Late..., Part 4

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"Late...Part 4"
(`Early-'  Part 3) by love_2_smoke@hotmail.com

   "I probably should give you my number too.  Not that you'll want it."
   Jenny smiled.
   "I'd love to have your number, Mike."
   He seemed to be surprised by the statement.  Mike took out his wallet and 
handed Jenny a business card with just his name and phone number.
   "There you go."
   "Thanks Mike.  It's good to see you."
   "You too."
   "Take care of yourself."
   "I will.  You do the same."
   Mike turned and walked away.  Jenny looked at the card he had given her and 
smiled.


   That evening Jenny decided to give Sabrina a call.  She told herself it was 
a `just because' call.
She knew that she was lying to herself though.

   She dialed the numbers and waited for the ringing to end.
   "Hello?"
   "Sabrina?"
   "Yes?"
   "This is Jen."
   "Hey!  I was just thinking about you."
   Jenny smiled.
   "How's the weather down there?"
   "Sunny.  Go figure, eh?"
   "Yeah.  How's Tim?"
   "He's good.  He's at work."
   "At 7 in the evening?"
   "Yep.  Overtime."
   "You sure?"
   "Oh yeah.  I've checked," Sabrina said, a sly smile coming over the phone 
with her tone of voice.  Jenny heard the click of a lighter.
   "So, anything exciting going on?"
   "Not really.  Tim and I are trying to have a baby, but you know about that 
already."
   "Yeah."
   "Not that I mind, Jen, but why the phone call?"
   "Well, I was thinking of you too."
   "Oh, I see.  Might I ask why?"
   "You first."
   "Jen, being as far from home as I am, I tend to think about family a lot."
   "I can imagine."
   "And you?"
   Jenny paused, taking a deep breath.
   "I saw Mike today."
   "Mike who?"
   "Your Mike."
   Sabrina paused now.
   "Really?"
   "Yeah."
   "How'd he look?"
   "Good.  He just finished law school.  He'll be taking the bar soon."
   "Wow.  Never thought that would happen."
   "What?"
   "Mike becoming a lawyer."
   "Why?"
   "I don't know.  I envisioned him ending up in a customer service job or 
something.  Not that I didn't want him to succeed or anything."
   "Well, he didn't wind up that way.  Sorry."
   "Knock it off.  You know I'm happy for him."
   "I know."
   "Seems like there's more to it, Jen.  Sounds like it anyway."
   "There is.  Sort of."
   "Sort of, how?"
   "I, um, want to know how you'd feel if I asked him out."
   Sabrina paused, again.
   "Seriously?"
   "Yeah."
   "I don't think I'm in a position to tell you who you can or can't date.  
But, don't you already have a boyfriend anyway?"
   "Yes.  I don't think that's going to last much longer though."
   "Oh.  Trying to speed things up in that sense?"
   "No.  I mean that's not the reason I'm asking you this."
   "Go ahead."
   "I guess what I'm trying to find out is if you'd be upset."
   "No.  I can't say I wouldn't feel a little awkward if I were around, but 
that was quite a while ago.  I've been married for over 4 years.  No.  I 
wouldn't be upset."
   "Good!"
   "Try not to get that excited when you ask him out.  Play hard to get for a 
little while at least."
   "Yes, ma'am."
   "Shut up."
   They laughed.

   Jenny dialed Mike's number with a tremble.  When she got his machine, she 
hung up.  It had taken a lot of her will just to call.  The last thing she 
wanted to do was just leave him a message.
   She thought about what he had said earlier in the day.

   "-it's a shame you don't smoke anymore-"
   "-I'd have to take a cold shower..."
   "-I've got a thing for women that smoke-"

   Since the day she had quit smoking, Jenny had been battling internally over 
why she had and if it would last.  She began to wonder if she'd just been 
waiting for the absolutely perfect reason to start again.  Somehow she was 
having a hard time convincing herself that Mike wasn't the right reason.  
However, there was the issue of Derek to deal with, not to mention actually 
coming to a decision on the smoking.  Once and for all.


   Jenny stood next to the counter at Derek's store.  He was helping the last 
customer before he closed up for the night.  When he finished, he turned to 
her.
   "So, what's up?"
   "I wanted to talk to you in person."
   "About?"
   "Us."
   "What about us?"
   "I want you to know that I think you're a great person---"
   "Wait.  Are you here to break up?"
   "Uh-"
   "Well?"
   "Um-"
   "It's okay if you are.  I can't say that it makes me overwhelmingly happy 
but I can't say that I didn't see it coming."
   "Oh."
   "So, is that it?"
   "Sort of."
   "Okay, what do you mean by `sort of'?"
   "I think we'd reach that point pretty soon anyway, first of all."
   "What point?"
   "Breaking up."
   He shrugged.
   "The other thing is-I-"  Jenny couldn't believe how hard it was to say.  It 
wouldn't be hard to do.  She was SO sure of that.
   Derek gave her a look of frustration.  It was apparent that he was hurt, 
confused, and impatient about the situation.
   "I started-I started smoking again.  I knew that it would drive you nuts, 
so-"
   "I'm surprised.  Six years off the cancer sticks and now, poof, you go 
back?"
   Jenny was shocked at the venom he'd applied to the `cancer' in `cancer 
sticks'.  It was obvious he was trying to hurt her.
   "So, we're done then."
   "I guess," he said with another shrug.
   She turned to go.
   "Hey."
   She turned back to him.
   "I'm sorry.  It was fun.  And for a smoker you sure don't smell like 
cigarettes."
   Jenny smiled.
   "I'm sorry too-and I don't smell like a smoker because I haven't actually 
started smoking, I've just made the decision to."
   "Huh?"
   "Don't worry about it.  I've decided and that's that."
   "Okay.  Take care of yourself, Jen."
   "You too."

   Jenny found herself feeling like a complete bitch.  It turned out awful.  
Surely there had to be a better way to have done it.  She couldn't think of 
one though.  At least she hadn't written a letter like her last boyfriend 
had done to her.

   She jumped into her car and checked the lighter.  In the two years she'd 
had it, she'd never checked to see if it worked even once.  It worked.  She 
smiled.

More to come-

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