JACK | Book Three (BWWM)

3. Something Borrowed, Something Blue

April 25, 2000
Chicago, IL

"Hey, Mare, could you come here for a sec," Jack called from where he was sitting at the desk in the bedroom of his apartment. He was slightly overwhelmed, sifting through course catalogs for different medical schools. Applications deadlines would be coming up soon and he needed to narrow down his choices.

It was a Friday evening and Maren was in the bathroom freshening up for their date. She was in town visiting for the weekend. She went to Syracuse University, back in their home state of New York while he was here in Chicago, attending Northwestern, so they didn't get to see each other as much as Jack would've liked. But junior year was coming to a close and both he and Maren planned on returning to the big Apple for the summer, which was something he looked forward to. Lately it felt as though the distance was driving a wedge between them. Summer could come soon enough.

"For what?" she shouted back at him from the bathroom. "I'm busy getting ready!"

"I wanted you to look at some of these schools with me. It will be quick."

"Don't you have like a 4.0 or something?"

"Not exactly..." He actually had a 3.96 GPA but saw no reason to argue over semantics.

"And you got a high score on that... test thingy?"

"The MCAT?" Jack chuckled.

"Whatever. You're smart, Jack, just..." she sighed, seeming to have already lost interest in the conversation. "Apply to the best ones."

"Don't you want to come look at least? I mean this is going to be our future and some of these schools are all the way across the country, out in California," he said, glancing at Stanford's course catalog. He and Maren had talked about moving in together after graduation when Jack started medical school. And since the school he decided to attend would determine where they would be living, he wanted her to be part of the decision.

"You're going to be a doctor either way, right?" Maren said matter of factly.

"Well yeah, that's the goal, but-"

"Then that's all that matters to me," she cut him off, appearing in the doorway wearing large diamond earrings, an ankle-length, jade-colored dress with a deep slit in the side, stilettos, and red lipstick. Her blonde hair was curled into ringlets.

"Jesus, Jack you're not even dressed. The reservation is at 7," she said when she saw Jack still wearing his grey sweatpants and white T shirt from earlier in the day.

"That's because unlike you it doesn't take me two hours to get ready," he said, getting up from his chair.

"Perfection takes time," Maren smirked, grabbing her coat off the coat rack hanging from the back of his bedroom door.

"You do look nice," Jack said, pecking her cheek as he passed her to jump in the shower.

...

The couple had reservations at an expensive steakhouse downtown in River North. They were seated at their table, a quiet two-top at the window overlooking the Chicago River. They waited for their drinks, a glass of Chardonnay for Maren and a glass of Cab Sauv for Jack. Although Maren was of age, Jack wasn't 21 yet - in fact he had only just turned 20 a few days ago - but these days he rarely got carded. He chalked it up to the facial hair, which had recently gone from prepubescent patches to full on 5 o-clock shadow.