January and the Single Heart (4 page)

The week was flying by.  It was already Wednesday night, the 27
th
.  She wrapped up her paperwork and headed for the break room to wash out her coffee mug.  As she entered, Glen was there doing the same. 

“Hi, Jan.  Nice work today on the
Symmons presentation.  Land that account and you’ll really be standing head and shoulders above the rest of the sales staff.”  He regretted it the second he said it.  Never failed.  He’d get nervous and say something dumb.

“Head and shoulders above the others?  Maybe I shouldn’t wear heels.” Jan deadpanned.

Glen backpedalled as fast as he could. “Oh geez, no, I didn’t mean it that way, I just …”

“It’s ok.  I got it.  It’s a compliment sort of.”  Jan washed her mug and placed it in the cupboard.  As she turned, Glen was still there.

“Say, I, um, I know this is a longshot but I was just wondering.  I really enjoyed our walk the other day and I thought maybe, um, you might let me take you out to dinner this weekend … or next?”

With all that she had going this week leading up to the party, Jan was really on edge.  And now this.  Just one more male she could add to the list of guys who had disappointed her.  Just when she thought maybe the others had judged him too harshly, he goes and tries again to involve her in his sleazy
ways.  She let him have it with both barrels.  “I don’t believe you.  What is it with you guys?   Can’t you keep it in your pants for fifteen minutes?  You’ve got a girlfriend you’ve been living with for five years.  Why don’t you take her out instead?  The answer is NO! NO!  NO!  I won’t help you cheat on your live-in girlfriend.  Can I be any clearer than that? 

Glen raised his hand and tried to jump in.  “Jan, honestly, you don’t understand.  I made a …”

Jan interrupted him immediately.  “I do understand!  And that’s what makes me so mad.  If I had a nickel for every guy who claimed I didn’t understand, I could pay off the national debt. Everyone knows about Vicky and how you treat her.  You are disgusting to me.  I don’t want to go out with you and I don’t want to talk to you anymore.  Just leave me alone.”

“Jan, really, Vicky is an alley cat.  I made a mistake back when …”

“Shut up!  Just shut up!  You use that kind of language about her as though she has lower morals than you.  You’re the one cheating on her.  I don’t want to go out with someone who cheats.  Please, leave me alone.  If you see me coming, you better walk the other way or so help me, I will deck you.”  With that, she brushed past him and left the room.  As she walked out into the office, two dozen pairs of eyes were on her.  It hadn’t really occurred to her that so many were still here working.  They heard it all and it just didn’t matter.  Jan was tired of taking anything lying down.  From now on, she would fight and no two-timing cheater was going to make her back off.

Glen retreated to his office, well aware of how many eyes were on him too.  When he got there, Latonya was standing with Louis but she left quickly.

“I’d ask how it went but I think I got the gist of it from the new town crier”, Lou said.

“I guess everybody heard that, huh?”  Glen sat down and tried to be invisible.

“No not everyone.  I think there were a couple of deaf people in South Miami that didn’t catch all of it.   Man, when she gets mad, she really turns up the volume.”  Louis slapped him on the back and said “C’mon, it could have been worse.”

Glen just stared back at him, “How?”

Louis thought for a moment and then added “It hasn’t been on CNN yet and a few bloggers in the Southern Hemisphere haven’t commented at all.  Could’ve been worse.”

Glen leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. 
It was probably time to start brushing up the resume’.  Maybe I should rethink that offer from McClaren Construction.

Louis leaned over one more time. “You
gonna tell her?”

Glen just shook his head.  “
Tried twice already.  I think that bus has left the station.  I’m just going to finish the P&L and try to slink out of here when everyone’s gone.”

Lou left for the night and as the others filed out, Glen couldn’t help but think of Laurel and Hardy and their signature line –
‘This is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into, Ollie.’

It had been a wild day.  Thomas had brought in several large accounts and a pair of consultants that all needed hand holding and presentations.  Jan and the whole office had been preparing for this day for six weeks and everyone was dressed to the nines.  The day had gone well but it had been one dog and pony show after another and by 5:15, when the dust had settled, Jan was exhausted. 

