You Left Me to Remain With All Your Excuses for Everything

Jackie stormed into her apartment and dropped her purse on the ground with frustration and anger. Madison looked up from her place on the sofa with confusion. “What the fuck happened to you?” she asked as Jackie stomped into the kitchen.

“I lost my fucking job,” Jackie snapped and pulled out a wine cooler from the refrigerator. She opened the top and took a long drink. “Apparently, they can’t afford all of the employees they have, so the ones that have been around the lesser amount of time got fired.”

“I’m sorry honey, maybe you can go back to the bar?” Madison asked curiously. Jackie frowned.

“Yea, the bar,” she said with frustration.

“Well I mean…that is where you met Tyler,” Madison said in an attempt to make that idea seem a little better.

“Yea, Tyler, my married fucking douche bag of a boyfriend that only fucking comes around once a god damned week before he had to run off to his precious fucking wife!” Jackie snapped. Madison frowned. Usually she’d be happy to hear Jackie say that, but this time she knew it was only the anger and frustration talking.

“Why don’t you go take a bath baby, maybe you’ll feel better,” she suggested with a smile. Jackie sighed and finished her wine cooler quickly and took a deep breath. She opened the cupboard and pulled out a box of chocolates and walked to her bathroom. Madison laughed and turned back to the TV. The doorbell rang and she sighed as she got up off the sofa. She opened the door to see Josh standing there.

“No flowers and candy?” she mocked as she put her arms around him and kissed him.

“I think we’ve been together long enough now to where I don’t have to impress you,” he smiled. She gasped in a mocking way.

“You always have to impress me, buddy,” she said. “Come in.” He walked into the apartment and looked down at Jackie’s purse lying in the middle of the floor. He examined it for a minute when Madison nudged him to go to the sofa. “She got upset a little bit ago,” she said as she picked up the purse and hung it on the door knob on the front door.

“Did Tyler blow her off for his wife again?” Josh asked curiously and sat on the arm rest of the sofa. Madison sighed.

“No, she lost her job. But, when I brought up her oh so wonderful lover, she got pretty pissed off. She went into the bathroom with a box of candy about ten seconds before you got here,” she explained and pushed him back so that he was lying on his back on the sofa. She lay on top of him then and kissed him. “She’ll be fine.”

“If she needs a job, I’ll pay her to dance on stage with us when we play…it’d be an easy job…she’d just have to dance provocatively all over me,” Josh grinned. Madison looked at him with narrow eyes.

“Not going to happen, pig,” she said. He laughed out loud.

“Oh please Madison, if you told her that she could do that she’d probably throw up on the spot, since she obviously has no taste in men,” he said. Madison laughed.

“Exactly…because you’re so good looking and all,” she said sarcastically. He frowned and she laughed. “Don’t be such a baby!”

“Well, I’m feeling insulted here,” he said as he ran his hands down her back and then back up under the black t-shirt she was wearing. She smiled a little bit as he started to unhook her bra. “I think you’re going to have to make it up to me,” he said. She laughed.

“How?”

“I just hope you’re prepared for the amazing favor you are going to give me,” he smiled.

“Not on the sofa, Jackie will kill us both,” Madison said.

“She probably fucks Tyler on the kitchen table,”

“Well, I haven’t seen it yet, so that point is irrelevant,” Madison said seriously. Josh sighed.

“Fine fine, take me to your love chamber then,” he winked. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

“You disgust me,” she laughed and got up off the sofa and pulled him towards her bedroom.

“Obviously not too much,” he said as she closed the door.

Jackie lay in her bathtub surrounded by bubbles with a few candles lit. She was trying with all her strength to relax and let the hot water make her muscles loosen. She’d had such a horrible day. She put a piece of candy into her mouth and sighed as the chocolate began to melt on her tongue. Her cell phone beeped and she whined with annoyance as she reached for it and looked at it.

New Text Message: Tyler

“What the fuck does he want?!” she snapped to herself as she opened the phone to read the message.

Hey babe, what’s going on? it read. She sighed and thought about ignoring him, but then at the same time she knew he would probably find some way to make her feel better and worse all at the same time.

Taking a bath, you? she sent back and closed her eyes as she set her cell phone back on the little table next to the bath tub. It beeped again within seconds.

A bath huh? ;)

Don’t be disgusting Tyler, I had a shitty fucking day!!! she typed and sighed. So much for relaxing.

What happened baby?

I lost my job. They laid me off.

Oh shit, I’m sorry baby : ( he sent back. She sighed again and thought about what to say to him. She didn’t know if he was texting her to set up a date, or if he was texting her just to talk. He usually only texted when his wife was around. She could faintly hear Madison and Josh and she groaned.

