Along for the Ride

by Mimi Grace

  Jason also thought she looked great but kept that to himself.

  “Tonight, you’re going to eat some Tongan food. I hope you’re hungry,” his mom said.

  “This is lu pulu,” his mother said, pointing to the dish that had meat, onions, and coconut milk baked in taro leaves.

  Jolene leaned in, her eyes wide. “It smells wonderful.” She ate with an appetite that spoke to some level of comfort in her environment. It was mesmerizing to watch.

  “Jason will have to teach you how to prepare it one of these days. He’s a very good cook,” his mom said, pride shining through her words.

  Jason liked the idea of cooking for Jolene, especially the food he grew up on. The food that he’d hated taking to school in lieu of the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches the rest of his classmates brought.

  When Jolene went in for a second helping, his mom asked, “Do you enjoy cooking?”

  “Not particularly, but I have to survive somehow,” Jolene said drily.

  “Yeah, pop and potato chips don’t cut it,” Jason said.

  She turned to him and laughed, throwing her head back. His aunt and mom looked a little confused but didn’t ask for any clarification or an explanation. Maybe Jolene’s laugh captivated them as much it did him. He shoveled the rest of the food into his mouth, not really tasting much.

  “Funny girl,” his aunt said as they all cleared the table and packed the leftover food.

  He and Jolene moved to the living room together as his aunt and mom rummaged for board games in his childhood bedroom turned storage room.

  “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” Jason said.

  “I can stay for another hour or so,” she replied.

  Jason relaxed at her words. He reasoned that he wanted to put off the inevitable questions that would be coming his way once she left.

  She took a turn around the living room, stopping in front of prayer candles and picture frames that decorated the mantel and the walls. He sat in a settee facing the fireplace, pretending not to watch her as he scrolled through his email inbox.

  “You were a cute kid. You look pissed in each photo I’ve seen of you, though,” she said.

  He laughed. “I was a serious child.”

  She smiled at him over her shoulder. “I can imagine you keeping a strict inventory of your toys or something equally as adorable.”

  “Nah, mostly I just made my friend remove his shoes before he came into my bedroom. Maybe that’s why I only had the one friend.” He’d been a loner in his early school years. It wasn’t until he grew tall, filled out, and played football in high school that he made friends.

  “One is enough, but I bet you had an itinerary for what you would accomplish during play dates.”

  “My lists are epic; it’s not my problem you can’t see that.”

  She shook her head and continued perusing. “Who’s this?” she asked, standing in front of a picture at eye level between the TV set and fireplace. He knew immediately which photo she studied.

  “My dad.”

  She turned to him. “You look like him.”

  He clenched his jaw at the sudden wave of emotions. “I’m glad for that.”

  “Do you get to see him often?”

  “He died when I was ten.”

  “God. I’m so sorry.” She fidgeted with her hands. “I should’ve remembered. Nicky told me a while back.”

  “It’s all right. We haven’t liked each other for very long. I won’t hold it against you.”

  She winced at his attempts to alleviate the tension.

  “He was a great father. I still have good memories.” He had an urge to tell her all about said memories, but his mom and aunt returned with Scrabble, and that meant conversations about his dad were over.

  “‘QIS’ is so not a word,” Jolene said, throwing up her hands.

  They’d played for close to an hour and the intensity of the game highlighted the competitiveness that emerged when she dealt with Jason. He placed his phone up into her face, and she read the legitimate definition of a very real word she’d never seen before. She leaned backwards onto her hands and gave him a resigned look.

  A smug smile appeared on his face.

  “Ms. Elizabeth, it’s your turn,” Jolene said.

  “I only have three tiles left,” the older woman said as she studied the hectic board for several minutes.

  “Oh, come on, Elizabeth,” Ms. Nadine urged. She waved her arms in a shoo motion toward her sister.

  Ms. Elizabeth eventually placed a blank tile she’d hoarded for the entire game to the end of a word. “I want that to be an S,” she said.

  “Okay, now we can total up our points,” Ms. Nadine proclaimed.

  It turned out that Jason won by half a dozen points with Ms. Elizabeth right behind him, followed by Jolene.

  Jolene smiled at Ms. Nadine. “I guess we’ll need to brush up on obscure words.” Jolene fought the need to say something petty in regard to Jason’s win by being aggressively good-natured. Jason raised his eyebrows as if he knew she fought an internal battle. His family seemed to like her, and she thought poor sportsmanship wouldn’t win her any points. Not that she tried to impress Ms. Nadine or Ms. Elizabeth beyond any normal expectations of respect.

  “I should go,” Jolene said, looking at the time on her phone. “Thank you so much for a fantastic meal and an overall great night.”

  The two women hugged her and told her she should come back soon, and Ms. Elizabeth promised she would bring her husband and kids for her to meet. Ms. Elizabeth insisted she take a Tupperware of food home.

  “Remember to listen to our podcast, and if you’re on Facebook, share.”

  Jason walked her to the door. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “Your aunt and mom are the sweetest. But that game of Scrabble has me thinking I was right for believing you’re arrogant,” Jolene said.

  “You’re also very competitive.”

