The Long And Winding Road
Notes: I don't own the show, the characters, etc. Thanks for the comments on the previous chapters.
Chapter 8 -- The Grand Illusion
Liberty and Patrick stood outside The Movie Difference waiting on Emma and JT to exit. Liberty was looking inside through the window.
"Here they come, Patrick."
"Are you ready?" he asked her.
"Yes, but it still doesn't seem right."
"It's for a good cause, Liberty. If it helps, just pretend you're in a play. You're simply portraying a character. It's not like you'll be acting like yourself anyway."
JT and Emma exited the building. Emma was looking down at her hands, remembering that one of them had been joined with one of JT's for a long period of time. She was disappointed that in spite of what happened inside, she didn't have the courage to tell JT what she felt, nor did he give her the impression that he was feeling anything extra toward her. At the same time, JT was having similar thoughts and feelings of regret; disappointment in not getting to speak his mind and a belief that she didn't have similar feelings toward him.
Both were determined not to reveal their unhappiness to one another and to make the best of this unwanted double date.
"Hey, you two!" Patrick greeted the pair.
"Hey, Pat," JT responded with a minimal amount of enthusiasm.
"Hi," Emma said with a similar lack of eagerness.
Patrick, as planned, leaned in to try to kiss Emma, but she backed up before he could.
"What do you think you're doing?" Emma demanded.
"Just trying to give my old lady a proper greeting," Patrick replied.
"Well this 'old lady' bites, so back off."
"I never knew you were so kinky, Emma. But save that until we're alone."
JT was unsettled by this encounter, but he decided to try and ignore whatever Patrick and Emma might do together that night.
"Hello, JT," Liberty said, interrupting his Emma–centered thoughts.
'Good,' JT thought, 'at least Liberty still seems normal.'
"Hi, Liberty. Oh, I left that paperwork back in the office. If you want to wait a moment I can go back in and…"
"Don't worry about it," she stopped him. "We can deal with papers later. Over dinner we can discuss everything in detail."
"That sounds good."
"Yes, JT, you can whisper your demands into my ear. You know that gets me hot."
"Sure, I can just…Huh?"
Liberty made sure she was standing close to JT.
"You can describe exactly how you'll lay me out," she told him. "Oops, guess I shouldn't tell all our secrets in public. Everyone, I misspoke. JT and I were really taking about how we're going to lay out the advertisement."
Liberty then winked at JT, who now had a confused expression on his face. Patrick then brought everything to order.
"Now that we've all said our Hellos, let's go. My car's right over there."
"Yes, Patrick. Let's," Liberty said.
Liberty started to take JT's hand but he yanked it away before she could grab it.
"You are NOT holding my hand, Liberty," he said sternly. "That's only for…"
The other three looked at him, so JT decided he'd better laugh off his reaction.
"Sorry," JT said with a forced smile. "But you know I try never to hold hands on the first date. I'm a real prude until you've bought me dinner and gotten me drunk."
Liberty and Patrick laughed while Emma was busy trying not to look unhappy. The foursome headed toward Patrick's car.
Meanwhile, Manny stood at the doorway of Craig's apartment.
"Come on in, Manny."
"Thanks," she said as she entered the room. "Is anyone else around?"
"You know I live alone," he reminded her.
"Yeah, but it IS Saturday night and – you being you – it wouldn't surprise me if…well, what I mean is…"
"Don't worry, Manny," Craig said, smiling. "I don't have a date tonight. There's nobody in the bedroom, and nobody's in here but me. The guys are coming over later to discuss some songs we're thinking about doing, but right now I'm working on writing some new music."
"I was afraid that if you weren't having company over, you might have a gig tonight. I was hoping to reach you before you left."
"No gig this time. Please. Sit."
They each found a chair and sat down.
"Photographer's assistant by day, musician by night; it's no wonder I hardly see you these days," Manny commented.
"It keeps me busy, that's for sure," Craig said. "But I'm learning a lot more this way than if I was stuck in some university all day. I need real experiences, the kind you don't get sitting in a classroom memorizing words from a bunch of dusty books."
"True, but I'm still looking forward to trying out college life next fall. After all, it wasn't that long ago I didn't think I'd get to go."
"Manny…"
"I'm okay," she said, trying to reassure herself as well as Craig. "Most of the time. A part of me hates losing the baby. But another part of me knows it just wasn't the right time to become a mother. That doesn't make me a horrible person, does it?"
"Absolutely not," Craig replied without hesitation. "Only human. We would have done a great job, Manny. But things weren't meant to work out that way. We did do one amazing thing, though."
"What's that?" she asked curiously.
"We actually went through the whole 'let's still be friends' cliché…and we really have stayed friends. How often does THAT happen?"
Manny smiled.
