The seating arrangement on the train was something Nathan had thought about since their date was confirmed. A trip to New York City provided more cover than the suburbs could offer, but it was hardly what either of them could call discrete. He didn’t want to sit separated from her but he was worried that she might suggest that. While Central Park would not have many people who knew either Jackie or Nathan, the train was not exactly safe.
Nathan decided not to bring it up. She could take point on their safety if she really wanted to. He entered the train first and picked a seat hoping that she would join him. She did. His reservations were unfounded.
Jackie kicked off the conversation. “I’m really excited for this, Nathan. I haven’t seen Shakespeare performed since college. I looked up the basics for As You Like It, and it seems like a perfect fit for a nice outdoor summer performance.”
Nathan allowed himself to bask in the fact that Jackie was sitting with him in public before responding. “That’s cool. I really like As You Like It. Was your school big into theater?” he asked. This question would have been previously banned under his rules that barred conversation topics that pointed out the age discrepancy, but he felt less of a need to strictly adhere to the rules.
Jackie looked uncharacteristically troubled by his question, which was explained when she said, “I guess so. I went to ASU, but I didn’t finish. I moved with Steve to Florida a semester before finishing. If he didn’t make it to the majors, I would have gone back, but the signing bonus was good enough for me to take a break and see where things went.” Nathan smiled at Jackie’s use of what had become his catchphrase for their relationship.
This reply gave Nathan a nice prime example of why he made those rules in the first place. Rather than comment on this sad tidbit of information, he changed the subject. “So, I think we should get something to eat after the show. We probably won’t have time before it, unless you’re really hungry.”
“Oh, that’s all right. I’m not too hungry,” she replied.
Girls Nathan’s age were often odd about food, but he liked to think that she was just going along with the flow.
She returned to the college topic and asked him, “Have you thought about colleges yet?” This was a popular question adults often asked him, but he had not really expected it from her on their date.
“Not yet. I guess I want to look around. My father went to Wesleyan, but I don’t know if I want to go to school so close to home. I don’t really have anything here holding me back from branching out a bit.”
As the words rolled off his tongue, Nathan realized that his statement made sense for two reasons. He didn’t have any immediate family to fret over missing, and Griffin would be going to college as well. He’d miss Mrs. Buchanan the most, but that was about it.
But this also opened a door of intrigue for Jackie, who was also in a state of flux for her future if she was in fact going to leave Steve. She had her kids, but they’d likely know what it was like to move around from their father’s baseball days and their summers across the country. Moving would be no struggle for them.
This wasn’t a, “Let’s run away together,” but a small olive branch showing he could sympathize with the position she was about to find herself in. She seemed to appreciate it.
“That’s good,” she said. “Just follow where your heart wants you to go, and you’ll be fine.”
Jackie’s point did appear to hit on their long-term chances, but Nathan tried not to overanalyze once again. Going with the flow was solid advice, but hard to put into practice with so many taboo topics surrounding them. Though this did cause him to remember something about Jackie that he’d tried to forget.
As much as he wanted to forget, he was Jackie’s rebound from Steve. Not an enviable position for most. While this had likely played a role in her attraction to him as a viable candidate, it was a fine representation of the impermanence of what they had. Even putting that aside, Nathan needed to remember that Jackie was a woman presumably in pain who was seeing the break-up of her family. Long term worries were rather selfish of him.
“Are you a big Shakespeare fan?” she asked, seeming eager to end the tiny breaks of silence.
“Not as big of a fan as I’d like to be. I’ve read the big ones, and I read As You Like It over the weekend, but I’m more drawn to the idea of how powerful his work is, to be honest. Think about the effect that one man had on literature, which over the course of history has rolled over to all the other forms of entertainment. Here’s a guy who’s still widely read centuries after he’s died. There’s something magical in that.” He wondered what Mrs. Buchanan would think of that little philosophical rant.
