A few days later, after Bash had spent two days apologizing for the enormous hangover he'd incurred to himself and me, I was driving back to Norman's house. It would be better to have lunch without the selfies and questions that a public one would entail. Besides, it wasn't like I didn't trust Norman. I just didn't understand his interest. Was he curious because of Sean? Was he confused because of Bash? I knew that I was always a bit of a conundrum.

I pulled into the driveway and was happy to see that there was a car, a bike, and a smaller more conservatively priced vehicle. I got out and clicked the car closed. Walking up to the side door, I smiled when I saw the small woman waiting to let me in. "Hello, I'm-" I started, but she just waved me inside.

"He's expecting you." She said, her smile genuine. "You're Jessa. I'm Opal, I keep the house up and do a little cooking for Norman. Hope you like what I've made today." Opal said, drawing me further into the house. "He's in the living room. I'll call y'all when lunch is ready."

I continued on, listening for sounds to point me in the right direction. Sure enough, I found the living room down a set of steps opposite where I met Sean. Well appointed, but obviously furnished for comfort and not just show, he was seated on the sofa watching, no playing a video game. "Gamer," I said, making him jump, "should have known."

"Shit, you scared me." He laughed, tossing down the controller. "Trying out the newest game I star in." He shrugged at the screen. "Didn't hear the bell."

"I didn't use it. Opal saw me, let me in before I even had time to knock." He smiled back at me at the reference to his housekeeper. "She's impressive."

"Yeah, she's awesome. Could give a fuck about who I am," he laughed. "Didn't even KNOW who I was. Hired her on the spot."

I nodded, and walked to where he'd been sitting. I sat down and motioned to the television where the game was paused. "Don't let me stop you."

He chuckled. "I think it'll hold." He turned off the screen and turned to me. "Thanks for comin'. Wasn't sure you'd show." Norman looked at me with a shrewdness I hadn't expected. "Figured you thought it was a trap."

"I did, but then you told me it wasn't. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. At least until they have more doubt than benefit left." I kept eye contact. "Still, I'm not sure why I'm here."

"Lunch." He said, smirking. "And, honestly, I want to get to know you. Sean- he doesn't always think with his higher head, but I've never seen him like he's been." His eyes narrowed in thought. "You made him twisted in knots. Hell, even not knowing they'd been separated, I knew when you left."

I bit my lip, hoping it wasn't going to be a lunch of bashing my decisions. "I never meant for that to happen." I said, but he held a hand up to stop me.

"Not blamin' ya. Just want to know more about you." He said, smiling to calm my fears. "He said, he said that he'd never met anyone like you before. That you were honest and funny and the whole package." He leaned back, to get more comfortable. "Guess I'm curious. Hell, Seb? He rarely lets people in. Boy's got more anxiety than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

I laughed at the metaphor. "Sound like a real southern boy there, Norman." I grinned. "Bash and I, well I get him, I guess. He's good people. So is Anthony Mackie." He was looking at me strangely.

"I am a southern boy, girl. Don't you know anything about me?" He grinned. "Hollywood Florida, born and raised."

"Yeah, I know a few things." I said, grinning back. "West Virginia girl here, we tend not to think of Florida as the real south, I guess." Then I found myself laughing. "Of course, it's where I live now, so-"

He laughed along with me. "Florida isn't southern? How fucking more far south ya want to be, woman?" We sobered after a few giggles. "What about Sean?" His focus was clear cut it seemed. He wanted information.

I sighed. "That's the million dollar question isn't it? What about Sean?" I leaned back myself. "He looked so alone, and miserable. I truly DIDN'T go into it wanting to DO anything with him. Hell, I tried to talk him out of it." I thought about that night and felt sick for giving in. "He's Sean, though, you know? Beneath the all-man, tough as nails exterior, there's the goof. And he's silly and sentimental. And at the end of the day, I gave in." I looked over to see him studying me. "My own rule, and I broke it." I shook my head. "I don't sleep with men who have partners, either wives or long term, or hell a girlfriend they just met. It's not me. Not who I am." I gave a harsh laugh. "But give in I did, and then, the last day I was there, I saw his wife. I was at a lunch with the studio, finalizing things, and she was sitting in my line of sight. Looking as miserable and lonely as he had that first night. And I knew. I knew I had to end it. Swift and clean."

"He showed me the letter." Norman said, chewing his bottom lip. "Using his own words against him, huh?"