"But now we're getting way off track," he continued. "You said something about making a big mistake?"
"With JT," she said.
"Oh?"
Craig looked puzzled.
"What kind of mistake could…Manny…you're not…are you?"
"Not what?"
Manny thought for a moment. Then it hit her.
"CRAIG! Of course I'm not pregnant!"
"Okay, okay, take it easy. Just making sure."
"It took some doing," Manny explained, "but I finally got to talk to him alone for awhile yesterday, and we're good friends again."
"That's good, Manny. Where's the mistake?"
"Probably attached to his hip as we speak," she answered sarcastically.
"Huh?"
"Emma."
"Ah," Craig said, now understanding Manny's point. "Still giving you the death stare while being as polite as she can be?"
"On a good day. But JT is…"
"…hopelessly in love with her," Craig finished her sentence knowingly.
"He told you that?" she asked, surprised that Craig seemed to know the situation.
"Oh he won't admit it," Craig said. "But it's not tough to figure out. I get the feeling it's mutual, not that Emma will admit it any more than JT will."
"Craig, how did you find out all this?"
"When you hang out with JT, the trick is to wade through all the jokes and banter and figure out what's really going on by what he's not saying."
"Yes, he mentioned that you two have become friends."
"Yeah, he's a good guy."
"I know," Manny agreed. "I just never seem to know it at the right time. Hey, how come you never told me that the two of you were friends now?"
"You never asked," Craig said, smirking.
"Thanks a lot! Anyway, last night I tried to be a friend and I told him to be honest with Emma."
"Good advice, Manny."
"I thought so, too. I STILL think so. It was the mature thing to do, and it proved that he can rely on me as a friend."
"I'm still not seeing the problem," he said.
"I don't regret why I did it," she elaborated. "But today, I'm wishing I'd handled it completely different."
"And how's that?"
"I should have told him to forget all about Emma," she replied. "Then I'd have ripped his clothes off and done things with him that would make innocent little Emma blush for the next 10 years."
"Well…that definitely falls under the category of 'Things I Didn't Need To Know,'" Craig responded.
"And anyway, there's Emma to consider," Manny added.
"You're not also thinking about ripping HER clothes off and doing things, are you?"
"Craig, this is serious."
"Sorry."
"Anyway, I meant what I said to JT about wanting both of them back as my friends. JT's willing but it probably won't happen with Emma. At least not any time soon. But I also wish he wasn't so focused on her. He told me last night that he loves her. But I just know if we had one more chance together we'd get it right this time."
"So you came here to get me to help you stop JT and Emma from hooking up?" Craig asked.
"No. But you're the one friend that I know I can talk to about this."
"If you ask me, you had the right idea the first time."
"Thanks so much, Craig," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, do you want my take or not?"
"All right, go ahead."
"All three of you are my friends," Craig began, "so don't make it seem like I'm trying to take one side over another."
"Okay."
"Some things are meant to happen and some aren't, right?"
"Right," Manny agreed.
"You and JT. Friends? Yes. Couple? Never. Uh-uh. No way, no how. Emma and JT. Friends? Yes. Couple? Yes. Absolutely. No-brainer. They're the couple you root for and hope will work out. You two are the couple where you just hope that by the end there's no permanent damage."
"Hey!"
"It's like you've said, Manny…when he was interested, you weren't. All the times the two of you tried to be a couple, you were more interested in other people, me included. The times he's not paid any attention to you, you seek him out. Now he spends his time with someone who's right for him, where they could both be real good for each other, and you're getting scared.
"Take the friendship he's offering you and call it a day. If you decide to push for something more, I think you'll push him completely out of your life. This time for good."
"Well, THAT was sure helpful," she said sarcastically.
"Okay, if you really think you've got a case, go find him and take a chance. But you have to be ready for the worst case scenario."
"And if you were me?" she asked.
"You know me," Craig said, grinning. "Monogamy is just a word."
"Don't say that."
"Okay…it's just a word I can't spell."
Manny laughed at this.
"Seriously, Manny, I think you were right to advise JT and otherwise stay out of it. It makes sense that you're having second thoughts, but you should stick with your original plan. We BOTH know the trouble that comes from giving in to sudden impulses instead of sticking with what we know is the right thing to do."
"I know," Manny understood. "You're right."
Craig smiled.
"Shut up," she added.
"I didn't say a thing," Craig said, now laughing.
"But you were thinking. Gloating. I can tell."
"Maybe an 'I told you so' for good measure…Have you eaten anything?"
"No."
"Come on in the kitchen," he offered. "I'll get you some food. I've still got some leftover spaghetti."
They stood up and started to walk toward the kitchen.
"I really do want JT to be happy, Craig."
"I know. Of course now you're giving him advice, so he's bound to be miserable."
