out as well."
Diane focused her eyes on the inflation bulb she was pumping, "Well, yeah, actually I do mind."
"Aw, c'mon Diane," Jake cocked his head to the side. "Wait... does this concern Jess?"
"She's my sister. Of course I'm concerned."
"Why?" he questioned, pained that she thought so lowly of him. "You know what kind of guy I am. You know I'd never hurt a girl--"
She looked up, not hiding the similar pain that crossed her face at his misinterpretation. "Of course I know that."
"Then what is it?"
Diane shrugged, "Jess means well and I love her, but truthfully? She goes through guys like a person tries out clothes." She turned her attention back to her task. "I know what she's like, Jake. And I do know what kind of guy you are, too. That's why I'm concerned... It's just that she's not the one I'm concerned about."
"Are you saying I can't protect myself?"
"Well, actually yeah, that is what I'm saying. You may be able to protect yourself physically with the nanites and all, but you don't seem that good at protecting yourself emotionally. It's like the thing with Theresa, again. You only knew her for what-- three days? A week at most? And yet, she left you in a wreck. I mean, you're a smart guy, but... who's to say it couldn't happen again?"
Jake scoffed at her words. He admitted to himself that what she said might hold a small grain of truth, but he willingly let his male ego take over. "What, are you a shrink now?"
"No, Jake," she retorted rolling her eyes as she practically squeezed the inflation bulb to death. "I'm just stating an observation that you can't seem to see. Or trying not to see, for that matter."
A severe headache started to muddle its way into Jake's brain as he tried to add up what was going on. If he didn't know any better, he would've said she was jealous. But he did know better, and the idea of Diane being jealous didn't make any sense. Besides, he had practically asked her out and she was the one who shot him down. That's what puzzled him; she had shot him down but this whole conversation seemed like she was hinting...
He pushed the thought away, getting annoyed with the whole situation in general. "Well, what am I missing, then?" Jake demanded holding up his free hand in a helpless gesture.
"I dunno. It's just--" Diane's lips tightened. "You say you worry about people not being able to get to know the real you, but here you are getting involved with another person that in the end you won't be able to be truthful with. I mean, how many slaps in the face is it going to take for you to realize how hypocritical you're acting right now."
He sputtered in disbelief as he allowed the frustration he had bottled up to explode, "What is this?! I-I thought you'd be happy for me! I mean, I finally get with a girl who's pretty and smart and... and nice and genuinely interested in me without her having some ulterior motive. What's wrong with that? If you can show me someone else who fits that description better then point her out to me because I'm not seeing her."
Diane pressed the valve again, letting the same harsh hissing of air interrupt their conversation. Pulling off the cuff, she kept her head down while scribbling the results on her clipboard. "I think we're done here," she declared calmly, perhaps a little too calmly for Jake's liking.
He grabbed her arm, prodding Diane to look at him. "No, we're not," Jake asserted. He was tired of guessing and wondering; all he wanted was a straight answer. "Tell me what you want."
"I just want to be co-workers."
Jake blinked, stunned. That definitely wasn't the response he had been expecting; although he wasn't quite sure what response he was expecting in the first place. "You-you want... what?"
She started fidgeting with her necklace. "I just think... I think it'd be a lot easier for both of us if we didn't hang out with each other as much. Y'know, like outside of work and stuff. I think it'd be better if we just kept it professional from now on before there's any... complications."
"Um, okay... If-if that's what you really want."
"Yeah," she played with the pendant more vigorously. "Yeah, that's what I want."
"Alright... but that's not what I--"
His sentence was cut off when Kyle knocked on the glass wall making both of them jump. Jake quickly let go of Diane's arm as the other agent opened the door and stuck his head in.
"Are you guys done?" Kyle inquired.
Jake slid off the examination table and met Diane's gaze. When she turned away to her clipboard, he nodded, "Yeah, I think we are." Grabbing his jacket, he followed Kyle out the door never looking back to see his doctor's form sag heavily against the table.
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He took each step up the stairs with deliberate pauses. Grasping the keys in his pocket, Jake let the sharp metal bite into the palm of his hand.
Going to work had been excruciating lately. It wasn't the twelve hours of analyzing code and routing numbers that was bothering him but rather the incident in the lab two days ago. He felt angry, saddened, upset... but more than anything he felt longing. He missed her. Physically, Diane was there in the lab monitoring him just like always, but his friend wasn't there. The usual jokes and good-humored banter that they used to share had been shredded and reduced to generic small talk between patient and doctor.
"Co-workers," Jake uttered as he slowly walked down the hallway, "I just don't get it."
