Jackpot! (26 page)

Chapter 28

There was no conversation, no small talk. In fact, there wasn’t even a hello. When I answered my door at about 8:05, wearing my new silk nightgown, there stood Drew with his beautiful green eyes and his kind smile. Without so much as one word exchanged, he took me in his arms and began to kiss me.

We kissed and kissed and made our way into my bedroom, where we did a lot more than kiss. The nightgown was off in literally three minutes, and as far as Drew’s clothes, within six seconds, they were on the floor, spread out like a path of bread crumbs leading to my bed.

We made love for a long time, and he whispered how much he’d missed me, and how beautiful I was, and how lucky he felt that we were together. And though I felt all those things, no words came out of my mouth. The feel of his body was taking my breath away, but that wasn’t the reason I didn’t say anything. At this moment, I felt as if I was in a dream, and I never wanted it to end. I wanted to feel him and touch him and hear him breathe and look in his eyes, and there wasn’t one word I could say that wouldn’t take away from the overwhelming sense of passion I was feeling at this very moment.

“Are you okay?” Drew asked me.

“Yeah, why?” I whispered.

“Because you’re crying,” he said, wiping tears from my eyes.

“No, I’m not.”

He gave me a gentle smile. “Yes, you are. Tell me why.”

I looked into his eyes so directly that I almost felt like I was trying to look into his soul. And then I whispered, “I love you,” and I realized that for the first time in my life, I actually meant it.

Drew gave me a smile like the one you get from your best friend and said, “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”

“You heard me,” I giggled through tears.

“No, I didn’t.”

“I love you,” I said a bit louder.

“Huh?” he joked, “Speak up!”

“I love you,” I shouted with a laugh.

In an instant, he grabbed me and gave me a huge bear hug. “I love you, too,” he said, “But you already knew that.”

A little while later, we decided to make our way into the kitchen and eat.

“So I want to hear about your trip,” I said, standing over the stove, cooking scrambled eggs and cheese, and now wearing Drew’s t-shirt and a pair of sweats.

“My trip was great. We did a lot. We played tennis and golf, and we swam and went out for nice dinners…it was nice.”

“And what about your dad? Did you guys talk?”

“Yeah. He apologized for what happened and so did Monica. I have to admit, it’s really weird, but we all need to get over it if we want to start acting like a family again.”

“I think it’s great. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. I just want my dad to be happy. He’s almost seventy, and he likes her. He loves her, I guess. And she seems like she’s nice to him. She’ll never take my mother’s place, but as long as my dad’s happy, that’s the most important thing.”

I stirred the eggs and then left them for a moment to fetch some orange juice from the fridge. “You know what I love about you?”

“Wow…” he joked, “Now you’re throwing out the L word like nothing! It’s so good to see!”

“Shut up,” I giggled.

“Sorry. What do you love about me?”

“You always see the good in people. In everything, come to think of it. How do you do it?”

“Well,” he said, taking the juice carton from me and pouring some juice into two glasses, “Take you, for example.”

I grinned.

“You were a total bitch to me for what? Two, three years?”

“That’s not true!”

Now he took my hands. “I know people, and I know what’s inside of you.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I know you, Jamie. I see you. I saw how you suffered, and how you gave up on men. And I understand that. You were trying to be tough. You tried to play the game. But I saw through it.”

“Wait a minute…”

He continued, “Jamie, I’m glad I saw through it. I feel lucky that I saw through it.”

Tears welled in my eyes and Drew gently kissed my lips.

“I want you,” he said softly, “Not just in bed. I want
you.
All of you.”

“I hope so,” I said softly.

“I’m here. Not just for a few days or a few months. I’m here for you long term. Do you understand that?”

I sat there nodding my head slowly, believing perhaps for the first time that true love really did exist. And then I put my arms around him and I hugged him for a long time, wondering how the hell I was going to tell him the truth about how our whole relationship began. I knew now that I had to be honest with him. If I loved him, he deserved to know. That being said, the thought of losing him over it was almost unbearable.

“I love you,” I whispered again, “I love you.”

We stood in my kitchen embraced in a hug, and it felt so good, like I belonged in his safe, strong arms. We stayed like that for a long, long time. Actually, until the smoke alarm went off. The eggs were burned.

Chapter 29

When I first noticed Angela Walker’s pregnant tummy, I was in the middle of having a discussion with my students about the German occupation in France in 1941. I was trying to convince a couple of them that the movie,
Inglorious Bastards
was in fact, a work of fiction, when the reality of seeing Angela’s bulging stomach set in, depressing me beyond belief, not because I didn’t want her to have the kid, but because this extremely intelligent, gifted and promising student was giving up her education.

So, when the bell rang and all my students dashed out of their seats and toward the door, I decided I wasn’t giving up on her. “Angela…” I called to her as she passed my desk.

She stopped and turned to me, “Yes?”

