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12
Jeff
The weekend rolled around, and Lester was spending it with his girlfriend, so that meant I was on my own this weekend. Of course, naturally the first thing I thought about was Beatrice. The last time we were together, I thought that there was something there. I knew there was, but at the same time, she was fighting it with every breath. It was hard to ignore.
After debating it for quite some time and not even knowing if she was there to answer, I decided that I was going to have to call her mom’s house. I was lucky enough to have her answer. I didn't know what exactly I would have said to her mom. Her mom had never liked me and even as her son’s best friend for most of his life, I still had not won her over. That was not going to change.
“Hello?”
“Beatrice, it’s good to hear your voice.” It really was too. I was so worried that her mom was going to answer, and I was going to have to hear from her.
Beatrice scoffed. “You hear my voice all the time on the dispatch.”
“You must know that it's not the same.”
She sighed. “What can I do for you, Jeff?”
I was reminded of the fair in town and how it was here for the weekend. It wasn't something that I was personally interested in going to, but it might appear like a safe place for Beatrice to agree to go out with me again. She probably didn't want to go back to my place again or swim in the pond. I wish she would of course, but I think she knew that it would turn into something else. I couldn't even lie about it, of course it would.
“I was wondering what you're doing tonight, you know, see if you're busy or anything.”
“Well, I wasn't, but someone asked me out, so I guess I'm going to go out with them.”
“Who?” I quickly asked, sure that I would assault whoever it was.
I asked too quickly, and my voice was too adamant. I wished I could take it away or at least half of the emotions that were wrapped up in it. I was on the verge with Beatrice all the time. I’d never felt the way I did, not sure what to do with myself. Beatrice had me wound up tight.
“Just somebody from the firehouse. He works the opposite shift as you, I doubt you even know him.”
I told her that I knew all of them and now I was going to drive myself crazy trying to figure it out.
“Barry.”
Barry was almost 30, had just gotten divorced and had two kids from his previous marriage. What the hell was she doing going out with him?
“Barry? Yeah, he seems nice,” Beatrice said.
I had to watch my tongue, because I wanted to tell her exactly how I felt about Barry. He wasn't for her, truthfully none of them were. Beatrice was supposed to be mine. I couldn't help it if she wanted to fight it, but I knew the truth. The last person she needed to be with was Barry.
“You sound like you want to say something.”
“I just don't understand why you're going out with somebody like Barry. He is not even that smart.”
“Like I said, he seems nice.”
“Well, he might seem nice, but trust me, he's not.”
Beatrice asked what I meant by that, and I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. I was mad because I wanted to go out with her. It didn’t have anything to do with Barry.
I groaned out loud and I told her that she knew exactly what I meant.
“No, actually, I don’t. All I'm getting from you right now is that you are very jealous. I never would have taken you for the jealous type.”
I didn’t know how this all came apart so badly. This was not at all what I’d wanted to happen. Everything was going sideways.
I didn’t deny it. I would have been lying. “Well, if you're busy I will let you get back to it. I was just going to head up to the local fair that they have going on. It’s usually interesting and I thought you might want to come. I didn’t call for any other reason.”
Beatrice scoffed. “That is where we are going.”