Jackie stroked her hair, and replied, “Oh, wow, I’ve never thought about it like that. I do suppose you’re right. Entertainment does owe a lot to that one man. He’s like the Jesus of stories.”
Nathan started to laugh. “Well, that’s one way to put it. I’d never thought of him like that either.”
At another break in conversation where Jackie didn’t try to fill the void with idle chitchat, Nathan stopped to think about how easy it was to talk to her once the conversation got going. Between her enthusiastic responses and her smiles that came so often when he spoke to her, she did just about everything in her power to make him enjoy her company.
They reached Grand Central and Nathan directed them to the subway to get to Central Park. He had printed out directions which were in his wallet and had them saved in his phone just in case something went wrong, but he knew where he was going. Nathan liked to have all his bases covered.
The weather was certainly on their side as they emerged from the subway station. The sun was shining, but there was no bright glare that would require sunglasses. At great risk to his psyche, he’d left them at home. He thought he might bring them the next time they went to the city if he felt comfortable asking Jackie to keep the case in her purse.
Nathan collected the tickets in roll call. Benjamin Robinson had pulled through with the seats. They were in the fourth row of the legendary outdoor theatre. He saw what looked like at least four hundred people waiting in line for tickets, and grew extra thankful that he didn’t have to wait in that line. It would never have worked out if he had to wait for hours in uncertainty and he probably would have gone insane at the same time. Ben Robinson would be getting a nice thank you note from him.
“Nathan, these seats are wonderful,” Jackie said. “How did you get such nice seats?”
Nathan smiled. ”I know a guy on the board, and he was more than happy to help a friend out.” He neglected to admit the man was a friend of his father’s. He wondered if Steve knew anyone on the board.
The play spoke to Nathan on a few levels. Many discredited As You Like It as a fluff piece, but it was far more relevant to his life at its current juncture in time than any other play by the master playwright. Except for Othello. He and Griffin liked to accuse each other of being Iago when they got into disagreements regarding loyalty.
Nathan could see the appeal of wandering off to go live in the forest as an exile, preferably with Jackie, Mrs. Buchanan, Griffin, and the McCarthy children as company. He could escape the societal objections to his courtship of Jackie for a life of love and solitude. Griffin was only to be brought along to carry Mrs. Buchanan’s chair, which he knew she wouldn’t leave behind. That sort of life was very appealing to him.
Jackie held his hand about halfway through the show and whispered in his ear, “I’m really glad you planned this, Nathan.” He blushed, though he opted not to respond for fear of disturbing the other distinguished patrons in the front rows of the performance.
The show was a perfect summer date. Nathan wondered how many girls his own age could appreciate the beauty of the arts in conjunction with the performance of a play that was four hundred years old, in the most famous park in America. A bottle of wine might’ve made the event a little more perfect, but that was about the only thing.
Nathan had prepared a l
ist of viable restaurants for both the Central Park area as well as Grand Central depending on what Jackie was up for. He reminded himself to include her opinion as well. As the show ended and they exited the wonderful outdoor theater, she turned on her phone and saw a bunch of missed calls.
“Oh, Nathan, Zhanna called a few times. Let me call her back and make sure everything’s all right,” she said while she dialed the phone. After a great performance and some handholding, the pendulum had swung out of their favor. Nathan didn’t focus on that. Instead, he worried for the kids.
Jackie returned from her conversation and said, “Randall’s got a fever and April apparently has a stomachache. She said they were manageable but she just wanted to let me know. What do you want to do? I don’t want to spoil the night.”
Nathan was a bit puzzled that the next logical sentence wasn’t involving her leaving to go home. Then again, he was no parent and there was little she could actually do for a fever. A woman who couldn’t cook was not likely to have a bunch of herbal home remedies up her sleeve either.
