Betting Jessica

by Deanne Wilsted

  Becky moved over and gave Jessica a big hug.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Peter grumbled.

  Jess caught the last part of the conversation and rolled her eyes at Peter.

  “I’m not sure what to do,” she said, giving Becky an uncertain look. “Even if Erik used to like me, after all this he must be over it, right? I mean, isn’t that what his leaving means?”

  Becky looked at Jessica intently. “You do like him, don’t you Jess.”

  It was a statement rather than a question and Jess looked away as she realized that all along she had been fighting the wrong battle, both with Erik and with herself.

  “What am I supposed to do now?” She asked both Becky and Peter. “You know him, Peter, what should I do?”

  Becky stepped away from Jessica, looked at Peter and shook her head when he opened his mouth to talk.

  “Oh no Peter, you have to take some of your own medicine on this one and leave Jess to work this out on her own.” She looked back over at Jessica. “Jess, if you still think you were a failure here then you’ve got a lot of thinking to do before you and Erik will ever be able to work things out. This trip was never about Erik or Ian.”

  Becky walked over and tugged on Peter’s hand.

  “Now Peter and I are going down to the pool since it is our vacation too.” She smiled at Jess sympathetically as they left to get their beach bag.

  Jess felt like she’d been caught in a hurricane. There was too much to think about; Peter and Becky… her night with Ian… and Erik asking her out. She needed coffee, big time. And not the puny stuff Becky had brewed that morning. She needed at least a double shot of espresso. She threw on shorts, scribbled a quick note and went to grab her bike.

  Chapter Sixty-five

  Sitting in her favorite spot on the coffee house deck, Jessica slowly allowed her mind to relax and savored the deep, rich coffee. She closed her eyes and took in the sounds around her.

  The waves from the lake lapping on the beach and the drone of the nearby traffic soothed her. Even better, the familiar voices coming from inside the coffee house made her smile. She half opened her eyes as she heard two chairs scraping back at her table.

  “Hi,” she said to Sandy and Mandy.

  “Well?” They both answered in unison.

  “Well,” Jessica said with a laugh and a little shrug, “it wasn’t quite what I expected.”

  She thought about what she had imagined would happen and then compared it to the reality of the night before. It had been pretty silly of her to assume Ian would be single. But then at least half of her project had been based on just such crazy assumptions. If she’d won the bet, she’d definitely done so by luck as much as anything. So how could she take any credit for it?

  On the other hand, hadn’t she gotten herself all the way to Tahoe, and even into his house? She’d done as much as was within her power to do, and done it well.

  “The coq au vin was a smash!”

  She smiled, knowing that wasn’t exactly what they were asking about.

  “Ok,” she laughed and held up her hand to stop the flow of questions that were already coming. “I’ll tell you all about it. I’m feeling awfully confused this morning anyway, so maybe you can help me make sense of it all.”

  Sandy and Mandy listened to the whole story, making Jess tell and retell the parts about Lisa probably 20 times. They seemed to be oddly interested in everything about her. Finally, at the end, they high fived each other and went to high five Jessica who only looked at them oddly.

  “Did you guys miss the part about what a loser he turned out to be?”

  Sandy and Mandy laughed.

  “Well, duh! We could have told you that,” Mandy said.

  “Yeah,” added Sandy. “Your bet wasn’t to get a date with a nice guy was it? Did we miss something? Because we thought the bet was to get asked out by Ian. You did that.”

  “Totally!” said Mandy. “You’re, like a major inspiration to everyone out there who thinks, that could never be me, when they see some model like Lisa on the arm of some hunk at the Academy Awards.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Jess laughed uncertainly. “Though heaven help them if that hunk turns out to be a two timing cheater like Ian.”

  “Oh!” she said slapping her hand on her forehead. “I totally meant to tell you thanks right away. You were like totally awesome, especially since you barely know me.”

  Jessica noticed how much she was starting to sound like them and smiled.

