Tyler: She seems okay. I don’t get to go over there as often as I’d like, but because I’m between shows now, I have a little extra time.Jade: Congrats on the new role, by the way.Tyler: How did you know about that?Jade: The graphic you added as your Facebook cover photo.Tyler: Oh, that’s right. You were looking for pictures of Little D. ;-)Jade: Sigh.Tyler: LOL Thanks, though. It’s no big deal. It’s as good as I’m gonna get out here…until I reach the big time…like a certain someone.Jade: Have you considered moving to New York? You can only go so far in theater living in northern California.Tyler: Honestly, I have considered it, but it’s hard to think about leaving my mother. She’s had some issues for several years ever since my father passed. Damien has even less time now than he used to, so I’m not sure I could move far away from her. I know she would tell me to go and do whatever I needed to, but she’s really more dependent on me than she realizes.Jade: Well, can I tell you something honestly?Tyler: I’d prefer you lie to me.Jade: Are you always such a wiseass?Tyler: Pretty much. What were you going to say?Jade: New York is not all it’s cracked up to be. Some days I wish I could just come home.Tyler: You don’t mean that. You wouldn’t give it up. You’re just frustrated because of that douche, and homesick on top of it.Jade: You think so, huh?Tyler: Yes. Part of the problem is that you’re so far away from home. I bet if your family were in New York or if you were closer, you wouldn’t feel that way.Jade: You’re probably right.There was a pause in our interaction until her next message.Jade: I miss my mom.It killed me to hear her say that. I knew exactly what she was thinking, that she might not get to see her again if something happened. I could sense that she must have been crying.Tyler: It’s okay to cry.Jade: How did you know?Tyler: Intuition, I guess.Jade: That’s pretty freaky.Tyler: Well, I’m a bit of a freak.Jade: LOLTyler: ^^^You’re laughing now.Jade: Tyler Hennessey, don’t you have somewhere to be tonight, other than talking to me?There were a million things I was supposed to be doing. None of them were going to get done until she ended this conversation.
Because there was no way I was going to be the first to let go.Tyler: I have all night, Jade.Jade: Where is your girlfriend?Oh, that’s right. You have a girlfriend, fuckhead. Don’t forget that. Thank you for the reminder, Jade Jameson.Tyler: She’s working right now, actually. She took a bartending job to supplement the makeup artist gig. I actually manage the restaurant where she works, but I’m off tonight.Jade: That’s right. Chelsea mentioned that you’re a restaurant manager.Tyler: Yup. The Bay Repertory stuff doesn’t exactly pay the bills. What else did Chelsea tell you about me?Jade: Nothing bad. She actually mentioned how helpful you were to her back when Damien and she were having issues early on. She thinks you’re a sweetheart.Tyler: She’s a sweetheart, too. Seriously. The best thing that’s ever happened to my family.Jade: That’s really nice of you to say. I feel the same way about Damien. I’m so happy that my sister finally found the one.Tyler: You’ll find the right one, too, someday.Jade: I thought I did once.Tyler: What happened?Jade: It’s too long of a story to get into. Summed up in five seconds? His name was Justin. He was a musician. I thought he loved me. He broke my heart. But basically, it wasn’t meant to be.Tyler: Then along came the married snake…Jade: That one was my fault. We had really strong chemistry on stage, and I foolishly believed that would translate into real life somehow. But he was married for the majority of the time I’d known him, so I ruled it out. I would never dream of becoming the other woman. So, recently, when he told me he was divorcing, I somehow fell for it. And one night at my apartment, one thing led to another. Two weeks later, I find out it was all a lie. He’s been married all along. I’m so stupid.I didn’t even know him, but I wanted to kill this asshole.Tyler: You’re not stupid. He fucking lied to you. He took advantage of your vulnerability.Jade: Yeah, but I thought I had better intuition.Tyler: Jade, for what it’s worth, with everything going on with your mom, you have a lot on your mind at this point in your life. You’re probably not thinking straight. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You’ll learn from it. It’s okay to have moments of weakness. People make mistakes.I’m pretty sure I might be making one right now.Over the next few weeks, I tried to convince myself that my secret chats with Jade were nothing more than friendly banter. But I knew better. In reality, I was likely headed to hell in a handbasket.