“We should probably head back,” he said. He wanted to stay out, but that was not the right thing to do. Regardless of the severity of Randall’s fever or April’s unhappiness, it was not a good idea to deprive unhappy children of their mother, who probably should have made that decision already. Should Jackie ever revisit the situation, he could catch a lot of heat for suggesting anything other than what was responsible.
She looked a little upset by his suggestion. He wasn’t supposed to be the responsible one. “Aw, Nathan, tonight was going so well. I’m so sorry. I’ll buy us hot dogs on the way back.”
“That sounds great,” he replied. It didn’t really sound all that great, but that wasn’t what mattered.
They returned to Grand Central and boarded a train. It was nine o’clock. It was late enough to say that the night hadn’t been completely ruined by the ailments of the McCarthy children. They munched on hot dogs and drank Dr. Pepper while sitting on the train and waiting to depart.
The thing that made Nathan feel pleased, despite the unfortunate turn of events, was that he was happy. He’d succeeded on his end in supplying a good time and showed the maturity to end the night when outside circumstances decided it was over. It wasn’t ideal, but it was okay.
The pendulum thought otherwise as it decided to take a swing for the worse as an unfortunate passenger made her way into their train car.
“Nathan. Jacqueline. What a pleasant surprise,” said a nosy voice that belonged to Corrine Kalford. “What brings the two of you here on such a pleasant evening?”
If there was one person he could hope would never see them out and about together, it was Mrs. Kalford. She had already gossiped to the Rousseaus, and could just as easily tell his aunt about tonight. Nathan didn’t think that Jackie knew how horrible she was, so he took it upon himself to handle the situation.
“Oh, hello, Mrs. Kalford. I was at the New York Public Library and ran into Mrs. McCarthy on my way back,” he said. He took a bite of his hot dog to calm his nerves.
“Interesting. Well, you do like libraries more than the average teenager,” she replied with a sly grin. Nathan had no idea why this woman knew that he was a frequenter of the library. “And how about you, Jacqueline?” she asked.
Jackie looked a bit nervous as she caught on to the vile nature of the woman in front of them. “Shopping,” she replied. This was not a great answer. She had no bags.
Mrs. Kalford picked up on this and continued her Spanish inquisition, all while continuing to stand on the moving train. “I see. Nothing met your fancy, I take it?” she said in a tone that reeked of suspicion.
Jackie displayed a look of bewilderment at the fact that this woman was interrogating her. “No, not really. No point in buying something just for the sake of buying it, if you get what I mean.”
Mrs. Kalford continued to look for things that were out of the ordinary as Nathan realized that he needed to do something in order to get her to ease up. Separating her from Jackie was the only way out of the mess. He pulled out his phone to pretend to answer it.
“Hey, Griffin,” he said. “What’s up? I’m on the train headed back, and I’ll be home in about half an hour. Tell me about your day.” He spoke in a loud and obnoxious voice that put a barrier between the two women.
A few people gave him unfavorable glances, but this was enough of a societal cue to disinterest Mrs. Kalford and cause her to depart to another train car. Jackie gave him a fist bump after the nosy woman had gone away.
Though Jackie appeared to understand what his ploy had been, he felt a need to explain. “That woman is the biggest gossip at Seers Point and probably the whole town. It is best that she know as little as possible.”
“Oh, that woman was horrible,” Jackie affirmed. “She was looking at me like I was lying to her. Who does she think she is?”
“She has too much time on her hands, that’s for sure. Better still, she’ll be getting off at the same stop as us, so let’s not do anything she might use as gossip when we get off the train. She does live across the street from you,” Nathan added, who again didn’t like that he had to be the responsible one in this situation.
Jackie nodded in approval. This incident had been unfortunate, but it could’ve been a lot worse. Adversity in public was something that was to be expected, although not necessarily from a gossip juggernaut like Corrine Kalford. The two had handled this well.
They gave each other a hug before getting off the train. He was surprised that she’d give him a PDA after what had happened. Nathan felt a little sad that he wouldn’t be able to walk her to her car, but Mrs. Kalford would be on the prowl once again when they were in sight. They gave each other nothing more than a wave upon departing the train.
