Chapter 5 Summertime Sadness by. Lana Del Rey
Jackie
“It couldn’t have been that bad, Jackie.”
“Oliver, it was so uncomfortable. Here I am, dropping a truth bomb on arguably the most attractive man I have ever seen and his response was literally no response. He just stared at me,” I explained as I lounged in my office chair.
Following the less-than-stellar interaction with Will, I had driven to the office in hopes of venting to Oliver.
After sharing that I was an alcoholic, Will simply just stared at me.
Stared at me as I packed my things.
Stared at me as I wished him a goodbye.
Stared at me as I walked out to the door.
“He was probably taken aback. You don’t look like most alcoholics or how people assume one would look like. He just needed a moment to process,” Oliver reasoned with me.
I knew he was most likely correct about Will, but the moment was still embarrassing.
“I just don’t understand why it is always a big deal to people. So what I don't drink? It’s not like I’m a total buzzkill,” I responded as I rubbed my eyes in frustration. “Honestly I was more of a buzzkill when I puked all over the pastor at my niece's baptism.”
Oliver looked to me shocked. It made me crack a smile. “Did that really happen? With Vi?”
“Yep. My sister did not appreciate it.” I chuckled recalling the memory. “We’re getting off topic. How do I recover from this?”
He leaned back in his chair and eyed me, suspicion laced in his eyes. “Why do you care so much? Do you plan on seeing him again?”
Why did I care?
I could just never speak to him again. However, the idea of doing just that almost hurt to think about.
I didn’t have an answer, so I simply shrugged noncommittally.
“Hmmm,” Oliver mused.
“What?” I asked, confused by my friends behavior’s.
“I think you like him,” Oliver stated confidently.
“Excuse me? I barely know the man! He is unfairly beautiful, yes. But he is a shameless flirt, and from what Sarah has said, he has been around the block!” I exclaimed.
“There was no denial in that whole statement.” Oliver laughed and stood just as we heard a knock on my door. “Admit it, you kind of like the doctor.”
“You, my friend, are delusional. Can you answer that?” I pointed to the door. “And also take your ramblings to someone else.”
Oliver laughed as he opened the door to reveal a damp Will on the other side. “Hi, welcome to Fibonacci Files, this is Jackie’s door. How can I help you?”
Will chuckled as he pointed past Oliver towards where I sat slack-jawed in my chair. “Just wanted to see Jackie.” It was then his piercing blue eyes met mine. Okay, maybe Oliver had a point, I had a little crush. “And apologize for my behavior.”
Oliver whipped around, putting together who was at my door. He gave me a goofy grin as he backed out the door. “Of course. Apologize away.” As he passed out of Will’s sight, he mouthed, You like him.
I very unsubtly and very much in the view of Will flipped Oliver off before the door closed.
“I apologize for Oliver’s behavior. I would say he’s usually not that odd but that would be a total lie. Take a seat.” I motioned to Oliver’s abandoned chair.
“Thanks! Oliver, is he umm… your boyfriend?”
Why did Will sound disappointed by that possibility?
“No. But he is my best friend. So stay on his good side if you want to be on mine. You said you needed to talk to me?”
Will cleared his throat as he leaned forward placing his elbows on his thighs. “Yes, I need to apologize for how I reacted earlier. It was uncalled for and rude. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least he could admit to his screw up. “It’s okay, seriously. I know that it comes as a shock to many to hear that I’m an alcoholic.”
“Can I ask a personal question?” He inquired as he looked deeper into my eyes while dripping onto my floor.
Did he run in the storm to get here or something?
Maybe it was his genuine expression of curiosity or the hope that maybe my story could scare off him and the weird feelings I had brewing for this man, but I answered in a way I would have never guessed.
“Yes.”
“Is that how you met Fai? In AA or something?”
“Kind of… I did go to an AA meeting but left early. Fai was there.” I leaned back in my chair and looked at the photo of the two of us on my desk.
“When he was driving home he saw me asleep on a bus bench. I had taken a bus and hitchhiked from San Francisco.” Will seemed concerned by that fact.
“Stupid, I know. He stopped and told me to get in. Once again I made a potentially stupid decision and got in.” I chuckled thinking about how he tried to hide how badly I smelled and introduced me to Sarah.
She was less than thrilled about me. Who wouldn’t be?
“I was a homeless twenty-three year old college dropout and an alcoholic. But Fai picked me up that day and has been helping me put myself back together since then.”
