Betting Jessica

by Deanne Wilsted

  She stared over Jessica’s shoulder into the simmering sauce and inhaled the wonderful smell of sautéing garlic and onion. Jessica could do a decent job cooking most things, but when she cooked her spaghetti and meatballs it was like she morphed into Giada De Laurentiis or something.

  Jessica relaxed again and smiled when she heard Becky’s stomach rumble.

  “Help me cut the bread and I’ll let you dip it in the sauce.”

  Instead, ignoring her, Becky pulled off a huge chunk of the bread and dunked it into the pot before Jess could stop her.

  “You know, I keep telling you, you shouldn’t leave your door open like that,” Becky said as she blew on the now dripping bread. “I assumed you wanted me to walk in.”

  “Yeah, what she said,” Jess and Becky heard someone yell from the other room. “Hey, Becky. What’s up?”

  Becky raised her eyebrows at Jessica.

  “Hi Peter,” she called back to Jessica’s brother.

  “What could I do?” Jessica complained. “Dad sent him for his monthly status report.”

  “And now I can report that your light bulbs are changed, but your door still doesn’t stay locked,” Peter said as he tripped into the kitchen.

  “Oops,” he jostled Becky’s elbow. “Sorry,” he stammered.

  “Try not to kill the guest, would you, Peter,” Jessica laughed.

  She whacked at his finger as he also attempted to steal a taste of the sauce, and then pointed to the dinner chores still left to do. Becky grabbed one of the stools and started to peel the carrots that were lying out on the butcher block.

  Jessica watched Peter as he leaned against the counter drinking his wine, and Becky as she focused on her task. It was nice to see them here, in her space. It felt right to be hanging out with her two favorite people, even if one of them had come uninvited.

  “You know, there are very few things I would miss about this apartment if I ever did move, but this kitchen is one of them,” Jessica said, looking around.

  The kitchen was nothing special to look at, but it had the important things for cooking in all the right places. It had an old, but functional stove that was redeemed by being gas. It had the cute little, very little, butcher block island which in a pinch could be either extra counter space or, adding the stool, a place to munch on late-night snacks or quick breakfasts. It had a big window, which was in fact the only one in the apartment with a view of greenery instead of the parking garage next door.

  Best of all, the kitchen had a fan. In the heat of summer it didn’t matter if Jessica opened all the windows, the apartment still suffocated her. The kitchen was the only place where she could escape the heat. With the freezer door open and a fan blowing she could cool down even on the hottest days.

  Fortunately, however, today was one of those perfect Boston spring days. The sun had been shining most of the day and there was a small breeze coming off of the water, keeping things cool. Weather like this always made things seem so much more hopeful to Jessica; so she was smiling and happy as she, Peter, and Becky drank a bottle of wine, cooked and talked about their week.

  “So Becky, how’s your art class going?” Peter asked.

  Becky had recently started taking art classes, something Jessica both admired and was envious of, all at the same time. Some of her work was so good, in fact, that Jessica was already eyeing one as a possible birthday present.

  “Funny you should ask,” Becky answered. “You’ll never guess what happened after I came out of class today.”

  Peter and Jessica watched Becky and waited for her story; entranced by her ability to turn a simple outing into an adventure. Over a spoonful of pasta sauce that she was blowing on Jessica raised her eyebrows.

  “Okay, so I was walking out of class and knocked over, I mean literally, knocked over Cynthia’s boss, Blaise. He must have just been to Starbucks and had this huge iced coffee in one hand and a bunch of flowers in the other.”

  “No!” Jess said.

  “Yes!” Becky replied. “One minute I am coming out of the revolving doors and the next minute he’s on the ground with coffee all over him and flowers scattered around like he’s a corpse at a funeral parlor. I swear I could have died right then and there.”

  Peter laughed out loud. “Perfect,” he said. “I’ve spent enough time with Blaise to thank you for trying to knock a little humility into him.”

  “Oh, no!” Becky said wanting to correct him. “It wasn’t like that at all.”

  “What’s with the blush?” Jessica said, picking up on an underlying storyline.