“Why is she getting laid while I’m in here talking to my unavailable boyfriend?” she asked herself. I guess I’ll be alright. she typed back on her cell phone and sent to Tyler.

Do you need anything, you know, money or anything? he asked. She looked at that message for a long time before she could think of anything to say to him.

I have to pay my phone bill, and my share of our rent. My last check should cover rent, but I’m not sure about the phone bill

how much is it?

$150

Not a problem he sent. She looked at that one for a long time too. She wasn’t sure she felt comfortable asking him for money, although she’d never straight out asked.

You don’t have to pay my phone bill, Tyler

I’m choosing too.

Why?

What do you mean why? Because I want to

Won’t Christine notice $150 missing from your account?

Christine doesn’t have any control over my personal bank account.

You don’t have a like…joint account?

We do, but I have a personal one as well. She sighed, she clearly wasn’t going to win this argument and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted too. She did need to pay that phone bill.

I just hate to ask you for that…you know… she sent and took a deep breath. There was a long pause before he messaged her back.

I offered, you didn’t ask he said. She groaned and looked at the bubbles in her bath tub and put another piece of candy in her mouth. She felt so awkward having this conversation with him.

Is Christine with you? Or can I call you? she sent. There was another long pause.

She’s here, but I can go into another room he sent finally. As she read the message the phone started to ring. Call from :Tyler it read. She sighed and hit send and put the phone to her ear.

“Hey,” she said gently.

“Hey babe, I can’t talk long…” he said.

“I didn’t figure,” she sighed. “I really don’t feel comfortable asking you for money, Tyler,” she said.

“Jackie, I’m not taking no for an answer, so just suck it up and take the money,” he said. She laughed a little bit at the joke in his voice. “I miss you,” he said after a minute. His voice was quiet and she felt as if she was bothering his time with his wife.

“I miss you too,” she said gently.

“You’ve got me thinking about you in that bath tub,” he said. Jackie rolled her eyes and laughed a little bit and moved the water around so he could hear it sloshing.

“Suffer,” she said. He laughed.

“You’re going to make me aren’t you?”

“Indeed I am.”

“I think you could do better than sloshing water around though, babe,” he said.

“I’d send pictures, but you’d probably like that,” she said with laughter in her voice. She could almost see his frown.

“I might not,” he insisted. She laughed out loud then and shook her head a little bit. “I mean, I’m not too sure I like things I can’t have just yet.”

“You poor thing,” she said in a mocking tone as she ate another piece of chocolate.

“I gotta go baby, I’ll call you in a bit,” he said quickly and hung up before she could even say goodbye. She looked at the phone with shock and sadness as it flashed the minute counter back at her. She tried to push away her tears as they rushed up her throat. It wasn’t the first time he’d hung up on her out of nowhere because of Christine. She took a picture of herself in the bathtub then and sent it to him. She knew better than to think he’d let Christine see it. He was apparently good at keeping things from his wife.

Not funny Jackie :-( he sent. She laughed a little bit.

I thought it was. When are you going to come and get some of it?

Soon, now I have to go. I’ll call you later babe, I love you he sent. She put her phone back on the table then and finished her bath quickly. She missed him.

Tyler looked at the picture on his phone for some time before Christine came into the room and he clicked it off and put the phone in his pocket quickly. She looked at him with some suspicion and he smiled at her slightly. “Hey honey,” he said. She looked at him and smiled back.

“Hey,” she said and sat on his lap. “Who were you talking too?” she asked.

“Just some people at the record company,” he said. She nodded. She wasn’t sure she believed him, but she didn’t want to think that anything was going on. She wanted to trust him, she had trusted him for a long time, and she hated that now all of a sudden there were moments where she questioned that trust.

“How did that go?”

“It went well enough,” he said and kissed her lips. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I’m glad,” she said. She stood up then and straightened her clothing out and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “I’m going to work out okay. After that we’re going out for dinner.”

“Sounds good,” he smiled. She smiled back and kissed him quick before she walked out of the room he was in. He sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket again and looked at the picture Jackie had sent him. She’d taken it from above her head so she was looking up at the camera. All that was really visible were her breasts as the water and bubbles covered her from her waist down. One of her knees poked out of the water. He saved the picture, despite the risk of Christine finding it.

He sighed and thought about the conversation with Jackie. Over the last nearly year he was wondering more and more how he really felt about her. He did love her, and a part of him knew he loved her more than he wanted to admit. But he couldn’t love her the way she wanted him too. He’d loved Christine for longer, and for some time he’d loved her with stronger passion then he loved Jackie, but now he wasn’t sure anymore how he felt. He knew that it was getting to be a time where he had to let one of them go, because sooner than later Christine was going to find out about the affair, and then there wouldn’t be any decision left to make.