Jason made it to his parent’s home right on schedule. They lived in a gated community. As he drove up the winding driveway he noticed there was a lot of activity going on at the estate. There seemed to be a whole army of people doing a lot of work on his mother’s gardens. It was more than the usual. His mother’s gardens had won many local awards and had even been featured once in “Better Homes & Gardens” magazine. He was very proud of both his parents. They had been married for almost 40 years. If he ever got married he hoped it would be half as successful as his parents. Jason parked his car and went into the house.
“Mom, Dad..I’m here”. Jason’s mother was the first to come out of her sun room in khaki’s and a button up shirt. She greeted Jason with a hug and a kiss. Mrs. Miriam Rutherford was the picture perfect wife. Even though she was in her late 50’s she was still very beautiful with only slightly graying hair. Her beautiful blonde hair was pulled back into a graceful bun. Jason had her eyes. She was all about style, grace, & decorum. If Jason’s father was known for his prowess in business then Miriam was without a doubt his equal on the home and social fronts. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with and not one to cross as anyone who had sat on the many boards, committees, and women’s groups would attest. Whoever mistook her southern charm for weakness or even ignorance did so at their own peril. Jason was her only son. Making sure he was happy was her main priority. Jason’s father appeared from the sun room shortly thereafter. John was a towering man. He also had dirty blonde hair like Jason’s. For a man in his early sixties he was very well built. John and Miriam were still pretty physically active. They both enjoyed the outdoors, swimming, tennis, bicycling, canoeing, and such. Anytime they could get outdoors and have at it they would especially now that John had retired and handed the reins over to Jason. Other than his mother’s eyes Jason was the spitting image of his father. Jason looked up to his father but was most assuredly his own man. They both had a stubborn streak a mile long. That seemed to be a Rutherford trait. John Rutherford reached out to hug his son and they embraced. “Jason it’s good to see you. You’re looking good. We
haven’t seen you in almost a month.” As the three of them walked into the family room Miriam in her southern drawl called their housekeeper Carla to have her bring out some refreshments. “I’m sure you are well aware dad that CkR International can keep a man really busy” John was a proud father looking at Jason. He knew that Jason was working hard, increasing profits, and expanding the company. “Yeah, well you must always find ways to make time for your family.” Miriam looked on and shook her head in agreement. “Speaking of family, when do you plan on starting yours? We thought you and Bridget would have been engaged by now.” Miriam sweetly chimed in “she seems to be such a lovely girl and you know we love the Reeds.” So this is what his parents wanted to see him about his love life? “Bridget is a lovely girl and I know that you two love the Reeds. They are great people, however when or IF the timing is right for Bridget and me to get married we’ll have that discussion” “IF?” John looked at his son with a raised eye brow “I’m sure you mean when right? You are not getting any younger Jason. At some point, a man has to make a commitment. While we were on vacation the Reeds did mentioned that you and Bridget were taking a little break. If you don’t make the girl some sort of commitment soon you just might lose her” Jason was angry. He was 34 years old. His parents should not have entertained any conversation about his personal life especially with the Reeds. Miriam who had always been the peace-maker between her husband and Jason noticed how irritated he was becoming. John either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Either way it was time for Miriam to step in. “Jason you know we only want what is best for you. We were not trying to interfere in your life the conversation came up and we just want you to be happy.” “Mom, the conversation never should have come up. I’m not trying to be rude but what is going on or NOT going on between Bridget and me is and will remain between Bridget and me.” Jason stared down both his parents to make sure they understood “Now, how was your vacation?”
Once Jason’s parents got the message that he was not going to discuss his personal life they moved on and tried to get caught up on everything else that had been happening in their lives over the past several weeks. After a couple of hours Jason decided to head for home. He couldn’t wait to leave so he could call Vicky.
