by Kiki Goodman
Jacob pressed play on his phone and he could see Nikki knew she had been caught out, her face changing dramatically.
“Fine! I’ve been fucking Tyler, but only because he’s perfect for me,” Nikki said bluntly.
“What!?” Jacob was astonished at such a strange remark.
“He’s the guy I’ve been looking for my whole life. Perfect cock, perfect body and not afraid to spend money on me, unlike you,” Nikki said trying to blame Jacob for it all.
“But you stayed with me. You wanted to go on holidays to the beach with me. How long have you been doing this for?” Jacob asked hoping to god it wasn’t long.
“A few months now… so what?! You have all these pretty ladies you massage and get off… why can’t I get off with someone!?” Nikki said pointedly.
“I don’t sleep with them! I’m no whore! I give them a massage. It just so happens one or two of them pay for a happy ending. Eighty percent of them just want a naked massage! Why is that so hard to believe!?” Jacob said again his voice booming through the house.
“Oh mister righteous over here now are we? At least Tyler has got some balls!” Nikki said marching back to the stairs.
“Oh no you don’t,” Jacob said grabbing hold of Nikki and dragging her to the front door. “You’re out, you’re not staying here anymore, I won’t have it!”
“Fine! I’ll just stay with Tyler!” Nikki said grabbing her bag from the floor recklessly before opening the door.
“Yeah good luck with that… and for your information,” Jacob said as Nikki walked out. “He sleeps with ALL his clients!”
Jacob slammed the door and marched back into his house, the weight of everything lifting from him. He felt so bad he ended up collapsing on the floor. It all started to make sense to him now: the once a week they’d make love, the someone she was seeing to sort out her hips, the fun she wanted to have with Tyler at the party. He wasn’t going crazy, it was all happening and now he knew why.
Suddenly he remembered Kelly, what she had told him yesterday. He had to talk with her, see if what she meant was true. Deep down he knew what he wanted and that was Kelly.
Chapter 25
Jacob rushed to the front door but stopped suddenly when he heard Nikki out the front sobbing. He didn’t want to go out there and start anything, he wanted her to leave. He didn’t want to ever see her again, not after what she had done and besides he was too angry, he didn’t want to get into a public fight. But Jacob had to see Kelly, he had to see if she still meant what she said.
Quickly Jacob starting thinking about how to get out of the house without being seen. He marched down the laundry and looked out the window only to realise that the path would take him straight past were Nikki was standing. He raced up to the middle level and out to his massage room where he began pushing through the thick bushes to see a large brick wall between him and Mrs Chang’s yard. Jacob turned and raced out to the back of the yard, jumping over the fence between his and Mrs Chang’s and ran down the side of her house, straight past a window where he heard a scream. Stopping suddenly, he looked in the window and saw Mrs Chang lying on the floor naked, working herself over in front of a computer. Once she realised it was him she stopped screaming and smiled before Jacob waved and took off to the front of the house. Now wasn’t the time for such silly dramatics, he needed to get to Kelly, to tell her how he felt. Jacob started to run down the street when he saw Nikki finally getting into her car. He paused for a moment waiting, her car finally coming to life before taking off down the street. Jacob made a run for it, straight to the front of Kelly’s house and up the steps faster than he had ever run before. Reaching the big wooden door he pushed the door bell and composed himself while waiting for Kelly to open the door. After a few moments the door handle turned, his heart began racing and Jacob held his breath. What was he going to do? Say hi? Jump and hug her? Kiss her? Did she even want to see him? Of course she did! The door opened in slow motion, swinging to the right in what seemed like the slowest speed known to humankind. In his mind Jacob was already kissing Kelly. The door finally opened and his heart froze when he realised the woman standing there had short black hair and ivory skin, and was in an open armed shirt that showed off way more flesh than was necessary.
Donna stood there looking forlorn. “Hi Jake, after Kelly?”
“Yeah, is she home? I’ve got to see her urgently,” Jacob replied trying to look past her.
