The Gemini

21 - Trust

November 11, 1988

Maxine was the last person Jody wanted to see right now. There wasn't any way to avoid a run in though, she had to pass the woman in order to get to her apartment.

"Hey, honey."

Jody put on a drained half-hearted smile. "Hi."

"Mm, you look worse for wear." Maxine frowned looking her over. "You ain't working too hard are you? I know you medical people have those twelve hour shifts. I don't know how y'all do it. Never me, child."

Never Jody either. Not anymore anyway. When she left college she took a position at the hospital pulling thirteen hours. Six months later she quit and made the switch to the doctors office. Nine was more her speed. Still she was burnt out. Even though the hours were better, the nature of the job drove her up the wall.

"I'm fine, just a little tired."

"Well I won't hold you up. Don't want to keep you waiting."

Jody quirked a brow at the grin the woman wore. "Okay."

"Have a good night." She bid then went her way.

"Yeah you too." Jody shook her head and continued down the hall.

Unlocked the door. Pushing it open was difficult, something felt stuck.

"Hold up, wait." Roger's voice sounded from inside. She listened to his steps as he hurried to the door, picking up and setting something down. Scurried feet retreated. "Okay, you can open it."

Doing so Jody took in the sight of yellow roses, hundreds of them covering every surface of the space. Most of them were in vases, some were just scattered about. Standing in the middle of the room was Roger dressed in yellow. Behind him was a large arrangement of the flowers spelling out "I'm Sorry".

Closing the door. "I hate flowers." She stated blandly causing his handsome smile to fall.

"Damn, mama. Let me apologize." He complained.

"You could've called. Came by. Mailed a letter. Or you could've just not said any dumb shit in the first place. But almost two weeks later you bring a damn garden in my house."

"Jody, I don't want to fight anymore."

The vulnerability of his tone and the sincerity in his eyes broke down the last pieces of her wall that was beginning to corrode anyway.

"Me neither." She admitted.

"Can we shake on it?"

"Are you gonna tell me the truth?"

Hands in his pockets, he took a breath. "Yes my name is Prince. Rogers is my middle. No one has called me that since I was in Minneapolis. I'm not too fond of it. My age is thirty. I don't like avocados and I don't eat meat. That being said, I have this reoccurring dream of eating cheeseburgers from McDonald's. I don't own a single pair of jeans and nine times out of ten, I'm not wearing any underwear."

Jody's eyes flicked down to his pants, now looked to be one of those times. Then she furrowed her brow. "You don't eat meat?"

"Nope."

"That's sad."

Roger puffed humorously. Looking her up and down, he beckoned her with his finger in a come hither manner. Obeying she stepped over the sea of yellow the best that she could. Wrapping arms around her waist, he hugged her before bringing her in for a long kiss.

"Can we make up now?" he asked, dropping to her neck.

Tilting her head to give him better access, Jody closed her eyes. "As much as I'd like to, I'm super tired. All I wanna do is get out of these damned scrubs, jump through some hot water, and fall into bed."