Chapter 08 – WWDD
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Eric Forman just discovered he had a mini-crush on Jackie Burkhart.
He was a married man.
Crap.
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Grooves
Eric set the brightly decorated boxes on the floor of the listening pit. Hyde groaned, "Oh man…I thought we agreed that you were only going to get us socks. Look at this, you bring presents dude. Presents!"
He smirked, "They're not from me." Eric thrust his homemade Christmas decorated paper bag at his friend, "Merry Christmas."
Kelso plopped down with his arm full of pickle wrapped gifts and dropped them into the present pile. "Ooohhh….pretty presents…did Red do the gift wrapping?"
Fez laughed, "Oh roly poly Kelso….you are the funny one. You know Red Forman would never put anything in wrapping paper. He just uses paper bags….like the ones that Eric and Hyde do."
Hyde looked at his three rolled brown bags full of *special ingredients* and nodded, "Yeah….uh…I guess we're just bad that way." He grinned knowingly at Eric who choked back a laugh. "But hey, Fez….thanks for pointing that out."
Fez smiled a bright toothy grin, "No problems. I just hope you like my presents too!" He held out his three gifts that were distinctly shaped like giant lollipops big enough to hide a human face. Those gifts were added to the pile. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Now we get to see what Jackie got for us!"
Hyde's eyes got big, "No way! Jackie got us something? She was here?"
Fez nodded, "She spent Christmas Eve at Eric's."
Hyde and Kelso looked at Eric like he was alien to them. "You are spending time with her?"
Eric sat back, "It's not what you think guys! The first two times she came was to see Donna."
Kelso looked slighted, "The first two times? There's been more?"
Hyde scratched his cheek, 'Two implies there are others….spill it Forman."
"Okay, so I called her one time because I needed someone to talk to. Not my mom or you guys….I mean a girl that knows or knew Donna. This whole leaving me thing was messing with my brain. Next thing I knew, she was knocking on my door and now she's dressing me and buying furniture and taking over my life!"
Kelso grinned, "…its great isn't it? I miss those days. Jackie could just take charge and I didn't have to do nothing." He leaned back and sideways as much as he belly would allow. "Hey Eric, you're ass doesn't look too bad in those jeans." Fez laughed loudly at what he thought was going to be a burn but turned out to be merely an ember.
Steven Hyde had to admit that when the brunette redecorated his basement bedroom…it was nice. No, it was extra nice. He asked, "So what are you going to do about Donna?"
Eric shrugged, "I don't know. I'd like to talk to her for more than 2 minutes long distance. I mean long looonnnggg distance. She called collect from Prague."
Kelso pretended to croak and Fez replied, "Ribbit."
Hyde looked at his dim friends, "Idiots. Prague is a city in Czechoslovakia." Eric looked at Steven Hyde a little in awe. Hyde said, "What?! I took Geography just like all you tools did. I just happened to remember it." He turned away from Kermit and friend and looked at Eric, "So what the hell is she doing in Prague?"
"Chasing a story with Anna Cantana." Eric didn't really know himself. "I mean it's not like I can jump on a plane, go there and find her…especially while Gorbachev has angry people standing in the streets wanting to get rid of communism." He looked at Fez and Kelso, "I watch the news too you know."
Hyde sat back in his seat, "Maybe that's the story. You know how she loves turmoil and human suffering…."
Eric replied, "I didn't even know she had a passport. Who in Point Place even needs a passport? I mean besides me, who went to Africa ten years ago…but seriously, who?"
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Eric was snuggled in his mountainous bed of pillows and downy blankets and pondered over the Christmas day that was not what he expected. It was great spending the afternoon with his folks and then the evening with the guys was cool. The Prague conversation was more deeply discussed after partaking of Hyde's very special Christmas present. Conspiracy theories were mixed with conversation of whether Get Smart was modeled after a specific secret agent and who would play the next James Bond?
But it wasn't until he was lying in his bed and everything smelled like Jackie's shampoo, did Eric allow himself to relive that two second almost kiss. A movie star kiss. How ridiculous that sounded but now he wanted to watch her movies to see what the kiss looked like. That almost- kiss that he couldn't forget.
With disgust at himself, Eric threw back the covers and walked to the closet. There was a scratchy wool blanket and a guest pillow which was flat as a pancake. He lay down on the sofa and oddly enough, he was missing Donna. Donna who would tell him to stop daydreaming like a dork, Jackie Burkhart would never have a romance with someone like him. Donna would tell him to put on his big boy underwear and go to work and stop fantasizing about what would never be.
Eric felt like his penance for having a good day with Jackie was to sleep on the couch and think about what Donna would do. WWDD. Those were the initials he would ponder all day. What would Donna do? He gradually fell asleep thinking about his flat pillow and WWDD about that?
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Reggie made it a point to stop by Eric's desk and perch on the visitor chair. "So….is there anything you want to tell me?"
Eric closed his ledger and turned to his coworker, "Reggie….I'm working man – like you should be. What is it you think I want to tell you?"
Reggie held up the Sunday color edition of the Point Place newspaper and there was a picture of Eric being kissed by the world famous actress and damn if it didn't look real! In another photo Eric was leaning against the trunk of the Town car as Jackie was walking away, her head slightly turned as she was waving good bye.
His heart thumped. The whole town had seen this picture. If Point Place has seen it….then maybe it's gone worldwide and Donna would see it. Maybe he could send a clipping to a Prague newspaper and his wife would come home.
Cheater!
Eric blinked. "So, yeah….Jackie visited for Christmas. There's nothing to tell."
