Stuck in the in-between.

A night to surely remember.

"So, Victoria, Do you have a job? I know last time I talked to your mom she said that you were looking." Jeniffer said.

" I do, I work at West Med, I'm a PA at the urgent care," I said taking a bite out of a string bean that was almost as long as me.

"Oh wow! Congrats. Such a nice job. PA's basically run the show now." Jeniffer said.

"The hours are super flexible I hear," Andrew said.

"They definitely are," I said

"What about you Noah? What do you do?" A.J said looking at him.

"I am a Physical therapist, but I'm also on the board of Greenwich Hospital," Noah said looking up at A.J. In my head I was thinking. Yes! YES! See A.J I actually have someone to take care of me.

"Very nice," Andrew said.

~

"Here let me help you clear the plates," Noah said grabbing the plates off the table.

"Aw thank you, sweetie," Jeniffer said. "Hey, Vic Spanky needs to go out in the yard, do you mind bringing him out?

"No, not at all," I said getting up from the table and taking my glass of wine" "Come on Spanky, let's go outside dude," I said walking towards the backyard door.

"Noah, will you help me with the dishes?" I heard Jeniffer say.

"Oh of course" I heard faintly as I opened and shut the backyard screen door. Spanky flew out into the darkness. "Don't go too far mister" I shouted out in the yard. I leaned up against the wood banister and set my wine glass down next to me. I heard the door whoosh open.

"Having fun yet?" A.J said walking towards me

"Oh," I laughed, "Your mom's rolled chicken is my favorite," I said stepping to the side and allowing room for him to stand next to me.

"I know that," he said fitting himself next to me. " I don't know if this is pushing it but, you look beautiful." He said looking out into the yard. I looked at him.

"Thank you A.J," I said looking back into the yard.

"When are you getting married?" A.J asked.

"November" I responded quickly looking down at my ring.

" I thought you wanted to get married in May."

"I did, but Noah wanted to get married in November and it's hard to win arguments against him sometimes"

"Ah, I see." He said

Why do I feel like this, I thought to myself. I'm getting married in a few months, Why do I feel butterflies? Why am I telling him personal things?

"Are you happy?" He said looking at me while .I stared out into the dark yard, hearing the tags rattle on Spanky's collar. Allowing 5 seconds to pass I took a deep breath in from my nose and looked at him.

"Yeah" I paused

" I actually am"

"Well good, I'm glad he makes you happy," he said looking back into the yard and sighed a little. I studied his face, he looked upset. What was on his mind? I wondered. About 5 minutes of silence passed, all crickets chirped around us.

"Victoria," he said still looking out into the yard. "I'm sorry for what I did to you, the way I left you, how I diminished what we had, the 8 years worth of stuff, how I ignored your text for months even though I knew damn well how bad you were hurting. I'm just..... I'm sorry" I watched him tear up a little and wipe the corner of his eye with the back of his hand. I hated to see him cry, I always did.

"And now, well now your happy and getting married and have a condo and a steady job and income, and now Victoria, now it's too late..... I fucked up, I really fucked up" he said wiping his tears off his cheeks. I looked at him with huge eyes. I was shocked, he still cared about me. Just then his dog came flying up the porch stairs and was barking at us to go in. I looked at the dog and back up at A.J who was still wiping his tears.

"I...I um...I have to let the dog inside" I said walking away from the banister leaving my half-empty wine glass on the side table. I opened the screen door to let Spanky inside. I looked at A.J who was staring at me all red-eye and puffy.

"I am so sorry," I said walking inside and closing the screen door. AJ turned back around. I took a long deep breath and closed my eyes. Laughter came from the dining room. I opened my eyes slowly and let the air flow out of the small hole I made with my mouth. I turned the corner and walked into the dining room where I saw Noah, Andrew, and Jeniffer having coffee and cake.

"Hey baby, they were just telling me about the time you all went camping and you thought a chipmunk was a bear." He said smiling at me. I made a fake little grin.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'm not feeling so good, I think it's these new pills that I'm on," I said looking at Jeniffer and Andrew.

"Oh dear, no worries at all," she said getting up from the table and walking over to me. Noah immediately got up from the table and grabbed my bag and quickly walked over to me. He looked worried.

"Thank you for having us," Noah said putting his arm around me in a huddle.

"Anytime," Andrew said opening the front door.

"Feel better love," Jeniffer said place her hand on my back as we headed out.

"Thank you, again so sorry I would've loved to stay longer," I said looking back at her.

"Oh, don't worry about it! Take care of yourself, I'll tell A.J you said goodbye" she said waving goodbye. I smiled a little. Noah opened the passenger door for me and I got in. He ran around the front of the car and got in quickly.

"What's going on? What do you feel? What hurts? Does your leg hurt? Your jaw? break it down for me doc he said examining my body." I watched A.J step into the door frame and heard Noah put the car into reverse.

"I just have a headache," I said as the car started moving backward. A.J shut the front door.