He would've understood if she had said she just wanted to be friends, but co-workers? He didn't like not being able to break through the new co-worker social demeanor that she placed up, but if that's what she wanted, well then... he just wanted her to be happy. Although, what she wanted specifically was definitely not what he wanted. He wanted to hear her voice on the phone for three hours during their daily bedtime phone calls like he used to. And to walk with her through the parking garage while pointing out to each other which nice cars they lusted after. And to keep having her hang out at his place for games night while getting his ass kicked in every round. He didn't just want all that, Jake realized. He needed all that. It never occurred to him how much he came to rely on just those little moments of normal and everyday life bliss that he had had when he was with her... Those moments that he'll never have again.
Jake stopped and thumbed through the keys that dangled from the key ring. She missed movie night yesterday. If it wasn't for Jess staying at his apartment, he probably would have sat on his couch flipping through late night infomercials while wallowing in self-pity. But instead, he had watched the movie with Jess. It was actually really fun watching the film with her, although her incessant small comments during key moments in the movie did get a little annoying; Diane never did that. Or the way Jess slouched deep down on the couch with her chin resting on her collarbone almost as if bored; Diane always sat up with one leg tucked under her or had both crossed Indian-style, he reflected. And when Diane drank beer, she'd tend to swirl the bottle three times before taking a sip. Jess, on the other hand would... Jake frowned, he didn't really pay attention to how Jess drank her beer but he was pretty sure it wasn't like that.
Slipping the key into the lock, he opened the door. Overall, though, last night with Jess was pretty good. It seemed... almost normal for some reason. As if nothing had changed and that he was actually with--
Jake's jaw dropped as he took a few steps into the apartment. Grinning like a lunatic, he absorbed the sight of a slightly exposed back covered by a simple black dress and dark brown hair that was pinned up in a manner that tugged at his memory.
"Wha-Why are you..." Jake rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "I thought you said..."
"How do I look?" Jess asked, turning around.
Jake blinked, his grin slipping a fraction. Swallowing, he regained a pleasant expression. "You look... beautiful."
She smiled, handing him a coat and tie. "You ready?"
He let Jess slip her arm around his. "Yeah, I think I am."
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It wasn't what she had wanted. It wasn't what she had wanted by far.
Sitting in front of her laptop, Diane tapped away at the keys unaware of what she was writing. The idea of keeping it professional seemed logical when it came out of her mouth. She had listed out the pros and cons in her mind, trying to account for every variable and outcome as if it was one of her experiments. All the results affirmed that pulling away was the best solution. It meant the threat from higher-ups concerning interoffice relationships would be gone. That the worry that kept her up late at night whenever Jake was out on a mission and then the strong urge to hug him when he returned just to make sure he was alive would fade away. That her own rapid pulse and erratic breathing she'd sometimes experience while she was supposed to be measuring his vitals would dissipate. And, most importantly, that the wide spectrum of emotions that exhausted her lately would subside, finally giving her the rest that she so fervently desired.
So she lied. She lied to Jake and to herself. In theory, acting indifferent seemed like an easy thing, but from the moment he walked out of the lab two days ago, it finally dawned on her that the idea wasn't going to be as painless as she thought.
Jake and her sister were going out for dinner again. A "date," Jake had confessed during their new, impersonal patient-doctor chatter. Their third date, apparently. Diane pursed her lips in contemplation. She had observed Jess's normal operation when it came to guys all throughout high school and beyond. First, it would be the seductress, then the helpless victim, and then finally she'd have the poor guy wrapped around her finger so tightly that it was inevitable that the two would--
"Diane?" Fran waved her hand in front of Diane's face. "It's ten o'clock. Aren't you going home yet?"
"Uh, yeah. Just trying to tie up some loose ends."
Fran looked over her shoulder at the screen. "I think it'd be easier to tie up those loose ends if you actually had a program running."
"What?" She looked at the screen to see the blue, stark desktop. "Oh."
"You better not be planning to stay until twelve like last night."
"It wasn't twelve," Diane insisted. "More like... eleven-thirty."
Shaking her head, Fran hung up her lab coat. "Will you and Jake just kiss and make up already? Just being around you two while you guys congenially yet miserably avoid each other is starting to make me depressed too."
Diane knew her assistant was joking, but she still allowed her mind to drift a moment toward that specific method of reconciliation. "I'll be out of here in fifteen minutes," she mumbled, changing the subject.
"No you won't." Fran raised an eyebrow knowingly. "It'll be like fifteen minutes... plus two hours."
"You know me too well."
She nodded, opening the glass door to leave. "Call him, Diane. Fix whatever needs fixing. If not for your guys' sake or mine, then... think of the mice's welfare."
