Jill deftly made her way over to Brian, avoiding the mess on the floor as best she could, and took a seat on the floor next to him. “Care to talk about it?”
“It’s just so hard to see my mom move out of here. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s found a great place to stay, but it’s not the same as being here.”
“I can understand that,” Jill comforted.
Brian sighed and continued, “I don’t know. I just feel it went too fast and too soon I guess. I mean, I don’t feel she’s at the point of needing to go yet.”
Jill sat there listening even when the silence between them spoke volumes. She allowed Brian to get off his chest what he had been building up inside for so long, and gave him space to be himself; to share his feelings on the one woman that connected them.
Gazing around the room, Brian sullenly stated, “This was my home growing up. I don’t want to see it go to some stranger.”
“It’s definitely a nice home,” Jill smiled. “I’m sure you have a lot of good memories here.”
“I do, I do.” Brian raised his hands to the back of his head and sighed again. “This is all overwhelming. You wouldn’t believe all the stuff I’ve been going through and have yet to go through.”
“Your mom did like to hold on to things,” Jill agreed.
“Yeah, she did,” he chuckled, bending forward to place his elbows on his knees and folding his hands.
“Well, let me help. That’s what I’m here for.”
“I couldn’t possibly burden you with that, Jill.”
“You’re not! Look, I have nothing better to do, and I think it would be neat to go through some of your mom’s things.”
Turning to look directly into Jill’s eyes, Brian sincerely remarked, “You’re amazing, you know that?”
Jill slightly blushed.
Viewing the mess, she said, “I’m just offering to do what I do best, which is to help people.”
Brian smiled at her even though her eyes never made it back to his. He was so thankful she showed up when she did. Her presence offered him a peace he could not explain, and it was only to her that he could express his deepest thoughts and feelings. She was the only one who understood him.
Although he didn’t say this to Jill, she was another reason he was getting so worked up as of late. He was dreading the end of seeing her. Brian tried stretching things out as much as he could so he’d stay longer, but eventually it would all come to an end. He was going to miss Jill something fierce.
But her life was here while his wasn’t. There was no getting around that.
He thought about the conversation they had earlier in the week and wished things could be different. He wished that Jill gave him some clear indication of being interested in him. He wished Jill could give him a chance. If she did, he was confident they could work something out.
Getting back to reality, Brian breathed, “Well, where do you want to start?”
“How about with a cookie?” Jill smirked.
“Cookie?” he asked, bemused.
“Yeah, I brought over some cookies. I tried the mint Oreo in a chocolate cookie idea you gave me.”
“You did? That sounds great right about now.”
Brian got up and lent a hand to help Jill get up. She took it without hesitating, and both of them headed for the kitchen. To Brian’s surprise, Jill never pulled her hand back to herself the whole trip to fetch the cookies. He actually had to let go of it when opening the container.
“These look really good,” Brian said as he breathed in the aroma emanating from the cookies.
“I know. I’ve been wanting to have one ever since I put them in the oven.”
Brian took out a cookie for Jill and then got one for himself. They took a bite in unison, both enjoying the tasteful combination.
“Would you like a drink to go with this cookie?” Brian politely asked.
“No thank you.” Jill took another savory bite.
“How about we take these cookies with us to the bedroom?”
For a brief moment Brian thought about rephrasing his question because of what it implied, but kept his mouth shut when Jill didn’t even seem to notice.
“Sure.”
Jill led the way back, taking her seat back on the floor. She noticed some books lying nearby and asked if they were photo albums.
“I do believe so.”
“May I see them?”
“Help yourself.”
She reached for one and began thumbing through it as she took the final bite of her cookie. The pictures were of a younger Elena with her husband on various vacations they took together. Towards the end of the album a pregnant Elena appeared.
“Your mom was…is so beautiful.”
“I know,” Brian smiled.
Jill grabbed another book. The instant she saw the first picture she beamed. Right before her eyes was a baby Brian, one of the cutest babies she has ever seen. He seemed to have been a natural in front of the camera, always looking and giving his best smile. Each new page offered a picture of Brian slightly older than on the previous page.
Brian occasionally glanced at Jill as she went through the photo album. He could tell from the twinkle in her eyes and grin on her face that she was really enjoying his baby pictures.
“You were so cute,” Jill commented.
“Are you saying I’m not now?” he teased.
She laughed him off, focusing her attention again on the pictures before her.
A few pages flipped later, Jill squealed, “Look at all the bubbles!”
Brian was directed to a picture of himself at two years old. He was taking a bath with bubbles covering almost every inch of his body. There were bubbles on the walls and over the faucet. The bubbles were everywhere so that even the bath water couldn’t be seen.
“Ah, the bubble monster,” Brian remembered out loud. “My mom and dad did this with me until I started taking showers.”
Both of them chuckled.
“Oh, hey, is this the picture your mom told me about at her birthday dinner?” Jill asked.