“No she’s not sorry, do you want to come in?” Donna asked turning side on to let Jacob through the door.
“No, is she at work or…?” Jacob replied looking around anxiously.
He had to see her, had to tell her all about it.
Donna looked sad, there was something that she obviously knew that Jacob didn’t.
“What?”
“She’s gone Jake… she didn’t tell you?” Donna asked seeing Jacob was put out.
“No, nothing. How long is she gone for?” Jacob replied feeling like he missed his chance to talk to Kelly.
“She said a minimum of six weeks. The bank has sent her for training,” Donna said politely.
“Damn it!” Jacob said feeling like his life had just taken a turn for the worse. “I don’t believe this.”
“Look if she gets in touch I’ll let you know, okay?” Donna said politely trying to put Jacob at ease.
“Yeah, thanks… thanks Donna,” Jacob said leaving slowly. How could things have turned out like this? All he wanted to do was settle down and be happy with his life. It had started out on such a positive note with buying the house, and then it got even better re-connecting with Kelly. But now she was nowhere to be found. Nikki had cheated on him, making him feel like he had done something wrong, and Kelly had disappeared without telling him. All he wanted was someone to talk to. What was he going to do?
Act 3: It’s complicated
Chapter 26
It was the most perfect day weather wise and it would have been better if Jacob could have enjoyed it. Instead he was mixed up – to him it wasn’t such a perfect day. If only he could change the last few months, be a superhero or have a big blue telephone box and go back in time. Perhaps things would be different. Mrs Chang was nowhere to be seen, but then again it was the afternoon, she probably had the neighbour on the other side of her place to tantalise with her exuberant personality.
The doorbell rang which snapped Jacob out of his melancholy and his mind raced for a moment, hoping it was Kelly at the door. He rushed downstairs and to the front door but stopped short composing himself before casually opening it. It was not the surprise he was expecting. Tyler was standing there when he opened the door and Jacob used every ounce of his willpower to not let punches fly in Tyler’s direction.
“What are you doing here?” Jacob asked ready to slam the door in his face.
“I came to apologise. I came to see if we could be friends still,” Tyler replied politely.
“I doubt that. You went behind my back with Nikki. We had an agreement, never to get involved with each other’s partners or clients… that didn’t mean anything to you?” Jacob asked before starting to close the door.
Tyler jammed his foot in the door.
“Listen… we’re in love. Have you ever felt like you met yourself, only it was a female?”
Tyler looked at Jacob and continued knowing he wasn’t going to get much out of him.
“Do you want to know why?”
“Tyler… I thought we were best mates… obviously I was wrong,” Jacob said abruptly but that didn’t dissuade Tyler.
“She’s just like me man! Just like me…” Tyler said emphasising the last point. “We think the same, act the same, love the same.”
“Tyler, cut the crap!”
“We are into the same things! She likes sleeping around, so do I! She’s happy for me to sleep around, and guess what, I’m happy for her to do it. It’s what makes our relationship stronger! She always comes back to me man!” Tyler said his voice raising to drive home
his feelings. “I hoped you would have understood that. Kelly–”
“Don’t bring her into this,” Jacob said starting to let his anger out.
“Why? She’s the reason all this happened. We could all see you were in love with her before you could. Nikki knew it, so what’s the big deal?” Tyler asked trying to make Jacob see some sense in it all.
“You do realise Nikki was all over me before I found you two out? Why would she act like that if she knew that I loved Kelly?! Even if I didn’t know!?” Jacob said raising his voice.
“That’s not what she told me!” Tyler said trying to push into Jacob’s home.
Jacob pushed back, grabbing hold of Tyler’s shirt and forcing him against the railing at the top of the steps.
“That’s because she’s a lying slut. You just confirmed what one of my clients said about her. Everyone knows she’s the town bicycle, even you! So you’re right, she is you! So I guess it’s a good match after all,” Jacob said through gritted teeth.
Tyler lost control and began shoving Jacob, his knees coming up to try and inflict damage to Jacob’s abdomen.
