Chapter 58 (10/20/16)

“Well, well, it’s little Jenna,” Jacob said, flashing me a dazzling smile.  “Give me a hug.”

I hugged him back as I struggled for something to say.  Jacob was a former friend of Kevin.  They actually weren’t friends anymore because of me; Jacob had always had a bit of a thing for me and Kevin got too irritated at his inability to not be overly friendly to me. 

“Hi, Jacob,” I replied, my face still pressed into his chest. 

When he let me go, a slow smile crossed his face.  “Can I buy you a drink?”  

I glanced at my nearly empty glass and nodded.  He grabbed my hand and I trailed him to the bar.  When we got there, he introduced me to his friend Ron.  I ordered my drink and narrowed my eyes.  “What are you even doing here?” I asked him.  The last I’d heard he’d moved to St. Paul. 

“I’m so happy to see you too,” he replied with a laugh.  “Just back visiting some friends.  But that’s enough about me.  I heard through the grapevine that you’re a single lady.”

“Well…” I said.  I wasn’t sure how to answer that.  Was Ryan my boyfriend?  We hadn’t yet had that conversation, but I’d hardly consider myself single.  I didn’t think Ryan would consider me single either.

“Well?” he repeated, as the bartender returned with my drink.  “You’re not married anymore, right?”

“Right,” I replied. 

“So you’re seeing someone,” he said.

“Yes,” I agreed.  That seemed like a fair assessment. 

“But it can’t be too serious, or you would have just said no, you aren’t single.”

I frowned.  “I’m not single,” I replied firmly. 

He grinned at me.  “Alright,” he said.  “Well, congratulations on your divorce from that asshole, in any case.”

“Thanks, I think,” I responded, rolling my eyes. 

I glanced back towards the table.  I saw Grace making her way through the crowd towards the bar.  I waved at her, and she slipped between people and came over.  She looked at Jacob and Ron and said, “If they want to come sit with us, we can pull a couple chairs up.”

“We’d love to,” Jacob said before I could say anything.  “Ron?”

“Sure,” Ron said.  “Let me get another drink.”  He drained his drink and he ordered another.  He offered to buy one for Grace but she politely declined and ordered her own.  Ron eyed her up lecherously and I gave Jacob a hard look.  He shrugged like “nothing I can do,” and I pursed my lips. 

As we walked over to our table, I did notice him lean towards Ron and say something quietly.  Ron rolled his eyes but nodded, and he was nothing but polite to Grace after that.  Once back at the table, I surreptitiously checked my phone again.  This time, when I saw no response from Ryan, I googled what time it was where he was in France and discovered it was only 5am there.  I shoved my phone back in my purse, feeling silly for being so impatient for his response when it was so early in the morning there.

“So where’s the man tonight?” Jacob asked me.

“France,” I replied.  “For work.”

“What’s he do that takes him to France?” he asked curiously.

“International project management,” I said.  “I have no idea what that actually means, but that’s what he does!”

He regarded me carefully.  “Are you happy?”

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.  “Very happy.”  And it was true. 

“Good,” he replied sincerely.  “I’m glad to hear that, Jenna.” 

Jacob and Ron hung out at our table for about an hour, and during that time, I had 3 drinks.  Jacob bought all 3, even though I made it very clear he wasn’t getting anything in return.  “Let me just buy a beautiful woman a couple drinks, would you?” he replied, rolling his eyes.  “I’m not looking for anything from you.  I absolutely would be if you were 100% single, but you’re not, so I’m just being nice.”  Not interested in turning down free drinks, I took them.  And by the time Jacob and Ron wandered away, I was feeling pretty wobbly.  A few more drinks over the rest of the night, and I had completely forgotten my impatience to hear back from Ryan.

I woke up in the morning in a strange bed.  I panicked slightly as I rolled over, trying to figure out where the hell I was.  My heart sank as I wondered what I’d done.  I was slightly relieved to find I was the only one in the bed, at least.  The pounding in my head wasn’t helping anything.

As soon as I stepped out of the unfamiliar bedroom, I sighed in relief.  I knew exactly where I was then: Grace’s house.  I heard voices from the kitchen so I stumbled in that direction.  Emma and Grace were sitting at the kitchen table and I could smell coffee.  I plopped into a chair and groaned.

Without a word, Grace stood up and poured me a cup of coffee.  She put it in front of me and then brought me a glass of water too.  “Tylenol?” she offered.  I nodded miserably.  I cringed when I heard the cabinet bang shut.  I gratefully swallowed the pills offered by Grace. 

“Why am I here?” I asked.

“You guys were both so drunk I didn’t want to deal with getting you home to two different places,” Grace explained.  “So I just brought you here.”

“Makes sense,” I said.  “I don’t think I’ve ever been inside your guest room.  I was a little freaked out because I had no idea where I was until I came out of the room.  I’m glad it was here!”

For having been just as drunk as I had been the night before, Emma seemed just as fresh as Grace.  I was way too old to drink like that.  I took a deep breath and asked, “Did I do anything stupid last night?”

Grace and Emma both laughed, which made me nervous.  “No, not really,” Emma said.  “Unless you count falling off your chair and then falling again outside the bar.”

I groaned.  “Well, I guess it could have been worse.  That’s probably the best I could have hoped for!”  I paused and then asked, “Did I drunk call Ryan?” 

“No, but he called you,” Grace said.  “You missed the call and called him back and he didn’t answer.  You were sad, but you didn’t do anything stupid.”

“Thank god for small miracles,” I replied.  I spotted my purse on the counter and grabbed my phone out of it.  Ryan hadn’t called back.  I dropped the phone back into my purse and sat back down.  At the rate I was going, I wasn’t going to make it through the 10 more days Ryan would be gone.