Chapter 2
"Thanks a lot, Mister!" Elaine yelled as she stood in the pouring rain. She slammed the taxi door and glared at the driver. Her brand new suede jacket was now ruined.
"Not my problem, lady." The driver said. "You shoulda looked out the window before you
left home."
Elaine's eyes narrowed. "Yeah? Well you should have looked in the mirror before you-"
The taxi sped off, splashing a puddle of water onto Elaine's already wet clothes.
"Argh!" You jackass!" She yelled, trying to shake the water from her hair.
She shivered as she walked into the building.
"Out for a swim, Ms. Bennes?" The doorman quipped.
"Don't start with me!" Elaine yelled, angrily waving her fist at him.
She stomped into the building, purposely swinging her head from side to side, splattering the doorman with water.
"Hey!" he yelled. "I'm gonna report you!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Elaine mumbled as the glass doors closed behind her. Once inside the lobby, she went to the intercom and pressed the button for 5A.
"Yeah?"
"It's me!" She shouted into the box.
"Come on up." Jerry replied.
Dripping wet, Elaine stepped into the elevator. I'm probably gonna get electrocuted. She said to herself.
The doors opened and Elaine made her way to Jerry's apartment. The door was ajar so she went inside.
She could see Jerry on the phone, pacing back and forth.
"What?" he yelled into the phone.
"How could you do this! I've had those booked for months!"
There was a pause...
"Oh, I don't believe this!"
Another pause
"What was that? You're telling ME to go to hell? Well, I tell you what... You go to hell first and I'll meet you there!"
Angrily he pushed the END button on his cordless phone. "Damn! I miss the days when you could take the receiver and SLAM IT DOWN!"
His outburst startled Elaine and she almost spilled her Snapple. She'd never seen Jerry so mad before. "What was that all about?"
"Oh those morons in Cleveland canceled my shows!" Jerry yelled.
"All of them? Why?"
"Well apparently, they don't think they'll be able to sell all the tickets." Jerry said with irritation in his voice.
"That's crazy!" Elaine said. "Your shows always sell out."
"Exactly, and do you know why? Because I-"
He stopped suddenly and looked at Elaine as though he were seeing her for the first time.
"What, Jerry?" Elaine asked, suddenly self-conscious about her appearance.
"Lainey, you're soaked!"
Elaine felt her cheeks start to burn. It had been a very long time since Jerry had called her Lainey.
Not since...
Quickly she shoved the memory from her mind.
Embarrassed that she had run out of her apartment and into a rainstorm with out a raincoat or an umbrella, she found herself at a rare loss of words.
"Yeah, well..." She managed to stammer.
"What happened?"
A strange sense of uneasiness came over her as she realized that Jerry's hand was on her shoulder.
"Oh God... I don't even want to talk about it. It's too cr-cra... ah choo!" She groaned; her head suddenly felt as though it might explode from the sinus pressure. "You wouldn't even be-beli... ah... choo!"
Wordlessly, Jerry walked into the bathroom and returned with a huge beach towel.
"What's that for?" Elaine asked, trying desperately to breathe.
Jerry walked over and gently wrapped the towel around her shoulders. Then he handed her a box of tissues.
"Jerry..." Elaine said, unable to believe that he was capable of such a sweet gesture.
"So you were saying?" Jerry said.
"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Elaine asked, blowing her nose.
"I asked, didn't I?"
"Ohh... I don't know..." Elaine groaned.
"Come on! Out with it!" Jerry bellowed.
"All right... well, this morning-"
Just then, Kramer burst through the door. "Jerry! You aren't gonna believe this!" he yelled. "I have the perfect idea for a store..."
"You're kidding..." Jerry said with a smirk on his face.
"No! I'm not! This is genius, see-"
Kramer stopped when he noticed Elaine sitting on the couch, wrapped in the towel.
"Oh hey, Elaine."
"Hi, Kramer." Elaine said wearily.
"Hmmm... what's this?" Kramer said slyly. He clicked his tongue. "What's going on here?"
He looked at Jerry and moved his eyebrows up and down.
"Nothing, okay? Elaine got caught in the rain so I got her a towel to dry off. That's it." Jerry said.
"If you say so..." Kramer said.
"I say so!" Jerry yelled.
"Okay, Jerry... but you're hiding something. I can tell!" Kramer said.
"Kramer, do you mind?" Jerry said, pointing to Elaine.
Kramer looked blankly at Jerry for a moment. Then as though realizing what Jerry meant, he grinned.
"See you later, Jerry." He opened the door to leave.
"Later Kramer." Jerry said with a wave.
"Is there something you want, Kramer?" Jerry asked a few minutes later, realizing Kramer was still there.
"No, no. I'll... leave you, two alone..."
"Thank you." Jerry said.
Kramer stepped into the hallway, taking one last look at Jerry and Elaine. "Ooh la la!" he said, moving his eyebrows up and down.
"Goodnight, Kramer!" Jerry yelled, just as Kramer slammed the door.
Jerry got up and locked the door. "Thank God he's gone. "He can be so annoying, coming over unannounced at all hours of the day."
Elaine laughed. "Oh I know! He's a nutcase! I can't believe I asked him to pretend to be my hu-hu- Ahhh... Choo!"
"Lainey, are you sure you're okay?" Jerry asked, handing her a tissue.
"Oh yeah, I'll be fine."
Then to her surprise, he began to rub her shoulders vigorously in an effort to dry her off. Suddenly he stopped and looked at her.
"You're still soaked. Take off your clothes." Jerry ordered.
Elaine looked at him, stunned. "Um... Jerry... I know you're upset that Linda broke up with you but I hardly think this is the time for us to-."
"I meant so that I could put your clothes in the dryer. You can wear my robe if you want." Jerry said.
The simple offer touched Elaine deeply.
"You'd do that for me?"
"Sure. No problem."
She didn't know if it was her imagination or her delusional state, but she could have sworn she saw Jerry blush.
He turned and went into his bedroom, returning with a plush terrycloth robe that she recognized instantly.
"Here... this should fit you." He said handing her the robe.
"Th-thank you. Wow, I remember this. You wore it the last time we..."
Her voice trailed off, and she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She took the robe from him and clutched it to her chest, remembering that night...
"Are you okay?" Jerry asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"What? Oh... I-I'll be right back." She wrapped the beach towel around her and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
As she peeled off her wet clothes, she dropped them onto the floor and then reached for the robe she'd hung on the door. She slipped on the robe and closed her eyes, a million memories instantly coming into her head; the trips they had taken together; the kisses they shared...
What she would give to have even one of those moments back...