  “Oh, I’ve never been so horrified,” Becky hedged as she put her hands on her hot cheeks. “I was near tears and trying to find a way to explain what had just happened. And then suddenly I realized that instead of getting upset he was actually laughing.”

  At this point Becky looked at Peter to reinforce that Blaise had really been a good sport about it all. Peter looked puzzled and waited for the rest of the story.

  “He sat there on the sidewalk having the best chuckle I have ever seen,” Becky continued, smiling. “He said that the look on my face was so funny he couldn’t help himself.”

  “And sooooo?” Jessica prodded. She had a feeling the main point of the story was yet to come.

  Becky released a big sigh, suddenly going very still. She also got a sickly dazed look in her eyes. “He was so sweet about the whole thing, but I felt horrible, really awful. All I could do was try to pick up the flowers surrounding him. He got up and threw away the coffee cup as I was trying to get the flowers back into some sort of bunch. I looked up at him then, such gorgeous blue eyes, and somehow at least got out the words to offer to buy him another cup of coffee.”

  Becky scooped the now cut carrots into the salad bowl and wiped her hands off. “So we walked back to Starbucks and we both got a drink, and I didn’t even notice when he paid. And then we sat there and talked for a few minutes.”

  Becky got the same dreamy look on her face. “I know you’ll think I’m losing it, but it was like some huge beam of light suddenly lit up all of the café when he told me that the flowers I had ruined were for a neighbor who was always helping him.”

  Jessica glanced at Peter and tried not to let Becky see her roll her eyes and gag herself over the sink.

  “So then,” Becky went on, “we finished our coffees. As we were walking out though, he stopped me and asked if I liked old movies and whether I might like to go see North by Northwest at the The Coolidge Corner Theatre this weekend. And that was that.”

  Becky’s reverie was broken by Peter’s stool suddenly scraping against the floor.

  “Sorry guys. I forgot to check on the, uh, hot water tank,” he muttered and rushed out of the kitchen.

  Chapter Seven

  Becky stared after Peter as he raced from the room. “Do you think it was something I said?” she asked with a worried frown. “Honestly, I didn’t know he had a problem with Blaise. What’s the deal with them, anyway?”

  Jessica stared at Becky blankly. How on earth could she be worrying about Peter at a time like this? She’d known her brother long enough to know he was weird sometimes. Anyway, whatever he was thinking didn’t really matter when Jessica felt her whole world tilting.

  Her brain was fast forwarding; first to a trip down the aisle as Becky’s bridesmaid, then to dinner parties at their house. She could even imagine the perfect little place cards Becky would use, and how their three gorgeous, naturally, little girls would call her Auntie Jess.

  Meanwhile, still single, Jessica saw herself living in this same hole of an apartment without a best friend to hang out with or complain to. And most importantly, what would this do to her Ian Drake plans?

  Becky noticed that Jess had become quiet. “Jess? What’s wrong? I thought you’d be excited for me.”

  She knew she was being selfish, but it was as if something inside Jessica clicked and she went into serious worry mode. And so, what came out of her mouth was, “What will Cynthi
a think?”

  This had the desired effect of stopping Becky in her tracks.

  “Yes, I know, I’ve been a little worried about that also. I mean, you know how Cynthia is about work. She takes it so seriously. She’s so ambitious, don’t you think? Not at all as laid back as you and I.”

  Jessica was sort of stunned by that pronouncement. No, she thought to herself. I don’t know that at all. To Jessica it had always seemed like Cynthia simply smiled and got a raise. In fact, this was such a different perspective that Jessica suddenly wondered whether this was one of those times when her take on reality was somehow skewed by her own insecurities. Jessica had no problem admitting she could be insecure, but normally she didn’t see so clearly the effect it had on her world view.

  Becky, oblivious to Jessica’s spiraling confusion, pulled her out of her own thoughts. “Anyway, Cynthia will have to live with it. I mean, it’s only a date after all, we’re not announcing a wedding or anything.”