Well, the good news is that I haven’t had time to be nervous about tonight
, Jan thought to herself.  The day went by so fast and now she had just enough time to clean off her desk, update some files and get ready for Eddie to pick her up at six. She hadn’t even had time to call or check with him today but she saw him here so all should be good.  He got off at 3:30 so he had plenty of time to go home and change and be back here by six.  She went to the Ladies room, noticing along the way that the office had emptied quickly tonight.  She might be the last one there.  She powdered up a bit and cleared a slight smudge off her skirt.  She looked in the mirror and thought she was looking good.  Well, good, considering what she had to work with.  She returned to her desk, grabbed her cell phone and noticed the battery was low.  
She’d have to remember to recharge it in the car.
  She selected Eddie’s name from her contacts list and tapped the dial button.

Eddie
answered almost immediately.  She liked that about him.  “Jan, I was just going to call you.” 

Jan smiled into her phone, “Great minds think alike. 
What a day!  I’m just wrapping things up here and I should be ready in about 15 minutes.”

There was a pause. “That’s why I was calling …”
Eddie explained.  “I, uh, something has come up.  I’m afraid I can’t make it.”  He let the ensuing silence speak the rest for him.

“
Eddie, are you joking?  You know how important this is to me.  I told everyone I was bringing you.  I need you.”

“I know, I’m sorry.  Really.  But,
I’m not feeling great and, you know, this may not be a really good idea anyway.  Maybe you can just say I got the flu or something.  I, uh, gotta go.  Sorry”

He rang off.  Jan just stood there and then slammed the phone down. 
“Dammit! I can’t frigging believe it.”  She sat down and began to tear up. 
There was no way to salvage this night.  She would have to go and be pleasant and pretend to be happy, chatting with everyone with the equivalent of egg on her face.  And they would all be kind and pretend not to notice.  It was humiliating.

She wiped her eyes and as she did, Glen came around the corner.  “Jan, you OK?”

“I told you not to talk to me.  Yes, I am fine.  Now leave me alone.”

Glen beat a hasty retreat back to his office.  Jan grabbed her coat and headed to the parking lot.  Glen went back to his paperwork and started finishing up for the night.  A cold beer sounded good.  He was a bit overdressed for
O’Brien’s but he could loosen his tie and find a way to fit in.  He spent the next fifteen minutes tying up loose ends and then went to the Men’s room.  When he came back he heard a clang and a trashcan came flying down the hallway to his left.  He froze for a second and then relaxed when he heard her voice.

“Dammit it all to hell! How does this shit keep happening to me?”  Jan was screaming it now, assuming no one was within earshot.  When Glen walked into the room, she stared at him and yelled “What are you looking at? 
Haven’t you seen me pissed off enough yet?”

Glen held up both hands.  “Sorry, I’m always in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I’d leave but somehow I am guessing you’ve got car problems.”

“No, I have a car disaster.  Someone did a hit and run number on me.  Backing into the right rear wheel well and smashed it up so bad the chassis looks crooked.  No note, nothing.  And it probably won’t be worth fixing.  And the timing sucks.  I have an important family function tonight and I’m already late.  So that is what I’ve got!”

Glen shook his head, “I’m sorry.  Can I give you a lift somewhere?”

“No! Just butt out!  I’ll call a cab or get a rental or something.”

Glen knew when it was best to slip away so he went back to his office and closed the door.  A few minutes later, he could hear Jan yelling at her phone.  Then there was quiet for a few minutes and then she was yelling again.  This repeated a few times and then it was silent.  That beer was calling his name so he figured she finally found a cab company that could do a rapid pickup on a busy Friday night during rush hour and must have left.  As he exited his office, Jan stood right there at the door.

She looked as if a smile had not crossed her face in a hundred years.  Her eyes were red from crying and she was exhausted beyond words.  “It seems I am destined tonight to experience one humiliation after another.  I have come to say I am sorry about what I said and I need to take you up on that offer to give me a lift if it is still possible.”