“Can I talk to you?”

“Okay…” she said, seeming apprehensive, I think because she knew how I felt about her decision and didn’t want any more confrontation regarding the subject.

“Can you stick around for a minute?”

“Um…I’m meeting my girlfriends out front.”

“It’ll only take a minute.”

“Sure.”

I waited until all the students were out of the room before I began. “Angela, I just want to appeal to you one more time. Think about what you’re doing. You’re seventeen years old. You have your whole life ahead of you…”

“Mr. J., I appreciate what you’re saying,” she said with a sad smile, “but my mind’s made up. My parents think this is the best thing for me, and Terrence is even okay with it now.” With fake enthusiasm, she added, “I think we’re going to get married.”

Now, I seriously felt like puking. This beautiful, smart woman was going to throw her life away! I had to do something. “Listen, this is YOUR life, not mine. And maybe I have no right to get involved like this, but I can’t help it.”

Now Angela’s eyes filled with tears. “I really do appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you don’t understand. I can’t go against my parents. I don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, you do!”

Now Angela started to cry and I was actually happy about that because I realized right then that she did want to stay in school, and that she was afraid of her parents and what was expected of her. And her parents seemed like an easier obstacle than trying to change HER mind about getting her high-school degree and going to college.

“Angela, what are you doing right now? Can I take you somewhere?” I asked her.

“Um…where?”

“I want to show you something,” I said with a grin, “I’ll have you home in an hour, I promise.”

Twenty minutes later, my student and I pulled up to
You Sexy Thing,
You in a taxi. I paid the driver, we got out of the cab, and then I led her to the entrance where she said to me, “Mr. J., why are you bringing me to a lingerie store?”

“Because I want you to see what you can do with a college degree.”

The minute we walked in the door, the hot owner approached us. I’d texted her on the way to tell her we were coming.

“You must be Angela,” said Courtney, extending her hand out to shake my student’s, “I’m Courtney.”

“Courtney owns this store,” I said, “I wanted you guys to talk. Courtney graduated from Northwestern and worked as a buyer for Bloomingdale’s before starting her own business.”

“Wow…that’s so cool,” exclaimed Angela.

“Angela wants to own her own marketing and public relations firm someday,” I told my girlfriend.

“That’s exciting,” Courtney exclaimed, “What made you decide you want to do that?”

While Angela told Courtney about how she had always been interested in commercials and billboards, I decided to browse the shop and leave the two women alone to chat. I was hoping Courtney would have some kind of impact on Angela and cause her to reevaluate her situation.

As I examined bras, underwear, teddies and nightgowns, which don’t get me wrong, I was truly enjoying, I was mostly watching what I hoped would inspire Angela and make her realize the value of an education. Semi listening to my smart girlfriend telling the young girl about how much her education had done for her, both financially and personally, I could see she really wanted to help Angela. I could also see that Angela was impressed by Courtney, and that was exciting. I was crossing my fingers she would see the light.

After a few minutes and with customers waiting, I knew Courtney had run out of time. I walked Angela outside.

“Look, Angela, I’ve been teaching at your school for a long time. You’re not the first girl I’ve seen get pregnant and drop out, and you won’t be the last. I don’t know how the lives of the women who dropped out have turned out, but I do know about some of the men and women who have graduated. Some of them have contacted me and asked if they could put me down as a reference for jobs they’re trying to get.” I took her shoulders, looked right into her eyes and said with passion, “Jobs with IBM, and Motorola, and Discover, and Schering Plough, and Nordstrom, and even DDB Needham. It’s all possible. Especially for you, Angela. You can do anything you want. Even with your baby. I’ll help you. But you have to want to help yourself.”

“But my parents…”

“I can talk to them, but only if you’ll let me. You have to want this. Then, we can do our best to convince them. Just think about it, okay?”

“Thanks, Mr. J., I will,” she said with a smile.

I hailed a cab, paid the driver, and told him where to take my student. Right before the taxi pulled away, Angela’s window came down and she said to me, “Hey, Mr. J.?”

“Yeah?”

“How come YOU don’t have any kids yet?”

The irony was killing me. All I could do was give her a big grin. “Think about it, okay, Angela?”

“Sure,” she smiled.

I waved and watched the cab drive down the street, and then I went back into
You Sexy Thing, You
and asked my girlfriend if I could take her to dinner.

“I want to tell you something,” she said to me, gently taking my face in her hands, “You’re a good teacher.”

“I hope so.”

“I have a lot of respect for what you just did, no matter how it turns out.”

“You know what?” I said with a big grin, “You’re hot.”

Courtney giggled.

I looked right into her eyes and said, “I can’t play it cool anymore. You got me, Courtney.”

“How do you know I want you?” she joked.

“Maybe you don’t,” I said, “But either way, you got me.” I nodded my head slowly and said it again, this time, to myself. “You got me.”