“You prick!” Tyler said forcing Jacob back as they began wrestling each other down the steps.
Out of nowhere Tyler swung and landed a blow to Jacob’s ribs which caused him to let go slightly and allow Tyler to take another swing, landing a second blow to the same spot he hit earlier. Another fist came at Jacob and whether it was luck or fate, Jacob was able to move away enough so that Tyler’s swing missed and caused him to overshoot his mark and fall to one side. Jacob quickly pushed him away and since he was off balance, Tyler fell onto the grass, while Jacob tried his best to recover from the two blows.
“Stay down,” Jacob said pointing at Tyler as a car pulled up in his driveway. He couldn’t quite make out who was inside.
“You’re a moron Jacob! You think you know everything, but you know nothing. Nikki is a great girl and I won’t have you insult her like that,” Tyler said standing up.
Nina, the plumber Jacob had met at the gym, exited the vehicle wondering what was going on. Upon seeing the two of them she rushed over to Jacob just before Tyler went berserk and started thrashing around in front of them. Without thinking she rushed back to her car and pulled a baseball bat from the boot, brandishing it in case she had to give Tyler a tickle or two to calm him down.
“Wake up Tyler, she isn’t worth it,” Jacob said trying to stop Tyler from going crazy. That seemed to incense Tyler further.
Before Tyler could land another blow Jacob took a step away, “We’re through…”
“Is everything okay?” Nina asked even though it wasn’t what she wanted to say, as Jacob clutched his ribs and went up the steps to his front door.
“Yeah fine,” Jacob replied opening the door before Tyler charged at him, in an attempt to let his anger do the talking one more time.
It was obvious Tyler wanted to do bodily harm and stop Jacob in his tracks – leave him with something to think about. Tyler was that sort of guy. It was becoming readily apparent, now more than ever, that Tyler was always about leaving someone with an experience, whether that be good or bad. Tyler lunged towards Jacob but Nina swung her bat causing him to flinch and pull back. Jacob tried to intervene almost coping the bat but it missed him by the smallest of margins.
“I suggest you leave.”
“We’re not through!” Tyler said his face filled with hate.
Jacob put his hand up just as Nina swung the bat again. She hit Jacob on his hand – the wood on bone sound echoing as Jacob reeled in pain.
“Perhaps now we are… fuck you Jacob.” Tyler smiled and backed down the stairs heading towards his car as Nina dropped the bat and covered her mouth in despair.
“I’m so sorry Jacob!” Nina said almost in tears by the fact that she had just damaged his left hand.
Jacob was smarting from the blow. He looked at Nina seeing her so visibly upset.
“Let’s get some ice on it…” Jacob said as Nina put his arm over her shoulder and helped him into the house.
“I knew something was wrong… I just didn’t expect this,” Nina said as he sat down on the steps while she went into the kitchen.
“Well, yeah, sore hand, sore ribs,” Jacob said causing Nina to jump back looking worried.
“Shit, okay, I’ll get some more ice,” Nina said scrambling in the fridge.
Jacob shook his head even though he knew Nina meant well.
“It’s fine… I’ll just have a sit for a bit,” Jacob said getting up to find a chair and sit down.
Nina came back with an ice pack to put on his hand. Jacob winced as the ice pack was applied, breathing slowly as he let the ice do its work and he adjusted to the pain. Nina then crouched down next to him with the other ice pack for his ribs.
“Let’s have a look… shirt off,” Nina said turning serious and professional as though she was a nurse.
‘Nina,” Jacob said looking at her sideways.
“I won’t take no for an answer… now move it,” Nina said standing up and clutching at his shirt. Reluctantly he pulled his shirt up, allowing Nina to help him take it off, feeling his side ache as he rose his arms.
“Okay…” Nina crouched and looked at his ribs that seemed to be bruising already. “Not so bad… just a bit of ice and you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah thanks,” Jacob said holding the ice pack against his skin.
“I’m glad I came when I did… now what do you want for lunch?” Nina asked putting her hands on her hips and wanting to move on from smashing his hand with the baseball bat, but at the same time enjoying the view of him shirtless. Even with the injury he still looked rather hot to Nina.