  Jessica looked up at Becky and smiled. “North by Northwest, huh? Are you sure Cynthia doesn’t know about all of this already?”

  “What do you mean?” Becky said surprised.

  “Well, it strikes me as funny that Blaise happened to know your favorite movie. Maybe he had already talked with Cynthia about you.”

  Peter had re-entered the kitchen at this point and couldn’t help himself from asking sarcastically, “What? You’re not suggesting Blaise could be a poser or something.”

  “Whatever you might think, Peter, Blaise isn’t like that,” Becky glared at him and then turned again to Jessica. “And I’m sure Cynthia somehow planned my crashing into him,” she said sarcastically. “Not likely. Anyway, if she did plan any of that, she’s darn good. In fact, maybe you should ask her for some help with the Ian Drake Project.”

  “Oh no,” Jessica replied. “That’s all I need; then everyone will simply think Cynthia masterminded it all. No, this is something I have to do on my own…well, and with your help, of course.”

  “So, where are we going on vacation?” Becky asked.

  Jessica glanced over at Peter to see what his reaction was to the news that a vacation might be linked to the bet. His eyebrows were raised and she could tell she was going to have to tell him all about it. She had figured as much when she saw him show up at her door earlier that evening.

  “What?” she said defensively.

  “Nothing,” Peter replied. “I was only curious about when you decided to go on a vacation?”

  Becky watched the dialogue between the two and laughed out loud. “Oops, you mean you haven’t told him about your plans yet, Jess?”

  Jessica shook her head and Becky grimaced. “Sorry.”

  “Peter, it’s really no big deal. I mean, how does anyone expect me to win the bet if I don’t actually go to where Ian is?”

  Jessica spooned the sauce onto the pasta, poured some more wine, and took everything to the table.

  “Anyway, I decided to do some research to figure out where I might be able to meet him.”

  They all sat at the table and listened while Jessica ticked off on her fingers what she had learned.

  “What I have so far is that he lives mostly in Southern California, someplace in Malibu, in fact. That he likes to do active things for holidays, like hiking, fishing, skiing, cycling. And that he may be seeing a model named Mia.” This last point made Jessica’s smile waver.

  But Becky laughed and said, “Cheer up. It’s not like you’re looking for anything serious! I’m sure, even with a model around, you can convince him to take you out on one date.”

  Both of them ignored Peter’s snort.

  “God I hope not!” Jessica replied. “He seems way too nice to do something so low.”

  “Hmmmm, interesting. So even though the bet is with Erik you won’t do whatever it takes, huh?” Jessica made a sour face and Becky went on. “So the stakes must not be very high. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, what are the stakes of the bet?”

  “You mean other than my pride?” Jessica said. “Yeah, well it would be great if I could remember, wouldn’t it?” Jessica glanced over at Peter to see if he had anything to add.

  “Since you didn’t even remember there was a bet, you mean?” Peter said.

  Jessica shrugged her shoulder. Then both she and Becky looked over expectantly at Peter again.

  “You think I know?” he said. “I’m pretty sure the last thing I heard you say when I drove you home was, ‘ashug on shish bunkot.’ And that was the most coherent you had been in a couple of hours. I didn’t even know about the bet until the next day, and even then Cynthia had to explain to me that Ian Drake wasn’t someone you worked with.”

  Jessica rolled her eyes and then thought for a moment while she spun her pasta on her fork.

  “You know, Becky, you’re right about the stakes. It’s not like Erik to make a bet without some sort of prize.”

  Jessica tapped her finger against her chin while she considered how to learn what exactly they had bet.

  “You could simply call Erik and, you know, not let on that you don’t know, but try to get him to tell you what the stakes were.”

  Jessica thought about this. The idea had merit, other than the possibility of failure, of course. She hadn’t talked with Erik since the bet and right now she hated him too much to really want to. Still, yeah, maybe it would work, so she should probably try it.

  “Okay.” Jessica said. “But maybe we should have a backup in case I end up like hanging up on him or something before I find out.”

  She and Becky looked hopefully at Peter who then had to listen for twenty minutes to them describe in detail how he should casually get the information from Erik.

