Jeff finds himself in Washington DC on business trying to close a big deal for his company where he meets up with Nancy again, the FBI agent he had fallen in love with in Atlanta nearly two years ago. Jeff is separated from his wife because of Nancy
Chapter 4 of
Friday, 1:52 PM: Kissing Faces
Jeff flops down for a nap
when Nancy calls saying they need to talk, then
his wife calls angry at his being where he can have sex with "his little Georgetown
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- Chris Lamela
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Author contact: Chris Lamela,
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K Street, Chapter 4
Friday,
1:52 PM: Kissing Faces
Those words―at Nancy
Jeff glanced at Nancy’s tightened brow instantly seeing that she had
wanted to tell him all this last night, to prepare him for today―in an second a
thousand questions streamed through his mind like someone pulling a string that
ran into one ear out the other with tiny little words printed like one of those
charm bracelets filled with letters, his brain getting only a microsecond for
each word, each word on the heels of the last, each word overlapping so that no
word made sense with only the impression of some disastrous message being
scrolled through his consciousness―the string spooling through his brain.
He could hear his voice making words but could not feel his lips moving,
“Yes that would be nice. You have my contact info, why don’t you email me
directions. I’ll be there.” Without looking at Nancy
Fifteen minutes later Jeff lay on his back on the bed in the Hilton.
He was utterly dumbstruck.
He closed his eyes.
Images spun through his head as he lay. The drapes were open. He could
hear the traffic noise of Connecticut
Avenue
The phone rang in a soft warble. He didn’t move to pick it up. After
four rings it stopped. He glanced at the clock, it wasn’t even two o’clock.
He closed his eyes again falling away back into a restless nap, sleeping
but not, aware of his surroundings as he was being sucked away, his hearing was
all that remained of him in the room, his body drawn away to some gray
distance.
The phone rang again. Again he didn’t move.
His eyes looked at the ceiling, a pattern emerged of two kissing faces
in the texturing. He had often seen all sorts of shapes in wall texturing,
dogs, little people, a cat’s face, a face from Mount Rushmore, knew that they
often only appeared at a certain time when the light was just right with the just
the right shadows molded around the randomly splashed drywall texture. He
smiled at this image above him. He closed his eyes, when he opened them again
the faces had disappeared. He tried to focus his eyes to make the shapes of the
kissing faces come again to his vision. They remained obscured among the
patterning in the ceiling with the shadows cast from the light in the window.
The phone rang a third time, this time he rolled over to pick it up.
Without him saying a word he heard Nancy
Without a word he hung the phone up.
Fifteen seconds later the phone rang again. He picked it up without a
word, her voice was there again, “Look, I wanted to tell you about all this
last night, but…well…we were just…” there was a long silence. He could hear her
breathing into the phone. “I’m not even sure what I would say to you even if I
was there right now.”
“I really don’t want to talk to you right now,” Jeff hanging the phone
up again.
He lay there for what felt like an hour when the phone rang again. He
glanced at the clock seeing it was only ten minutes. He rolled over again to pick
it up.
“Look, I said I don’t want to talk―”
“Jeff, is that you?” He sat bolt upright.
It was his wife’s voice!
He straightened himself, “Yeah, this is me. Donna?”
“Yeah, it’s me, are you okay?”
“Sorry, yeah, I was just taking a quick nap.”
“Okay, you sounded―who did you think I was, who don’t you want to talk
to?”
Think quick, think quick. “The
front desk keeps calling me about something, they have been kind of pesky.” Oh, boy, yeah, that sure was quick thinking!
You ass!
“What could the front desk be calling you about?”
“Oh, nothing, so why are you calling?” It was all he could do to turn
his head into this call, the desperation he was feeling since that meeting with
Nancy
“Mom told me you called last night, she said it sounded like you wanted
to talk to me.”
“No,” he paused trying to remember that conversation, “I think I just
asked her to tell you that I called. I talked to the kids, just wanted to say
hi if you were there, but you were out.”
“Yeah…” her voice trailed off.
“So how’s your day going?”
“Fine, I guess. So where are you?”
“Washington DC
“Washington DC Georgetown is in Washington
DC
He knew where this was going. He knew that he had to just stand in front
of the bus and take it. “Yes.”
“Great, I knew it, I knew the minute you got a chance that you would go
running back to her!”
“Donna, I’m here because the company sent me here, I have meetings here,
then I go back next week.”
“So you get the weekend with your little slut? Oh, poor man, the company
sent you to have sex with your little Georgetown
“Look, this is going nowhere. You
left me, remember?”
“I left you because you had an affair with your little slut in Georgetown
“Look, I’ve got to go, this is going nowhere, nothing I say is going to
make any difference here. I’ve got to go, I’ll call the kids later.”
“DON’T BOTHER!” her phone slammed down.
Jeff flopped back on the bed. Oh,
god. I am going crazy!