The night had been a success in Nathan’s mind, even with the Kalford encounter. He had seen outdoor theater with a woman he cared about, and managed to roll with the hurdles thrown his way. He thought Mrs. Buchanan would be proud of the way he’d handled the situations if she knew about his night.
Nathan returned home a little before ten. He found his aunt waiting for him in the living room. This came as a shock to him, as he’d been expecting Martin to be there watching Cheers reruns on Netflix. She did not look amused.
“Hi, Aunt Cassidy,” he said as he walked in.
She rose from the couch but didn’t move, which made Nathan uneasy. “Hello, Nathan, how was Griffin’s?”
He could sense she knew something was up, but there wasn’t much he could do about it so he decided to stick with the lie. “It was fun, but not too eventful, so I came home. I think I will get up early and swim tomorrow,” he said while trying to brace himself.
Aunt Cassidy let her head drop in disapproval. “It’s funny you should say that. We saw Griffin and his mothers at the club tonight having dinner. We didn’t see you there.”
He had figured this was coming from the moment she’d stood up. Part of him failed to understand why he hadn’t just switched his story, knowing what was going to come anyway, but that time had passed. He was not completely sunk as she didn’t know where he’d really been.
“Yeah, about that,” he said, preparing to use the same lie he had told Mrs. Kalford. Her gossip could work to his benefit if she corroborated the story he was going to tell his aunt.
He didn’t get to explain just yet. “Nathan, why would you lie about where you’d been? Do you realize how worried I was? Where were you?” she asked, displaying a mixture of anger and disappointment.
He needed a little more than what he’d told Mrs. Kalford to get him out of this mess. “I was in the city. I wanted some alone time so I went off and wandered around.” He tried to look as sincere as possible, though the guilt of lying like this actually aided his cause.
He’d given his aunt a story she could understand. “If you were going into the city, why didn’t you just say so? I don’t really understand why that’s something to lie about.” The anger had swi
tched to confusion, though sadness remained.
He decided to play the ace he had in the back of his pocket. It wasn’t the soundest decision, but he knew it’d get his aunt off his case. He took and deep breath. “I don’t know, I guess I sometimes feel like you think I’m weird because of the things I do. Telling you I was with my friends was a lot easier than saying I was going to go exploring in the city by myself. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied.”
His stomach felt a little queasy as this explanation was a mean, low blow. He also struggled with the fact that it wasn’t entirely a lie, but he was manipulating the situation to his advantage so that it felt like a lie. He did often grow annoyed with his aunt’s odd concern for his activities, but it felt wrong to use that against her to get out of trouble.
“Oh, Nathan, I don’t want you to feel like that,” she said, teary-eyed. He looked away to avoid feeling any guiltier. “I just worry about you, you know. You had a rough childhood and your father is out of the country. I want you to have a normal life, that’s all. I don’t mean to make you feel like you’re weird or anything, honey.”
Nathan found himself with an opportunity to do some damage control. He was in the clear for his whereabouts and he needed to make his aunt realize that nothing was her fault. “Don’t be sorry. I just need my space sometimes. It’s good to just disappear for a bit and not worry about the outside world. I am really grateful for what you and Uncle Martin have done for me over the past year. You guys have been great.”
His aunt gave him a hug and wished him goodnight. He felt better after he’d contained the situation, but he still felt terrible that he had stooped to that kind of level to avoid trouble. He took a seat on the couch to think about what he’d done.
The damage he’d just caused made him reconsider what he was willing to do to continue seeing Jackie. He could care less about lying to Mrs. Kalford, or other interested parties who chose to prod around in his business. His family, Griffin for a time, and Mrs. Buchanan were all different stories. His aunt bugged him a lot, but he didn’t want to make her cry.
Courting Mrs. McCarthy Page 13
