Unspoken (12 page)

“Ok, yes, I am, kind of, excited,” I said smiling as Jackson finally hugged me, “I won,” I said.

“You won,” he said.

“You won!” Alexa screamed, “What did you win exactly, by the way?” asked Alexa as she checked the screen.

“Have no idea,” I said as me and Jackson pulled back from our very genuine and friendly hug, “I’m going to call Leonard,” I said to him and he nodded without giving away any kind of jealousy. That was new.

“You won a set of baking supplies. Well, that’s shitty,” I heard Alexa say as I walked back to the kitchen.

I sent a text message first in case he was too busy to answer.

I won the contest.

I got a reply almost immediately.

Seriously?

Seriously,
I typed back and as soon as I hit “SEND,”, the caller ID screen lit up with Leonard’s name.

“Tell me all about it,” he said the moment I answered.

“There’s not much to say, I won an internet contest,” I said smiling.

“It’s a start, Marion,” I could feel his smile.

“I know,” I nodded.

“Are you celebrating?” he asked and suddenly I realized I missed him.

“There’s nothing to celebrate,” I shrugged.

“Oh Hell no! We ARE celebrating,” I heard Alexa shout out from the kitchen’s door.

“That was Alexa,” I said laughing into the phone.

“I heard,” he said laughing too.

“You should definitely go ahead and celebrate, baby,” We were baby and honey and all that now.

“I’ll see what they have in mind,” I said.

“They? Is Jackson there?” I tensed. Leonard had never showed a hint of jealousy, but maybe Sara’s presence the night before had triggered something.

“Yes,” that’s all I could say.

“Did you talk to him about his mom?” he seemed worried about Jackson now.

“I did,” I nodded.

“How did he take it?”HE?? Wow. Now he was worried about Jackson and they had never met.

“We had a nice talk,” I bit my lip. “He seemed relaxed,” I shook my head. What was I supposed to tell him?

“Good,” I could clearly picture him nodding. “I have to go back to work. On a Saturday, when I should be out celebrating with my girlfriend--,”

“--Girlfriend?” I blurted out without thinking.

“I’d like to think so, yes,” I smiled.

“I’d like to think so too.” We said goodbye and hung up. I was Leonard’s girlfriend. He was my boyfriend. It was a very confusing feeling to have. I was excited but also felt like I was mourning for not being Jackson’s girlfriend. Really weird.

“So,” Alexa said as I stepped out of the kitchen, “we are ordering pizza, get beer and celebrate,” she said. I frowned, looked up at the clock above the counter and realized it was early. 5:45 pm.

“No,” I said as Jackson and Alexa looked at me, “if we are having pizza we are doing it the right way,” I said and the both smiled. “I’ll make it. From scratch.” their smiles grew wider.

“Here?” asked Jackson and I shook my head.

“My place in an hour, bring the beer,” I said as I began to get whatever I needed from the bakery to cook at home.

“I have to see if I can get a sitter,” said Alexa.

“Bring my godson,” I smiled, “and let Connor and Lauren know.”

“Wow, what did you two talk about last night?” said Alexa looking at Jackson. He just shrugged “She is relaxed,” she said as she jumped down from the stool where she was and walked to the kitchen.

“Am I?” I asked Jackson.

“A bit,” he said and I shrugged.

We got everything we needed and headed out so we could all go our separate ways and meet back again at my place later.

“Ok, don’t forget the beer!” I said as I was closing the door to the bakery.

“I won’t,” I heard him say.

“Jackson!” That voice. Her voice. I cringed.

“Mother,” he said. I didn’t want to turn around because I didn’t want Sara to see me.

“So you ARE here,” she said and I kept on looking to the inside of the bakery.

“I am,” he said sounding so secure. I was kind of proud of him. I tried to walk sideways so I could sneak up on them.

“No need to hide, Marion, we are all friends here, darling.” Ugh!! I actually felt nauseous.

“Mother, leave her alone,” said Jackson.

“It’s ok, Jackson,” I said turning around.

“Coincidences never cease to amaze me,” she said looking between the two of us. “Just yesterday I asked you about my son and you said you hadn’t seen him since he decided that you didn’t fit in the life he wanted to have,” she smiled using the fake tone I feared so much.

“Mother, you want to talk, let’s go talk somewhere else,” he said leading her by the elbow to his car. “I’ll see you later, Mar,” He turned to look at me and I didn’t want to say something that could get him in trouble so I did what we did best. I smiled,
Should I wait for you?

He smiled back.
Of course. One hour.

Needless to say I threw all my worries and anxiety into making 3 huge pizzas AND a batch of cinnamon bun cookies. One hour went by and I couldn’t help but wonder how it had gone with Jackson and his mother. Sara was evil and I never thought she had that big a hold over Jackson, but now knowing that Jackson hadn’t come back because of some pep talk from her made me think that maybe Sara was able to dictate his actions. I wanted to believe that he would tell her off and come here to celebrate my stupid cupcake victory. As I waited for everyone to arrive and the food to be ready I decided to change from my work outfit into a pair of ripped jeans and a white sweater.

Soon after I went downstairs to worry a bit more I heard the front door. When I opened I saw Alexa, Connor, Lauren and Mika standing there.

“Hey!” I said opening the door wider.

“It already smells delicious,” Alexa said carrying a couple of six packs inside.

“C’mon over here,” I said to Mika who ran towards me while I was crouching and jumped on me.

“Congratulations,” said Lauren as I motioned her to come inside.

“Ditto,” said Connor as he carried an Xbox to the living room. He always did that, apparently no get together was complete if we didn’t have some guitar hero action.

“Have you eaten?” I asked to Mika as I closed the door with my foot while I carried him. He shook his head.

