Physical Therapy
Chapter Eleven
“So you really fucked up, you fucking asshole.” Colby said from the backseat, as he swatted my head. We could see her sitting on a picnic table just in front of the car, crying, talking to Phil.
“Yeah, I really fucking did.”
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We got to the hotel rather quickly, we all sat in awkward silence and checked in. She wouldn’t even look at me so I just went up to my bed and passed out. I had no energy to get her to talk to me at this point, it was clear. She needed the space.
The next morning, I woke up to Colby shaking me.
“Dude, dude. Wake the fuck up.” And he slapped me on the head.
“What the fuck asshole? What time is it? Jesus.” My eyes gained focus, I could see Colby and Joe reading the same piece of paper.
“What is that?” And he handed it to me.
Guys,
Sorry for the notice like this but I just decided I had to do this. I called Phil last night, and we both agreed I needed a break from traveling and everything. I am going to be off for the next 10 days, I have arranged for a spare PT to help out at any live shows, and of course, if something comes up, I am available by cell. I just need some time for myself.
See you soon,
Maeve
She left. I looked up, confused at Colby and Joe.
“Is this for real? She just left?”
“Yeah, dude. I went to go get some ice this morning and it was under our door, I thought one of you assholes ordered porn last night, but it was that.” Joe said, shrugging his shoulders. Neither Joe nor Colby knew how to handle a Jon who was in love, and at that a Jon who was in love who was miserable.
“Well, I have to go to Chicago then. Right now.” I got up and begin to pack. I had to talk to her, I couldn’t let her just run away and then come back, pretending that things would be normal, or rather, cold. No, we had to talk.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea man, we have two live shows in the next few days, and she made it pretty clear, unless it’s an emergency, then she wants to be left alone.” Colby tried to reason with me, but I was angry, upset, not at Maeve, but myself.
“I’m going.” I grunted out, they didn’t understand.
“Dude,” Joe put a hand to my chest to stop me from running out of the room with my bag, “You? You are included in the ‘everything’, actually I am pretty sure ‘everything’ means ‘Jon I need some time away from you.’ Give it to her man. Call her in a few days, we have the weekend off, but at least give her until Thursday, maybe Friday, to cool off and get herself feeling better.”
“Fine. I will wait.” I threw my hands up in the air and stormed out to go work out. Somehow I had to work the frustrations out.
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The week drug by, I was able to stop myself from calling her, and I had managed to only send a single text.
I hope you are feeling better.
Which went without response, thanks to Colby and his social media savviness, I was able to follow her on AJ’s instagram, I could see that they were out to lunch, and shopping, and generally just having a good time.
Until Friday morning, when I went to go check. And there was a picture of Maeve, my Maeve, well the Maeve I wanted to be mine, leaning her head on some giant bicep and staring at the man who was cut off in the picture. She looked so…happy. Blissfully so.
The caption read: double date with the mans bestie and her….manpanion #makingupwords #couples
Couples?! I was furious. They had set her up. She was moving on. I felt like everything was crashing. Before I could lash out, and make a fucking rash decision like I did last time I got upset with her, I called the one person who I knew could help me figure it out.
I called Phil.
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I had only gotten one text from Jon, it was short and rather bland. I wonder if maybe he really never cared, if he had lied, and that made it worse. But true to their word, AJ and Phil kept me busy. I was helping AJ with wedding planning, and helping Phil potty train their new dog. They made sure that my days were so busy I couldn’t be upset about Jon and that I was too tired to stay up all night stressing about it.
But Thursday, AJ had an idea. She wanted to fuck with him, to see what he would do. She had been running her social media experiment all week, she thought that he would keep up with us that way, and she was right. On Thursday morning, she got a text from Colby.
Just an FYI Jon has been obsessively checking my social media to check yours so he can keep tabs on her, it’s like dealing with a moody fucking teenager.
So she launched her plan, make him jealous. She called an old friend, my ex-boyfriend and had him join us all for dinner, then she staged everything. The picture, the arm hold, sure I flirted with Corey, but he was never my interest.
I had worked with him when I worked on the Blackhawks, and sure we dated, but our relationship was always casual, he never pushed for more information or details, it was more just for comfort, convenience. And he understood the joke and was a good sport. But when I didn’t hear anything back from Jon, I was crestfallen. It hadn’t worked, maybe it just pushed him away even further.
I got Bastille tickets for tonight, you down?
Phil knew how much I loved Bastille, if it hadn’t been for AJ I wouldn’t have found my second favorite band next to Weezer.
Is that even a question? Who is going
You, AJ, me and I have an extra ticket, still trying to figure it out. Pick you up at 8pm sharp, k?
Perfect!
The day flew by, I was able to go shopping and picked up a new necklace for my outfit that night. I was getting ready, and was putting my final look together for the night when I heard a knock at my door, figuring it was my upstairs neighbor asking if I could check her mail for her while she was gone or something I opened the door without checking.