She pointed at a picture of Brian in his high chair, spaghetti all over his face and in his hair. There was one noodle hanging off his chin, and the look he had in the picture made Jill think he made the mess on purpose.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Boy was I a mess.”
“It’s adorable though.”
Jill skimmed through a few more pages, coming to the end of another album. Putting it beside her, she grabbed another. “This one will be my last, I promise.”
“Doesn’t matter to me. As long as you come across nothing embarrassing, you can look at as many of these pictures as you want.”
In this album Brian was older yet. It amazed Jill as to how well-organized Elena was in keeping all the pictures in the exact order they were taken. Halfway through the album Jill stopped and analyzed a picture. “What’s going on here?” she questioned.
“Let me see.”
Brian took a look at what she was referring to and tried to remember what it was. In the photograph was Elena and Ricky and then a young girl.
“Is that actually you?” Jill laughed.
Well, this is slightly embarrassing, Brian thought.
“Yeah,” he sighed.
“What’s going on here?”
“I wanted to be a girl for Halloween one year.”
Jill laughed louder, “You what? Why?”
“I don’t know, but, hey, I was only like five or so!”
When Jill continued laughing, Brian reached for the photo album and threatened to take it away.
“Okay, okay, okay. I’m sorry,” she said more calmly. “Please let me continue to look.”
Brian released his grip on the book so Jill could continue her journey through his life. He decided to skootch closer and enjoy the trip with her.
Both of them turned page after page together, Brian offering explanations on some things, both laughing on other things. Brian was holding nothing back,
allowing Jill to know the real him from the very humble beginning.
In the midst of Brian photos popped up a photo without Brian as the star.
“This must have been a picture I took one time,” Brian informed her. “I used to love taking pictures.”
The photo was a side shot of both Elena and her husband, Ricky. The two of them were facing each other in an embrace, Ricky tenderly kissing his wife’s forehead. She had a smile on her face, and both of them had their eyes closed as if savoring the moment.
Jill studied the photo. “That’s a really good picture of the both of them. They look so happy and deeply in love,” she remarked.
“They were very madly in love with one another.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah,” Brian began, shifting his focus towards Jill’s face. Gazing into her eyes, he explained the ways the both of them showed each other their love. “They both did so much for each other. I remember my dad bringing my mom flowers all the time.”
“Doesn’t that mean they fought a lot?” Jill joked. “You know how guys tend to do that after an argument.”
Brian chuckled. “No, he just knew what my mom really liked.” Then he continued on, “He also surprised her a lot with jewelry and taking time off work. A spur of the moment vacation wasn’t rare in our house.”
“Wow, so you guys got around, huh?”
“We did. They did their own vacations too, of course, but again, my mom liked to travel and my dad loved giving her what she liked.”
“Your dad sounds amazing.”
“He was. He was definitely a giver, but there was more to his love than that. For instance, not once did I ever hear him say something bad about my mom. Even when they fought, which was seldom, he never spoke down on her. And then whenever she was sick, he made sure she was cared for. He’d stay by her side and help her with whatever she needed.”
“I wish there were more guys like him around,” Jill mentioned quietly to herself, as she looked back at the picture.
Brian let the comment slide. He knew how great of an example his father was and that one day he would strive to make his father proud by being just like him. However, he didn’t feel it was something to boast about. He wanted to prove it by his actions. So to say he was a great guy was out of the question.
Instead, he began to list the ways his mom displayed her love for his dad. “My mom showed her love to my dad in numerous ways as well. She made his lunch every single day he had to go to work. She got up in the morning with him, had breakfast with him and then made his lunch while he got ready. She’d watch him leave, and then she would be waiting for him when he got back home. And then she always made sure that when different house chores were done that they were done just the way my dad liked it, no matter how ridiculous it might have been.”
Brian lightly laughed. “For example, my dad wanted the washcloth at the kitchen sink to be draped over the section in the middle instead of over the faucet or folded next to the faucet.”
More seriously he added, “And she would just do it. No questions asked and no complaining.”
“I can see Elena being like that,” Jill replied.
“Both of them just had a love like no other. It’s definitely not something you encounter every day.”
“Wow,” Jill exhaled.
The two of them sat next to each other in silence, contemplating Elena’s and Ricky’s love for one another while looking at the photo. It was too precious of a picture for Jill to want to move on.
That kind of love was what she wanted, what she thought she had before. It was the kind of love that almost seemed impossible or unreal to her. So many thoughts went through her head that she decided to let them out. “You know, there was a time when I used to think I had what your parents had.”
“Yeah?” Brian asked.
Jill looked over at him and said, “Yeah, but boy was I wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Things just didn’t end up the way that I thought they would.”
Brian realized that this may be his chance to finally get his questions answered and figure out why Jill was the way she was. Instead of letting her statement go as is, he took the opportunity to encourage her to go further. With concern and sincerity in his eyes and tone of voice, he placed his hand on Jill’s knee, looked directly at her and said, “Jill, tell me what happened.”
