Collusion

Chapter 2-3

Olivia made it to the restaurant for lunch about ten minutes late and apologized for the delay.

“I’ve got a lot of drama at work right now,” she told me. “One of my books is really messed up.”

Olivia worked as an editor for Axis Medical Publishing in Center City, a job she both hated and loved. She was also taking classes part-time at Temple, trying to get an MBA so she could move up within the company or leave for a management position somewhere else. I was proud of her for putting her failed marriage behind her and moving on with her life, at least professionally. Her social life, or lack thereof, was an entirely different matter. She still hadn’t found a man to be with, but she didn’t seem to be looking for one either. She claimed to be content with her status as a single woman, but I wasn’t sure I believed her. If the right man approached her in the right way, I suspected (and hoped) she’d get into another relationship and fall in love again.

“I’m surprised you picked this place for lunch,” I told her.

“Well, I figured we haven’t been here in a while, so why not?”

After the waitress took our orders, we talked briefly about work and I told her about my awkward conversation with Sean Gluski the day before.

“It sounds like he has a crush on you,” she said.

“He might.”

“What if he does?”

I shrugged. “Then I’ll deal with it.”

“What’s he like?”

“Skinny, geeky, and weird. He’s not a bad looking kid if you like them that way.”

“But you prefer them old, pretty, and blond, right?”

“Jay’s not old.”

“What is he? Forty-five now?”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s forty. He’ll be forty-one later this year.”

“Well, I’m thirty-one, so he’s old to me.”

“Speaking of Jay, I’m sorry for that whole thing last weekend. I never should have brought it up.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

I asked what she was doing on Saturday and she told me she had a test next week to study for and laundry to do, but that was it.

“Do you want to go to the zoo?”

“The zoo?”

“Yeah, the zoo. Have you ever been?”

“No, I can’t say that I have.”

“Great, then it’ll be a new and exciting experience.”

Olivia narrowed her eyes at me. “What’s up, Brian? I can’t believe you’re just asking me out of the blue to go to the zoo with you. Does Jay need a babysitter again or something?”

“Well, sort of, but not really.” I told her that little Brian was coming to visit this weekend. “Jay suggested we take the kid to the zoo and he asked me to ask you if you’d come with us.”

“No way,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m surprised you’d even want me to go after what happened last weekend.”

“Jay was drunk,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “He didn’t mean any of the stuff he said.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“Yes, and before you ask, I believe him.”

“Of course you do.” She sighed. “Look, if it was just you, me, and the kid, I’d go, but I’ve had enough of Mr. Tanner for the time being, thank you very much.”

“Come on, Olivia. Don’t do it for Jay, do it for his son.”

“Don’t try and guilt-trip me.”

“Little Brian likes you. And he’s so well-behaved when you’re with him. Think of the child.”

“I can’t think of the child without thinking of his father. Jay hates me, you know.”

“He doesn’t hate you. He thinks you hate him.”

“I don’t hate him.”

“Then come with us Saturday.”

“Fine,” she said, throwing her hands up in defeat. “What time do I need to be there?”

“We’ll pick you up around ten.”

“Why? So you can make sure I don’t back out at the last minute?”

“Exactly.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “I’m only going to the zoo, Brian. No lunch, no dinner, no babysitting, nothing else. Really.”

I grabbed her hand across the table and squeezed it. “Thank you.”

* * * *

As part of their custody agreement, Meghan would drop little Brian off at the condo Saturday morning and Jay was responsible for driving the child back home Sunday afternoon. Meghan never came upstairs to our apartment. Instead, she made Jay meet her in the lobby for the custody exchange.

I’d only met Meghan once, shortly after she and Jay divorced, and the attractive brunette barely acknowledged me. As far as she was concerned, I was the man who’d turned her husband gay, so she had no interest in getting to know me. She refused to believe that Jay was gay long before either of us ever knew him, but whatever. If she wanted to make me the bad guy and hate me for destroying her marriage, there was nothing I could do about it.

I didn’t blame Meghan for being angry over the dissolution of her marriage. She had every right to be angry with Jay for marrying and fathering a child with her knowing that he was homosexual and with me for having an affair with him while he was still married. I certainly wasn’t proud of my behavior and I know he felt terrible about the way he’d treated her. But he’d tried hard to end their marriage in a respectful way by waiting until after they were divorced to come out as a gay man and providing Meghan with a generous financial settlement. Plus, he’d never publicly badmouthed her, telling everyone that she was a great mother and wife, but that he just couldn’t keep being her husband. “I loved Meghan as much as I could,” he told me, “but, I swear, our marriage was killing me a little each day. I had to get out of it.”

* * * *

I’d just gotten out of the shower after my morning run and was about to put another pot of coffee on when Jay got Meghan’s call that she was in front of the condo with little Brian.

“If I’m not back in five minutes, call the cops,” he joked before leaving.

When he returned a few minutes later carrying the two-year-old and a backpack full of his things, I was surprised to see that father and son were dressed in almost identical clothing. Brian was wearing jeans, sneakers, a navy blue and white striped sweater, and a black North Face jacket and Jay had on the same outfit except that his sweater was solid blue. In addition to dressing (or rather being dressed) like his father, Jay’s son favored him in the looks department also. The two-year-old truly was a miniature version of Jay with blond hair and a round little face that just screamed “Jay Tanner sired me!” Unfortunately, personality-wise, he was the total opposite: moody, stubborn, and prone to outbursts, all of which Jay hoped he would grow out of.

“Say hi to Brian,” Jay told the boy.

He looked at me and stuck his tongue out.

It was going to be a long day.

* * * *

After having breakfast, Jay strapped Brian into his car seat and we headed to Olivia’s. She was waiting outside of her apartment building when Jay pulled his Mercedes to a stop at the curb. As usual, she was dressed too warmly for the weather in a heavy jacket, a knit cap, jeans, and sneakers. Having been born and raised in Detroit, Olivia constantly dressed during the fall, winter, and spring months as if a massive blizzard was just around the corner. Even though she’d been living in Philadelphia for more than five years, she couldn’t seem to shake the notion that the weather in the City of Brotherly Love was a lot warmer than it was in the Motor City.

“Hello, Brians,” she said, climbing into the back seat beside little Brian, “and Jay.”

“It’s such a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Carter,” Jay said as he put the car into gear.

“The pleasure’s all mine, Mr. Tanner,” she told him.

I sighed and turned to look out of the passenger side window. As long as Jay and Olivia weren’t arguing, I really didn’t care what they said to each other.