It was Jon.
“Hey,” he said looking at a bouquet of mums and orchids that he was holding, “Um, these are for you.”
I just stood there. Staring at him, “What are you doing here?”
“Checking up on you, Maevy, I missed you. These past few days…” He ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the sexy stubble on his face, “Have sucked, I fucked up. I wasn’t patient enough for you, and I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough, but it was enough that I could let him in.
“I…I don’t have a lot of time, Phil is picking me up in 10 minutes for a concert.”
He walked over to my kitchen and began filling up a glass with water for the flowers.
“You know I have a vase somewhere,” I began to look for it, “ you don’t have to put it-“
“I know you have a concert, I talked to Phil. I am going with you.”
He turned to look at me, we made eye contact and I felt that feeling in my chest, that burning, painful sensation, the one that I hated but never wanted to go away, whenever he stared into my eyes.
“Oh?” It was all I could come up with.
“Yeah, I told him that I saw you went on a date last night, and it drove me wild and I was willing to do whatever I had to, whatever I needed to do to make you see that I am sorry, that I never meant to hurt you. That I had no idea, you maybe felt the way I did. And maybe you don’t but seeing you wrapped around someone else’s arm, the way you would hang on to mine, I just couldn’t let that happen without trying to fix this, at least someway.”
I walked over to my table and sat down. This was all too much, Phil conspiring, him admitting that the picture made him crazy. All of it. I couldn’t even believe he was in my house, standing just a few feet away from me.
“It wasn’t a real date.” I looked straight ahead, not turning to look at him. “We went out to dinner, they invited my ex-boyfriend, he was the only other person I was remotely close to at one point, I had a few drinks and held onto him so I wouldn’t fall of the barstool. That was it. I don’t think I even hugged him good bye.”
I knew I didn’t owe him an explanation, but I wanted him to know what I was thinking, that I was thinking.
I’m not like you, I wouldn’t move on to someone else just because I didn’t get what I wanted.
“Oh,” he sounded genuinely relieved, “That’s good then.”
I looked up at the clock, 7:58pm.
“We have to go, Phil will be waiting.” I threw on my coat and looked at him, “let’s go.”
We started to walk down the hallway, when I felt his hand grab mine.
“Maeve, look at me.” And I met his eyes, “I am sorry, from the bottom of my heart, and I will show you that, not just say it.”
And he didn’t drop my hand. And I didn’t pull it away. We just walked in silence, hand in hand to Phil’s car. Only did I pull away, once we got outside when the bitter air froze my fingers.
“Yeah, I really fucking did.”
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We got to the hotel rather quickly, we all sat in awkward silence and checked in. She wouldn’t even look at me so I just went up to my bed and passed out. I had no energy to get her to talk to me at this point, it was clear. She needed the space.
The next morning, I woke up to Colby shaking me.
“Dude, dude. Wake the fuck up.” And he slapped me on the head.
“What the fuck asshole? What time is it? Jesus.” My eyes gained focus, I could see Colby and Joe reading the same piece of paper.
“What is that?” And he handed it to me.
Guys,
Sorry for the notice like this but I just decided I had to do this. I called Phil last night, and we both agreed I needed a break from traveling and everything. I am going to be off for the next 10 days, I have arranged for a spare PT to help out at any live shows, and of course, if something comes up, I am available by cell. I just need some time for myself.
See you soon,
Maeve
She left. I looked up, confused at Colby and Joe.
“Is this for real? She just left?”
“Yeah, dude. I went to go get some ice this morning and it was under our door, I thought one of you assholes ordered porn last night, but it was that.” Joe said, shrugging his shoulders. Neither Joe nor Colby knew how to handle a Jon who was in love, and at that a Jon who was in love who was miserable.
“Well, I have to go to Chicago then. Right now.” I got up and begin to pack. I had to talk to her, I couldn’t let her just run away and then come back, pretending that things would be normal, or rather, cold. No, we had to talk.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea man, we have two live shows in the next few days, and she made it pretty clear, unless it’s an emergency, then she wants to be left alone.” Colby tried to reason with me, but I was angry, upset, not at Maeve, but myself.
“I’m going.” I grunted out, they didn’t understand.
“Dude,” Joe put a hand to my chest to stop me from running out of the room with my bag, “You? You are included in the ‘everything’, actually I am pretty sure ‘everything’ means ‘Jon I need some time away from you.’ Give it to her man. Call her in a few days, we have the weekend off, but at least give her until Thursday, maybe Friday, to cool off and get herself feeling better.”
“Fine. I will wait.” I threw my hands up in the air and stormed out to go work out. Somehow I had to work the frustrations out.
--------------
The week drug by, I was able to stop myself from calling her, and I had managed to only send a single text.
I hope you are feeling better.
Which went without response, thanks to Colby and his social media savviness, I was able to follow her on AJ’s instagram, I could see that they were out to lunch, and shopping, and generally just having a good time.
