Michelle's New Boyfriend Ch. 02a

Saturday, Jacqui called me and asked me to come have lunch with her. It was the first time she'd done that and she sounded a little distressed. When I arrived thirty minutes later, she was waiting on a customer but I could tell that something was definitely wrong. She seemed pale and was shaking, almost like she was near tears. As soon as she saw me, she brightened a little but was still upset about something. She finished with her customer and told Tina, her co-worker that she was going to lunch.

When she put her hand in mine to walk with me to the food court, her hand was shaking. I looked at her but she didn't give me any indication what was wrong. We ordered some Chinese food, I don't even remember what, not that it matters. When we carried our food to the table, Jacqui didn't touch it, she was close to tears instead. She told me, "You remember after we spent that first night together, I told you I was hoping to be a manager?"

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Well, this afternoon I was offered a manager's position."

I was confused. She'd been offered the position she was dreaming about but was this distraught over it? I asked her, "Congratulations, that's a good thing, right?"

She looked at me with tears starting to fall, "It's in Helena Montana."

I looked at her, suddenly realizing the dilemma she was facing and why she was upset. I think my face got a little pale too. I softly asked her, "How far away is that?"

She started to openly sob, "Four hundred and fifty miles! I don't know what to do. They want an answer by tomorrow. If I turn it down I don't know if I'll ever get another offer. I don't want to leave you!"

I thought quickly about our comfortable life, how much this girl had come to mean to me. I knew deep inside there was no way she could turn it down, it's her dream. We could pretend to keep a relationship, but it's too far. We'd become used to being able to count on each other to be there if either of us needed the other. To be friends and lovers. She was a close friend of my wife for heaven sake! I knew that was all about to change and for Jacqui's sake, I didn't want to stop it.

Jacqui wiped some of the tears from her cheek, then from mine as well. I hadn't even realized I was crying along with her. I told her, "Let's talk about it tonight, but you have to take it."

She softly said back to me, "I know I do, but I don't want to. I want to stay with you."

I tried to comfort her a little, "I'll still be there for you. We'll be able to see each other. It's not so far I can't drive it once in a while." I said this knowing most of it wasn't true. Maybe we'd be able to see each other once in a great while, but not regularly. Then I had another question, "When would it start, how long are they giving you?"

"Two months. They want me there in just a little over two months. They said they'd pay my moving expenses and help me sell the house."

Two months. Two months until our lives changed forever. It seemed hard to believe that Jacqui had only been in my life about a year. Now I knew I was going to lose her. I kissed her wet cheeks telling her, "It'll be okay, you'll see. Go back to work and don't worry about it this afternoon. We'll talk about it tonight and you can give them an answer tomorrow."

We took our full, completely untouched plates of food and dumped them in the waste bin. We walked back down the mall to Victoria's Secret hand in hand. When we got there, I didn't care who might see us. I took Jacqui's face in my hands and kissed her hard on the lips. Then told her I loved her and would see her later tonight. Her tears started again softly and I knew it was going to be a long afternoon for both of us.

I drove home, my mind in a turmoil. The day had started out so great waking up next to a naked, very beautiful Jacqui Taylor. Now we were faced with the real possibility that in two months it might not happen again, or at least much more rarely. I also thought about what I'd said to Jacqui a few months ago, that I wanted her to see other guys so she could start a family. She'd resisted, but living that far away it was definitely a real likelihood that she'd find someone to love and marry her. I still kind of hoped so, although the greedy part of me never wanted it to happen.

After I got home I moped around the house, waiting for nine thirty to arrive. It's amazing how slow a clock can go when you're watching every revolution. I thought about climbing on a chair and just moving the damn dial up! Not sure that it'd get Jacqui home any sooner though. I tried to work on this story a little but had no idea where it might be going so gave up after about six words.

I thought about the message I'd gotten from Trisha asking me to call her. I didn't know if Jacqui leaving in a couple months would prompt me to call someone like her or make me resist it more. I decided to put that out of my mind for a while and see what happens. I definitely knew it was going to make it harder for me to see Michelle and Shaun together if Jacqui wasn't there to soothe my ego.

One thing I did know though is that I wouldn't interfere with Michelle's and Shaun's relationship. Michelle trusted me with Jacqui after she left Mike and I owe her the same trust. Doing anything other than continuing to encourage her affair with him would undoubtedly be the surest way to wreck our relationship. And the fact remains that Jacqui doesn't have anything to do with my desire for Michelle to have a lover.

Jacqui did get home that night. The first thing she said when she walked through the door was, "I accepted their offer. I called her back right after you left." She seemed to be over the tears for which I was very glad. Not sure I was though. I tried hard not to, I wanted her to know she had my support.

"What now then? You said two months but you'll need to find a place to live before then. Do you want me to take some time off and go to Helena with you to look?"

"I don't know. I'll find out more Monday. They suggested I switch and take tomorrow off and work Monday so we can work it out with the HR manager."

"Okay, anything you want to do tomorrow?

"Sleep in, make love. Eat breakfast, then maybe make love some more. Maybe take a drive somewhere where we can make out like we did when we were dating."

I really did like her concept of a day of relaxation! "What about right now, are you hungry? I'm famished!" I realized neither of us had eaten lunch and I'd forgotten all about dinner.

"So am I! Where do you want to go?"

"How about the Black Angus?" I looked at my watch. But we'll have to hurry, I think they close at eleven." It was 9:45 then.