He lay for another twenty minutes, the phone rang again. It was all he
could do to reach for the phone knowing it was his wife calling to scream at
him again. This time he answered, “Yes.”
He heard a soft voice, “Hi, it’s Nancy
“Nancy
“No, I deserved it. It’s just that last night was so emotional. I thought
I was prepared…but I wasn’t…I knew I would see you again, but I wasn’t prepared
for seeing you…again. It was…I was just…you know…overwhelmed. I should have been
more mature to pull back, tell you about my involvement with ODS.” There was a
long pause. “I guess I should have told you about Shawn.”
Jeff felt his courage returning. “Yeah, those two little items would
have been good to know before this morning, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, I know. You know me enough to know that when I am determined to
make things happen that I just kind of keep driving to it.” His mind swirled
with all the events in Atlanta
Or even what all this was!
“Look, I don’t know what that’s all about. But Shawn…” his voice failed
him.
“Yeah Shawn. That’s why when you didn’t want to let me into your room
last night it was okay, if you had I would have wanted you.” He remembered
sitting at the door last night, his hand against the door hoping her hand was
near his. “The problem is mister Jeff, my feelings for you haven’t changed.” He
heard her catching her breath, could almost hear the tears beginning to course
down her cheek, she held her breath.
“A lot has happened since Atlanta , Nancy
“He’s not you.” He could hear her sniff, “He’s not even close.” She
sniffed again, he could hear snuffling of the phone, she wiped a tear from her
cheek. “But he’s all I have. He’s a good man, he’s very good to me.” She sighed
again, “I just hope that he’ll understand when I come out from under-cover.”
Jeff felt a rise of hope zoom from his toes to his mouth, “Under cover?
He doesn’t know who you are?”
“Yes, silly, what did you think?”
“So you are lovers…” he paused but she didn’t answer. “You’re pretending
to be a couple?”
“No, he honestly thinks that I am his girlfriend.” Jeff felt an
upwelling of warm rushing through him, she continued, “We are a couple, renting
the house up in Takoma Park
“Wow, picket fences,” he said softly.
“I guess just a wedding ring away, huh?”
“Are you really that serious?”
“Well, there is this little matter of under-cover, you know, him not
knowing that I live in Georgetown
“Okay, maybe you can fill me in on all this tonight.”
“No, we won’t be able to. There’ll be too many people, no way to get off
to the side.”
“Well, then I’ll see you there tonight, we’ll just have to find time so
you can fill me in.”
There was a long silence on the phone.
She sighed, “You remember our three words don’t you?”
He smiled to himself, yes the three words from Atlanta
“That’s all I needed. So, okay then, see you tonight, right?”
“Yes, I will be there.”
Another long pause, she sighed, “Okay then…see you tonight…at eight.”
He hung up flopping on the bed with bright circles in his vision. He
looked up at the ceiling, could instantly see the kissing faces in the texturing.
This had to be some kind of presage of things to come, a sign telling him
something good was coming.
The phone rang again, his heart leapt, he took his eyes from the image
above him reaching quickly he picked up the phone without a second of thought
blurting out, “I love you!”
There was a pause on the phone. Donna’s voice came on, “You still love
me?”
Jeff felt a panic, oh my god, I
just told the wife who left me and just screamed at me that I love her!
Quick,
recover!
“I have always loved you, love you still, I will always love you.”
“Oh Jeff,” her voice sounded overwhelmed. “Oh, Jeff, I called to
apologize for yelling at you then you go do this! I hate you!” he heard her
burst into tears.
“Donna, are you all right?”
“I hate you!” she sobbed, “and I love you, too!” She sniffed. “I just
wanted to tell you how sorry I was for yelling at you, now I want to tell you
how sorry I am for everything.” He could hear her doing something that was
causing her to shuffle the phone. “Sorry, I needed a tissue.” He heard her
wiping her nose, blowing softly into it.
“Are you doing better there?”
“Yes. Now it’s my turn. I love you Jeff. I want you home so we can talk
this through. I know you are out there, in DC, near Georgetown
“Look, I’ll be home next Friday night, maybe we can have lunch on
Saturday, no kids. What do you think?”
“I’d like that.”
“Okay then, thanks for calling me back, it really means a lot to me, and
I meant what I said.”
“Thank you, that means a lot to me. Okay, then, I’ll let you get back to
your day.”
“And you.”
“Jeff!” he was surprised by the quickness in her voice, realized she was
afraid he was about to hang up, “Jeff, I love you,” there was a long sigh, she
softly hung up.
He rolled back onto the bed, his heart throbbing. In the last five
minutes he discovered that Nancy
It had seemed so simple just twenty four hours ago. He was getting
divorced, there was a chance that he might find Nancy Nancy
So much for simplicity.
Jeff looked up to the ceiling again but could not pick out the kissing
faces. He was peering harder searching for the images above him when the phone
rang. Uncertain what voice he would hear next, he picked it up timidly.
It was Nancy
“Jeff I love you!”
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K STREET!
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