Jason
I can’t take this anymore, and I told Jennifer that we need to sit down and tell both Daniel and Mom about us. There’s no hiding it. This isn’t a summer fling, and I want everything out in the open. Jennifer wasn’t party to it at first until I reminded her about Tom and what happens with secrets and lies. She soon changed her mind at the mention of his name.
“I don’t understand why we need to go to dinner at Jennifer’s tonight. I mean it’s a bit weird with the four of us,” Mom says, and I know that she’s waiting for me to tell her reason for the meal, but I keep my mouth shut.
“Mom are you ready? Can we go?”
She nods. “You’re a bit tense tonight.”
I sigh, “Mom?”
“Okay, Jason I get it. We’re going next door for dinner. Let me just get my keys. Is that okay?”
She's sarcastic, and any other time I would have found it cute and said something funny, but not tonight. I’m too fucking wound up for smart comments. Besides, I keep expecting Stalker Bethany to spring up any moment. Jennifer wanted to have the dinner on the weekend. I told her that there’s nothing like the present, besides Bethany only warned her yesterday. I don’t want either Daniel or Mom to find out from Bethany. I want her to know from us. I want to deal with this as adults, not fucking kids.
“Ready!” Mom says as she swings her keys in front of me.
I walk out and then wait for her to do the same and then we walk in silence to the house. I can see the lights on, for some reason I was worried that Jennifer would bail out on me and change her mind. She’s older, but at times I forget because of the way she reacts to things.
As I ring the bell and I see her hair tied up, the way that it used to be. She’s wearing a dress, no doubt from the time that she was with Tom and I shake my head at the idea of the old Jennifer. The one that Tom had molded when he was alive had come back to life.
“Jennifer, how are you?” Mom says as she looks at Jennifer
with a quizzed look on her face.
She’s probably wondering what’s going on. Lately, Jennifer’s been in tight jeans, shorts, miniskirts and everything that she never wore when Tom was alive. Now, she’s wearing a dress that looks as if she’s going to church.
I smile at her. “Jennifer.”
She ignores me as she steps to the side and says, “Come in. Dinner’s nearly ready. Daniel’s set the table.”
She’s so cold with me that I wonder if maybe I was too harsh on her and pushed her into this. I shake my head; there’s no way that she wants Bethany to do our dirty work for us. No, way.
“Good, because I’m starving.” Mom smiles as her eyes dart from Jennifer to me. It’s obvious that something’s wrong because Jennifer’s ignoring my presence and moving as if we’re all complete strangers.
The crazy part is as we move into the dining room and I see Daniel, that’s when I feel relieved that he’s acting normally.
“Jennifer, I was surprised that you asked us to dinner. The two boys, we should be eating with two men, and they should be out with their girlfriends.”
Mom smiles as she puts her hand on Jennifer.
Jennifer’s eyes flash to me. “Oh, I never knew that Jason was dating someone.”
Mom shrugs. “Well, I do his washing, and I know the difference between the smell of cologne and perfume.”
Mom laughs as she walks toward Daniel and greets him. Jennifer freezes again, wondering if Mom knows about the two of us. Jennifer’s probably thinking that if Mom’s been smelling the perfume, then she’ll recognize the scent.
I comfort her fears by saying, “Mom. You know me too well.”
She winks at me. “Well, you are my son.”
“Daniel, how’s it going with Bethany?” Mom asks him, and I must admit that I’m a bit curious about this part too. If Bethany’s been stalking me, then she can’t be spending too much time with him.
“Oh, you know. I’m too young to settle down. Besides she has stuff to do. Helping her parents and stuff. So, I spend more time hanging out with Ron seeing as Jason’s always tied up with his mystery lady.”
Jennifer changes the conversation quickly, “Dinner must be ready now. Please sit. Daniel gets our guests some drinks.”
Before anyone can respond, Jennifer’s out of the room and heads toward the kitchen. I know that she’s probably in there taking some deep breaths and trying to calm her nerves. I can read her like an open book.