Perfect Symmetry

The restaurant that Christy mentioned really was just around the corner. She and Patrick strode ahead, and I found myself falling into step with Jon.

“You’re not some health fanatical vegan are you?” I teased playfully.

The corners of his mouth twitched, like he was holding back a laugh. “Hell no. I don’t think I could live without meat.”

I laughed. “Thank god.”

The restaurant is loud and bustling, and full of couples and young people out for a bite. The four of us snag a booth, and I found myself in between Pat and Jon. Jesus, this sounds like the beginning of every girl in Chicago’s favourite wet dream. I sipped my plain lemonade slowly, savoring the sweetness and trying to clear my head of all the tequila I had already consumed. My stomach rumbles loudly, causing all eyes to turn to me. I felt my cheeks heat up.

“Hey, I haven’t eaten since about noon, okay chumps?” I said defensively, patting my tummy.

Patrick chuckled. “We’d better get some food in there, quick!”

I ordered some fish dish, with rice and vegetables. The boys had steaks, and Christy had a salad. I booed her when she made her choice.

“Some people are health fanatics, Jazz,” she said pointedly, snapping her menu shut.

I practically inhaled my food, which was embarrassing because I finished just after the boys did, and we all had to watch as Christy daintily ate leaves, while my knees kept touching Jon’s, making me sweat. It was probably about twelve by the end of the meal, and I yawned.

“Tired, grandma?” Christy teased me.

“Some people worked today,” I shot back at her. Christy only went into the office about twice a week and worked from home the rest of the time. Lucky bitch.

“We have a game tomorrow, so we had better go too, actually,” Jon looked at Pat with a warning.

“Yes, captain,” Pat rolled his eyes, “Christy, can I at least take you for a coffee somewhere?” he asked with a smile.

She giggled. “Sure, stud.”

“Dinner’s on me!” Patrick cried out triumphantly.

I snickered, and turned to get up, but then realized I couldn’t slide out of the booth because Jon was blocking my exit. I cleared my throat gently. “Sorry, Jon, I think I had better go.”

His eyes turned to me, and I gulped. “Let me drive you home.”

I waved my hand nonchalantly. “Oh no. Don’t worry. I took the El anyway.”

“Come on, it’s late” he stood up and offered me a hand, which I took hesitantly.

“Good night, Christy. It was nice meeting you, Patrick. Thanks for dinner!” I turned back to the table.

They both leapt up and Christy offered me a hug, and Patrick placed a kiss on my cheek, making my red with embarrassment again.

“I’m sure I’ll see you again, Jazz,” Patrick whispered with a wink.

I looked at him quizzically as Jon took my arm and led me outside to where he had parked his luxurious car. He opened the passenger door for me and I tried not to puke. Why was he being so nice? He doesn’t even know me.

“So whereabouts do you live?” he asked as he revved the engine. When I told him the address he looked pleasantly surprised. “Oh yeah, I know the neighborhood. I take my early morning runs around there.”

Shit. Early morning runs? Shirtless, dripping droplets of sweat down perfect abs – oh my god just shut up.

I was really quite tired, and I would have fallen asleep instantly, but Jon’s presence kept me awake and alert all the way until he pulled up at my doorstep. He cut the engine but left the radio on. Snippets of Bruce Springsteen reached my ears as I cleared my throat.

“Thank you so much for driving me home,” I practically whispered, playing with the hem of my dress.

“It was my pleasure,” he replied kindly. “It was really nice meeting you, Jazz.”

I blushed. “I had a nice time. Good luck with your game tomorrow.” I opened the car door and stepped out.

“Maybe I’ll see you around?” Jon said loudly.

I turned around dramatically. “Yeah, that would be nice,” I said carefully.

Jon offered me the first true smile I had seen all night, and I nearly fainted. He was beautiful! No wonder he doesn’t smile so much – all the women in Chicago would collapse! I recovered quickly, however, and smiled back before closing his car door and hurrying into my building. I watched him drive away, my heart thumping like crazy. What the fuck just happened?
~

I fell asleep in my bed after a quick shower, and I wondered whether Hailey would be back tonight. I didn’t care enough to stay up and find out though, and I soon drifted off.

When I woke up the next morning, I could hear Hailey snoring in her bedroom. I bit back a laugh and went to make coffee. I spent the rest of the morning working on the ad layouts for work. Hailey emerged at about 1 in the afternoon.

“Good morning sleepy head. Or should I say good afternoon?” I teased over my laptop.

“Ha. Very funny Mrs. Toews,” she retorted with an evil grin as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

My smile disappeared immediately. “Shut up. Did you sleep with Seabrook?”

She choked on her coffee. “No! I had a late dinner with him and he dropped me off at one last night. What about you and the captain?”

“Same as you. Except Patrick and Christy had dinner with us,” I admitted.

“Did you exchange numbers?” she pestered.

I shook my head. “Nah. I was way to awkward, and he is far too serious. I’ll probably never see him again.”

Hailey rolled her eyes. “You are such an idiot Jazz.”

“I was acting like a teenager! He’s gorgeous, why would he go for someone like me?” I demanded.

“You’re pretty! And funny and nice!” she practically shouted at me. “You need to stop acting like some kind of hermit and socialize a bit.”

“Don’t you have a date with Shawn this evening?” I asked her suspiciously. Shawn was the guy she had been dating for about a month.

“Yeah so?” she asked defiantly. “I can have dinner with Brent Seabrook if I want to! Shawn and I aren’t exclusive.”

“Is that so? Well, maybe you should focus on your extensive love life and leave mine alone!” I snapped.

Hailey gaped at me for a few seconds before retreating into her bedroom and slamming the door behind her. I felt bad as soon as I said it, but I knew it was too late to fix it. She would stew for a while and then get over it. Plus, I was really close to finishing this damn report.

She emerged at about six, hair done, wearing a burnt orange dress. She didn’t even look at me as she murmured, “See you,” and then hurried out. I bit my lip and turned back to my laptop. I watched the Blackhawks game with some interest, and even smiled when they beat their opponent, Buffalo, in a shootout that had Jonathan taking the winning shot. I finished the report at about eleven and passed out in my bed shortly after.