Leaps and landings

13

Odette left Jess' apartment that morning to go to her Pilates class feeling like she'd done something wrong. Despite his words, which were trying to make it seem like nothing was seriously wrong, she could sense that he wasn't quite there. He'd seemed colder, more distant.

She tried to ignore it and went along with her day. She didn't know everything about him. Maybe it was just work or something else in his mind? She hoped it was nothing. When she hadn't heard from him by the evening, she considered texting him something playful, like they often did. But she also knew he had a deadline the next day, so he was probably still working and she'd just distract him. So she held off, giving him some space, and went to bed with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

By the following afternoon, which was Friday, Odette still hadn't heard back from him. And now she was worried.

She tried to recall Jess' schedule for the day, having some memory that he had an important meeting on Friday, but she wasn't sure what time he finished, hence she resorted in sending a simple text:

"Are you up for dinner tonight? Call me when you get a chance."

It was two very long hours until she received a reply in return.

"Sorry, I have a ton of work to get through tonight. I'll see you tomorrow at the party," he replied.

"Come on!" she muttered to herself pleadingly, standing in the middle of her living room, feeling frustrated - at him, and at herself.

"Who needs to work on a Friday evening?" she huffed. It hadn't been a week since Rory and Logan moved out and already she was talking to herself. Clearly Jess' words had been a lie, or at least a fib, and she was ready to eat her hat... or something, if it wasn't. She poured herself a scotch and took a large sip, letting the liquid burn on her tongue, trying to wrap her brain around it.

She couldn't figure out why men just didn't speak their mind, express their wishes explicitly. She wasn't set on a single course of direction but she needed a discussion, preferably with valid and logical arguments to support it, to develop a valid stand. Right now she was somewhere in between, just enjoying herself and had not expected him getting offended by something like that. Most men she'd met in her lifetime liked things casual.

So what if she hadn't spilled the news to Rory about who'd been making her smile so much her cheeks hurt? So what if she'd had him meet her out on the street instead of inviting him in when Rory was at home? So what if she had planned on attending the party without announcing them as 'something', putting a label on them, at Rory's and Logan's party and stealing their limelight?

"Merde!" she uttered out loud to her empty house. She could see it now. He had introduced her to his friends, while not specifically labelling them, which she had been grateful for at the time, but still, not hiding her either. And now here she was just keeping him all to herself. She'd made the same mistake before in one of her former relationships, though for family reasons. Maybe she just didn't know how to do it any other way? God, how did she not see it before?

She took a deep breath, knowing that she needed to do damage control.

"Jess, I'm sorry. Can we talk?" Odette typed.

"Please," she added a minute later.

He replied five minutes later. "We'll talk tomorrow. After the party, okay?"

"Ugh," she exhaled, taking another sip.

This was torture. She briefly thought about taking a car over to his apartment and giving him a piece of her mind - argue that he should've expressed himself better. If he wanted something, he should've made himself clear. As a second through she reconsidered that going in pleadingly would've been a better option. Lastly, thankfully, she reassessed the entire situation. She didn't want to be the crazy woman who shows up when he explicitly said they'd talk tomorrow. It wasn't like he owed her anything, especially without having defined their relationship.