Reggie exhaled loudly, "Man, if I lived your boring life….I would be a happy man. You gotta tell me how you do it!"
Eric shook his head. "My life is not boring. Go bother someone else." Eric got up with his coffee mug and walked to the coffee maker. Kathleen Warner had just poured a fresh cup of sludge and smiled. "Hi Eric! The girls in the typing pool are noticing that you updated your wardrobe….looking good!"
Eric smiled. He'd forgotten that he had a "look". Everything in his closet seemed to match. He needed to thank Jackie for that. "I just thought it was time to throw out the old stuff."
Kathleen touched the little Izod alligator icon on his shirt. "You are attracting a lot of attention." She winked, "Keep it up!"
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When he got off work, Eric drove to the nearest newsstand and purchased ten copies of the paper which earned him some strange looks from the vendor. Eric nodded, tucked the newspapers under his arm and drove directly home.
He was glad that the driveway was empty, which meant Fez was busy doing something else and the house was empty. House key in the lock, one quick turn and Eric burst through the door and to the kitchen table. The papers spilled out of his arms and one opened to the color picture of the tarmac kiss.
He sat down on the chair and really looked at it. The cursory glance at work didn't do justice. This photographer seemed to tell a story where one didn't exist at all! The kiss Jackie planted on him was exactly what Fez called a Movie Star Kiss and Eric had no clue that his own hands were on her shoulders.
In subsequent pictures, there appeared to be a slight holding of hands as she turned to walk away and then the final turn and wave goodbye to Fez, Eric and finally her fans. The last picture however, depicted Eric as star struck….Jackie's face looked a wee bit melancholy as she waved seemingly to him on her walk to the shuttle. Eric's casual leaning against the trunk of the car was a stark contrast to the hectic background activities of the airport. He even had to admit Eric Forman looked good in the new clothes. Wait….was he dressed in…. self-confidence?
WWDD? Eric really wanted his wife to call so he could talk about this and yet he wanted to have this little secret adventure that she knew nothing about. Perhaps it was because they knew so much about each other that the marriage became stale. Eric and Donna lived together, ate together, slept together….the only time apart was at work and when they came home they talked about work. Where was the spark? How do you re-purpose the same old conversations?
You didn't.
You needed different experiences apart from each other.
You needed hobbies.
You really needed to listen to your spouse when they spoke.
Donna and Eric were both guilty of that.
Eric was really guilty otherwise he would know where his wife was.
Maybe he should take Fez's advice, "Maybe the feelings you had in high school were just part of growing up? I think that after you went to Africa….we all grew up. Donna was different. When you came back maybe she felt obligated to still be your girlfriend and you felt bad about leaving…." Sign the papers – let Donna fly free to be who she always wanted to be.
That was something to seriously consider.
WWDD?
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Friday, December 29, 1989
Eric looked at the calendar. New Year's Eve was only two days away and he was lonely again. Fez would pop in at odd hours bringing packages for the JBB Enterprise machine that was working out of his garage. There were no calls from Donna or Jackie. He had almost gotten used to Jackie popping up unexpectedly and turning his world upside down.
Perhaps the guys were up to something on New Year's Eve….Eric was certainly up for any invitation. Then he had to face palm himself – Kelso was taking Betsy to the Ice Capades which meant hanging out with a horny Fez or smoking away the hours with Hyde was his last choice.
A movie. It was Friday night and Eric could watch a movie of his choice and hog the popcorn (with extra butter) and get the LARGE Coke and according to the newspaper, "How Can You Not Love Me" was being shown in clips before the recent premier of "Born on the Fourth of July". Despite his still meager budget, Eric decided to put on his big boy pants and go to the show.
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Eric stood in one line to purchase his movie ticket and then stood in a longer line to wait for a seat. There was a thrill in the crowd, mostly from younger women, regarding what a "fox" Tom Cruise was and how sexy was he in Risky Business? Eric didn't really understand what the attraction was , but tuned out all the buzz when he saw the poster for "Cómo Puede no Amarme?" A beautiful brunette senorita was leaning against the bark of a tree as a dark, handsome Latino was leaning in for a kiss. Her face was slightly turned as if she was unaccepting of the impending kiss.
When he saw the lines of her profile, Eric instantly recognized Jackie Burkhart….damn, what was the name of that movie? Fez had told him about it that night in the garage. Eric snapped his fingers, "How Can You Not Love Me?" That was a good question. Jackie's makeup was perfect. The dress was gorgeous and the lighting and position of the actor/actress was faultless. Even if he didn't speak Spanish, this was going to be the second movie Eric saw before the year was over. Suddenly he was bumped from behind.
"So….you're a Jackie fan too, eh?" A familiar voice spoke from behind.
Eric turned and was totally surprised to see Steven Hyde waving a ticket in front of his face. "I do get out of Grooves once in a while." He shuffled his booted foot in the snow, "Besides, I heard the soundtrack to this movie was pretty good."
Eric didn't know what to say. He was caught ogling a poster of Jackie Burkhart and the worst part of it was to be caught by her ex-boyfriend. Eric stammered, "Uh…yeah….Fez told me she was in Cabo for this one."
Hyde nodded his head, "She's a good actress. I'm mainly here for this movie. So...you don't mind if I don't sit next to you right? I'm kicking it in the back row with my boots on the seat if you know what I mean."
Eric almost breathed a sigh of relief, "No, I'm sitting in the middle – you can have the back."
Something unspoken passed between the two men and for once Eric didn't have to worry about WWDD.
He was on his own and it was liberating!
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