J: It was one date. Give it some time.
C: When you know, you know. And I know what I want.
J: A perfect woman? She added a GIF of a woman palming her forehead.
C: No… just the perfect woman for me. Vanessa, as lovely as she was, is not for me. I want things to be easy and natural with the woman I end up with. I want to be comfortable.
J:How are you supposed to get comfortable with any woman if you won’t go on a second date with her?
C: I was comfortable with you from the first moment we met. There’s two minutes between Jessa’s previous message and this response. I can picture him languishing over whether to send it or not. Chewing his nails, tapping his heels, agonizing again and again.
J: That was different.
C: How?
J: We’re best friends.
Chris’s final text that day doesn’t arrive until almost nineteen minutes later. You’re right.
I’m so engrossed in my deep dive into Jessa’s relationship with Chris that I don’t notice the attendant reappear.
“Here’s your whiskey, sir,” she says. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No.”
“A blanket? A hand towel? Some snacks?”
“Just some peace and quiet,” I say in a tone that suggests she’s worn out her welcome.
Her face drops and she nods, but she heads to the back of the plane dutifully. and I turn my attention back to Chris’s phone.
I scroll up a little to the beginning of a conversation that was started on December 18th by Chris. I was thinking, if you want some company this Christmas, I could come with you to your parents place. Act as a buffer. What do you think?
J: Aw Chris, that’s an awesome offer. But I’m not going to be going to their place alone this Christmas.
C: No?
J: I’m taking Dane. I want to introduce him to them.
C:That’s just… just… I’m surprised. It’s so soon.
J: We’ve been together six months. And it’s serious.
C:Really?
J:Yes, why are you being weird?
C:I’m not.
J:Do you not like Dane?
C:He’s fine.
J: So that’s a no.
C: I just think he can be a little full of himself sometimes.
J: He’s just being funny.