“Jane, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Your brother will be there…”
“No, he won’t,” she cut me off. “I know for a fact that he’s working this weekend and I won’t tell him that you’re coming. Will you please come?”
I did want to spend some time with Jane, as she was my last link to Jake. It was wrong of me to do this, but if Jake wouldn’t listen to me, I wanted to at least tell Jane everything that was in my heart.
“Are you still there, Emily?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Jane, I’ll go if you promise not to tell your brother that I’ll be there, not that he’ll care. As soon as I get home, I’ll buy a ticket.”
“Don’t be silly. This is the ticket my dad purchased for you back when you first said you’d visit. It’s yours. Only caveat, it’s a red-eye early Friday morning.”
“All right, I’ll see you in a couple of days. Bye.”
Excited to see Jane and to get some of this grief off my chest, my mind raced throughout the night wondering what to say first. I know I promised to be strong, and I had been. I hadn’t cried…much; nor wallowed in my sorrows…much; nor looked for texts that never came…much. But, I needed to vent. I’d ignored my hurt and frustration too long. Jane would be my shoulder to cry on this weekend and afterward I would start the healing process. If Jake had closed me out of his life, I needed closure as well.
Authoring one last text to Jake, I promised myself not to bother him anymore. Obviously he was either irritated by me, ignoring me, or wasn’t receiving my texts because he changed his number to get away from the stalker who was me. It was probably all of the above.
Hi, Jake. I spoke with Jane a few days ago and she told me you said we were no longer seeing each other. I don’t know why it never occurred to me you didn’t want to be with me anymore. I sent all those texts thinking you still cared for me. I understand, and I don’t blame you. I’m sorry I’ve continually bothered you. This will be my final text. I want to say I’m sorry one last time and ask you to forgive me. You have been nothing but kind and loving, and I’ve only returned it with pain and uncertainty. I want you to know you are the only man I love. I wish I had figured this out sooner. Be well.
Pain burned in my chest while writing this last text. I sobbed uncontrollably and went into hysterics. It hurt knowing that Jake could let go of me so quickly. Nervously twirling the eternity band around my finger, reality set in that the ring needed to come off. We would not love each other eternally. I guess I didn’t mean as much to him as I’d believed. We had both hurt each other badly.
Chapter 12 The End
With no one left to text, my cell phone stayed at home and I boarded the plane bound for JFK. Although my seat was more than comfortable, I couldn’t sleep. Part giddy, part scared to see Jane, it was anyone’s guess what Jane’s reaction would be once she found out about the love triangle that should never have been. Our friendship, our promised sisterhood, was all in jeopardy.
I landed in JFK early Friday morning and found myself in familiar territory, as Jane had sent a car to pick me up. Of course, only a Reid would be so considerate and generous. The driver dropped me off at a beautiful old building in Soho. Jane lived in a two-bedroom spacious apartment—spacious by New York standards. As soon as I arrived, Jane took my bags to the guest room, sat on the sofa, and grilled me about past events. Neither my grogginess from the plane ride nor the nausea from lack of food mattered. She needed to hear my story.
“Emily, my mom and I are going bonkers trying to figure out what happened between you and Jake. He’s hardly ever home anymore, and when he is, he will not say a word to Mom. Can you please fill in all the blanks? Please?”
At first I thought it was just curiosity, but I soon realized that Jane and Sandy were desperate to understand Jake. I felt obliged to tell her everything.
“Oh, Jane. Where do I begin?” The well broke immediately. Jane ran over with a box of Kleenex.
I started to babble incoherently. “During my trip to Vegas, my ex-boyfriend, Max, proposed to me. He was my college sweetheart, and I thought that we would get married after graduation. He, too, intended to marry me, but got cold feet on graduation day, and didn’t propose as expected. He broke my heart. I was broken for almost two years till I met your brother.
Apparently, Max had this engagement ring since graduation day, and he was tormented about breaking up with me. He decided during our road trip to propose and to try to win me back.”
Jane looked thoroughly confused.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.
“Let me backtrack a little. The morning we came back from Hawaii, before the road trip, your brother proposed to me in his car, on the way home. Did you know this?”
Jane’s mouth dropped, and for the first time, I saw her speechless.