Chapter 1-2
508 Words
After a restless night, I woke early the next morning and showered and dressed while Jay remained in bed, sleeping off his overindulgence from the night before. I left the condo and headed to Olivia’s apartment. She answered the door dressed in her usual weekend attire of black yoga pants and a turquoise tank top that made her reddish brown skin seem even more radiant than it usually was. Her feet were bare and her toenails were painted the same dark red color as her fingernails and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She looked good. I could almost understand Jay fantasizing about her. Almost.
“Coffee?” she said, holding up a glass carafe while bopping along to the samba CD that was playing.
“Sure,” I said. “Thanks.”
“So,” she said, pouring me a cup, “what brings you here so early this morning? Shouldn’t you be out running around the Schuylkill?”
Olivia knew me well. Running along the Schuylkill River was a ritual for me most days. I enjoyed the solitude of an early morning run to get my mind together before I officially started the day. I’d been a runner since college, a habit that started as a way to lose the extra pounds I’d put on during my high school years that continued now, more than fifteen years later.
“I didn’t feel like running this morning,” I told her.
“You’re not sick, are you?” she asked, pressing her palm to my forehead. “You feel a little warm.”
“I’m fine,” I said, waving her hand away.
She sat down across from me at the table. “What’s wrong?”
When I didn’t answer, she frowned and drew her own conclusion. “Jay did something, didn’t he?”
I hated the way she always assumed the worst with him. If I had shown up at her place with a runny nose, she’d assume Jay had done something to cause it. I sat back in my chair.
“He called out your name last night while we were having sex.”
She stared at me. “Are you serious?”
“I’m totally serious. Why do you think he did that, Olivia?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you should ask him.”
“I plan to once he sobers up.”
“So, he was drunk when he said it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that explains it.”
I took a sip from my coffee mug. “I think he wants to sleep with you.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. I always got the impression Jay didn’t like women.”
“I don’t know where you got that impression. He loved his wife.”
“Really?”
“Well, he said he did.”
“And you believed him?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Olivia smirked.
“What?”
“Nothing. Your judgment just tends to get a little clouded when your boyfriend is involved.”
“You’re saying I can’t be objective about him?”
“I’m saying you’ve been drinking Jay Tanner’s Kool-Aid for a while now and I don’t see you getting off it anytime soon.”
“That’s bullshit. I love Jay. I haven’t been brainwashed by the man.”
“Love makes people stupid.” Olivia’s eyes flickered over me and she folded her arms across her chest. “I can’t believe you actually came here to tell me you think your boyfriend wants to sleep with me. What am I supposed to say to that, Brian?”
The samba song playing in the background was driving me crazy. A singer kept repeating statements about various family members showing up: the mother, the father, the sister, the brother, and so on. I rubbed my eyes. I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. “I don’t know.”
- Writer
