These Are Their Songs

The door handle rattles while David puts in a key on the other side. Jenny smiles and flips to the next page of her book while David walks in. He’s always had trouble with the door but would get upset if she opened it for him when he tried to unlock it.

All Jenny could do was laugh.

When the door finally opened, David dropped his keys in the bowl by the door and pulled off his coat. “It is raining cats and dogs out there,” he hangs his coat on the rack and puts the umbrella in the stand by the door.

David sits next to Jenny and kisses her sweetly. “How was work?”

Proceeding to tell her about his residency at the hospital, David leans back into the couch and puts his arm around Jenny as she folds the page down and tosses her book on the table. After a few minutes, David finishes telling her about the daily crazy and kisses her again. Jenny can’t deny that what she feels with David is nothing like what she felt for Louis.

Shit, why do I always do this? Jenny always finds herself comparing David to Louis, which she shouldn’t because she left Louis years ago. David delicately leans forward, leaning Jenny against the couch.

That’s one thing that was different about David. David was careful with Jenny. Like she is a porcelain doll. Louis wasn’t really careful. Louis knew he wouldn’t break her. He was careless and fun. David was always serious. He never had fun.

God, I need to shut up. Jenny tells herself as she continues with David. She always had to make the advances and most of the first moves in the relationship. David reciprocated it well, but he was careful.

And after a year and a half with him, Jenny was going to lose it soon. That she knew for sure.

& & & & &

Jenny was wearing an apron and at the stove cooking dinner for her and David when her phone rang. Liam. Jenny ignores the phone. David walks in, sees the phone on the counter and pops a cube of the cooking chicken from the pan and asks her, “He’s your cousin, babe. You haven’t talked to him in almost two years. I’m sure it’s driving him crazy. Just answer it.”

He hands the cell phone to Jenny. Sighing, Jenny takes the phone and walks into the hallway. After taking a deep breath, she answers the phone.

“Jenny?” the word comes out as a breath. Jenny takes a few shaky breaths and slides against the wall. She hadn’t talked to Liam in so long. His voice just reminded her of how much she missed him. She mutters his name and slides down against the wall.

His voice becomes jubilant, and he shouts it out once or twice before going back to a normal tone, saying it once or twice more. “Jenny . . . I . . . I can’t believe you actually answered. I’ve missed you so much. When I went to your old apartment to talk to you about a year ago, someone else was living there. Said you’d moved out four months ago then.”

He pauses, “What happened Jen?” She knew exactly what he meant. He wanted to know why she left out of the blue. When Jenny didn’t answer, Liam drops it. “Jenny . . . can we meet up? Please?”

“Okay,” Jenny purses her lips, “as long as it’s just the two of us then sure.” After a moment she says, “I’ve missed you Liam. I’ve really missed you.” Jenny smiles and sighs once more. This sigh is not of frustration but of content and she’s happy to hear the sound come from her mouth because she’s been very frustrated as of lately.

They set a date for tomorrow. She was off work, and they would meet at a familiar place to the both of them. Asian. One of Jenny’s favorites.