  Sandy grinned at Mandy and Jess. “Yeah, we’re like Fairy Godmothers or something, huh?”

  Being the more practical of the two, though, Mandy had moved on already, “So, what are you going to do now?”

  “Yeah,” Sandy added. “Like you’ve got to promise to go rub it in that evil guy’s face. We could, like help you with that too.” And Sandy started listing all the ways Jessica should tell Erik until Jessica interrupted her.

  “Well, thanks anyway, but the evil guy as you call him, is now on his way back to Boston, having given up when I got the job last night.”

  “Serves him right,” Mandy put in. “No doubt he had his tail between his legs.”

  Jess looked sad. “Yeah, probably; I imagine so.”

  Mandy gave Sandy a look that seemed a lot like the ones her friends sent each other when Jessica was frustrated by another dead end job.

  “So, ironically, it turns out the whole bet came about, in a drunken kind of way, when Erik asked me out,” Jess sighed.

  “What?” the girls said in unison again.

  How do they do that? Jessica wondered.

  “I know! It doesn’t make any sense and it’s a really long story. But suffice it to say that today I’m sort of wishing I had made the bet to get a date with a nice guy rather than with Ian.” Jessica shrugged. “At least then I’d be forced to try to fix things now by asking Erik out.”

  “But don’t you guys fight all the time?”

  Jessica nodded.

  “So, how is he a nice guy?” Sandy looked honestly confused, and Jessica couldn’t blame her.

  “I guess I finally figured out that believing in good press isn’t the same as believing in a really good friend. Anyway,” Jess waved her hand distractedly, “it doesn’t matter, because he’s long gone and probably won’t even talk to me again.”

  Sandy gave Mandy a sly look and said in her most serious voice, “Yeah, you’re probably right. I bet there’s no way on earth you could get him to go out with you now; not after all this.”

  “Totally,” Mandy joined in, obviously trying not to smile. “There’s like no way. I’ll take that bet too.”

  Jess looked at them like they were crazy, till their stupid grins finally gave them away.

  “Oh. Right. I see.” Jess shook her head, ready to laugh it off. But then her breath caught and she looked sort of surprised. Hadn’t a bet already provided the motivation to accomplish the impossible? Why couldn’t it work again?

  “Okay… Yeah I’ll take that bet.” She smiled. “But what do I get if I win.”

  “Well, duh,” they both said at the same time.

  “Okay. And if I lose?”

  Sandy and Mandy thought for a moment.

  “I know,” Mandy said clapping her hands enthusiastically. “Like, if you lose, you have to come back here and let us teach you how to snowboard.”

  Jess gave a dramatic shiver. “Well, that’s a pretty strong incentive to win.”

  Jess, Sandy and Mandy shook on it and then Jess got ready to go.

  “So I think I might head back to Boston early. Will you explain things to MealTime for me?”

  “No worries Jess. It’ll be totally cool,” Sandy said.

  “You guys have been the best part of this whole bet,” Jess said. “If you ever find yourself coming to Boston, say for school or something-” she rolled her eyes, “-call me.”

  Jessica scribbled her info on a napkin and handed it to them.

  “I’m thinki
ng I might try starting a concierge service like MealTime with my friend Katie, and we sure could use your help.”

  “Maybe,” they both said, in the scary way they had of doing things in unison.

  “If we ever get tired of the perfect life here,” Sandy finished with a laugh.

  “Also, tell Slam ‘bye for me, okay? Give him my info too in case he wants to email or anything.”

  “Okay,” Mandy said. “But I have a feeling you might be too busy winning your bet to write back to us anyway.”

  Jess gave them both a hug, waved to the guys inside and headed off, already thinking about how to win her most important bet yet.

  Chapter Sixty-six

  “So you’re sure you guys will be okay here on your own?” Jess looked from Becky to Peter.

