Chapter Text
Jared couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Sandy, his fiancé, the woman he loved more than anything, wrapped in someone else’s arms, kissing him with more passion than she’d shown him lately. It can’t be true! There must be some kind of reasonable explanation for this. Though what kind of explanation could account for her leaning up against some guy in the backstage of the bar and making out with him was beyond anything Jared could come up with. “Sandy!” Jared called to her, voice full of disbelief.
Sandy looked over at him, the look on her face confirming to Jared what he didn’t want to believe. “Jared, what are you doing here?” she asked surprise in her voice and guilt written all over her features. Her big brown eyes most definitely were not shining with the love he had hoped to see when he planned the surprise date. Instead they were darting between him and the other guy. “Chad and I were uh…. we were…”
Looking at the guy again Jared recognized him, Chad Michael Murray the drummer in the band that Sandy was in. “Yeah, I saw what you were up to” Jared replied unable to keep his hurt and anger from showing. Standing there, he let the bouquet of flowers he had bought for the occasion drop to the floor. Staring at Sandy for another few seconds he turned and bolted out of the room, feeling like he was going to throw up.
“Jared wait! Stop, let me talk to you please” Sandy begged, running after him. Catching up to Jared she caught his wrist and pulled him to face her.
Jared snatched back his wrist, almost sending her flying. She was petite with big brown eyes and long dark hair. She was beautiful and Jared had loved her with all of his heart. They had been engaged for the last 2 years and the wedding date was only 3 months away. Jared came to a stop and with eyes filling with tears asked “What, what could you possibly have to say?” unable to stop the anguish from bleeding out in his voice.
“I’m sorry Jared. I do care for you, I do. But I don’t really love you anymore, if I ever did. I thought I did, but it wasn’t enough to make me forget Chad. I guess I’ve always been in love with him. But he was seeing someone else, and then you came along. You were so nice to me, and I did like you. I wanted to love you, to return the love you gave me, but then Chad was suddenly free and well, I love him.” Sandy seemed to be trying to sound compassionate, but it just came out condescending.
“How long have you been with him? Our wedding is in 3 months. Were you even going to tell me or just not show up? Or were you going to go ahead with the marriage and then cheat on me?” Jared’s voice had moved from hurt into anger, how could this woman who had appeared to be so warm and loving really be a lying, cheating bitch? Not waiting for a response he ground out “We’re through” and stormed out of the building.
****
The following month went by in a haze of alcohol. He sometimes remembered to eat if he got hungry enough. Sometimes he actually slept instead of just passing out drunk. Sometimes he would shower. But he had more or less given up on shaving or laundry or his writing. He didn’t answer the phone because he didn’t want to talk to anyone, but he also didn’t want anyone coming to the house to see if he was okay, so he would send the occasional text or e-mail to friends, family and his editor.
He hadn’t written anything since that fateful day, and now Jeff Morgan, his editor was getting antsy for some new chapters in the book he was supposed to be finishing for release in six months. Morgan was sending almost daily e-mails now, with the last one threatening an in-person visit if Jared didn’t call him. Jared was considering whether to cave in and make the call, or just send another e-mail when his cell rang. “Are you home?” It was Morgan.
With a sigh Jared asked “Why Jeff. So you can come out here and harass me? Look, I’m just going through a bit of a dry spell. Don’t worry you’ll get the book in time.” He sounded as tired and despondent as he felt. He knew he was lying to Jeff, because really, how could he possibly finish writing his latest romance novel when his own love life had failed so miserably. Sure the genre was pretty much formulaic but you still had to dredge up the words to make the emotions come alive for the readers. And if you were wallowing in misery you really couldn’t find the words to make others feel the thrill of romance. The words used to flow out of him like the water rushing in a river, but now he just stared at the paper and the words wouldn’t even leak never mind flow.
“Look, I know you’re home, so open the door” Morgan demanded.
Confused now he looked up from the sofa, where he had parked himself in front of the TV, towards his front door. “Open the door?” he questioned, then added suspiciously “why, what did you do Jeff?”
“Just open the door Jared” Morgan repeated exasperated.
Instead of going to the door Jared walked over to the large bay window that afforded a view of his front yard and the street. There, parked in his driveway was a mid sized tan car that wasn’t his. Heaving a sigh he ran his hand through his hair, then dragged himself over to the door. Pulling it open he was unsurprised to see Jeff Morgan standing there. “Well come on in” Jared turned and walked back into the living room leaving Jeff to close the door and follow him. “To what do I owe this displeasure” Jared sat and frowned at his visitor.
“Well, my my, aren’t you just the picture of a happy romance writer about to walk down the aisle and live his own real life romance” Jeff replied sarcastically as he took in Jared’s disheveled appearance. Looking at his uncombed hair, wrinkled and stained tee shirt and
sweat pants Jeff shook his head and changed his tone to one of real concern. “Really Jared, what’s going on with you? You don’t return calls, you haven’t met the last deadline for new chapters, hell you haven’t even supplied even part of one new chapter. Your e-mails are little more than one-liners. Clearly something’s wrong. Now what’s up?”