At first Jill hesitated, but the way Brian looked at her, deep into her soul, she knew she could trust him and thus began her story. “It all started when I was ten years old. I remember coming back home from a friend’s house and my mom was just sitting on the couch crying.”
Brian listened intently as Jill pieced together the puzzle of her past.
As she stared off to memories of her childhood, she continued, “Apparently my dad had been cheating on my mom for a while. She never told me how long, but any amount of time is long enough I suppose. Anyway, he ended up divorcing my mom. It was a very hard time for her…well, for us both.”
“I’m sure it was,” Brian agreed.
“To see her hurt so badly, I made a pact with myself to stay away from men.”
“At ten?” Brian snickered.
“Yeah, but it didn’t last long,” Jill admitted.
She then moved on in her timeline, “I think I was about fifteen years old when I met Mark.”
“So who’s this Mark guy?” Brian asked curiously.
“He started off as the twin brother of one of my friends so we hung out on occasion. Then when we were juniors in high school he asked me out. I did have a crush on him so of course I said yes. We just really hit it off. The relationship kept growing and the pact I made at ten was long gone. Memories of how bad falling out of love can feel, completely forgotten.”
As Jill continued her story, Brian could tell that the further along she went, the harder it became to tell.
“When we graduated high school, he was accepted into a college closer to this side of the state and would be moving. He didn’t want to live without me, and begged for me to come with him. I remember him showing me how good the nursing program was and how affordable living could be. At first I didn’t want to go because that meant I’d be far away from my parents and in a place I knew absolutely no one.”
“Let me guess, you went anyway?” Brian gathered.
“I did. He proposed to me in such a beautiful, romantic way. I couldn’t say no!”
Jill turned to Brian and added, “I really thought that what we had was different than my parents. We were so close and being with him felt right. Knowing he wanted me to marry him made having to move easier.”
Brian gave a look of understanding and allowed Jill to keep sharing.
Looking back out in space, Jill said, “We decided to get married once we graduated, and four years later, having graduated and both landing excellent jobs, we tied the knot. We bought our first house together and things were going so well.”
Jill took a deep sigh as she relived her haunting past. “But then I don’t know. After a couple of years we started to drift. We were both working a lot so maybe that had something to do with it, but I’m not sure.”
She brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and Brian noticed the pain in her eyes.
“One day I decided to come home early and surprise him, you know, to maybe spice things up a little bit. Pulling into the driveway I noticed my college roommate’s car was there. I never thought twice about it because she had stopped by a few times before, being a mutual friend and everything.”
Jill’s voice trembled as she came to the pinnacle of her story. “Then when I walked into our bedroom to change out of my scrubs, there they were.”
Brian saw a few tears drop from Jill’s watery eyes, as she delved into the details.
“They were in our bed of all places, his hands all over her body the way they used to be all over me.”
Turning to Brian she asked, “And do you know what the worst part is?”
&nb
sp; Not knowing what could be worse than a spouse cheating on you right in your own marriage bed, he asked, “What?”
Jill wept, “He wasn’t even sorry. He yelled at me to get out because he was busy.”
Brian didn’t know Mark from the next guy, but he hated him. He hated him for what he did, but more than that, he hated the fact he did it to Jill.
“Even after they were through and she left, he never once apologized or gave an excuse. He acted like nothing wrong ever happened.”
Jill sniffled and wiped her eyes, again looking away from Brian. “I tried talking to him about it, but he wouldn’t let me. And a few weeks later he said I needed to move out, that he wanted a divorce.”
“Why did you have to be the one to leave?” Brian wondered angrily. “The way I see it, he wanted to leave you so he should have packed up his bags and left.”
“Because everything was in his name. The house was in his name only. Our bank accounts were in his name, except for one smaller checking account. I legally had no right to anything I once called ours.”
Explaining her misfortune, she informed Brian that she had been so blinded by love that he convinced her that everything being in his name was no big deal. “I seriously thought what we had would last forever. How could I have been so stupid?”
“Jill, you’re not stupid. What happened had nothing to do with you, but had everything to do with that sorry excuse for a man who tricked and used you for his own gain,” Brian blatantly said.
“All I was left with was my personal belongings, one older vehicle, my job,” she began. Then looking up into Brian’s eyes she finished, “And your mom.”
Brian’s lips grew wide in a grin, contemplating how admirable his mom was.
“Your mom was my lifesaver. She helped me get the place next door and get my feet back on the ground. I just can’t thank her enough for not only providing for me, but being there for me emotionally as well. The two of us have had many talks the last couple of years, and I can seriously say she is the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Brian pulled Jill in for a hug. He held her tight enough to show he cared, that he hated the pain Jill faced. “I’m so sorry, Jill, that you had to go through that. Mark is such a jerk for doing what he did to you. No one, especially you, deserves to be cheated on.”
Next Door Neighbors Page 12