"You're terrible," Manny said, rolling her eyes.
"We both are, Manny. Why do you think we get along so well?"
"Less talking, more food serving."
Elsewhere, Patrick's car pulled into a restaurant parking lot. Emma was sitting beside Patrick in front while Liberty and JT sat in the back.
"I've never been here before," Patrick explained, "but I've heard good things about it."
"I'm sure it will be wonderful," Liberty said. "Perfect for a first date. Won't it, JT?"
"Huh? Oh, sure. Perfect."
While JT was forcing himself to sound enthusiastic, Emma looked out the window at the restaurant sign. She then looked over at her date.
"You've got to be kidding, Patrick."
"What's that, Emma?"
"You're taking us to a place called 'Steak & Stuff?'"
"Catchy name, don't you think?"
JT looked up at Emma wishing he could ease her mind, but he wanted to maintain an act of disinterest.
"You shouldn't complain so much, Emma," JT said. "He could have selected 'Beaks & Bits' or 'Gizzards R Us' but instead he chose one of the area's swankier joints. You should be impressed."
"Oh JT," Liberty started, inching closer toward him, "you DO say the funniest things. I only hope you don't allow Emma's mood to spoil our evening."
"Mood?" JT asked.
"Don't worry folks," Patrick said. "Emma will be fine. Won't you, darling?"
"Did you just call me 'darling?'" Emma asked, clearly displeased.
"JT, you know how emotional women can get sometimes," Patrick remarked, hoping to further rile Emma. "Even when they're happy. It's in their nature."
"Um, It is?" JT asked, confused.
"Patrick, what are you saying?" Emma grew both perplexed and annoyed by Patrick's behavior.
"He's right, JT," Liberty said, playing along to Patrick's lead. "Us women can be so silly sometimes. I'm amazed you all put up with us."
"Liberty?" Emma no longer knew what to make of this.
"Oookay," was all JT could say. He didn't realize that Emma was just as puzzled as he was. He then decided to try and change the subject. "So, Pat, you say you've heard good things about this place?"
"Some of the best steaks in the city."
"There's just one problem," Emma stated.
"Emma has a problem?" Liberty questioned in a sarcastic tone. "There's a surprise."
"Liberty!" JT called out.
"I don't eat steak, Patrick," Emma stated.
"Well I know you're not a vegetarian because I've seen you eat chicken," Patrick countered. "Guys, Emma may say she protects animals but from what I've seen at Ryan's, she can wolf down a piece of chicken in no time flat."
"Maybe she's a vegetarian who's just not very good at it," Liberty suggested. "She's a blonde, you know, so you have to make allowances for such people."
"Yes, I now eat chicken on occasion," Emma explained. "And yes, because of this I'm no longer claiming to be a vegetarian. Especially not one in the strictest of terms. But I'm still not a beef eater. And I certainly never pictured myself eating at a restaurant whose sign near the street includes a picture of a cow smiling while standing on a plate over an open fire."
"Look, Pat," JT interrupted, "if she's that uncomfortable…"
As JT tried to mediate, Emma decided she'd better put up with the restaurant so it won't appear like she wants JT's assistance and attention, of which she noticed he'd oddly shown very little since the double date began. Emma determined that maybe JT really did want to make things work with Liberty, or at least anyone but Emma, especially after their apparently unwanted surprise handholding during the movie.
"JT, I don't need you trying to speak for me," Emma declared. "I'm sorry, Patrick. I shouldn't have gotten so upset. You've obviously gone to a lot of trouble and if you think this is the best place for us all to be tonight…I'm sure I can find something on the menu I'll like."
"I don't understand anything that's going on tonight," JT said.
Liberty, as part of her effort to intentionally annoy JT, then put her hand on his knee.
"Aww, you're so cute when you get flustered," she told him.
"Liberty, are they spiking the drinks at the chess club meetings these days?" JT asked.
"What are we waiting for?" Patrick asked. "Let's go on in."
As they got out of the car and walked toward the entrance to the restaurant, JT wondered why Emma gave in so easily when she'd normally put up a fierce argument against eating someplace where she didn't want to be. JT determined that maybe he's been wrong and Emma really did want to try starting a relationship with Pat.
"So Liberty," JT started, making sure Emma could overhear him, "YOU don't have a problem with enjoying a good steak, do you?"
Liberty linked arms with JT as they walked through the front door – much to his displeasure.
"JT, as long as we're together, we could eat rats out of a dumpster and if that's what you wanted I'd be just as happy as if we were in a four-star restaurant."
Shocked, JT began to wonder if Liberty had completely lost her mind.
"Right…Okay, that's…strange, Liberty…Yeah, well…Let's…have fun."
Next Chapter – The Dinner Hour