Until Friday morning, when I went to go check. And there was a picture of Maeve, my Maeve, well the Maeve I wanted to be mine, leaning her head on some giant bicep and staring at the man who was cut off in the picture. She looked so…happy. Blissfully so.
The caption read: double date with the mans bestie and her….manpanion #makingupwords #couples
Couples?! I was furious. They had set her up. She was moving on. I felt like everything was crashing. Before I could lash out, and make a fucking rash decision like I did last time I got upset with her, I called the one person who I knew could help me figure it out.
I called Phil.
------------------
I had only gotten one text from Jon, it was short and rather bland. I wonder if maybe he really never cared, if he had lied, and that made it worse. But true to their word, AJ and Phil kept me busy. I was helping AJ with wedding planning, and helping Phil potty train their new dog. They made sure that my days were so busy I couldn’t be upset about Jon and that I was too tired to stay up all night stressing about it.
But Thursday, AJ had an idea. She wanted to fuck with him, to see what he would do. She had been running her social media experiment all week, she thought that he would keep up with us that way, and she was right. On Thursday morning, she got a text from Colby.
Just an FYI Jon has been obsessively checking my social media to check yours so he can keep tabs on her, it’s like dealing with a moody fucking teenager.
So she launched her plan, make him jealous. She called an old friend, my ex-boyfriend and had him join us all for dinner, then she staged everything. The picture, the arm hold, sure I flirted with Corey, but he was never my interest.
I had worked with him when I worked on the Blackhawks, and sure we dated, but our relationship was always casual, he never pushed for more information or details, it was more just for comfort, convenience. And he understood the joke and was a good sport. But when I didn’t hear anything back from Jon, I was crestfallen. It hadn’t worked, maybe it just pushed him away even further.
I got Bastille tickets for tonight, you down?
Phil knew how much I loved Bastille, if it hadn’t been for AJ I wouldn’t have found my second favorite band next to Weezer.
Is that even a question? Who is going
You, AJ, me and I have an extra ticket, still trying to figure it out. Pick you up at 8pm sharp, k?
Perfect!
The day flew by, I was able to go shopping and picked up a new necklace for my outfit that night. I was getting ready, and was putting my final look together for the night when I heard a knock at my door, figuring it was my upstairs neighbor asking if I could check her mail for her while she was gone or something I opened the door without checking.
It was Jon.
“Hey,” he said looking at a bouquet of mums and orchids that he was holding, “Um, these are for you.”
I just stood there. Staring at him, “What are you doing here?”
“Checking up on you, Maevy, I missed you. These past few days…” He ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the sexy stubble on his face, “Have sucked, I fucked up. I wasn’t patient enough for you, and I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough, but it was enough that I could let him in.
“I…I don’t have a lot of time, Phil is picking me up in 10 minutes for a concert.”
He walked over to my kitchen and began filling up a glass with water for the flowers.
“You know I have a vase somewhere,” I began to look for it, “ you don’t have to put it-“
“I know you have a concert, I talked to Phil. I am going with you.”
He turned to look at me, we made eye contact and I felt that feeling in my chest, that burning, painful sensation, the one that I hated but never wanted to go away, whenever he stared into my eyes.
“Oh?” It was all I could come up with.
“Yeah, I told him that I saw you went on a date last night, and it drove me wild and I was willing to do whatever I had to, whatever I needed to do to make you see that I am sorry, that I never meant to hurt you. That I had no idea, you maybe felt the way I did. And maybe you don’t but seeing you wrapped around someone else’s arm, the way you would hang on to mine, I just couldn’t let that happen without trying to fix this, at least someway.”
I walked over to my table and sat down. This was all too much, Phil conspiring, him admitting that the picture made him crazy. All of it. I couldn’t even believe he was in my house, standing just a few feet away from me.
“It wasn’t a real date.” I looked straight ahead, not turning to look at him. “We went out to dinner, they invited my ex-boyfriend, he was the only other person I was remotely close to at one point, I had a few drinks and held onto him so I wouldn’t fall of the barstool. That was it. I don’t think I even hugged him good bye.”
I knew I didn’t owe him an explanation, but I wanted him to know what I was thinking, that I was thinking.
I’m not like you, I wouldn’t move on to someone else just because I didn’t get what I wanted.
“Oh,” he sounded genuinely relieved, “That’s good then.”
I looked up at the clock, 7:58pm.
“We have to go, Phil will be waiting.” I threw on my coat and looked at him, “let’s go.”
We started to walk down the hallway, when I felt his hand grab mine.
“Maeve, look at me.” And I met his eyes, “I am sorry, from the bottom of my heart, and I will show you that, not just say it.”
And he didn’t drop my hand. And I didn’t pull it away. We just walked in silence, hand in hand to Phil’s car. Only did I pull away, once we got outside when the bitter air froze my fingers.