Twenty Four Weeks - Episode 9 - "Twenty" (PG) by James David Denisson
our Weeks – Episode 9 – “Twenty”
Written by J.D.Denisson.
A sequel to the movie “This is Where I Leave You”.
Characters and back story based on the novel “This is Where I Leave You” by Jonathan Tropper.
Copyright 2016 J.D.Denisson.
Previously…
She places a hand on my knee. “I’m sorry I tried to get you to come to bed with me.”
“It’s fine.”
“I know. I just want you to know that I won’t try that again, at least until the time is right.”
“When will that be I wonder?”
“I don’t know. Soon I hope.”
“Really?”
“Judd...” she says quietly. “You know I miss you and this is driving me crazy.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“I know, but in a way it’s good. When the time is right, it will be so much better. Waiting for something good makes it that way.”
…
“Okay, so when you come home, you can, well, come home.”
“Yeah.” Now I’m dancing and I nearly fall off the roof.
“When?”
“Tuesday, a bit after lunch. Wade’s taking the week off. Oh, crap! I almost forgot.”
“What?”
“Wade got himself married.”
“What? When?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say. But he’s in Mexico on his honeymoon and won’t be back till next week. That gives me a little holiday.”
…
“You have to realise that you two not making love is not just your issues. She has hers, believe me.”
“But she wants to. She tells me she wants to.”
“She might not realise how these issues affect her. You both have to extend grace to each other while you work this out.”
“Grace?”
“I mean, give each other understanding, forgiveness. Give each other a break. It’s not exactly what I mean by grace, but close enough for you, I think.”
“Okay. So what do I do? I can’t fix her, only myself. So what do I do?”
He thinks for a moment. “Imagine those bonds between them, those links, are breaking every day, getting weaker. Imagine there are bonds joining you with her that are growing stronger. Imagine it’s you that’s replacing him – which, you actually are.”
Twenty
Monday
I’m amazed at how resilient Quinn is. When my world fell apart I did nothing by lie on my bed for weeks. She’s been through one of the toughest times in her life and she’s back on her feet in a matter of days. She is stronger than I give her credit for, but I’m learning about her every day like we’ve only just met and fell in love. She’s different now. Life has made her stronger. In a way she’s becoming more attractive to me with every passing day and with everything that I am learning about her. Even after almost thirteen years together there is still so much more to discover.
Wade is back and the show goes on. He’s looking brown and pleased with himself and it annoys me. The man never burns, he just tans straight away. I burn. I just have to look at a picture of the sun and I start to redden up like a lobster. This is just another way that he is better than me, the bastard.
We’re done for the day and I’m heading out. I have to pick up Quinn after work, which I starting to become another ritual. I haven’t quite got the drive to work part sorted out, but for every problem there is a solution. I can’t fix everything, I tell myself, but I can fix this. Wade stops me. He’s looking like he’s happy for something other than he’s had sex every day for the last week. And I’m acutely aware that I haven’t and it’s because of him.
“Hey, bud,” he says in the way he uses when he wants a favour.
“Yeah?”
“Chloe has got it into her head that the two of us and the two of you should have dinner together. So, I’m asking.”
“What?”
“Dinner,” he says, like the idea is not a total disaster waiting to happen. “You, me, Quinn, Chloe. When are you two free?”
“I heard you,” I say back sharply. “I just can’t believe you actually asking this.”
“What’s the deal?”
“Words come out of your mouth, but I think sometime you have no idea how they sound. What’s the deal? Do you think that I’m going to sit there between you and Quinn and not lose it completely?”
“Judd, I’m married now,” he points out, like it matters.
“So was she, remember? That didn’t stop either of you.”
He shakes his head. “That was a while ago.”
“I wasn’t that long ago, you idiot!” Maybe it was for him, but five months was not a long time for me. Not even close.
“Fair enough.”
“That’s it?”
“What?”
“You just don’t get it, do you?”