I stared at the ceiling. "Those words, the ones I put in that note? He wrote them down because they meant something to him, Norman. I didn't use them against him. I reminded him of who he was, whether he wanted to remember or not. I was the easy out." I finally looked at him and he was studying me intently. "Sean's a fighter. Having me, being with me, that was too easy. He needs to fight for what he wants, and he wants his family. Even if he's still struggling against it. You know that too, right?"

"Just think you should have let him have a say in it," he answered, shrugging. "Though, after the party, he seemed more settled. Like it wasn't eating him alive anymore." I nodded, good, that was the plan.

"I told him to tell her about me." I said, facing Norman. "He was holding that back. He told you, but you're not who he needs to tell to move past it."

"Promised to keep in touch with him too, though," he said, staring at me to see if I'd hold up my end of the bargain.

"And I will." I answered, simply. "Not the way it was, but I'll answer his texts, I'll take some of his calls. He needs the peace, Norman. And not having me in any way wasn't helping, so I'll give him that much."

"Lunch is ready!" Opal called from the kitchen.

Norman offered me his hand as he got to his feet. "Let's go eat.'

That first lunch led to more, until I had Norman, Bash, Tony, and Sean (through texts and calls) to keep up with. Tabbi jokingly complained that I was becoming the free therapist to the stars, but she thought it was great that I was broadening my horizons. I usually rolled my eyes so hard during our Skype calls that she warned me I was going to end up stuck that way.

"So what's on the roster for this weekend?" She was asking, as I wrote down her travel plans for the coming week. "Party at Norman's, dinner at your house, or are all the boys going to just toss your ass in the pool and shout out dive scores for the wet t-shirt contest?"

"Shut up!" I laughed, shaking my head. "This weekend is a quiet one, all alone. Just me and the dogs." I sighed. "Norman has his kids visiting, along with Diane. Sean is at a Con of some sort. And Bash and Tony went back home for the weekend."

"Dear God," Tabbi sighed. "Whatever will you do with all that time alone?"

"Write." I said, sticking my tongue out. "And do some editing. Don't want to get behind, do I?"

My best friend gave me a look. "You could go out and MEET someone. Jesus, it's been awhile since you've had anyone who couldn't be called BOB." I laughed. "You might actually find someone to keep for once."

"In Georgia?" I asked, knowing that my disinterest was shining through. "I'm good. Maybe you'll find someone. I mean, Utah, that's got hot action right?"

That got us both laughing hard enough to get the hiccups. "You suck." She gasped. "Gotta go, the phone's ringing, so it's probably next week's client. Get out and find some fun, Jess."

"Bye, Tab!" I said, signing out. I sighed. The weekend loomed over me. And while I was planning on writing, I also knew she was right. I was cutting out the world. Putting myself back in my happy little bubble. Sucked that I liked that bubble.

The dogs started yipping and I knew that meant I probably had company. I walked to the front door and opened it before yips turned to barks. Norman, on his bike, was just slowing down in my driveway. He stopped and put down the stand so he could come up to where I was standing on the porch.

"Thought the family was in town." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "What's got you out my way?"

He stopped at the base of the steps and looked up at me. "They are in town. Mingus, my lil one, and Diane." He confirmed. "Thought you might like to meet 'em."

I smiled. "Norman, you don't get them to yourself enough. I'll get another chance to meet them." I was about to shoo him back to his family, when I noticed his face. He was chewing his lip like he was about to bite through it. His eyes looked wrong somehow. "Something else wrong?"

He sighed, and it almost sounded like a groan. "Haven't been completely honest with you." He said, and when he looked up at me I felt fear blossom. "You're the most honest person I've ever met, and I didn't tell you the truth." He sat down on the bottom step and turned to face the driveway.

"Then tell me." I said, sitting down on the top step. "The truth is the truth, even if it comes later than you'd wanted."

"Diane and me," he started, and I watched his hands clench. "We're worse off than Sean and his wife were. It's easier for us to explain our separation. I work here, she lives with my daughter in New York." I nodded, even if he couldn't see it. "I'm worse at relationships than you are, hell, it seems good for a few years, but then- it's not. Two kids, two women who I fight to keep a good friendship with so my two kids don't get thrown in the middle, ya know?" He finally turned to face me. I smiled at him and nodded. "Fuckin' fail at each attempt of making a long term thing, but love those kids. Her and me, we're not so strained that we can't be in the same house, hell we share an apartment, but it's not like it was. We're talking about our girl, or Mingus, but not about anything else. Maybe where she's scheduled a new movie, or my plans for down here."

"Why would you want me to go into that, Norman?" I asked, wondering what kind of buffer I could be.

