Looking After You

(41) Ages: 21 & 18

Ages: 21 & 18

“Is Jenny okay? You’re looking after her, right?” Denise’s motherly concern echoed through the small car as she demanded respect from her son.

“Yes, mother.” He responded into the phone while taking a quick peek at Jenny in the driver’s seat from the corner of his eye. “We’re on our way back now so we should be home in a few hours.” Rain drops began thudding ever so often against the car as the conversation came to a close.

“Alright. Well, drive safe and pull over if you get tired. It’s getting late and we would rather you get home tomorrow rather than not at all.”

“Will do. Love you, mom.” James ended the call from his cellular phone and leaned his head back against the headrest. Believe it or not, he had opted to call his mother rather than endure the silence that had taken over their car for the past three hours. Rex and Keira had agreed to drive back together so that James and Jenny could drive the small Mazda home, despite Jenny’s disapproval.

“I am getting kind of tired.”

Jenny’s small voice shocked James for a moment. She had hardly uttered a word since they entered the vehicle and he couldn’t believe she would honestly consider pulling over for the night.

“You may need to drive the rest of the way in a little bit.”

James nodded and closed his mouth before a disappointed “oh” could escape his lips. Her voice sounded so small and timid, it was as if she was remorseful or embarrassed and James couldn’t understand why she had a reason to be feeling either one of those emotions. “Just pull off at the next exit and I’ll take over.”

“What time do you think we will get home tonight?”

“Probably around eleven if we drive straight through.”

She glanced down at the clock briefly before nodding once. “I’ll be fine.”

“I can drive if you need me to, Jenny.” James insisted.

“I’ll be fine,” Jenny growled back with a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel.

Brushing off Jenny’s attitude, James reached for the radio dial and increased the volume of the background music that had been barely audible.

“I hate this song.”

“Fine, I’ll change it.” James complied reluctantly before changing the station. He was quite fond of the song, but he would rather hate the music that was playing than endure any grumbles of discontent from Jenny.

“You don’t have to change it.” She argued for the sake of arguing, her frown still perfectly plastered across her exhausted features. “If you like it, leave it.”

“I don’t like it. I like whatever you like.”

The line from Jenny’s clenched jaw was visibly forming along the side of her face. “Stop doing that! You don’t like what I like. You almost never like what I like! Acting so calm and compliant is only pissing me off more so just say what you want to say!” One more word and James was almost positive steam would have been visible from the top of Jenny’s head.

“I’m not going to feed your insane need for an argument, Jenny.” Turning in his seat just slightly, James could feel his frustration rising but he remained calm. “If you want more reasons to be angry with me, you’re just going to have to keep pulling them out of your ass because I’m sure as hell not handing them to you on a silver platter.”

Jenny scoffed and shook her head, sneaking a glance in James’ direction. “You think I’m provoking you?”

“No, of course not.”