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"I am mortified. Yes, well, leave it to Gary to make this even more sordid than it already was," she sniffed. "I'm just glad that it's over now. I'm finally free of him and have no reason to have any contact with him after today. I can’t believe I loved him. I can’t believe I thought he loved me."
Kline nodded. "I made the same mistake. Learned the hard way." He was quiet for a moment. "Listen, why don't I take you out somewhere? I’m free until tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I could cheer you up. Roland would probably like that. Can’t have his newest client sad."
“Sure. Do you mind if we stop off at my place first? I'd like to change. Actually, I'm feeling stifled and am fighting the urge to tear off my buttons and scream while throwing my shoes at men who look like Gary."
"I think I'd like to see that actually," Kline said, waggling his eyebrows at her.
Jill laughed. "Let me think about that interview a little longer and you'll be a witness."
"So, where's your place?" Kline asked, flicking on the intercom to the driver. She gave directions and they started off down a different street.
At her building, the elderly doorman welcomed her with a huge smile, and she leaned to kiss his cheek, asking after his family before taking the lift to her apartment. Kline followed her inside and smiled, looking around. It was perfectly New York, Architectural Digest chic. A far cry from the comfortable nest she’d made herself in the apartment they’d shared before.
Catching him looking she said, "I didn’t decorate it. Gary said I had garbage taste and had a designer do it. Come on in and make yourself at home. Can I bring you a drink?"
"Just mineral water, please. I'm off the sauce for the moment."
"Atkins again?"
He nodded, patting the flat of his stomach. "Television adds five pounds, you know."
"Ten," Jill said passingly. "I’m on it, too. I'll be right back."
She returned a few minutes later wearing faded jeans and a white ribbed tank top under a cozy blue hoodie. She handed him a highball glass full of mineral water and kept one for herself. "Thanks again for coming to get me. It was--it was pretty bad."
Kline listened as she told him the whole story, blinking back tears at the description of Gary’s girlfriend before taking a deep breath. "I should be glad though. When I lost the babies, both times people told me that it was nature's way of saying something wasn't right. I'll say. Oh god, I’m a mess. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that.”
“Come here,” Kline offered, opening his arms.
It was too easy to cross the floor to him and let him gather her into his lap, the warmth of him exactly as calming as she remembered. Jill laid her head on his shoulder and let him cradle her close. "First of all,” he said, his voice a pleasant rumble, “you don’t need to apologize to me for anything. Especially not for telling me about this. If nothing else, we’re friends, baby. You can tell me anything. And…that must have been horrible for you. But the positive side of it is that you don't have to share custody of a child with that low life. You'll find someone who's worthy of you and have a family when the time is right. Well, you'll find someone who's close to being worthy of you. I'm not sure that perfect match actually exists." He kissed the top of her head.
She laughed and closed her eyes. "Well, I've been an absolute failure as a daughter and wife, or so I’ve been told. I'm just hoping that my success as an actor is enough to balance it all out. I'm not quite human, you know. Gary said. Bastard. I'm not a robot!"
Kline chuckled. "Your mother was a bitch, and he's obviously an idiot and he's only managed to make himself look worse. Whatever he was hoping to accomplish by saying all of that dreck, all he's done is make people more sympathetic to your situation. But to further guarantee that everyone knows that you are not sitting at home crying over that loser, let's go out and have some fun. We'll celebrate your freedom."
Jill tilted her head back until she could look him in the face. "That means changing clothes again, doesn't it?"
"Indeed, it does," Kline grinned. "Why don't you let me choose something?"
"You just want an excuse to paw through my panties."
"Oh," he frowned, "I have to have an excuse? You know what looks good on me. I know what looks good on you."
Before he could put his lips to hers, because he had that look about him, Jill rolled her eyes and rose up from his lap. Kline had always done most of his comforting with his body. Whenever she was upset, after listening and validating, he always went right to kissing before he could run out of words. She wasn’t sure she could withstand one of Kline’s kisses right then. She wasn’t sure she wanted to, which meant she should avoid the temptation. "You’d better not say I look best in nothing. Come on back."
She opened the door to her closet and urged him inside watching him sift through hangers and open drawers in her bureau. "I think we should talk about Rhiannon," she said as he held up a red dress then put it back.
"Rhiannon? Why?"
“Because you’re seeing her?”
He looked genuinely confused so she said, “Because I don’t know if you’re seeing her seriously? Because you being here, going through my closet feels…familiar and honestly, every time I see you, my stomach does the same backflip it did the first night I met you. Because I was just sitting in your lap? So, if you and Rhiannon are serious, I need to know.”
His brow furrowed at the sudden turn in the conversation. She watched him deciding how much to say. "It’s new. We’re sleeping together. She's a great girl, but I haven’t made any commitments. We’re not exclusive. It’s casual. We literally just met hours before I ran into you. We haven’t talked at all about anything serious. Right now, it’s just sex, but she is great."
Jill gave a nod. "She is great, and she’s my friend. Well, we’re friendly."
"Are you okay with that? With me seeing her, I mean?"