Diane couldn't help but giggle. "I promise, if things go really bad between me and Jake, we'll agree on joint-custody."
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow," Fran said with a smile, glad to see her out of her glum mood for the first time this week. Walking out of the lab, she pointed at Diane with her voice muffled by the glass. "And go home!"
Diane waved dismissingly and turned back to her laptop. She stared at the screen for another hour before finally getting up to switch her lab coat for her own jacket. Searching for her car keys, she pulled from her pocket a palm-sized rectangular object and stared at it unsure of what to do.
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To celebrate Jake getting his crap of a car repaired that afternoon, he decided to take Jess out to a movie and the most expensive restaurant he could afford.
"Jake, tonight was wonderful," Jess commented quietly, deeply touched. "Nobody... nobody's ever treated me to this nice of a date before."
"Hey, I enjoyed it." He grinned, regretfully looking down at his plate. "I figure a person hasn't really experienced life until they've spent forty bucks on one lettuce leaf and what I think is a crab cake..." Jake poked at the weird-shaped mush with a hesitant expression. "Whatever it is, I think it might still be alive. Maybe we could give it its freedom on the way back to the apartment."
She giggled and then tilted her head to the side wondering why he was giving her a thoughtful look. "What?"
"I dunno, it's just... you laughed a lot like your sister just then."
"Really." Jess blinked, unsure of how to reply to that. "That's something I'm definitely not told everyday."
Jake set his fork down. "I'm sorry, that comment just came out of nowhere."
"No, that's okay," she assured, patting his hand. "I'm just wondering why all of a sudden you're thinking about--"
"My car!" he exclaimed looking past her at the window. Jumping up from his seat while nearly tripping in the process, Jake put his hands up apologetically. "I'm sorry, I gotta-- my car-- I-I'll be right back. I'm so sorry--"
Jess looked over her shoulder to see a police officer circling around Jake's car with a notepad in hand. Turning back to him, she smiled understandingly. "Just go, Jake."
He nodded appreciatively and rushed away almost knocking over a waiter in the process. Jess stifled a laugh as she heard Jake's repeated apologies as he bumped into almost every person in his path. It was then that that a noise sounded from Jake's jacket that hung from his chair. Searching through the pockets, Jess pulled out the ringing cell phone and flipped it open. She put it to her ear about to say "hello" when the caller immediately started talking.
"Listen, before you say anything, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I-- there's been so many things going through my head lately and... Its just things are really complicated between us and everything's gotten out of hand. I-I didn't mean what I said in the lab that one day. I mean, I meant some of those things but not the last part. I don't want to be just co-workers, Jake, or even just casual friends. I want... I don't know what I want... Will you say something?"
Jess leaned back in her chair, absorbing all that had been said. "Jake can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message I'll make sure to... Well, I'm pretty sure I won't remember to tell him."
A long deadly silence followed at which a trembling voice uttered, "Jessica?"
"Hi, Diane. Busy with all your exciting plans tonight?"
"Where's Jake?"
"Jake? Jake's... busy at the moment."
"Busy?"
"Yeah..." Jess pivoted to look out of the window where she viewed Jake pleading with the police officer. "Uh, let's just say something's... up," she said sadistically, making sure to pronounce the "p" with a popping noise. "Do you want to talk to him? I'm sure I could get him to stop doing what he's doing right now. Although..." She looked back outside to see him following the officer who was walking away, "he's proving to be very persistent and... vigorous at the moment. But I could still try to--"
"No. No, no that's, um, that's okay. I'll just... You don't need to tell him I--"
"Don't worry. I won't."
"Yeah. Uh, h-how are you?"
Jess found herself entertained by Diane's feeble attempt to act nonchalant. "Never better. Jake sure is a fun guy to be around."
"Hmm. Yeah. I guess I'll just talk to him some other time."
Before Jess could reply, the shrill dial tone blasted in her ear. Satisfied, she snapped the phone shut as Jake came back to the table with a yellow piece of paper crumpled in his fist.
"A hundred bucks, can you believe it? I swear that fire hydrant wasn't there when we arrived," he fumed, smoothing out the ticket.
She licked her lips, "I'm sorry. I bet these past few days have been really rough." Getting up, Jess gently pulled Jake from his chair and grabbed his coat. "Why don't we go back to your place and see if I can repay that debt I owe you, hmm?"
Jake's head shot up, his fury over the ticket abruptly forgotten. "Oh. Uh, yeah. Sure."
Wrapping her arm around his, Jess smirked as she slipped the cell phone back into his pocket and led them both out of the restaurant.