I was expecting pity or judgment from Will, but when my eyes went back to his, I only saw pride. “Did he help you get sober?”
“I had my last drink right before he showed up in his car. Fai saved me.”
“That’s incredible, Jackie. Thank you for telling me that.”
“I am a pretty open book about most things. Just ask and I’ll most likely answer.”
I was lying.
I knew it. I was open about mostly everything, but there were parts of me I never wanted to share.
“I don’t believe that, but I won’t press you any farther.”
“You are brave for showing up here,” I stated as I looked at Will. He seemed taken aback by my comment.
“Why do you say that?”
“I know you and Fai are not and have never been the closest of friends.”
Will chuckled to himself at that. “You aren’t wrong, but I’m not scared of him.”
“Why doesn’t he like you?” I had always wondered, but had gotten a different answer from Fai each time I asked.
“I don’t know. He’s never actually told me.”
“Wow. Really? So this now, what? Decade long feud doesn’t have a specific reason or a dramatic event that took place to cause it?”
He just chuckled at me. “Nope. Nothing. Honestly, your guess would be as good as mine.” He cleared his throat as he stood up straighter. “I did come here to apologize, but I also came to you with a request.”
I tilted my head urging him to continue on.
“Let me work this case with you. Is that the proper verbiage to use for an investigative journalist?” he began.
“Nevermind, that isn’t important. I want to learn about the Cult of Creatio and see if this case is as linked to it as you believe it is.
I have a break from teaching coming up soon.
I was planning on doing research but truthfully this seems much more interesting.
” Will continued on, becoming more and more flustered.
“I know Fai may not be happy with it, but I really think I could help and offer a lot of insight that will assist you.”
I stared slack-jawed at the man for the second time in five minutes. Not only was he interested in my case, he wanted to help. “When you say work the case with me, how much do you want to participate in?”
“All of it.”
“I plan on traveling to multiple states for this case. Would you want to do that as well?” It was a lie. I was only planning on going to San Francisco but he didn’t need to know that now.
“Jackie, I really mean all of it. For the duration that you’re researching this and writing about it, I want to be there. For all of it.” Will leaned towards me in earnest, resting his arms on my desk. “I want to be there with you researching this. I’m all in.”
I looked down trying to hide the girlish blush on my cheeks. God, it was annoying how charming Will was.
Once I felt my face return to its usual color I looked back up at Will.“I could honestly use your help. If you can stick around for a bit, we can go over some of the logistics with you?”
“We?” Will asked.
I smiled, stood and walked to my door. As I opened it I found Oliver, Goldie and even Stan eavesdropping on the other side. I wasn’t surprised to find them all there.
“Y’all want to come in and talk to us about the case or would you like to stay out here?”
I heard Will laugh behind me as Goldie and Oliver entered my office sheepishly. Stan walked back to his station chuckling as he threw me a wink.
“Will, this is Goldie and Oliver.” I gestured to my friends and coworkers. “Oliver, Goldie, this is Dr. William Bly.”
“Pleasure to meet you both,” Will stated as he stood to shake both their hands. “Eavesdrop on Jackie's conversations a lot?”
“Yep,” Oliver and Goldie stated in unison.
I laughed at my friends as I sat back in my chair. “It’s true. But I do it to them too. Now I want to discuss San Francisco with you all. Goldie, I know you’ll be booking the travel. Can you add Will to the itinerary?”
“Ummm… yeah, I can do that.” Goldie leaned towards me. “Does Fai know he’s here and helping?” Fai’s hatred for Will was infamous in the office.
The drama of him hating his wife’s best friend was, as Stan would say, titillating.
“Nope, and we are keeping it that way. Is it going to be hard to add Will this close to the trip?” I continued on, moving away from the question, not wanting to explain to my friends my lies to our boss.
Goldie cleared her throat as she looked at me with concern filling her gaze. “No. Oliver informed me this morning he wasn’t going to be able to come so I’ll just put Will in his spot.”
My gaze whipped to Oliver. “You’re not coming?”
“No,” Oliver sighed. “I wanted to, but I have a lead on my case that I want to explore.”
“Care to share?” I asked. We often used each other as a sounding board for our work. It helped to have one another’s opinion without the pressure of impressing each other like we did when going to Fai.
“Not yet, but soon.”
“Cryptic, but understood.” I turned to face Will, who had been watching silently. “We leave next week on Friday. I can get you caught up on all the details before we go. Are you sure you want to get involved with us?”
Will smiled at me, and I swear it was brilliant. “More than sure.”