Love in All the Wrong Places

When I reached Jake’s door, I frantically knocked, and was using all my will-power to keep from crying. As soon as he opened the door, I collapsed into his arms and cried. He gradually led me into the living room as he shut the door, and led me over to the couch where I could continue to cry into his shirt. After my crying had ceased and he felt it safe to talk, he tentatively began to speak.

“Babe, what’s wrong? What happened between you and Jessie that was so bad? I thought she only hated me.”

I looked at him with my makeup-running, tear-stained face and told him what Jessie had said to me. I told him the awful things she had said about him, and how she didn’t seem to care how it was affecting me. He didn’t respond. To any of it. He just looked at me emotionless as I poured my heart out about the situation. Once I finished, I looked back into his eyes, waiting for his reaction. He just leaned forward, left a lingering kiss on my forehead, and got up. He then walked into his room and shut the door.

What the hell? He didn’t say ANYTHING. He didn’t defend himself, Jessie, me, anything! What was that about? I just leaned back against the couch, sighing, and closed my eyes. All of this drama and fighting was beginning to take a toll on me. I was so stressed, more so than I had been in a while. I began to wonder if any of this was worth it anymore when I felt my phone vibrate. I retrieved it from my pocket. It was a text from Dave.

Hey C. Heard about what happened. After you stormed out, Jessie called me and told me everything. We need to talk soon. Keep your chin up girl. Love you. –Dave

I looked back over at Jake’s door and I hadn’t heard any movements coming from the other side, so I decided that I was going to meet with Dave since Jake obviously didn’t feel like talking. I opened my message from Dave back up and replied:

Ok. I’m at Jake’s right now and am about to leave. Where should I meet you?

As I waited for a reply, I heard muffled voices coming from Jake’s room. I began to make my way over to his door to hear what was being said. I couldn’t make out any of the voices, but it almost sounded like a female voice on the other side of the door conversing with Jake. Right as I was about at good listening distance from the door to either confirm or deny my suspicions, my phone vibrates again with a reply from Dave:

Go to the park by the bakery. I’ll be there in a bit once I finish talking to Jessie. Meet by the lake at our bench.

I guess I would never find out what was being said behind that door because once I got Dave’s reply, I dashed out the door to meet him. However, before I left, I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from my purse and said that I was headed to my bench in the park if he went to look for me.

***

I was at the park in just a couple minutes. Jake lived down the block from the bakery, so it didn’t take me long to walk over there. Based on Dave’s text, I figured he was coming from our apartment to this park. My guess the reason he decided to meet at the park by the bakery instead of by our apartment was in case Jessie came looking for us. Whether she knew he was going to talk to me or not, I don’t know. I was just ready to find out what all of this means and what is going on.

As I sat on the bench waiting for Dave, I pulled out my headphones and phone. I began scrolling through my artists, trying to find some music to calm my nerves. I settled on the only artist that never failed to put a smile on my face: The Beatles. I scrolled through the myriads of songs and chose the song that always put me in a better mood: Here Comes the Sun. As the guitar began its famous rhythm, I leaned my head back, closed my eyes, and smiled as I awaited Dave’s arrival. I felt an all too familiar hand touch mine, and just as I was about to open my eyes, the other hand quickly cusped itself over them, to keep me from seeing. Now I was confused. I took my headphones out of my ears. Smirking as I knew whose hands these were, I playfully bit my lip as I waited for Jake to greet me with a small kiss. Relieved that he decided to finally talk to me. Granted I had no idea why the hell he was being so secretive about me seeing him.

How did I know it was him? His hands. Something about his hands are so familiar and comforting; from the callouses on his fingers from guitar in his spare time, the rough gentleness they contained could make any girl swoon. His hands were rough from working all the time, whether it be in the bar, building something, or just being outside. He was a man of many talents.

I had taken Jake here before to show him my special spot with Dave. The only times I came here, outside of meeting Dave, was to clear my mind and escape the world for a while. I showed Jake this place, so if there ever came a time that I didn’t answer my phone or he couldn’t find me, he’d know where to look first. This only happened a couple of times since we started dating. I figured once Jake had exited his room and noticed I wasn’t there that he had come to talk with me now that we both had calmed down some. The note telling him where I was couldn’t have hurt either.

I still awaited his greeting, and he didn’t disappoint. I felt his lips slowly attach to mine, but with more urgency and want than I’d ever felt in any of his innocent kisses before. This kiss was turning out to be anything but innocent. I kept my eyes closed, and he slowly moved his hand from my eyes down to the side of my face to cup my jaw. I found my free hand that wasn’t interlocked with his, tangling into the hair at the back of his neck. He opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, and as I sat there, making out with my boyfriend, I wondered where the sudden urgency came from. After a few minutes of blissful kissing, and to the point that both our lips were sufficiently swollen, I felt him pull away from the kiss. He leaned his forehead against mine. I smiled in response to the best kiss I’d ever had, and slowly opened my eyes whilst biting my lip. What I saw before me forever changed me. Looking back at me wasn’t Jake. It was Dave.