“I want pizza,” he said in the most beautiful voice. I could melt every time I heard him talk. It amazed me how such a tiny creature could convey his thoughts almost perfectly. Yes, I could spend the rest of my life talking to Mika and I would die a happy woman. No. That wasn’t true. I would die a happy woman talking to Mika while Jackson held my hand.

“Where’s Jackson?” asked Connor as he plugged the Xbox. I sighed.

“What happened?” Asked Alexa while she opened a beer bottle.

“I don’t know if it was a coincidence or she was actually waiting for us there but when we were leaving the bakery Sara appeared out of nowhere.” Everyone’s eyes bulged out of their sockets.

“What did she say?” asked Connor.

“Nothing much but now I wonder if he is coming at all,” I shrugged.

“Did you ask him?” asked Alexa.

“Kind of,” I shrugged again while I played with Mika’s hair.

“You did the creepy telepathy thing you do?” she asked and I nodded. “He is coming then,” she smiled and I tried to feel as confident as her.

Twenty minutes later I was sitting on the living room floor with Mika playing with his dinosaur toys when I heard the bell ringing. Alexa turned to look at me and grinned after running for the door.

“Finally,” said Alexa grabbing all the beer that Jackson had with him. I saw him from where I was standing. He had changed into some jeans and navy blue t-shirt. He seemed to look around the room until he found me. He smiled,
I’m here.
I smiled back,
Come here.

“Wow, Alexa, is this your boy?” Jackson asked as he went to sit down on the floor with us after saying hi to Connor and Lauren.

“My joy and pride,” said Alexa looking at Mika with adoring eyes. Jackson said hi to Mika and played a bit with him while I went to get the food out of the oven.

We ate while we took turns at guitar hero and let Connor kick all of our asses but it was such fun. Mika fell asleep and we put him on the sofa bed on my bedroom so he could rest while the rest of us, except Alexa, because she didn’t have a sitter, drank too much beer.

I was sitting next to the pool while drinking a beer when Jackson appeared next to me.

“Hey,” he said bumping his shoulder with mine.

“Hey,” I said as I took a sip of my beer.

“How are you?” he asked looking at the pool just like me.

“I’m fine,” I shrugged. “How about you, though?” I turned to look at him.

“Fine,” he nodded. “She’s gone,” he said.

“Good,” I said and then I covered my mouth with my hand. “I mean she is your mother but … you know,” I definitely had a buzz.

“I know, Mar,” he said between laughs. “I talked to Sally,” he went on and I felt that I needed to jump in the pool and don’t come back out until next morning. I wanted to be an ostrich and bury my head in the sand. I didn’t want to know much about what he had to say to
Sally.
I guess he saw the expression written in my face because he didn’t wait for me to say something, he just went on. “I told her I am staying here and that I am with friends that my mother disapproves of,” he said and I just nodded. “I didn’t break things off.” There, right there, a reason to finish the beer I had in my hands. “It’s not that I don’t want to,” he said. I stared into the nothing because if I turned to see him I would start crying. “I just don’t want to be the asshole that ends it by phone,” Ok… Yeah, I guess he had a point.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want you to be that asshole,” I said truthfully.

“So, I just told her that I needed time to think and to let my feelings make sense,” I felt his eyes on me.

“Are you ever breaking it off?” I asked even though I was afraid of his answer but I needed to know. I was with Leonard in a perfectly good relationship but still I HAD to know.

“Yes,” that’s all he said and I nodded.

“Tell me about her,” I told him when I finally could look at him.

“About Sally?” he asked confused. I nodded. “Are you sure?” he smiled,
Don’t lie.

“I’m not lying, Jackson,” I said with a smile that I coyly tried to cover with the beer bottle.

“Why would you want to torture yourself like that?” he asked in a serious tone.

“Because I know she must be a nice woman and I want to know why you considered marrying her,” I said looking at my hands.

“Why?” he seemed surprised.

“Because I need to like her so I stop fantasizing about her fiancé,” I finally said. Without me asking twice he went on and told me tiny bits about
Sally.
I guess neither of us wanted to hurt her by making a mistake or hurt us by hurting her. She wasn’t that impressive overachiever so I didn’t hate her for being an over successful woman; she wasn’t a socialite and rather spent her days attending her charities so I couldn’t hate her for being empty minded. She was a lawyer that worked on her dad’s firm and loved Jackson. She didn’t like dessert but was a huge fan of South American and Asian Cuisine. She was a nice woman and still I couldn’t think of her without calling her
Sally.

“Is it enough?” he asked looking at me.

“No,” I said shaking my head and he laughed out loud. “But it might be enough for tonight.”

“If it is any consolation, nothing you ever said about Leonard would stop me from fantasizing about you,” he said putting his hand over mine.

“Ok, that’s my cue,” I said getting up on my feet and practically running towards the house as I heard him laughed again.

“We are leaving,” said Alexa.

“Do you need help?” I asked looking over at Connor and Lauren that were a bit on the drunk side.

“No, I can handle them. I’ll drive,” she said “Is Jackson too drunk?” she asked me and I shrugged. I truly didn’t know.

“I’m ok,” said Jackson closing the door that led to the pool.

“Could you help me with Mika then?” Alexa asked and Jackson nodded.

I couldn’t help but drool at the sight of Jackson carrying Mika to Connor’s car. I’d never thought much about having kids but there’s something special about a guy carrying a kid; let’s not even talk about babies, that could make a girl a bit crazy. I shook my head and tried to remember the entire set of Sally details Jackson had volunteered so I wouldn’t lust after him.

“Want more details?” he asked once he came back inside.

“No,” I shook my head and turned to clean the kitchen,“I’m good for now.”

“Come here,” he said patting the sofa where he was sitting. Of course I went over there and sat next to him. He grabbed my hand and smiled,
I’ve missed you so much.