Wade shrugs. “Why don’t you explain it to me?”
I take a deep breath. Words have been forming in my mind for weeks, ready for just that moment. And how it was here. At last. “It’s like you have no concept of the damage you do. We were friends, but that didn’t stop you destroying my life.”
“Your life isn’t that bad, Judd,” Wade points out. “You’ve got this very well paying job and you’ve got back with Quinn, and you’ve got the baby. From where I stand, things are pretty sweet for you right now. And you wouldn’t have any of that if I hadn’t helped you.”
He has a strange kind of look on his face, one I don’t think I’ve ever seen. But that doesn’t stop me from finishing the speech that I’ve been rehearsing since the hospital.
“You had no choice, Wade.”
“Everyone has a choice.”
“Okay,” I concede. “I’ll give you that. But what I’m saying here is that you act like nothing’s happened, like the things you do don’t matter.”
“I know they matter.”
“Really?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a little bit more than offering me some crappy hospital coffee and thinking that it’ll make up for sleeping with my wife behind my back. Olive branch – my ass!”
“It wasn’t meant to make up for it. I was just trying to make the best of a difficult situation.”
I put a finger into the center of his chest and push. He doesn’t move, not an inch. “I know she seduced you, I get that, but did you have to make it so damn easy for her? And that was your choice. You chose to sleep with her over and over again, and you chose to lie to my face day in and day out while you were doing it.”
He stares me down. “You’re never going to forgive me, are you?”
I offer a sardonic smile. “What a great idea.”
“You’ve forgiven Quinn,” he points out.
“Like I said: that’s a separate situation. You and me, I don’t think we’re ever going to be good.” I remove my finger. I imagine that it’s bored right into his sternum.
“So, where does that leave us?” he asks with a frown.
“Same place as were we started. I work for you. I keep your show going. You keep paying me. Let’s just keep this simple.”
“Simple?”
“Yeah. You talk to me about anything related to the work, but we keep our private lives separate. You got that?”
He takes a deep breath. “Look, I’ve got to go back to her and say no, and she doesn’t like to hear that word. You can’t help me out, just this once?”
“Tough,” I say. “Tell her it’s my fault, it’s your fault, I don’t care who’s fault it is. Tell her I’m not coming to dinner, I’m never goi
“Maybe you should ask Quinn.”
I don’t answer. I just storm out. I’ll be back tomorrow, right on time, but I won’t come to dinner. Anytime.
Wednesday
I don’t tell Quinn about Wade and Chloe’s invitation, but I find that I’ve made a mistake not to. Wade still has Quinn’s cell number. He doesn’t ring her, he doesn’t dare, but Chloe does, a couple of days later. She’s at work where I can’t interject. It was a nimble move, I’ll give the gymnast that.
I’ve not met her, but I have to admit I’ve thought of trying to seduce her, take her from him. It was a passing thought. She’d have laughed at me but I can’t see Quinn laughing, not at all.
So I’m walking to my car when my cell rings. Quinn is blowing me a kiss on the screen again.
“Hey,” I said cheerfully.
“Were you going to tell me?” she asked, her voice sharp like I’ve heard so many times the last two years.
“Sorry?”
“About dinner with Chloe and Wade?” I noticed she said the names in that order, like it’s my boss’s wife that’s behind this, which she is.
“Crap,” I said.
“Right,” she said back. “Well, you should have asked me before you said no. They asked me too, remember?”
“Sure. How do you...”
“How do I know? Chloe called me and asked. She said that Wade asked you the other day and you said no. She wanted me to know that there’s not going to be any weirdness between us, if that’s the reason for your answer. I had to admit that I had no idea about it and so I said we’d think about it.”
“Crap,” I said again. “Sorry.”
“You don’t need to protect me, Judd. I’m a big girl and I can handle Wade. I need you to trust me.”
“I do. It’s just the weekend was pretty heavy, and I didn’t want to tire you.”
“Really?