  There was almost a week left on the condo rental, and though they’d offered to fly back with her, Jess had insisted they stay. “You already got stuck coming here because of my bet with Erik. I’m not going to drag you home early for another bet.”

  Now, after getting up early to drive her to the airport, the three of them stood on the airport curb saying goodbye.

  “We’ll be fine,” Becky said.

  “The four of us made a great team, didn’t we?”

  “I’m assuming you’re including Erik rather than Blaise as the fourth?” Becky asked with arched eyebrows.

  Jess laughed and gave her a huge hug. She tried to fill it with everything else she wanted to say but couldn’t. Peter barely gave them a minute before pulling them apart and handing Jessica her suitcase.

  “Have some patience, would you Peter?” Jessica shook her head at his eagerness. “You’ll have Becky all to yourself in like, two minutes.”

  She gave him a mock whack with her bag and then and spun around toward the airport doors with a last wave.

  The project plan was almost complete by the time Jessica landed in Boston. It was titled, Project Plan to win back Erik. But, since the plan itself was pretty simple… basically to show up and beg Erik’s forgiveness… most of her time had been spent thinking about the relative value of taking on bets.

  With a couple of nights behind her, she could see how truly amazing it was that she had actually gotten Ian Drake to ask her out. The fact that she would never date such a lowlife wasn’t the point. She was pretty proud of herself for the focus and determination it had taken to see the bet through.

  Now, with another bet facing her, she was starting to wonder whether making bets might not be a great new way to direct her life. For one thing, it would help her with priorities since she doubted she would ever go to the trouble, or possible humiliation, of taking on a bet for something she didn’t really want.

  Well, unless she was drunk again, she laughed to herself. But in any case, once she did take on a bet it seemed to give her the motivation she had been lacking. Maybe, if she and Erik ever did get together, their arguments would be the perfect opportunity for more bet making.

  After years of fighting with him, it seemed very strange to consider changing from enemies to… well, to something else. And it was the something else that Jess was still dwelling on as she lugged her bags to a taxi. She almost gave the driver her own address, until she remembered that her plan called for an immediate surprise visit. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants, knowing that the last time she had felt this nervous was when she had been standing outside of Ian’s door waiting for him to answer.

  It’s only Erik, she kept telling herself over and over, not a celebrity. Still, it could all turn out the same way. There was always Cynthia to consider. But somehow Jessica couldn’t really see Erik running back to be with her.

  Okay, get to his apartment, ring the bell, and when he asks what you want, say, say… But this was where Jessica’s plan fell apart. She couldn’t imagine what she was going to say.

  Ummm, just wanted to let you know I won the bet, was probably not a good opening statement. Hey, I heard you wanted to go out with me, also didn’t seem like the way to get herself invited in.

  Jessica mulled it over all the way to his apartment, and was still trying to figure out what she should say when she distractedly walked up and rang the buzzer. Since there was no way she was ready to face him, she looked around quickly to see if she could escape before he saw her from his window. She was getting ready to run when she realized something important… no one was answering the bell.

  She stepped back and looked up at his window. Maybe he’d seen her and decided to ignore the buzzer. She took a huge breath. Or, she thought more reasonably, maybe he hadn’t heard it ring. She tried again, and still no voice came over the speaker.

  This was so like Erik, she thought, becoming annoyed. Just when she was ready to make a first step, he would end up making it extra difficult. She sat there biting her lip and looking up at his window for a good minute, trying to think of what to do next. She was getting ready to turn around and find a taxi home when she heard the front door open.

  She glanced up expectantly; maybe he had wanted to come down in person. But instead of Erik it was some guy she’d never seen before. He practically tripped over her as he walked out of the door.

  “Sorry,” Jess said moving her bag aside.

  “Oh, that’s okay.”

  He looked at her oddly, probably wondering what she was doing lurking around outside his apartment building.

  “I’m trying to visit my friend who lives here,” she said quickly. “But I think maybe the buzzer’s not working or something.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s working okay,” the guy said shooting her a pathetic look. “At least it was about half an hour ago.”

