Jessica
“So, tell me everything,” Naomi said. “Start with Claire.”
“Didn’t she just break up with her girlfriend?”
“Does she know about Renee?” Naomi asked. “Could she be jealous?”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Well, it wasn’t any of her business before now,” Jessica said. “And yesterday she caught me off guard.”
Naomi absently ran her fingers through her long blonde hair over one shoulder. Her hair could use a brushing after a long restaurant shift the night before, and Jessica had caught her with that phone call before her morning shower.
“So she just… apologized,” Naomi said. “Just hand-waved away how she treated you for the past year or two?”
“She said she was unhappy. Not with me, but with herself. And she’s working on that.”
“So she says.”
“I believe her,” Jessica said. “She said she’s writing again. And she seemed genuinely remorseful.”
Naomi frowned. “And what are you supposed to do about that?”
“She wants another chance. She just asked me to think about it.”
“And you’re obviously thinking about it. Otherwise, you would have told her off.” Naomi paused and shook her head again. “No, you wouldn’t tell anyone off. Especially not if they were apologizing for something.”
“I didn’t want to think about it. I panicked and left,” Jessica said. “But now it’s all I can think about. That and Renee.”
“Now, tell me what happened with Renee. We’ll circle back to Claire.”
“She could guess something was wrong, so she caught me after the gig and made me tell her.”
“And you did.”
Jessica nodded. “I told her that Claire wants to try again and wants me to think about it. But I told her it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to think about it.”
“I guess Renee didn’t take the news well.”
“She told me I should think about it,” Jessica said. “She doesn’t want to be in the way of that, and she didn’t answer my text this morning.”
“I can see where she’s coming from,” Naomi said. “This is messy. She’s giving you space to do what you need to do.”
“What I need to do is be with her.”
“But you’re still thinking about Claire.”
“I don’t want to think about Claire,” Jessica said. “I’m trying hard not to think about Claire.”
“Maybe you should think about her. About it.” Naomi set her mug down on the end table, then narrowed her gaze on Jessica.
“Listen, we know I’m not her biggest fan.
But I also know that you’ll regret not giving this decision the due diligence it deserves.
No one is saying get back together with Claire.
What we’re saying is figure out what you want. ”
“Shouldn’t I just know? Shouldn’t I be moving on?”
“You might be. But you don’t sound like you know that or not yet.”
Her phone dinged on the coffee table, and Jessica frowned. “Of course. It’s Claire.”
“Seriously?”
“It says, ‘Don’t want to pressure you, but just want to let you know I’m thinking about you. Reach out when you’re ready to talk again.’”
Naomi scoffed. “No pressure as she pressures you.”
“That’s not exactly pressure. It’s very un-Claire-like, actually. Maybe she really is doing some self-reflection.”
“Hmm, maybe.”
“See? It’s all so confusing,” Jessica said. “This would be so much easier if I could talk things out with Renee. Things are easier when I talk to her.”
Naomi grabbed Jessica’s hand and squeezed it. “I like Renee. I like her for you. But she’s right, I think. Being around her would influence your choice. You need to know, Renee or not, if you’re done with Claire for good. It wouldn’t be fair to Renee to have any doubt hanging over the two of you.”
Jessica squeezed Naomi’s hand in return, then sank into the back of the couch cushion. “Why are you always so right?”
“It’s a gift and a curse,” Naomi said. “Think about it or not. I vote give it the week.”
Jessica nodded and typed a reply.
Will get back to you at the end of the week.
“Fine,” she said to Naomi. “I’ll give it until next weekend. Happy?”
“Not really. I don’t get joy from seeing you like this. And I still don’t trust Claire changing and all of that. But if you think it’s worth it to find out, I support you. I have your back no matter what you decide.”
Tears begin to form. She felt so lucky to have Naomi in her life. “Thank you.”
“But if Claire hurts you again, I’m getting a shovel to bury her.”
Jessica laughed for the first time in the past twenty-four hours. “Fair.”