Jessica heard a car pull up. Her heart fluttered. She stood up straight in the chair to not let her sad demeanor show. She didn't want Michael to see she had been affected by this "business partner." There were going to be more times like this and she refused to let him know it upset her. She heard the door open and in walked Polly. Her shoulders slumped forward and she stood up and walked towards the rack of dresses. "Hi Polly, heres what I had ordered here." Polly could see her face. She started to go through the rack of dresses. Jess was going on and on about each dress and how one complimented her and Polly stopped her. "That girl has nothing on you, you know that right? It is just business. Besides, I've already found my future daughter and law .. and thats you," she raised her eyebrows and started to sort through the dresses. "What color will you be wearing?" Polly asked. "I was thinking of this royal blue gown I have." "Blue looks amazing against your hair," Polly said. "You know Polly," Jess said turning to her. "It's really great having you around to do things like this. Even if some of it includes talking about your son," she laughed. "This is what I imagined I would be doing with my mom. If its not her, I'm glad its you."
Polly loved this moment. She imagined too this would have been something she would have done with her own daughter. But knew she had to talk to Jessica about something. Janik had called her earlier this week. He was frantic and needed a mothers' perspective on how to go about this situation. He noticed when Michael had left, Jess would wake up screaming. Or he would walk into her room to check on her and she was sweating and panting having nightmares. He couldn't bear to see her like this anymore and wanted Polly to talk to her. "Jess, sit down there is something I need to speak to you about." Jess moved towards the table unsure what the conversation was going to be about. They were having such a nice time and now Polly looked serious. "Your father called me," Polly began. "He said you're having a difficult time sleeping. He's heard you scream at night. And he said he has checked on you and it hasn't been good. Whats wrong?" Jess shifted in her seat. She didn't think her father had heard her. Let alone, she didn't think he would have discussed it with Polly. "The past 2 weeks have been difficult. I just relive the moment in my dreams," she swallowed the pit in her throat. "I am hoping with Michael back, they will stop. Is this normal?" A tear fell down her face. Polly thought about her answer. They both grew up very different lives. Polly was thrown into this lifestyle early, and Jessica was hidden from it until now. "It gets easier. But, talking to someone about this doesn't make you weak. I don't want you to think your father and I are telling everybody, its just him and I. If you need help you have to ask." Jess nodded. It was crazy to her she was having these conversations with Polly. She had seen how she was at work with everyone running a tight ship yelling at whoever, even Michael. She just never imagined she would be the one comforting her. She hugged Polly.
They heard a car pull up, Jessica eyes widened looking at Polly. Polly nodded her head to the door and Jess ran. She opened the doors excited to see Michael, but also there was the girl, who got off the plane with him. Jess strolled in not looking as happy as Polly thought she would. "Michael is here ... with your new business partner." Gina and Michael walked in. "I am going to see how long it will be till dinner," Jessica walked out. Polly rolled her eyes. "Can I speak to my son for a second." Gina started to look through the clothing rack. "Michael I am really confused at what you're doing right now." Michael shifted, "Mom, her father does not get in till tomorrow and she asked if she could come so she wouldn't be alone. I didn't want to say no I felt bad." Polly rolled her eyes again and quietly chastised him. "Your girlfriend who you haven't seen in 2 weeks has been a worried mess with everything that had gone down. And now you come to her house with another girl who I might add doesn't seem to respect you have a girlfriend. Does she even know you have one?" Polly questioned. Before Michael could answer, Gina questioned, "Who ordered these dresses? Do they even have any style." Before Polly could snap, Jess came in, "Dinner is ready."
They all sat around the table quietly. It was awkward and Jessica had barely spoken more than 5 words to Michael. Polly spoke, "How was New York Michael?" Gina decided she was going to chime in. "Well I took him on a tour to my places. Then we went to dinner with my father to our favorite spots, and then we did some shopping." Polly put her hand up, "I was speaking to my son." Jessica felt sick and needed to remove herself from this equation. "You know I really just don't feel well. I think I am going to go to bed so I make sure I'm ok for the wedding. Ill see you all this weekend" She got up before anyone could object and went upstairs to her room. Polly too lost her appetite. "You know Gina, lets take our food to go so my son can take care of his girlfriend. Mae!" she called out. "But," Gina said. "Michael walk us out so I can take Gina back to the hotel." The three of them walked towards the front door, Polly pulled Michael back. "I'm not ok with this girl just showing up to dinner with you. How do you think Jessica feels?" "Mom," Michael started, "What I did in New York was meet up with Jessica's brothers and father and I bought her an engagement ring. Thats what I did. That was the most important part about that trip." Polly's demeanor softened. "Gina go to the car I'll be there in a minute," Polly instructed. "You know, she has been having a really tough time." Michael looked at his mother with concern, "What do you mean?" "Janik called me before he left for New York. And asked me to speak to her. She's been having nightmares Michael. Waking up screaming. Reliving the night over. She was hoping that when you came home they would stop." Michael started to pace. "Why, why didn't you call me? I would have came home immediately and had Tommy send someone else." Polly grabbed his shoulder to stop him, "Listen, she didn't even think her father heard her. She was hoping that when you came back they would stop. Just be extra gentle with her ok? Having Gina around isn't going to fix things. Be good my son." And Polly walked out.
Michael hesitated to walk right in her room. Knock knock. Jessica lay in bed and wiped her face. "Mae I am really not feeling well right now and just want to be left alone." She heard the door open. She refused to turn around. Mae always listened to her so she knew it couldn't be her. It couldn't be her dad because he took an emergency trip to New York which she wondered if Michael had even saw him. She heard Polly yell up bye so it couldn't be her. Only one person left, the one person who she really did not want to see at the moment. Was she angry? Was she upset? She quickly wiped away the few last tears. Michael took off his jacket and put it on a chair. He took his shoes off and undid his tie and untucked his shirt. He climbed into bed and put an arm around her. "I missed you," Michael turned her over. He saw her eyes were red and thats not what he wanted. "I am sorry if I upset you bringing Gina to dinner. It meant nothing. Her father doesn't get in till tomorrow and she didn't want to be alone. I should have called first to ask if it was ok." Jessica didn't want to make it a big deal, but she didn't feel secure in their relationship. So she said what she thought was the best, "You sounded like your trip was amazing. I really don't feel well right now and just want to go to sleep." She turned back over. She wasn't ready to talk to him. Michael didn't like this feeling. All he wanted to do was talk about her nightmares to help her get through the pain she had been going through. They had only gotten into one big fight in the past year and a half and it was agony for both of them to ignore each other for a day. If you ask either one of them, neither could recall what started the fight or what it was even about. It was so bad though Jessica even called out sick that day so she didn't have to face Michael at work. Janik called Polly that day and told her to get her son to his house to fix things before he chopped off his ears from all the bitching his daughter was doing. Seeing each others faces made everything better that day. But this time it didn't work.
Meanwhile in the car, Polly drove in silence. It was enough she was driving this girl back to the hotel, she was not going to have any type of conversation with her. She pulled up to the hotel and turned to Gina. "Listen to me, you are here for one thing. Business. When your father gets here tomorrow business will be discussed. And on Saturday at the wedding, nothing will be discussed with my son. You will stay with your family who has been kindly welcomed to this event despite my concerns." Gina refusing to back down got closer to Polly's face. "If your son wants to talk to me on Saturday he will talk to me. No one is going to stop that. Not you, and certainly not his girlfriend who he didn't speak about at all during his trip to New York." Gina got out of the car slamming the door and walking towards the hotel.