  “Just don’t let him know I couldn’t remember, Peter,” Jessica said earnestly.

  It would be nice to know what the stakes were, Jessica thought, but she didn’t want to give Erik any more reason to taunt her.

  Chapter Eight

  Becky watched Jessica and Peter as they said goodnight. Did Jess know how unusual it was that she and her brother were such good friends? In fact, that they all were? It was usually as much fun hanging out with Peter as it was being around Jessica.

  She shivered as they stepped out onto the street, glad that Peter had offered to drive her home.

  “Thanks for the lift, Peter. It’s way too cold to walk tonight.” It wasn’t too far to her apartment, but she hadn’t dressed very warmly since the day had been so nice.

  “No problem,” Peter said. “Anyway, Jess would have killed me if I let you walk home alone. Not that I didn’t want to,” he rushed on. “Drive you home, that is, not let you walk home alone. Oh, you know what I mean.” He finally gave up.

  Becky laughed and settled into his car. She liked his car. No, correct that, loved his car. It was super comfy, pristinely clean and had heated seats. It wasn’t flashy, but it totally suited Peter.

  The stereo was playing Jack Johnson, one of her favorite musicians, but she was home before she got to listen to even one full song. Peter almost looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he jumped out and opened her door in the time it took her to unsnap her seatbelt and grab her purse.

  “Thanks again, Peter,” she said over her shoulder as he watched her walk up her front steps.

  “Oh,” she stopped and turned around after she opened the door, “and thanks for watching out for Jess. I know she thinks it’s all for your parents, but, well I just wanted you to know I’m glad you check up on her now and then.”

  “Uh, sure,” Becky heard as she spun around and closed the door behind her.

  She opened her own apartment and turned on lights as she walked through to the bedroom. She had forgotten as usual to leave any on when she had gone out, and she totally hated the dark. She sat on the bed, kicked off her shoes, and thought about the evening.

  Jess was certainly taking the bet seriously. Becky couldn’t believe all the work she had already put into making that crazy plan
. She laughed to herself thinking about the amount of time she must have spent in Microsoft Project. Jessica might feel like she was approaching things differently, but to Becky this all seemed just like her. She figured Jess would spend another month or so working on it before finding a good excuse to give it up. Even a mediocre excuse would work since everyone else already thought it was a total waste of time.

  Becky sighed and shook out her hair. No matter what she said to Jessica, even assuming she stuck with it, Becky didn’t really believe there was any chance Jess would be able to get the date. And, failure on such a huge and public scale didn’t seem like it could be a good thing.

  On the other hand, Jess seemed to finally be happy and filled with purpose. She hadn’t seen her like that in such a long time that it was like opening up a toy chest and finding a long lost favorite play toy. She, Peter, and Jess had had a great time tonight, almost like when they used to hang out as kids. Yes, it was really nice to see Jessica in such a happy place for a change, and she wished it could last at least for a while.

  Becky slid off her bed and stuffed her feet into slippers while taking her earrings out. She stifled a yawn and was surprised when she looked at the clock to see how late it was. Let’s see, what did she need to do tomorrow? Could she get up late? She wondered. In a flash she remembered her date with Blaise and smiled.

  What a shock, literally running into him. Becky considered all she had heard about him from Cynthia and sighed. She knew part of her own attraction to him stemmed from the idea that someone like him would ask her out. Cynthia was always going on and on about what a star he was at work; the youngest something or other ever, the best boss. And wasn’t it Blaise that had headhunted Cynthia at a colleague’s work party on Nantucket? Even the idea of being at a Nantucket work party seemed crazy glamorous to Becky.

  She couldn’t imagine why Peter didn’t like him. Peter seemed to like just about everyone. It didn’t really seem like him, but maybe he was jealous of Blaise; after all, when was the last time Peter had gone on a date. He was a little geeky, but in a cute way. Girls were always coming up to him in bars and trying to get him to talk astronomy. Becky laughed to herself. It was fun, she admitted, to see how his eyes would light up when he would talk about some new star or supernovathingy.