Chapter 3

Jayne put her things down on the bed and made her way to the bathroom. She saw that there was no soap in there so she went into Robert's room. She found soap in his bathroom, but on her way out she noticed pills on Robert's bedside table and a half-empty whiskey bottle. She picked up the bottle, went back into his bathroom, and poured the whiskey down the sink. She decided that she was going to have a talk with Robert once she'd had a shower and unpacked her things.

When she'd dried and dressed, she felt better than she had in weeks.

As she descended the stairs, she could smell breakfast cooking. She hadn't realised how hungry she was until she heard her stomach rumble. When she entered the kitchen she could hear Robert singing as he was putting the food on plates. Jayne clapped as the song finished. Robert spun around and dropped the fork he was holding. He turned bright red.

"God damn it, Jayne! How long have you been there? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Jayne just smiled and took her plate and sat down. She started to eat ignoring; the look of death Robert gave her.

"Robert, you are there world's greatest chef," Jayne said, finishing up her breakfast. "You know, I could eat that all over again!"

Robert just laughed. "Maybe I should open a restaurant. I have the temper for it."

Jayne laughed. "You're a pussy cat and you know it."

As Jayne got up to put her plate in the sink, she noticed that Robert had only eaten half a slice of toast. "Are you going to eat that, Robert?"

Robert shook his head. "Not hungry, do you want it?"

Jayne rolled her eyes, and then she got her chair and pulled it towards Robert. "Look, Robert... What's wrong? You're hung-over, there was bottle of whisky and a load of pills beside your bed, and by the look of you, you haven't eaten a good meal for ages. I might not be a doctor, but I know not all this is good for you. When was the last time you slept?"

Robert didn't answer straight away; he looked around the room trying to come up with a way to get out of this situation. He knew if he lied to her, she would see right through it but he did not want her to see how bad he really was. He was ashamed of what he had become. It was bad enough having to go in to work every day and be the least capable staff member in the hospital and everybody laughing at him, without having to also admit to his friend what a waste of space he was.

Therefore, he did the only thing he could. "You shouldn't be looking for a job," he said coldly. "You should be trying to get your own life together before you try and fix my life." Then he stomped out of the room, ignoring the hurt expression on Jayne's face.

Robert stormed upstairs to his bedroom and slammed the door. He paced up and down the room trying to think what he should do. He had not meant to hurt her but this was the only way he knew to get people to back off. He'd learned a long time ago that if you hurt people, they would stay away from you and leave you alone. It also stops people from hurting you most of the time.

However, sometimes he ended up hurting himself as well. This was one of those times.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. He noticed the whisky bottle was empty. He thought for a moment; he could not remember drinking it. "God, please, I can't be turning into my stepfather," he said out loud, not realising that Jayne had followed him upstairs to check in him.

Jayne walked over and sat down on the bed. "Don't worry, I poured it down the sink earlier."

Robert eyes went wide in shock. "Do you know how much that cost? That was from my good stash of booze!"

Jayne laughed. "Well, you should have shared it with a friend instead of using it to help you sleep."

An uncomfortable silence suddenly settled on the room, neither one of them knowing what to say. Jayne wondered how she could help Robert without him backing off and Robert wondered how he could make up for his little outburst. Suddenly a big ball of black fur burst in to the room and straight at Jayne and Robert, sending them both flying back on the bed.

"Hey, girl!" they both shouted in between fits of laughter. After much fussing and petting, they managed to get Gretel under enough control so that they could get up off the bed.

"Well, judging by the amount of slobber on my face, I would say that Gretel has missed me," Jayne said as she went into the bathroom to wash her hands and face.

"Nah, she's just hungry after her long nap, aren't you, girl?" Robert continued to play with the dog until Jayne came out the bathroom.

"Well, just because you want to starve yourself, I don't see why Gretel should. Come on, girl, let's find you some food."

Gretel bounced out the room but before she could follow Jayne down the stairs, Robert shouted out, "Traitor!" That sent Gretel flying back into the room and back onto Robert, licking him within an inch of his life. Jayne shouted from downstairs and Robert heard the sound of a dog bowl being rattled.

Gretel looked at Robert, then the door, unsure what to do.

Robert stood up and patted Gretel on the head. "It's all right, girl. You go; I think I need a shower now, anyway."

Later, when Robert entered the kitchen, Gretel was happily munching of her food and Jayne was reading the adverts in the paper.

"Any luck?" Robert asked.

"Well, the local fast food joint is looking for people but I can't skate. My old boss who fired me when I refused to go out with him is looking for another secretary but after what you and I did to his car, I don't think he would give me a job, do you?"

Robert laughed. "No, probably not." He paused then said, "Look, Jayne, about earlier... I just wanted to say I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to lash out at you. It's just... well, you know, concern and me don't go together very well."

Jayne looked up from the paper and smiled. "Well, if you make me another cup of coffee I'll forgive you. Deal?"

"Deal. I'll even throw in some cookies," Robert said.

After a while, Jayne shut the paper and let out a sigh. "There's nothing here except cleaning jobs and you know how great I am at cleaning... Not!"

"Look, Jayne, feel free to tell me to mind my own business, especially after this morning, but... what happened in New York?"

Jayne cast her eyes down and a small, sad smile formed on her lips. "The story of my life – the man I moved in with thought that I was a punching bag. I ended up losing my job because I spent so much time off work and with no money coming in it was difficult to get away."

Robert looked down at the table unsure what to say or do. "You should have called me, I would have sent you some money or I would have come and got you. How did you get away?"

"I took his precious old banger of a car, sold it, and used the money to get to Chicago. I was going to see if my mother would put me up for a few days but she's taken up with another drunk, so no help there."

"Yeah, our mothers always had good taste in men," Robert said.

"Well, I don't know Robert, your mother got there in the end."

"That she did," Robert said. "Look, I might know someone who's looking for a secretary. If you don't mind me helping you out, I can give him a call if you want. It's not a doctor's office, as you're used to. In fact, it's Gretel's vet."

"Hey, Robert, I will take any thing I can get."

"Well, I'll give him a call for you right now."

After a few minutes, Robert popped his head round the door. "He wants to speak to you."

When Robert handed her the phone he went back into the kitchen to read the paper. After a few minutes, Jayne returned to the kitchen. "Well, what did he say?"

"He wants to meet me in person at about five this afternoon, but as long as I get along with the animals okay, I think I have a job!"

"Well, that's great! I'll have a paying lodger, I think I'll retire!" Jayne shot him an evil glare. "Look, Jayne, don't take this the wrong way but you should get some sleep, you look beat. I'm going to take Gretel for a walk, then I'm going to get her groomed before she starts to smell like some bum from the ER, so you'll have the house to yourself for a while."

"Why, Robert, you really know how to compliment a lady," Jayne said. "Actually, I think I could do with a few hours of beauty sleep before my interview."

"Oh, Jayne, I think you need more than a few hours," Robert said, grinning.

Jayne hit Robert playfully on the top of his head. "Well, I still look better than you on a good day," she said as she went up to her bedroom.

Robert shouted "Sweet dreams" as he and Gretel left the house.