  She shrugged. “You’re looking at the three-time spelling bee champion of Wind Pine Elementary School. Spelling is in my blood.”

  “Holding onto decades-old wins, huh?”

  “Hell yes.”

  The words they might have said after that didn’t come. He drew closer, and she could feel his body heat. Her heart rate kicked up a bit, and she could only focus on how much she wanted Jason to kiss her and have those strong arms wrapped around her once again. How could one experience muddle her expectations so much? She wasn’t a woman who mooned over men. But she’d been daydreaming about him and his kisses for weeks, to the point where she wasn’t sure if she’d overhyped the experience in her mind and misremembered the details.

  Then Jason’s lips were on hers, and his mouth teased with a level of tenderness that made her feel heated. The kiss was more than what she’d imagined or remembered. She clutched the Tupperware harder in her hands, unwilling to spill its contents right outside the door of Ms. Nadine’s home. But in the process of holding the container so tightly, she triggered her car’s alarm. The blaring, obnoxious sound brought their kiss to an abrupt end. She fumbled with her car keys that had been wedged between her hand and the container to turn it off. She also tried to get her need under control.

  “I should let you go,” he said, his voice gruff and barely audible. “Text me when you arrive home safely.”

  “Okay. Will do.”

  “Good night.”

  “Thanks again.”

  She gave him a nod, he waved, and she drove away with a smile that she only noticed when it grew into a grin.

  Chapter 14

  On a good day, Jason had ten minutes to scarf down his lunch before his next patient. Today was no different. He took big bites of an apple as he entered the staff room. He stopped momentarily at a notice board to study the new additions of hand-drawn pictures from their young patients.

  “I don’t know why we bother. He’s not going to come,” one of the three dentists who worked at the clinic, Cynthia, said. />
  “That’s a good thing,” a dental hygienist he often worked with, Marvin, replied. Jason kind of wanted to know whom they talked about, but he generally avoided gossip; still, naturally he was curious. To eliminate any possibility of finding out and inadvertently becoming a part of work drama, he prepared to take another bite into his apple to let the room’s occupants know that someone else could hear their conversation.

  But before he did so, his colleague spoke. “My eyes glaze whenever he attempts small talk.”

  The other laughed. “Poor Akana.”

  Well, shit.

  Jason didn’t think he was the most exciting person but “glazed eyes”? Not wanting to hear any more insights into his personality, Jason shifted past the wall that hid him from view. Cynthia and Marvin both abruptly changed subjects, unsure whether they’d been heard. Jason smiled at both of them and acted as if he hadn’t been eavesdropping.

  After work, Marvin approached him. “Hey, Akana, a few of us are getting some drinks if you want to come.”

  Jason suspected this was Marvin’s way of apologizing if Jason had indeed overheard his gossiping during lunchtime.

  “No, I’m okay. Have fun.”

  Marvin looked relieved, and whether it was because Jason wouldn’t be joining them or because he detected no animosity on Jason’s part, he didn’t know. But what Jason did know, was that when he walked to his car and passed his coworkers huddled in a group in front of the clinic as they coordinated their after-work plans, a wave of self-consciousness washed over him for the first time.

  He made it through a workout and arrived home, at least knowing that he’d had a productive day. At the front of his apartment building, he met the elderly Ukrainian couple that lived in the building. Whenever they happened to come across one another in the hallways or in the parking lot, Mrs. Bayuk wouldn’t fail to mention her granddaughter. Her intentions were clear to anyone within earshot. But if he wasn’t even receptive to his own mother’s matchmaking attempts, there was no way that he’d potentially wreck a decent neighborly relationship by dating the Bayuk’s granddaughter.

  “Jason, good evening,” Mrs. Bayuk said as she smiled, causing the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth to deepen. Her thick accent made her Ukrainian heritage undeniable.

  “Mrs. Bayuk”—he turned to the older man—“Mr. Bayuk.”

  The older couple complemented each other in appearance. They wore similar colors and stood at similar heights. They looked comfortable next to one another like salt-and-pepper shakers. Jason held the door open for them.

  “You are always sweating,” Mrs. Bayuk said. She looked him up and down. “It is good. Keeps you big and strong.”

  He gave her a small smile for the compliment. He ushered them into the elevator and pressed their floor number then his.

  “My granddaughter, Bailey, if you recall, likes sports. Tennis and swimming.”

  He always humored the older woman by listening to her brag about her granddaughter while Mr. Bayuk would stand beside her holding her hand. He didn’t look bored or impatient, just resigned to his wife’s familiar commentary.

  Jason usually dodged any suggestions that he go out with Bailey by claiming busyness at work, but he would placate the older woman by complimenting her jewelry or nail polish. “That’s a pretty necklace, Mrs. Bayuk.”

  The woman blushed and pressed her palm to her chest where the necklace laid, her scheme forgotten. The elevator opened to the older couple’s floor, and he waved them goodbye. Jason exited the elevator on his own floor, and it struck him before he could make it to his apartment door that for the second time that day, he’d dodged a potential social outing. It wouldn’t have bothered him if he hadn’t overheard the comment about him being boring. He tried to recall the last time he’d left his bubble.