"Diane, she could use someone unbiased to talk to." He said, smiling at me. "You're open, Jessa, you don't judge. And if you do judge, you don't do it spitefully. And I want you to meet my kids. Mingus knows about you, he's talked to me about our lunches, and he thinks it's awesome I've made a friend." He laughed at the absurdity. "And you'll adore the lil bit. She makes everyone go gaga."

"OK." I said, hoping I wouldn't regret it. "I'll come over. Later." I agreed. "I'll bring something for dinner. Pizza good?"

He nodded, standing up, before he turned to leave, he gripped me in a hug. "Thank you, Jess." His breath fanned my hair. "Seriously."

I nodded, and he let go. His smile was easier now, and I wondered yet again, what I was getting myself into with these guys.

I had four pizza boxes, two smaller cheesy garlic bread boxes, and a couple of bottles of soda in a reusable shopping bag to juggle into Norman's house. Luckily, someone heard me pull up because I heard the door open ahead. Thinking it was Norman, I started to curse my luck at buying too much when a more youthful chuckle escaped.

"I think you expected Dad," he laughed. He grabbed the bag of sodas and reached for the boxes, but I shrugged him off. "Mingus Reedus." He introduced himself with a grin.

"Jessa Halmand," I smiled back. Following him to the kitchen door, I noticed we had an audience. The beautiful blonde actress was holding a mini-me and I smiled at them both. "Sorry, about this, I wasn't entirely sure how much to buy, so I bought a LOT."

Diane chuckled and opened the screen door for us. "Good thing," she said, still smiling. "Teenage boys can eat you out of house and home." I nodded as Mingus groaned.

"Don't go ganging up on the boy, now," Norman said, grabbing the boxes from my hands. "Jessa had one of her own, she's doing alright." He winked at me and I giggled.

"Not sure about the 'doing alright' thing," I said, watching as he and Mingus arranged everything for a pizza buffet. "I'm still paying for his food during college. He's twenty and I swear the urge to eat has only grown." I turned to Diane. "I'm sure you know who I am, but I figure formalities have to be recognized. I'm Jessa Halmand."

"Diane Kruger." She answered, and we shook. "Jessa's short for Jessica?" She asked, and I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, my mom named me after my dad. There were always at least two Jessicas in every class and every grade of my life, so any type of change was welcome." I watched as the boys grabbed plates and glasses from the cupboards. "Jessa was a version not many people used."

"I've read your books." She said, with a smirk. "They're good."

"So I've been told." I answered to Norman's snort. I turned to see what was so fucking funny.

He looked unabashed. "So you've been told by the best selling list, what now? Five times?"

I rolled my eyes. "Always the comedian." I shoved him with an elbow. "Come on, Di, we better grab a plate, or there'll be none left."

She laughed at my easy way of dealing with Norman. And she didn't seem to mind her new nickname. We spent the evening laughing and getting to know one another. And I saw what he told me was true. They were still friendly, but the love and passion weren't there anymore. Neither seemed upset about it, but it was so very clear. I wondered how the paparazzi couldn't see it.

"I think it's time for me to say goodnight." I said, handing the now sleeping toddler back to her daddy. "She's sweetness personified. It's been a long time since I've gotten to play with a little one." I smiled as she snuggled into Norman's chest. "Thank you for having me, guys." Mingus looked up from his video game and grinned. Di was smiling contently from her perch on the chair.

"It was wonderful meeting you, Jessa." She said, standing to walk me out. As we left the boys and baby behind, she took me clear to my car. "I worry about him, you know?" I was a little shocked by the change in the evening's atmosphere from that one statement.

"Why?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

She smiled sadly. "We didn't work out. It wasn't anyone's fault, some people, some couples aren't meant to last forever." I nodded. "Norman is more sensitive than people give him credit for being. He doesn't let just anyone in, he's a little awkward." Her smile stayed sad and a little nostalgic. "He let you in. And I'm glad. You're good for him."

Oh shit. I realized that she thought that we were, no no no. "We're friends." I said, hoping I sounded as firm as I felt. "That's it, just friends."

Diane looked at me as though I were blind. "For now." She said, and hugged me. "I just want you to know, I think you're good for him." She was taller than me, so her words were said into the top of my head.

I nodded, and got in my car. "Norman will give you my number. Just in case you ever want to chat. It was nice meeting you too, Di."

I left, driving the now familiar route from Norman's house to mine, and I had to wonder what did everyone else see when I was around the men in my life.