She didn’t look him in the eyes as she said it.  She looked off to the side and every word felt like it was being torn out of her soul one syllable at a time.  To her immense relief, Glen did not make it worse.  He just pulled his keys out of his pocket and s
tated, “Let’s go.”

Neither one said anything else until Glen pulled his Camry up to the cross street as they exited the parking lot.  Then, keeping it brief, Glen
asked, “Where to?”

“I-90 East.  I’m sorry but it is
all the way out by Issaquah.”  He turned left and headed toward the freeway entrance.  Again they travelled in silence until they left Mercer Island and entered Bellevue across the waterway.   Suddenly, the traffic slowed to a standstill as they approached Bellevue Way. 

Jan looked over at Glen. “This is all I need.  Another delay.  I should be there already.  What else can go wrong?”

They sat in the traffic without moving more than twenty feet for ten more minutes.  Cars on the right were moving a bit faster so Glen pulled over into the lane and as they did they could see a slew of flashing emergency lights about a half mile ahead.  Looked like a multi-car smashup.  “I know a way around this.” Glen declared.  He took the Factoria exit and shot up SE 36th, running parallel to the freeway.  At 150
th
, they merged back on and were moving at a good pace once again.

“Thanks. I just
gotta get there soon.” Jan explained needlessly.

“I know. You are wound as tight as a drum.  What happened tonight?  I mean before the car issue.”

Jan started crying.  She wiped her face with a Kleenex and then unloaded.  She needed someone, anyone, even Glen, to understand what had happened.  She told him everything.  From her teenage years taking care of the younger kids to the moment when Eddie let her down. She explained how she had prepared for tonight for so long and then had it all decimated by Eddie’s lame excuse and the untimely demise of her aged Chevy.  When she was done, she stifled another cry and slumped back into her seat.

As she talked she had pointed to Exit
15 and guided him deeper into the Sammamish Plateau. They were almost there.

“So that’s it.  Now you know what a pathetic dating disaster I am and how desperate I have become.  Just to please my Mother.  I can’t believe I told you all that stuff.  I imagine everyone in the office will know this too now by Monday.  That will be a nice bit of revenge for you won’t it.”

Glen glanced at her.  “Did you say something?  Sorry, I wasn’t really listening.”

Jan gazed over at him.  “You know, just when I start thinking that you are a pretty nice guy sometimes, then I remember you like to cheat on your girlfriend.”

“You know, about that, I really should tell you …”

Jan butted in, “Oh
slow down, take this right turn here.   It’s that big blue house at the end of the cul-de-sac.”

Glen
eased off the pedal now as he approached.  “Oh, you mean the one with absolutely no parking anywhere nearby.”

“Doesn’t matter, this is a big deal tonight so my Dad brought in valet service to help with parking.  Just pull into the circular drive and you can drop me off up front.  I have to get the gift out of the back too.  Thanks for giving me the lift.  I guess
… I guess I owe you one now.”

Glen pulled up, stopped the car and got out along with Jan.  He
unlocked the trunk so she could get her gift out.  At that point a swirl of people erupted out the front door and Jan was surrounded by family and friends welcoming her.  Her mother was there leading the pack and she embraced Jan like a long-lost daughter and then turned to Glen.  “And this must be Ed!  I am so happy to meet you.”  She reached out and put her arms around Glen and hugged him almost as hard as she had hugged her daughter.  Jan tried to stop her and mumbled something that sounded like “Mom, no …” but it got lost in the crowd’s noise.

Glen smiled back at Mrs.
Falkenberg.  “You know, actually I think you misheard Jan when she said my name.  It’s not Ed, its Red.”  Glen made a silly gesture with his fingers tapping the part of his hair where the reddish tone showed through.  “She always calls me that.  It’s just a nickname.  My real name is Glen, but regardless of that, I am very happy to be here.  Now, it’s cold out here.  Let me walk you back in.”  And with that, he put her arm in his and escorted her into the house with Jan trailing carrying her gift.