Once Jason was on the road he called her. She answered on the second ring. “Hey beautiful” Jason hadn’t been this excited to talk to someone in his life. He couldn’t wait to hear her voice. “Hi yourself” Vicky sounded so sexy almost as if she was purring. “I hate I’m here and that you’re there. I know it’s only been a few hours but I miss you already. What have you been doing since I left?” Vicky was on cloud nine. She didn’t think anyone could or would ever feel this way about her especially not someone like Jason. “Well, I took your advice. I entertained Angel and then I entertained myself” Just thinking about that made Jason’s jeans fit just a little bit tighter “Really, entertained yourself. Now, you know a person could take that to mean so many different things.” “Yes, they could but I meant I scheduled a massage”. Vicky sounded so excited almost like a kid on Christmas morning. “JK it was wonderful. I’d never had one before. I was so relaxed I actually fell asleep. I hope I wasn’t snoring” to hear her laugh made Jason’s chest swell with pride. Jason did feel a little guilty when she called him JK. Once he figured out what the hell he was doing with Vicky he’d tell her the truth. Right now he enjoyed the fact that she was interested in him. Not his family’s name, not his position, not his money, but just him. “You know...you and
me, we’ve…umm…been about as intimate as two people can get but I feel like I’ve missed out on some of the basics” Jason knew this conversation was coming. He’d have to be careful “Are you naked?” “JK! Stop trying to distract me.” Vicky was giggling like a school girl “Let’s make a deal? How about you answer some of my questions and I’ll answer some of yours. Can we do that?” “Alright, what do you want to know Ms. Martin?” Great, he was willing to share a little bit of information about himself with her “Where exactly is home?” “Home is in Atlanta, Georgia. Now…are you naked” Vicky continued to giggle but she was determined to get answers. “Not yet. How long have you worked for and what do you do for CkR International?” Jason sighed “I’ve worked for CkR International seems like all of my life but I’ve been in my current position for about 5 years. What about you what do you do for CkR?” “Well, I’ve only been with the company for about a year. I work in customer service. Sometimes it’s a challenge answering phones all day but it helps to pay the bills so, I won’t complain.” Jason remembered that she was crying when they’d met on the elevator and decided to ask her about that “So, what had you so upset when we met on the elevators?” Vicky sighed, “The usual….trying to figure out the impossible. I guess I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I’d requested time off from work a couple of weeks ago to take Angel to get her immunization shots and for some reason my boss came up with some bogus excuse as to why I couldn’t have the time off. It seems to always be difficult to work with people who don’t have kids. They don’t seem to be as compassionate as those who do. I still need to figure out what to do. If I miss the appointment, then Angel can’t go to daycare. If Angel can’t go to daycare then I can’t come to work. On top of that she cut my overtime. I was hoping to get caught up on some bills and maybe save for a car for this winter.” Jason was getting upset thinking that Vicky had to carry so much on her shoulders alone. “So what are you going to do? Do you have friends or someone who can help you out?” “I don’t want you worrying or feeling sorry for me JK. It was just one of those days where it seemed everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I’ll figure something out. I always do.” Vicky was starting to feel really uncomfortable with the way the conversation had been turned back to her so she decided to answer his first question. “By the way, yes, I am naked..and wet since I just got out of the whirlpool tub” Jason made a mental note to take care of her problem with CkR International later but right now the visual of her body naked and wet was enough to make him want to come in his pants “Damn, you are killing me over here”. “When are you coming back?” Jason didn’t know when he could get back but he sure was going to try to make it as soon as possible.
Later that evening Jason was sitting at Charlie’s restaurant waiting on Bridget. She was more than 20 minutes late for their dinner. Jason was going to try and call her cell phone one more time. He knew she liked to make a grand entrance but she’d never been this late. He’d called her cell phone twice already. Every time he called her he kept getting her voice-mail and he was starting to get a little worried. Jason was getting ready to call Bridget one last time when he saw her approaching their table. Bridget looked like a million dollars. One thing no one would ever be able to say is that Bridget wasn’t beautiful. She looked like she stepped off of the pages of a Vogue magazine. Her hair was long, thick, and jet black. It complimented her deep green eyes and pouty red lips. Bridget was very tall and modelesque. The backless off-the-shoulder dress she wore complimented her figure superbly. The dress matched her green eyes and really made her porcelain skin look like it was glowing. Her long legs looked even longer in the heels that she wore. She was beautiful and she knew it. From the looks of the men’s eyes following her in the restaurant they knew it too. Jason and Bridget had been dating for over three years. Everyone expected them to get married. He even expected them to get married right up until the moment he met Vicky on the elevator yesterday. Incredible that it was only yesterday that he had met her. The instant connection they had made it seem like he’d known her for so much longer. Jason knew that when he’d met Vicky life for everyone was going to drastically change. As beautiful as Bridget was tonight, Jason wasn’t even the least bit stirred. He must be losing his mind because he and Bridget always had great sex. But, as great as it was it didn’t come close to what he felt when he’d made love with Vicky. Damn it. He had to stop thinking about her and focus on this situation with Bridget. They weren’t going to get married. That was the bottom line. Bridget would be angry at first but she would get over it. His parents would be very disappointed and her parents are going to be livid. He stood up as Bridget made it to their table and she offered her lips to him. He kissed her on the cheek.