Sitting back against the sofa with his hands clasped together in his lap Jared shook his head not meeting Jeff’s eyes replied “You shouldn’t have bothered to come all the way out here. There’s nothing anyone can do. And no, I’m not the picture of someone about to walk down the aisle and live happily ever after, cuz the wedding is off.” Saying the words out loud to another person was almost surreal. He hadn’t even really said them to himself yet. Had just come home crawled into a bottle of tequila and cried until he had nothing left, just emptiness. Now, saying the words to Jeff he felt nothing, he was just numb. He no longer felt so sad and depressed that all he wanted was to deaden himself with alcohol. It was a relief to feel empty, to not feel the pain. Poking at it like pushing your tongue against a toothache, testing to see if the pain was really gone Jared continued “I don’t want to go into details, but I caught her cheating on me so the wedding is off.” Still nothing. Nodding his head to himself, that’s good, he thought.
“Wow, I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry Jared”. Jeff studied Jared more closely. He wasn’t just one of his writers, he was also a friend. They had known each other before Jeff got the job in the publishing house and moved out to New York. Jeff had been the editor of the local Advocate and an assistant professor at the college where Jared had been taking a creative writing class. Jeff thought Jared’s writing style was interesting, and even as a 22 year old student, he was a better writer than some of the professional reporters at the paper. He got Jared a job at the paper and they became friends, not just mentor/mentee. Then when Jeff had gotten the job as one of the editors in the fiction department at the publishing house he had encouraged Jared to forward some chapters for a romance novel, as the company was expanding their stable of writers in that genre. Jared had gone along with it thinking why not. It probably wouldn’t lead to anything, but on the off chance it did, being a published author would be the fulfillment of his dreams, though romance wasn’t really what he had considered when he dreamt of being an author. When he was offered a contract for a book he decided to write under the name of a female, because really, who buys romance novels penned by a guy. So to the romance world he was known as Jane Palaki.
Jared was now a 25 year old best selling author, no longer the naïve 22 year old student Jeff first met, but yet somehow he still carried that air of innocence about him. He was always so open with people, always ready with a smile and open heart. It hurt to see him so closed off and down. Jeff decided maybe the best way to get Jared out of the abyss he seemed to have fallen in, and back into some kind of normal life, was to just get him moving again. Judging from his appearance and the number of empty bottles strewn on and near the coffee table Jared hadn’t been doing anything much other than sitting and drinking. Hoping this wasn’t going to make things worse Jeff patted him on the knee and in a practical tone said “Okay, well have you told anyone yet that the wedding is off? I know I was invited and I didn’t know. You don’t want guests showing up to the church and be surprised do you? And what about your stag? That’s probably already planned too. You don’t want all your friends showing up and wondering where you are right. Come on, its time to start moving and getting this stuff done. I’ll give you a hand. Who’s your best man? We’ll get him over here and start letting everyone know and canceling everything.”
****
It was now 6pm. Jared had called Misha at 11am to come over. Once Misha heard everything and saw Jared's state and the messy house, he called Tom and Mike for back-up. They had cajoled Jared into showering and shaving and getting laundry at least started. Tom and Mike set about picking up the house and reclaiming it from the pig-sty it had become. Misha and Jeff called all of Jared’s wedding guests to inform them the wedding was called off. They presumed that Sandy had cancelled the church and reception hall, photographer and DJ. Misha then started placing calls to all of the guys he had invited for the stag while Jeff placed the cancellation for the hall and all of the booze and food.
Jared had showered, and with the help of Tom and Mike his house was now clean too. It was dinner time and they were all hungry. Misha and Jeff decided it was time for Jared to get out of the house too, so they all piled into Jeff’s rental and Misha’s car and went to Jake’s. It was a local pub serving the best hot wings and burgers in the area, at least in Tom’s opinion. It also had a nice selection of micro brews and a small area for a band and dancing on the weekends. There was a back room with a pool table and dart board for those interested in more than alcohol and food.
They were sitting at a booth that seats six, the old red leather cracked and ripped in places. The floor was sticky under foot. There were 2 pitchers sitting in the middle of the table, one empty the other half empty. Jared had yet to mutter more than 2 words to anyone, but at least he was cleaned up and out of the house. Tom was trying to draw Jared into their conversation regarding the upcoming game between the Lakers and the Spurs, but Jared sat there just staring at the table top. He picked his head up only when he heard Misha happily proclaim “Oh good you came” and looked up to see Vicky, Misha’s wife standing there with a petite brunette. Misha stood, gave his seat to Vicky while the brunette sat across from her, next to Tom in the last vacant seat in the booth. Misha pulled a chair up to the end of the booth.
Vicky smiled at them and introduced the brunette “Hey everyone, I want you to meet Genevieve, she just moved into the condo next door to us. Gen, meet the guys, Tom, Mike, Jared, my husband Misha and um, I’m afraid I don’t know this one” she pointed at Jeff. Misha then introduced Jeff to the ladies.
Misha had noticed that Jared was unable to stop staring at Genevieve, taking notice of the fact that like Sandy she was very small, with long brown hair and big brown eyes. So not the right choice to bring along, tonight of all nights. Misha leaned over and whispered in Vicky’s ear, informing her of the day’s events. He was about to suggest that Vicky find a reason to leave and take Gen away when the girl in question blurted out “Oh Vicky, I see some people I know from work. Daneel and Jason are here. I’m just going to go over and say hi ok? See you later?” she said pointing over to a table across the bar. Everyone turned and looked to where she was pointing.
The table she indicated was occupied by two guys and a female. They watched her go over to the table and give a big hug to the other female and a smile to the two guys. As they were watching this exchange they saw two more guys join the little party.
Returning their attention to their own table Misha, Tom and Mike all noticed Jeff still staring at the other table, mouth open. Tom was about to ask him what was wrong when Jeff suddenly called out to the other table “Jensen!”