Eternity

Joe hates me, I could feel it. And, if he didn’t hate me, he was at least furious with me. I looked over to the clock, which read 2:37 am, and I was starting to think of who would be up this late to talk to besides Jenn. I’m sure she’s had enough of my ranting for one night. As I sat up in my bed, my phone started to vibrate on my night stand. I looked at it and it read Jamie. I picked it up and breathed in before answering.

“Hey, what’re you doing up this late?” I asked.

“Can’t sleep, so I figured you were probably up and was gonna ask if you wanted to go for a drive. I really hate staying at mom’s house,” he sighed.

“Ugh, tell me about it. I’m in. I need to get out of this place as soon as you can get here.”

“Deal. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, see you then.”

I hung up the phone and leaned back against the headboard of my bed. I really needed to get out of this apartment, and I was relieved when I saw Jamie’s name come up on my phone.

In the next fifteen minutes, I took my time to brush my teeth and get my sneakers. I was still wearing the clothes I had been wearing the day before and decided to change into my pajamas to be comfortable. There was a knock at my door a few minutes later and I heard the door open. I walked out into the living room to see a dark figure close the door. The lights were off and I flipped the switch to see my brother turn around.

“Do you often leave your door open at night?” He asked.

“What? It’s not locked? Jenn didn’t lock it? Wait until I get a hold of her.”

“I’m kidding. Joe was downstairs and he told me where the spare key was.”

I paused in the doorway of my bedroom. “Joe’s downstairs?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?”

“Well, what did he say? Is he still outside?”

“He didn’t say much and then he just left. Why? What’s going on?”

I sighed and grabbed my real keys as I walked into the hallway. Jamie followed behind me out to his car.

“Can you please tell me what’s happening here?” He asked and started the car. Before I could answer, he put the car in drive and pulled out of the spot to start heading down the street. There weren’t many cars out, being that it was the middle of the night, but there was a lot of construction right down the road that was lighting up the whole block.

“Joe and I had a fight.”

“Ah, first real fight as a couple, right? How’d it go?”

“Yeah, you could say that. And how do you think it went? If it wasn’t so bad, he wouldn’t still be sitting outside at two-forty in the morning now, would he?”

“You know what I mean, Alexa. I just wanna know what happened to start this fight. Is it so bad to ask a simple little question like that?”

I pursed my lips together and scrunched my eyebrows. I might as well tell him what’s happening. Jamie was always second to Jenn when it came to having to talk to someone. I always cherished that relationship between the two of us…sometimes.

“Ugh, fine. I kind of ran into Erik at the hospital the day after Joe’s car accident and things just sort of went down hill from there.”

“Erik? That tool you were dating? Didn’t you get a restraining order on him?”

“Yeah, of course, but the problem there is that Erik was in the accident with him, and Joe just had to make sure he was okay. But, at the same time, Joe had no clue that Erik was in the accident with him and sent me to check up on him, and that’s pretty much how this all happened.” I drew in a long breath after explaining the main points in just one breath.

“Wow, you talk as fast as mom,” Jamie shook his head and I narrowed my eyes at him. “But, besides that, I don’t understand why Joe is mad about that. I mean, unless he caught you making out with him or something, then I don’t think there’s much to be upset about.”

He flicked on his blinker to turn right and continued to look back and forth between myself and the road, waiting for an answer.

“Uh, you didn’t get caught making out with Erik, did you?”

“No, Jamie, I did not get caught making out with Erik! Are you kidding me?”

“Whaaaat?” He raised his arms in defense. “I was only asking. But, on a more serious note, what really happened between you and Erik when you saw him at the hospital?”

“He was saying some ridiculous thing about how I’m still in love with him and that Joe isn’t the one. And, when I was trying to tell Joe, I just couldn’t find a good way to tell him.”

“Well—,” Jamie dragged out the word.

“Well, what?” I looked over to him as he pulled up to a red light. “Are you implying that Erik may have been right?”

“No, but you never know. I mean, I remember how you first told me you thought Erik might be the one.”

“That’s different, Jamie, and that was over a year ago. It was also before I found out he liked to beat up on his girls. Before then, I thought we were perfect for each other.”

“That’s what I’m trying to get at, Alexa. You were in love with Erik at one point in your relationship,” he explained as he accelerated once the light turned green. “What makes you think you’re still not feeling a little something for him? Is it hard to believe you can be in love with two people at once?”

“Yes, I think it’s hard to believe that you can love two people at once.”

“Then tell me who you love.”

“You know I love Er—,” I stopped and quickly covered my mouth. I could see Jamie looking back and forth between myself and the road again. He heard that; I actually said that out loud. “No, I—.”

“Well that was not at all what I was expecting to hear from you.”

“I can’t believe I almost said that,” I choked and felt my eye well up with tears.

“Okay, then. I think it’s time to stock up on ice cream and talk it out. What do you say?”

I didn’t say anything, but instead sat there with my hands over my face. Jamie didn’t say anything else until he pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store. I only nodded my head when he offered to get me two cartons of cookies n’ cream ice cream. He came back to the car and placed the bag on my lap.

“Spoons, ice cream, and we’re off to the park, just like we used to do when we were kids,” Jamie said and drove off again. Jenn would have never thought of this, and I was happy to have Jamie be there for me.

Okay, so it might be possible to still have feelings for Erik, but I knew deep down that Joe was the one I truly loved. When was this nightmare going to end? I needed to talk to Joe.