Believe Me, I'm Lying

Jack has never been one who ever needed to watch what he was buying. But now, with no job, a boyfriend who works at a coffee shop, and a four year old to take care of, he finds himself standing in the middle of the fourth aisle in the supermarket, trying to figure out the cheapest box of pasta he can find. He has a coupon for one brand, but he’s not sure if it’ll be cheaper to buy that one or the one that’s on sale.

“Daddy gets that one,” Devyn says, leaning forward in Jack’s arms and pointing the box on the top shelf. “The one with the skinny noodles.”

“Okay,” Jack nods, reaching up and taking the box off the shelf. It’s the one he has the coupon for so everything works out nicely.

Before pushing the cart down the aisle again, Jack puts Devyn in the children’s seat because honestly, he’s getting too heavy to carry around all the time. He’s turning five in a few weeks. Jack can’t believe that he’s known him for almost six months already.

“What kind of cereal should we get baby boy,” Jack mumbles, looking up at the variety of cereal boxes on the shelves. “Cheerios? Or maybe Life?”

“I like Lucky Charms.”

“Well that’s full of sugar so I’m going to say no. Take your pick. Life or Cheerios?”

“But I want Lucky Charms!” Devyn whines, his tiny arms crossing across his chest as he pouts. “I only like Lucky Charms.”

“Well that’s too bad because I said no to Lucky Charms.” Jack grabs a box of Cheerios off the shelf and tosses it into the cart, pushing it further down the aisle and ignoring Devyn’s continuous pouting. It’s when he gets to the frozen food that things take a turn for the worse. He sees her contemplating the selections of Weight Watcher meals and he has half a mind to turn around and go the other way. He and Ashley definitely did not end on good terms.

She doesn’t look as bad as he thought she might. He was expecting her to be a mess after the whole…tragic end to their engagement. But she’s standing there in heels, skinny jeans and one of her expensive jackets. Her blonde hair lands in soft curls down her back and yeah. She looks as great as she always does.

She sees him before he can think of an escape plan. Her eyes widen as she says softly, “Jack?”

Jack “Um. Yeah. Hi Ashley.”

They’re not standing too far apart now and Jack doesn’t feel as uncomfortable as he thought he would under her gaze.

“I…Wow. Um. I wasn’t expecting to see you. But…How are you?”

Jack shrugs, glancing down at Devyn in the shopping cart. The four year old has his arms covering his eyes, throwing a silent temper tantrum. “I’m okay. Getting by.”

“That’s…that’s good. You’re… still with Alex, I’m assuming…”

“Yeah…” Jack pauses, not sure if he wants to go into detail about everything or if he should keep it all to himself. But Ashley and him…they used to be sort of close. She was a good listener when they were together and she always knew what to say to make him feel a little bit better. “We’re in a custody battle for his son right now. Things aren’t going too well, to be honest…”

Ashley’s eyes land on Devyn and they instantly soften. “His mother’s trying to take him?”

Jack nods. “She wants full custody and she’s trying to make it seem like Alex isn’t fit to take care of him. And I…I lost my job so now I’m making them look bad and-”

“You lost your job?” Ashley gasps, “Why? How?”

“You know how much influence my dad has over people, Ash…It’s been two weeks and I’ve been applying to schools in the area who need teachers but nobody’s called me back yet.”

Ashley nods, biting her lip. “Right…”

It’s silent between them. It’s kind of awkward but at the same time it’s kind of not. Jack can’t explain it properly. He glances down at Devyn who’s now looking at Ashley with a curious look. He’s met her before, in this exact store actually, but Jack’s sure he doesn’t remember.

“Ashley…Look, I’m really sorry about how everything ended between us. I shouldn’t have put you through all of that…I was selfish and afraid of losing everything and-”

“You really hurt me, Jack,” she says quietly, interrupting him. She taps her fingernails on the handle of the shopping cart, biting harder on her lip. “I loved you. You know I did.”

“I…I’m sorry I pretended to feel the same.”

“Stop apologizing, Jack. It’s over. And are you really sorry about how everything turned out?” She smiles slightly, looks down at Devyn as she says, “You have what you want, now. And I really hope you don’t screw it up this time.” She laughs then, showing him that she’s joking – sort of.

“I’m going to try not to,” Jack responds, ruffling Devyn’s hair. “Finding a job will be the deciding factor, I think.”

She nods again and pushes her cart forward a bit, signaling that she’s ready to finish this conversation. “I have a friend who might be able to help you out. I’ll call you after I talk to her. But I can’t make any promises.”

-&-

Since Alex has class tonight, and Jack is going to head over to the shopping outlets and apply for jobs at a few random stores, Zack is over to watch Devyn. He brought over McDonalds so that nobody would have to make dinner.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” He asks while Jack is standing in front of the hallway mirror, adjusting button up shirt. “Alex said the social worker is coming at nine.”

“Well…Yeah. I mean, she’s going to want to talk about the fact that I have no job and she’ll probably tell me that’s not acceptable and I should probably find one by the time she finishes interviewing Nicole’s boyfriend and talks to Devyn. Which is in three days. So. Yeah, I’m pretty nervous.”

“Everything’s gonna be fine,” Zack assures him, “I know you’ll find a job soon. Rian’s been looking for you and talking to friends. So far he hasn’t had any luck but I know he’s still trying.”

Jack grins, “Well I appreciate that. Especially since he isn’t my biggest fan.”

“He likes you now, Jack. You’ve proven to him that you’re in this for the long run. I know he hasn’t properly told you that but he’s sort of got way too much pride for that.”

“That’s okay. As long as he doesn’t try to kill me in my sleep, I’m good.”

Jack brushes his hands over his jeans, wiping away any dust or dirt or anything that might have gotten on them since he left his bedroom. He then walks over to Devyn who’s sitting at the kitchen table, munching happily on chicken nuggets.

“You’re gonna hang out with Zack tonight, okay Dev? I’ll be back soon and so will Daddy. You be good for him, okay?”

Devyn nods, holding up a french fry for Jack but Jack just laughs and shakes his head, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Devyn’s.

“Good luck, Jack!” Zack shouts just before the door closes and Jack suddenly feels nauseous. If he doesn’t find a job by tomorrow morning, he’s screwed.

-&-

He applies to three stores – all of them retail stores that are hiring cashiers. He stresses how badly he needs a job but nobody he talks to really seems to care. They just tell him they’ll get back to him within a few days and that’s that. No sympathy, no nothing. He’s not sure why he expected otherwise – why should they care? But he was hoping for maybe just a little bit of luck. He hasn’t had very much of it lately.

It’s nearly six o’clock when he gets back into his car. His phone is sitting in the passenger’s seat, buzzing angrily. He sighs, assuming it’s Alex calling. He’s probably been calling for the past few minutes because the LED light is blinking red, meaning he has missed calls and messages.

But they’re not from Alex. And they’re not from Zack or Rian or even Caleb or Kyle. They’re from Ashley, and she’s called four times and left two messages. Jack’s fingers fumble along the buttons, trying to call her back as quickly as he can. He’s not sure why but he’s got this sudden surge of hope and maybe, possibly, something’s going to go right for once.

“Jack, I’ve been calling for the past fifteen minutes!” Ashley exclaims over the phone the second she picks up. She sounds irritated and annoyed. “Did you listen to my messages?”

“No I didn’t, I’m sorry. I was at –”

“If you can get to my apartment in ten minutes, my friend can talk to you about a job at the high school she’s the principal of. Can you make it?”

Jack looks at the clock. Ashley’s apartment is a good fifteen minutes from where he is. But if he drives a little fast than the speed limit he could probably make it.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”