“Nina… I’m fine, thank you,” Jacob replied looking up at her seeing she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Look, I’m here to help. I caused your injury, it’s the least I can do. What do you want to eat?” Nina asked seriously which was unusual for Nina, she was always so aloof.
“Okay fine… just a ham sandwich thanks,” Jacob said not wanting to make a big deal out of anything. He’d had enough of that for today. Nina lifted Jacob’s arm and crouched down beside him to look at his ribs. She lightly ran her fingers over his skin causing Jacob to flinch.
“Sorry… didn’t know you were ticklish.”
“Usually I’m not,” Jacob said with a smirk.
He’d felt a little hesitant around Nina ever since meeting her in the gym. They had crossed paths a few more times at the gym and once or twice at the supermarket, and each time Jacob got the sense that she had a crush on him. Ever since Kelly had left Nina seemed to be filling a void for Jacob. There was no denying that to Jacob she was attractive and there was something he liked about her, but she still gave him moments to pause and wonder what was going on.
Nina leaned in and kissed his ribs lightly. That confirmed the crush Jacob had felt.
“Nina…”
“There, all better,” Nina said placing the ice pack on the sore area.
“We need to talk,” Jacob said before Nina hurriedly made her way into the kitchen and started fussing about making him a sandwich.
Jacob got up and followed her so that he could confront her about everything.
“Nina?”
“Yes?” Nina pulled out some bread not wanting to look Jacob in the eye.
“Nina? About all of this… you and I…” Jacob said pausing to try and find the right words.
Looking at her, he decided against saying anything. After all this time, perhaps it was a good thing Nina was here. He wasn’t alone at the moment – he enjoyed her company. She seemed to show up at the right times, right when he seemed to need her, usually when he missed Kelly the most, but he wasn’t sure about it all. Perhaps after all that had happened today and how he had been feeling it was better to leave the topic of her crush alone – after all, he was enjoying her company. The house didn’t seem so empty now.
“It’s nothing…” Jacob said not wanting
to cause any issues.
“How about that ham sandwich?” Nina asked with a smile before placing a finger to her lips for a moment as though in thought. “So what are you going to do now?”
Jacob wasn’t sure, it was all a mess to him. He needed time to sort through everything he was feeling. Kelly wouldn’t speak to him, Tyler’s wasn’t who he thought he was, and Nikki… well she’s simply Nikki. Jacob felt all over the place and with Nina here he felt some sort of normality, even if it was slightly skewed.
“Yeah, I honestly have no idea,” Jacob replied picking up the sandwich. He handed half to Nina who looked at him, then the sandwich and smiled taking it from him. He motioned towards the dining room with his head as they ate the sandwich and Nina agreed, following him to one of the chairs. They sat down, peered out the window and watched the world go by, sitting there in each other’s company. The only missing thing was Kelly, but he wasn’t sure if she wanted him anymore. Things had not gone as planned.
Chapter 27
Things were becoming complicated. Jacob felt like he was going in a million different directions all at once. His head felt as though it were about to burst, as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling, listening to the morning birds chirping the world awake. When he wasn’t thinking about work, he was thinking about Kelly and when he wasn’t thinking about Kelly, he was thinking about why she hadn’t contacted him. After all this time he would have thought his friendship would have meant something to her, if that was at the very least what she wanted. But he wanted more. Did he? Deep down Jacob knew he wanted more but after months of silence from Kelly he wasn’t sure she wanted more. Perhaps she had moved on with someone else? She hadn’t made contact with him in all this time, even though he had tried to reach out. It was starting to make Jacob question himself, was this all real? Was it all for nothing?
Jacob tried to distract himself. He pulled himself out of bed in the vain hope that he would have a better day today than yesterday. Nina had been his only bright spark lately, with her quirky attitude clearly having an effect on him and making him laugh. At times she made him forget about what was going on with Kelly and simply allowed him to be in the moment.