  The road trip with Jolene.

  He frowned.

  Upon entering his apartment, he placed his keys in the delegated bowl in the small entryway, removed his sneakers, and headed to the shower. He closed his eyes as the cold water ran down the expanse of his body.

  It would be nice if Jolene were here.

  His eyes shot open. Jolene had been occupying some of his headspace. Thoughts would cross his mind throughout the day. Most were innocent in nature, but the ones he had in the shower and in bed had him reaching for his cock. And if his day had gone a little differently maybe he would’ve jerked off and called it a night, but today highlighted that he was a total square.

  It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but he was stagnant for the first time in his life. There wasn’t a goal he was grinding or hustling to achieve, and it bothered him. What made his mild listlessness even worse was the blank he drew every time he tried to come up with something to fix it. He needed to reenergize his life. Do something different and out of his comfort zone. Maybe then he’d discover the next goal to strive for or at least find out how to enjoy what he’d already accomplished.

  Before he could reason with himself, he got out of the shower, not caring that water dripped all over the carpet. He retrieved his cell phone and pulled up Jolene’s contact.

  Jason: Hey, Jolene. It’s Jason.

  Jolene: Hi (you do know I have your name programmed into my phone, right?)

  He hesitated. This could be a horrible misstep.

  Jason: Do you want to grab coffee sometime this week?

  It took her seven minutes to respond, but the answer made the wait worth it.

  Jolene: Yes.

  He spotted Jolene immediately when he entered the café that sized their drinks in a different language. A young woman with locs took his order, and he made his way to where Jolene sat once he got his drink. They’d planned to meet after work, so Jolene wore a shift dress with a blazer over it. He’d never seen her in work attire, and he liked how she looked in it.

  “Hi,” Jolene said as she shoved the chair across from her with her foot. “How are you?”

  “Good. How’s your week going?”

  “Honestly? Busy, and I’m ready to rip my hair out.”

  He quirked his eyebrow and laughed. He’d practiced what he needed to say. All the points he had planned were compelling, and there was a good chance she would be down for it. But there also was a small possibility that she might be offended. They took sips of their drinks and commented on the unusual stretch of sunny weather.

  “Okay, not for nothing, but why are we here?” Jolene finally asked.

  “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

  “We are?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Well, when you answer like that, you can’t blame a girl for questioning.”

  He smiled. “I’m tired of pretending I don’t actually enjoy your company.”

  She narrowed her eyes “Okay, I can also admit you’re mildly amusing.”

  He’d take it. Jason pulled out his phone. “I also can’t really pretend that we don’t have chemistry. So I have a proposition—”

  “Oh my God, you’re going to ask me to be your fuck buddy.” She leaned into the table almost tipping over her coffee mug.

  Embarrassed that his intentions were that obvious, Jason looked around uncomfortably. “That’s part of it. But I was going to put it more tastefully.”

  She raised her hands in surrender “Okay, friends-with-benefits.”

  He scrunched his face. “I don’t like that term either.”

  She smiled. “I guess it doesn’t matter what you want to call it. It ends up meaning the same thing.”

  He lowered his voice a touch. “I just thought that there isn’t any real reason why we shouldn’t explore what we started in Gregory Lake.”

  She studied him for a moment. He shifted in his seat, trying to determine if his proposition offended her. He didn’t want her to think that he thought of her as a sex object to simply satisfy his need. Instead, with Jolene, he saw the potential to have a fun, sexy, but casual arrangement that both of them would enjoy.

  “Well, since we’re not prete
nding anymore, I won’t pretend to think about it, and just say yes now,” she said.

  He heard the words, but they didn’t completely register.

  “I said, I’m down to do the whole, you scratch my itch and I scratch yours, but I’m not looking for anything permanent or even long-term,” she said.

  He nodded emphatically. “No feelings. Check. And sleeping with each other exclusively, right?”

  “Correct.”

  “Okay.”

  He let out a visible sigh of relief and placed his phone back into his pocket.

  “You had a list of pros and cons prepared, didn’t you?”

  How did she know him so well?

  “No.”

  “So much for not pretending.”

  “Fine. I may have had an entire speech prepared, but you kind of hijacked it.”

  “Please, it would have taken away any fun from something that’s all about having fun.”

  “So, we have a deal?”

  She nodded. “You can even add to your pro side that this arrangement might make this human form you see in front of you, running solely on coffee and sheer spite, less grumpy.”

  They continued to talk. She went into more detail about her chaotic day, and he told her about the new plants he bought for his place. It was light and buoyant, and there was no further discussion of the logistics of their arrangement, but he was relieved that it was out in the open and that he was going to get Jolene in his bed, and possibly against a wall. And he definitely wanted her in front of a full-length mirror. The possibilities made his pants feel tight.

  “Jolene,” a woman called across the coffee shop.

  “Oh, Yvonne.”

  A tall woman with light brown skin approached their table. She had a silky ponytail that reached her mid-back. And wore an all red pantsuit. She stood in front of him with her hands in her pockets, assessing Jason behind her glasses.

  “Jason, this is my coworker and best friend, Yvonne. Yvonne, this is Jason.”

  He stood to shake her hand.