  “Oh,” Jess said dejectedly. “I see.”

  She reached over to get her bag and go, but the guy obviously took pity on her.

  “Who’s your friend? Maybe I’ve seen him… or her,” he hastily added.

  Jessica looked up. Okay, back to the plan, she thought.

  “Uh, Erik in apartment 4B. Do you know him?” Jess was already thinking of who else she could call to help her find him.

  “Oh sure; I know Erik. I thought I saw him leave with his tennis racket a while ago. There’s a park down that way.” The guy waved in a vague direction down the street. “You might try there.”

  “Thanks,” Jess said as the guy stepped around her bag and walked away.

  She glanced down at her bags and sighed. Her plan hadn’t called for lugging them around with her, but then she’d honestly, and stupidly, assumed Erik would be home.

  She shook her head. She really needed to become better at making realistic plans if her betting approach was going to be successful. She definitely should have learned that lesson in Lake Tahoe. But she was here now, and Erik was, well, vaguely somewhere down the street. Jess picked up her luggage and started to walk.

  After what seemed like a mile, Jessica reached the park. Dusk was beginning to fall, making it difficult to see the tennis courts. Erik better still be here, she thought grumpily. She put her bags down, wiped the sweat off her forehead and rolled her shoulders.

  As she headed in the direction of the darkening tennis courts she noted the outline of someone violently hitting a ball against the backboard. Even though she was keen to get it all over with, she suddenly hoped it wasn’t Erik out there; that person was clearly in a foul mood.

  To be honest, after flying all day and then dragging her stuff all over the place, she admitted she wasn’t feeling particularly friendly either. Jessica sighed. This was destined to go well… Not! Apparently once again they’d make a perfect pair.

  Chapter Sixty-seven

  Erik returned the ball with a slam, focusing all his angst on the backboard. He’d spent the whole day moping around his apartment until he’d finally gotten sick of himself and decided to do the one thing guaranteed to take his mind off Jessica.

  Now though, he felt even angrier; tennis never failed him. Somehow all he kept seeing was Jessica and Ian laying around half naked on the beach i
n Tahoe. He swung again, hitting with all his strength as the tennis ball flew off the backboard and back at him.

  “God damn it,” he said out loud to himself.

  He had to get his mind off of her. He tried to focus on his next hit, and was able to slide one right over the backboard line that represented the net. Good backspin too, he thought to himself.

  He switched to backhand as the ball returned, and was in the middle of his swing when he heard a familiar, sullen voice.

  “You know Erik if you wanted to play with someone, I know how to play tennis now too.”

  Erik swore again as he watched the ball go sailing over the backboard and into the park. He spun around ready to chew out whoever had the audacity to sound like Jessica when he was trying to get her out of his mind.

  There, however, Jess stood… in the flesh. Erik dropped his racket.

  “What…” he stammered.

  Jess smiled.

  “I said… I can play tennis now too.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Erik replied gruffly. “I meant what are you doing here?”

  “Oh,” Jess replied. “It’s just that, well, when I was younger I didn’t know how to play tennis, so I wasn’t sure if you knew that I had learned.”

  She must have realized she was babbling since she abruptly shut her mouth and became silent. Erik waited patiently, but Jess stared at him with a confused look on her face.

  “So,” he finally prompted her, “what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Tahoe.”

  “Oh. Oh yeah. No, I came back early.” Jessica shrugged as if it was no big deal that she was standing there in front of him.

  “Well, for one thing,” she continued, “I thought maybe Peter and Becky would get a little tired of having a third wheel hanging around.” At this Jessica gave him a rebuking look. “You know, you could have thought of that before you simply decided to fly off home. I mean, what did you think I was going to do there on my own, hanging out with those two lovebirds?”

  Erik was trying to figure out whether Jess was making any sense or if he was losing it. Somehow none of her words seemed to be registering. He shook his head to clear it.