Chapter 3 #5
Jake exhaled through his nose. His voice was clipped this time. “Rachel. Not today.”
She blinked, caught off guard by his sudden distance.“Okay,” she said slowly, backing off. “If you need anything…”
“I’ll ask,” he said, already walking away.
The door to his office shut firmly behind him.
He leaned against it for a long second, rubbing his hands over his face. Guilt churned in his stomach. Everything with Kylee: the silence, the absence of her usual care, the look in her eyes.
It was worse than a fight.
It was the beginning of her shutting him out completely. For the first time, he was afraid he deserved it.
Jake sat behind his desk, but he hadn’t looked at a patient file in nearly thirty minutes.
He kept staring at his phone.There were no messages from Kylee.
Usually, she’d text by now. Something small. A photo of Kayla’s messy snack face. A funny quote from Macy. An update on Jake Jr.’s homework or practice schedule. Sometimes just “Love you. Hope your day’s going okay.”
But today? Nothing.
And the silence was louder than any accusation.
He tapped the screen, opened a new message, and stared at the blinking cursor.
Jake:
Hey... I just wanted you to know I’m sorry. And I miss you.
He hovered over “send.”
Deleted it.
Started again.
Jake:
Can I take you out to dinner this weekend? Just you and me. I want to talk.
Sent.
Then waited.
The typing bubble didn’t appear.
He locked the phone. Unlocked it again. Still nothing.A quiet knock at the door made him sit up.
Rachel peeked in, holding a file, her voice sweeter than necessary. “Sorry to interrupt. Your 3:30 just checked in.”
Jake nodded, keeping his expression neutral. “I’ll be right out.”
As the door closed again, he looked down at his phone one more time.
Still nothing.
No dots.
No reply.
Just silence.
He realized how fragile it all was and how easily the world he’d built was falling apart.
Back at home Kylee was on autopilot, folding tiny onesies, mismatched socks, and Jake Jr.’s grass-stained practice clothes on the long counter. The warm air from the vent curled her hair at the edges, and the hum of the washer was the only sound in the house.
Kayla was napping. Macy was watching Bluey. Jake Jr. was outside practicing his spiral toss against the fence.
Her phone buzzed once on the counter beside her.
She glanced at it, expecting a text from her sister. Or maybe Lillian with a scheduling question.
Jake:
Can I take you out to dinner this weekend? Just you and me. I want to talk.
Her hands stilled. The warm hoodie she was folding slid off her lap and onto the floor. She stared at the message, her throat tightening. Not because she didn’t expect it. She had. She knew him. She knew the cycle, charm, comfort, repair.
Dinner? Dinner didn’t undo what she saw. A dinner reservation wasn’t a bandage big enough to patch over the image of Rachel’s hands on his chest, his pants around his ankles, that half-zipped grin on his face when he thought she’d never see.
Kylee picked up the phone. Read the message again.
“Just you and me. I want to talk.”
Where was this version of him three months ago? When she was crying herself to sleep right beside him? When she initiated and he turned away? When she needed him to see her, touch her.
Now, suddenly, he missed her?
She locked the screen.
No response.
She tossed the phone face-down on top of the dryer and continued laundry. There was a time she would’ve texted back immediately. Apologized even. Asked what time. But not anymore. Kylee was starting to realize. He didn’t deserve the version of her that was always the first to forgive.
Jake sat behind his desk, staring at the glow of his tablet. The hum of the clinic buzzed faintly through the walls, but his mind wasn’t on work. He scrolled absentmindedly through Facebook, aimless and restless.
Then a notification caught his eye.
Bleeding Halo’s is coming to New Orleans.
His heart tightened. Kylee’s favorite band. The band she’d worshiped since Middle school. The band whose songs still played loudly in her car, even here in Idaho.
Jake tapped the link and read the details: concert at The Smoothie King Center, two weeks from now. Tickets on sale now.
A plan began to form in his mind. He picked up his phone and dialed Rachel. “Hey, Rachel,” he said, trying to sound casual, but feeling a pulse of urgency beneath his words. “Listen, I need you to do me a favor.”
Rachel’s voice was warm and curious. “Anything, Dr. Waterman.”
“I want you to buy the best tickets you can find for Bleeding Halo’s you know, the band Kylee loves? The concert in New Orleans. And make sure to get backstage passes.”
There was a brief pause, and Rachel’s tone dropped into something softer, almost wistful. “Backstage passes? That’s... quite the gesture.”
