Collusion

Chapter 2-2

I’d just climbed into bed around midnight after spending the past few hours grading papers when Jay came home. I usually tried to stay awake until he returned after the eleven o’clock news broadcast. If I did fall asleep before he came home, he often managed to wake me anyway.

“Meghan’s bringing Brian over Saturday,” he said as he got undressed. “I figured we could take him to the zoo or something.”

“Okay.”

He hesitated before adding, “Maybe you could invite Olivia to come along.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? She had a great time with him a few weeks ago.”

This was true. During little Brian’s last weekend visit, Jay and I were scheduled to attend a cystic fibrosis fundraiser in Bucks County that Saturday night. Jay was serving as MC at the event on behalf of Channel 2. He considered asking Meghan to reschedule the child’s visit, but decided against it since the last time he’d made the request, she threatened to take him to court and have their entire visitation agreement changed so that he never saw his son. Jay’s other options were to try and find a babysitter or to just to bail on the fundraiser. But he’d served as MC for the past four years and really didn’t want to let the charity down. Apparently, the organizers loved having him for the yearly event and many guests came (and gave generously) because of his involvement. I offered to stay home with Brian and babysit, but Jay insisted that I attend the fundraiser alongside him.

“This is our first year together officially as a couple and I want you there as my date,” he said. “Besides, you’re no babysitter, baby.”

Despite being a teacher, I found children hard to deal with. I was accustomed to dealing with adults (often immature adults, but adults nonetheless). Kids were not my thing and little Brian, my unfortunate namesake, could be quite a handful.

With time running out, I called Olivia in a panic and asked if she would come over that night to babysit. Surprisingly, she agreed. Although she didn’t have any children of her own, she liked them and genuinely seemed to enjoy being in their presence. Little Brian, who’d been wailing and carrying on practically from the time Meghan dropped him off, calmed down considerably when Olivia showed up. By the time Jay and I left for the fundraiser, she’d already cooked dinner for him (and, lo and behold, he ate it, too), given him a bath, and read a storybook to him in half the time (and with a lot less effort) than his father and I would have taken.

When Jay and I returned later that night, Brian was sleeping soundly in the spare bedroom while Olivia sat on the sofa watching Saturday Night Live. Jay thanked her profusely for her help and offered her money and a ride home, both of which she gladly accepted. “I don’t feel bad about taking Jay’s money,” she told me later. “God knows he has enough of it.”

But, in spite of Olivia’s ability to soothe and entertain Jay’s child, I didn’t see her making a habit of it. Coming over to help with the two-year-old while we were in a bind was one thing. Joining us for an outing at the zoo was another. And, after our disastrous Saturday night together, I highly doubted she would be on board for another group excursion.

“Olivia isn’t interested in being your nanny, Jay.”

“And I’m not asking her to be, but she’s so good with little Brian. You said so yourself.”

“It’s not little Brian who’s the problem.”

“Oh, whatever. I’m tired of being blamed for her issues.” He pulled on a pair of pajama pants and climbed into bed. “Will you at least ask her about going to the zoo on Saturday?”

I sighed. “I’ll ask her, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“I never do.” Jay pulled me into his arms. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He kissed me and rolled over. A few minutes later, he was asleep while I lay awake trying to figure out how to tactfully ask Olivia to join us at the zoo. She and I hadn’t spoken since Sunday morning when I told her about Jay calling out her name during s*x the night before. I totally regretted bringing the incident up with her. What was I expecting her to say in response? “Gee, Brian, that’s great!”? In hindsight, I realized I should have just kept my mouth shut. The whole thing was embarrassing for her, for Jay, and for me.

Ever since Jay’s divorce from Meghan, I hadn’t really given a lot of thought to him being with another woman. I knew he liked women and, despite Olivia’s doubts, I believed he loved his wife. But I also took him at his word when he told me he didn’t want to be in a relationship with a woman ever again.

“Women are great,” he said, “in small doses. But 24/7? Forget it.”

“So I guess that means you won’t be getting married again?”

He chuckled. “Not unless it’s to you, baby.”

“Are you proposing?” I teased.

“Are you crazy?” he asked, not missing a beat. “No offense, but I think I’d like to be a divorcee for a while before I become a husband for the second time.”

And that was perfectly fine with me. Jay and I had been through a lot in our relationship and just being able to love him and be loved by him openly were all I needed at the moment. Besides, with gay marriage not being legal in Pennsylvania, he and I couldn’t get married even if we wanted to.

* * * *

I sent Olivia a text the next morning asking if we could have lunch together and she agreed. I had a two-hour gap between classes on Tuesday afternoons, so I was able to slip away from the college and meet her. She chose a restaurant we were both familiar with located a few blocks from her office. She and I had gone out for drinks there three years ago shortly after we first met.

Olivia and I met entirely by accident. Soon after Jay dumped me to marry Meghan, I was depressed and turned to the Internet for a casual s****l encounter that f****d me up physically and mentally. The guy I’d arranged to meet beat the hell out of me, took my money, and kicked me out onto the street. As I tried to walk home, I collapsed near the Logan Circle fountain and Olivia, who happened to be driving by at the time, saw me and gave me a ride home. She really helped me that night and we’d been friends ever since.