“Bridget,
you look lovely as usual” for just an instant her smile faltered. She quickly recovered and took her seat. “You look great too. Jason before anything else is said tonight, I want to apologize. I never should have left you the way that I did. I was just so frustrated with how things were going between us. I didn’t know what else to do. I felt I needed to somehow get your attention”. Bridget tossed her beautiful hair to one side, reached out to hold Jason’s hands and looked at him longingly. Jason felt slightly guilty as Bridget continued on “What is going on with us? Lately, you’ve seemed so withdrawn, distracted even” the waiter came over to take their order. This gave Jason a moment to gather his thoughts as they placed their order. He waited until the waiter left to say what needed to be said “Bridget, there is no need for you to apologize. This time has given both of us a chance to really think about our relationship. In the beginning after you left I was angry. But then those few days gave me a chance to really think and put things into perspective. I realized you deserve so much more than what I can give you”. This conversation wasn’t going at all as Bridget had envisioned it. “What are you talking about Jason?” Bridget was starting to get nervous “After talking with your father, I now understand the stress you’ve been under at work. You could have talked to me about it. I would have understood. We’re cut from the same cloth. I’ve had to watch my father run a business as well. I understand that sort of stress. I could have even helped you. Jason, damn it we are a really good team” She talked to his father? When? His dad hadn’t mentioned that when they’d talked this afternoon. It took everything within Jason to remain calm “Bridget, all those things are true. For the past three years we have made a good team. But, did you notice that not once did you mention that we love each other? Getting married is not a merger. We should not get married because it is the next progressive step in our relationship. Getting married should be about you and me vowing to love one another for the rest of our lives and nothing else.” Bridget didn’t know what was happening Jason was supposed to have missed her like crazy not have destructive epiphanies. He was supposed to be begging her to come back to him. She would then forgive him and then he was supposed to give her that damn ring he’d been carrying around for the last few months. She’d hoped that tonight would be the night that everything she’d worked so hard for would happen. It all seemed to be falling apart right before her eyes. How could this be happening? It just didn’t make sense unless Jason had met someone else. Was that it? Had he met someone else? “Jason, I don’t understand any of this. It is all such a shock. One minute we’re about to get married and next you’re breaking up with me? It doesn’t make any sense. Is there someone else?” Jason looked guilty “That’s it isn’t it? Who is she?” Jason rubbed the back of his neck “Bridget we were never on the verge of getting married. We can’t blame the fact that our relationship turned into more of a business partnership a long time ago on someone else.” Bridget had to keep her cool or else she was going to lose the man whom she’d been planning to marry for the last 5 years. “Ok Jason, I see what is happening now. This kind of thing has happened to lots of couples. Anytime you’re in a long term relationship sometimes men can have a wondering eye. I’m sure that is what this is. Sebastian and Jaime went through something similar last summer. Do what you have to do with this woman to get her out of your system so that we can start planning our future together. I can overlook this little indiscretion
this time
but after we are married, I won’t tolerate it.” Bridget took a sip of her drink as if the matter was settled and then asked if he was ready to order dinner. What the hell just happened? Jason needed to be really clear “Bridget, let me be perfectly clear so there is no misunderstanding. We’ve both been going through the motions for awhile. It is not fair to you or to me. We don’t love each other.” Jason enunciated each word slowly “And, we are..Not.. Getting.. Married”. Bridget stared at him for just a moment. Then she stood up, tossed her drink in his face, and walked out of the restaurant.