Robbery in Progress

Twenty-Two

I went home and made a sandwich. I grabbed a bottle of water to go with it and sat on the couch while I ate. I scrolled through my phone for a few minutes, finding nothing the slightest bit interesting so I locked my phone and laid it on the coffee table. I felt bad that I was letting my conversation with Derek dictate what I was going to do the rest of the day. I should not let some guy ruin my day. I picked my phone back and found John's number. I stared at it, thinking I might interrupt him doing something, then laid it back down. I thought about it for a few more minutes, then decided to just do it.

"Hey, John."

"Jen? I didn't think I'd be hearing from you again today. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's fine. How would you like to come over and bring that movie?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. You didn't forget where I live, did you?"

"No, I couldn't do that." He chuckled. "I'll be there soon."

The night was filled with laughter, and not just because John rented a comedy.

"So, tell me about your past relationships."

"What?"

"I want to know about them. What happened that caused them to end?"

"I wasn't expecting you to ask that." I could tell by the look on his face. "I'll tell you, though." He took in a deep breath. "I think my relationships never worked out because I just never found the one, you know. I never found the person I could be completely myself with...someone I could laugh and have fun with...but someone who understood that my work is important to me and sometimes I may not be able to go out because I have to work or I'm busy."

"I know exactly what you mean." It was silent for a minute.

"Well, why did yours end?"

"Honestly, I feel the same as you about my past relationships...but the last serious relationship I had was my freshman year of college and the guy had been seeing someone else way before I came into the picture...and you know everything with Derek already."

"Yeah." He paused, scratching the back of his head. "Can I ask you something about that?"

"Sure."

"I know you said that the two of you broke up because he hadn't talked to you for days and thought it was no big deal, but is that all? I am not trying to say that that's not a big deal, because he should have had the decency to at least send you a text. I'm just saying that I think there's still some hurt there for you and maybe he said something that really did some damage and has made you where you can't forgive him." I did not want to tell John about the comment Derek made to me the day everything went down between us. It was too painful.

"He did say something." He had a look on his face like he knew he had been right the whole time. "I just don't know if I can say it out loud."

"Well, you did say you didn't want any secrets between us." He was right. Why did he have to be right?"

"When we had our big fight, Derek told me I was being ridiculous about the whole situation of me not hearing from him in four days and then he made the comment that it was why my last boyfriend cheated on me."

"Are you kidding me?" Complete shock came across John's face. I do not think that John expected to hear something like that. "Where's this Derek at anyway?" John stood up. "I'll kick his butt for saying something like that to you, Jen." I rose, grabbing his arm.

"Calm down, John. Don't worry about it. I've forgotten about him. I mean, look who I invited over to my place tonight." John calmed down and a smile came across his face.

"Yeah, me." We laughed. Within a few minutes, the movie ended, and I could tell John did not want to leave yet. "Do I have to go so soon?"

"Well, John, you know I have work tomorrow."

"Me, too."

"We can do something together soon, but you have to plan it." John playfully rolled his eyes. "Hey, the man is supposed to plan things." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'll figure out something and let you know. I can surprise you."

"How about you just tell me instead?"

"Maybe." I knew my luck that John wouldn't tell me what he had planned and that always made me nervous. I was already starting to sweat and have anxiety over it. I guess he could tell because he gently grabbed my hand. "Don't worry about it, Jen. I promise I won't pick anything where we might die." I laughed at him. I was glad he could come up with a joke to ease my stress and anxiety.

"Gee, thanks." I walked hand in hand with John to the door. He opened it and kissed me on the cheek.

"Call me?" I nodded. The night had gone so well with John and even though we were really taking things slow, I was able to find out some new things about him that I hadn't known before. I opened up with John and it felt good to be able to talk to someone who really seemed to understand me and what I had gone through in past relationships. I was afraid that Paul would ask me at work the next day what I did, and I dreaded it. I had kept the comment Derek made during our big fight a secret from Paul because I knew how upset he would be. I was terrified of what he might do.

A/N: I hope you all are enjoying this story. If you have any suggestions, feelings, or reactions when reading please comment them!