Sugar and Spice

Chapter 14

The sun rises as he steps into the bathroom and I slide my BOB under the bed after checking to make sure the money and papers were safe inside the fireproof box. They were and I smile with relief. I may have lost my entire home and job, but I have legs to stand on until the insurance panned out, thanks to this money.

I stand and fold over the bedding, turning on the TV for background noise and even before my head hits the pillow, I'm fast asleep. I only barely notice Jason crawling into the bed beside me, enveloping me once again in his arms before he, too, loses the fight against consciousness.

*

The sun has already set when I wake. Jason is talking softly on the phone, his back turned to me.

"Yes, I promise I am safe. I will, I promise with all my heart," he says softly into the receiver. "I love you too. I miss you very much and I promise I will see you soon. Alright. Make sure you take that medicine. I don't want to have to come all the way out there to MAKE you listen to the doctors." He chuckles and I sit up, curious to know who it is he is talking so tenderly to.

I don't peg myself as the jealous type, especially when there are no definitive boundaries between Jason and I. But something in me reacts unpleasantly when I hear these words spoken from him to someone else. I decide to confront it head on, as I do pretty much everything else.

Jason turns as I move, and he holds up a finger in my direction.

"Listen, get rest. You need it. I love you too and I'll call you later, ok? Bye-bye." He places the receiver on the base and turns fully to me.

"Trouble in paradise?" I ask, grinning nonchalantly. Jason shakes his head.

"That woman is as stubborn as you are. She was told to take the meds, but of course doctors don't know what they're talking about," he says, and laughs tenderly. My heart sinks. He loves this woman so much.. How can I compete?

"What's her name?" I ask, trying to cover the pain in my voice. What the hell? Why does this hurt so much?

"Well, I call her 'Mom', but if I take you to Hawaii with me, you can just call her Coni. She's an amazing woman, I think you'll like her. She's tough, but it's mostly just for show."

My mouth goes slack and I feel like such a fool as my heart does a skip. His mother. He loves his mother. Of course it wasn't another woman, he doesn't seem like he'd be a cheating bastard like most men I have encountered.

I smile and say, "if you take me all the way to Hawaii? Are you planning future trips together?" I tease him. I can't help it, I'm so happy.

He leans onto the bed and rubs my leg.

"never without your input of course," he teases back. My stomach interrupts this intimate moment and he laughs at the sound.

"Food first!" he cries. "I don't suppose this place has room service?"

"No, but I have food packed," I tell him, bending over the bed and grabbing the hidden BOB. I pull out energy bars and bottles of water for each of us and replace the bag.

"is there anything you DON'T have in your bag?" Jason says as I replace the bag.

"The kitchen sink," I reply, giggling. I sit back up and join my roommate for a belated lunch. I'm more hungry than I realize and I grab another bar, offer another one to Jason and replace the bag in its temporary home a third time. We sit in silence and sneak glances at each other every now and then as we consume what little I have to offer. I really need to look into packing MRE's next time.