Jake grunted, a little embarrassed. “Yeah. I want to surprise her.”
Rachel let out a quiet breath, the faintest edge of envy in her voice. “Of course. I’ll get on it. And the hotel?”
“Top-rated. Somewhere special for her and her sister to relax.”
Rachel’s fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before she replied, voice light but with a subtle bite, “Consider it done. I’ll send you some options soon.”
Jake hung up and leaned back in his chair, unaware of the conflicted feelings brewing on the other end of the line.
Maybe this was the start of fixing it. Maybe this was the gesture to remind her who they used to be before the distance, before the silence.
Maybe it was too little. But it was all he had.
Rachel sat at her desk, scrolling through the concert website, eyes lingering on the Bleeding Halo’s page longer than necessary. The skin tight clothes she wore suddenly started felling tight, confining like a cage.
She tapped her nails against the keyboard, typing out ticket options for Jake. The best seats. Backstage passes. A luxury hotel nearby.
Why was he doing this for her? Rachel thought, biting her lip. Why wasn’t he doing this for us?
She clenched her jaw, the sting of jealousy sharp and unwelcome.
She whispered to herself “He just fucked me on his desk, I’m the one that just sucked his dick and swallowed his cum.
He should be planning this get away for us to explore more” A shadow of something darker passed through Rachel’s mind: envy, frustration, and desire.
She hated feeling sidelined. Hated feeling like the backup plan.
Still, she kept typing, professionalism masking the storm inside. She would play the perfect assistant. Help plan the perfect surprise. Watch it all unfold from behind the scenes.
Because deep down, Rachel knew the truth he would be back for more.
The next morning Jake was already gone by the time Kylee woke up.The sheets beside her were cool, the imprint of his body long faded. The house was quiet too quiet and for a moment she let herself pretend it was just another normal day.
She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and stared at the clock. 6:57 a.m. Down the hall, she could hear the faint crackle of cartoons. One of the kids was up. Another long day had begun.
Jake got to the office and sat behind his desk, espresso in hand, already a full hour into his workday.
His eyes flicked to the clock, then to his phone.
He hadn’t texted Kylee. He didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t sound hollow.
Instead, he tapped his intercom. “Rachel, can you come in for a second?”
Moments later, Rachel entered, eyes bright, lips glossed, hips swaying just slightly too much.
“Morning, Dr. Waterman,” she said with a sexy smile.
“I need you to cancel my 3 p.m. appointment today,” Jake said, keeping his voice even.
Rachel tilted her head. “Ooh… are we having another one of those... desk meetings?”
Jake didn’t smile.
His tone was clipped. Cold. Final.
“No. Those won’t be happening again.”
The air shifted.
Rachel blinked, her cheeks coloring slightly. “Understood,” she said, the flirtation draining from her voice. “I’ll take care of it.”
Jake gave a short nod and returned his focus to the tablet in front of him. He needed to fix what he broke.
Rachel closed the office door behind her, her heels clicking sharply against the tile as she returned to her desk. Her smile faded the moment she was out of his sight.
“No. Those won’t be happening again.” The words echoed in her head, colder each time.
She sat down a little too hard in her chair, her fingers tightening around the mouse.
Her screen blinked back at her patient charts, calendar reminders, and hotel booking tabs still open from yesterday.
Her jaw clenched as she pulled up his schedule.
She cleared the 3 p.m. slot, just like he asked, but her thoughts were miles away. Was it because of her?
Kylee. The wife. The “perfect” mother of his children. The woman he was now trying to win back.
Rachel’s nails tapped the desk restlessly.
She wasn’t stupid. She saw the guilt in his eyes yesterday.
She heard the change in his voice. He was trying to be good again.
But that didn’t mean she was going to make it easy.
She sat back in her chair, crossing her legs slowly, thoughtfully, a spark of something sharper than jealousy rising in her chest. He may have pulled away for now. But she wasn’t done with him yet.
Jake leaned back in his chair, the hum of the clinic fading behind the weight of what he was about to do. He stared at Kylee’s contact on his phone for a long moment, thumb hovering.
But instead of texting her first, he scrolled to another name …. Kelly.
He exhaled and hit call.
“Jake?” her voice came through after the second ring, curious and a little guarded.
“Hey. I know this is out of the blue, but I need your help with something. Something good.”
There was a pause. “Okay… go on.”
“I got concert tickets. For Kylee. Bleeding Halo is coming to New Orleans in two weeks. Front row. Backstage passes. I booked a suite at The Ritz-Carlton for the both of you.”