Chapter 8
Meg was waiting for him in the kitchen. She had thought about the situation, for the past three days. She knew when she brought up the topic of marriage, Jeff was going to flip out, but she needed to know where they stood. Life with Jeff had had its ups and downs. She had grown to love his good moods and learned to deal with the bad ones.
She knew going in to the relationship would be hard. They didn't exactly meet on the most normal circumstances. This was a small town and she knew all about him. Jeff was the troubled, sexy wrestler so unlike his brother. He had his demons, and he didn't know how to control him. When he walked into the bar that night, he was already wasted; and she herself had drank a few too many. Meg still didn't know what about her had made him come up to her but they talked all night. He let out about all the pressure in his life. He talked about the job, his brother, and his girlfriend. The drinks kept pouring on, and Meg started to flirt with him. Ask drunk as she was, she still felt strange flirting with him as he talked about his girlfriend, and how he was so sure he was going to let her down. He talked about how she was shutting him out, and hiding parts of her life even though they had been together. He described her as frail and secretive and how he just wished she would let herself be free. On impulse she kissed him.
"What was that for?" He asked, his speech slurred.
"Maybe because you needed it." She said as she leaned in and kissed him again. This time he responded back. Meg found herself lost in the kiss. It was desperate and would have gone on longer had it not been for Matt grabbing Jeff.
"Hey, can I talk to you a second?" He said angrily.
"Not now, I'm kinda busy."He said with a laugh.
"I can see that, but I think you've had enough."
"I'll decide when I've had enough. Chill out, bro."
"Jeff, you're drunk and kissing a girl; who is not your girlfriend."
"I know. Look man, it's cool. Let's have another drink." He said turning his attention back to Meg.
"No more drinks Jeff. You'll thank me for it tomorrow, when you still have a girlfriend. Do you really want to do this to Jess?" Jeff thought about what his brother just said.
"She won't let me in." He said to his brother.
"So this is how you deal with it. Kissing someone else? You really think that is going to help her? Come on Jeff, let's go home."
"Okay." Jeff finally agreed. He stood up and almost fell down.
"Let me give you a hand." Meg offered.
"No." Matt said looking at her coldly. "Jeff I'm gonna pull the car closer, and then I'll be back to help you out." He nodded.
"I'm really sorry about this." Jeff said as Matt went for the car.
"It's no problem." Meg reassured him. "It was nice to meet you."
"You too."
Meg didn't know what came over her but she grabbed a napkin and wrote down her phone number. "Just in case you change your mind." She said. He took it and slipped it into his pocket. Matt came back and helped Jeff out of the bar. He did eventually call, two months later and the rest is history.
Meg was never very proud of how they hooked up. When they met up again, Jeff was in an even worse state of mind. One thing led to another, and they had sex. Meg knew that he was still involved with Jessica and never thought that she would play the role of the other woman. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Jessica would find out. When she did, she broke up with him and he was devastated. At first it hurt Meg because she realized that he just didn't love her the way he loved Jessica. For some reason, Meg stayed.
Now she's back. Meg had watched Smackdown the night before and she too witnessed the return of Jessica. She also saw the look in Jeff's eyes. She knew him well enough to see the aching that was there. She saw the look in Jessica's eyes as well. There was hope in there and Meg panicked. She called Jeff three times, but he did not call her back. Meg had to rethink her strategy or she was going to lose him, and she didn't think she could handle that. Her thoughts were distracted by the opening of the door.
"Hey," He said as he walked into the house. He placed his bag down on the ground and walked over to her. She gave him a hug; he felt distant.
"I'm sorry about the way I handled things." She said quickly.
"No. I'm sorry. Honey, I've known you've been thinking about getting married for awhile. I understand that." He paused for a minute. "It's not that I don't love you. I do, more than I can say, it's just I'm not ready to be married." Tears started to form in her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly wiping her eyes.
"Don't cry. I want you in my life. I need you. Eventually, I'll be ready, but it wouldn't be fair to you if I went into it not being ready." He leaned into her and kissed her. A wave of relief washed over her. He still wants her.
"What about Jessica?" She asked.
"What about her?"
"Where does she fit in all of this?"
"I work with her, and eventually I hope that we can be friends again. He said running his hands through his hair.
"Why didn't you tell me she was coming back?"
"I didn't know. Stephanie and Shane just threw that at us. I didn't know she was even there until I looked up and saw her slam Vicky. But honey, she doesn't affect us. Jess isn't looking for anything but to return to work and I only want you."
She hugged him satisfied with what he said. "I love you."
"I love you too," Jeff said and kissed her again. He had hoped that she couldn't read the doubts that were running through his mind.
"Hey, let's go out to eat, just us." Jeff said to her.
"Well I think we were supposed to have dinner with your Dad and Matt." She told him.
"They can wait. Right now I only want to spend time with you."
"Well there are some other things we can do right now." She said with a wicked grin, taking his hand and leading him to the bedroom. They made love. For Meg is was a way to reassure herself and Jeff that they were good but for Jeff, he felt that he was doing it to keep Meg in his life, and he was disgusted with himself. For the first time he really started to feel like Matt was right; he was just using her so that he wouldn't be alone.
He glanced at Meg after they had finished, she had fallen asleep. He had to get out of there. He wrote her a note saying that he went to go get them dinner, and drove to his father's house. Matt's car was there.
"Hey," He said walking in.
"How'd it go?" Matt asked as Jeff hugged his father.
"Surprisingly well" Jeff told them what he told her.
"Where is she now?" His dad asked.
"She's sleeping."
"At four o'clock in the afternoon?" Matt exclaimed then realizing what happened. "You're unbelievable. You tell a girl you don't want to marry her and you still get makeup sex."
"Hey some of us have got it." Jeff said trying to change the subject. "So what are you up to?"
"I'm gonna get together with Shannon and Shane. You guys want to meet up with us?"
"I'll check with Meg and see."
"All right. Give me a call. I'm gonna go home and change. Later Pop." Matt said and left.
"So," Jeff's dad started. "Everything with you and Meg are fine now?"
"Not really. I don't know."
"Seeing Jessica must have been strange."
"Strange isn't even the word. I mean thoughts of her were popping up as soon as they mentioned changing the story line and then all of the sudden, she was there. It was like I was dreaming. But now I don't know what to do. Seeing her, I know I don't feel the same way about Meg that I ever felt about her. And I don't know what to do about Jess. How come after all these years, she can still drive me crazy? I thought I was over her, that I had moved on, but all it took was one look and bam; everything's back."
"Well, son, all I can tell you is that maybe you should just focus on becoming friends again. Don't push her, give her time and see where it takes you. Remember she's been hurt, I think friendship is the most you can expect for right now."
"Yeah, I know. I can take friendship. I just want to be near her again." Jeff stayed with his father for a little longer and then headed back out. He quickly picked up some food and headed home.
