Look Closer

"Chelley," Jack said, dragging out the end of her name. A smile broke through the hard look he'd taken on and he pulled the petite girl into a hug. She hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around his waist. When he planted a kiss on the top of her head, she pulled out of the embrace.

"Jack," she said.

He nodded. "I know, I know. Just friends. I got it Chelle," he said and quickly changed the subject. "Let's go inside so you can get some sleep. The only thing is, if I bring you inside, you have to officially meet my mom. It's kind of a rule."

"Sure," Chelley said. "But nothing awkward, right? I mean, you're not going to introduce me as your wife or Alex's ex or anything along those lines, right?" she asked.

A laugh escaped Jack. "Of course not. But my mom knows, you know. I mean, she knows the whole deal," he said.

She sighed. "Great. Just freakin' great," she mumbled. "You people are all way too close to your families," she said.

Jack laughed again but made a mental note to ask about her family another time. "Don't worry, Chelley. My mom's great. And I'm not just saying that because she's my mom. Everyone loves her," he said. "And she thinks we're too young to be married, for the record. So she's on your side."

With that, he turned and pulled open the screen and then pushed open the front door and made his way inside. Chelley followed quietly, fidgeting as they walked through the house and into the kitchen where four people were sitting around the table. The smell of breakfast filled the room and she instantly felt awful. With a sigh, she nudged Jack but he didn't acknowledge it.

His mom looked up from her plate and turned her attention to the two of them. Jack grinned widely at her and she smiled back, waiting for the introduction.

"Mom, this is Chelley," he said and then looked at Chelley. "Chelley, this is my mom, Ellen. Everyone calls her Mom or Mama Barakat. Also, my dad, Dave and my sister and her boyfriend."

Ellen smiled warmly at Chelley. "It's nice to meet you, finally, Chelley," she said.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Barakat," she said. "And I'm so sorry. I didn't mean interrupt your family breakfast. I just..."

"Don't worry," Ellen cut her off. "Would you like to join us? There's plenty of food," she said.

Chelley glanced up at Jack quickly and he caught the look she was giving him. "Um, actually, Chelle had a long night, Mom. So I was just going to take her upstairs so she could get a little bit of sleep," he said.

"Of course. Sleep well, Chelley," she said.

"Thank you," Chelley responded politely as Jack took hold of her arm and began to walk back in the direction they had come from.

Before they got far, Ellen called out to her son. "Jack," she said, giving him a look, "Take her to guest room."

"Yes, Mom," he said.

"And you leave that door open while you're in there with her," she said. Jack didn't respond and continued toward the staircase. "Jack," she said sternly.

He rolled his eyes and waved his hand through the air to let her know he'd heard. "Yeah, Mom. I got it," he said.

As they walked through the house, Jack gave a brief tour, pointing out what room belonged to each person and explaining certain pictures that hung on the walls. Chelley smiled at the pictures of him as a child and laughed at the quick stories he told about his siblings and their youth.

He stopped outside a closed door. "And finally," he said, " The dreaded guest room."

Chelley giggled as he pushed open the door. He stretched out his arm and stood against the door so she could walk in and he followed, closing the door behind them.

"Your mom said..." Chelley began, but he cut her off.

"It's fine," he said. "Obviously we're not going to do anything. She's just being a mom." Chelley nodded and remained quiet. After a moment of obvious hesitation, he spoke again. "I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm glad you came," he said.

"I really don't want to impose, Jack," she said. "I can go find a motel or something. Or just go back home. It's really not a big deal."

Jack shook his head. "There's no imposition. I offered to let you stay. And I just said that I'm glad you're here. You had a really long night, and trust me, I understand that. So quit over thinking things and just get some sleep," he said.

She sighed quietly. "Alright," she said. Jack smiled at her and then turned on his heel and reached for the door. "And Jack," she said quietly.

"Yeah?" he said, looking at her over his shoulder.

"Thank you," she said.

A look of confusion played across his face. "For what?" he asked.

She smiled sleepily at him. "For being really great, as always," she said.

"Get some rest, Chelle," he said with a smile and disappeared into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him.

He made his way back downstairs to the kitchen where his family was still eating breakfast. Jack reclaimed his seat next to his mother and picked up where he'd left off on his breakfast. He could feel a pair of eyes on him and without even looking up, he knew who they belonged to.

"What, Mom?" he asked.

Without dancing around the subject, she asked, "What brings your wife here?"

Jack sighed and looked at his mother. "Don't do that, Mom. You know she and I are just friends, despite what that stupid piece of paper says," he replied.

"You want to explain why you're still wearing that cheap ring then?" she asked.

He sighed again. "I can't believe you were just fake nice to her, of all people. She's a really nice girl. And she's my friend. So what if I like her. And who cares if I want to wear this silly ring. None of this is the big deal you're making it into right now," he said.

Ellen raised her eyebrows at her son. "You didn't answer either of my questions," she said.

"I told you it's not a big deal," he said.

"That doesn't mean I don't still want an answer. I'm your mother," she said and Jack rolled his eye. "Don't roll your eyes at me again, young man."

He sighed. "I wear the ring because of the simple fact that Chelley and I are, in fact, married. It may not mean anything to her, or to anyone else. But we are. And until we are no longer married, I am going to honor the commitment we made, regardless of how intoxicated we both were," he explained.

"And when is that going to be?" she asked.

Jack shrugged. "We're working on it, Mom. She doesn't want to be married to me any more than you want her to be married to me," he said, his annoyance obvious in his tone.

Ellen nodded. "Well good," she said and Jack looked back down at his food and rolled his eyes so she couldn't see. "And why is she here?" she asked.

Though he tried hard, he couldn't hold back the grin that pulled at the corners of his mouth. So he answered with out looking up.

"She's starting to look at life, the world, everything in a different way," he said.