Desert Storm (3 page)

             
“He's not working remember.  She told me he was in the bathroom when she answered.”  Jeff told her.

             
“You must have dialed the wrong number.”  Jenna tried to hand the phone back to him.

Jeff pulled up the call log, showing her the call, it clearly said Mike's cell phone, and the time they had talked was a few minutes.  Jenna frowned, “really Jeff?”

             
“I'm not lying to you, why would I do that?”  Jeff looked at her, he knew she didn't want to admit that Mike might be with another woman, but it looked bad right now.

             
“So what do I do?”  She looked at Jeff, the tears were starting to form in her eyes.

             
“I'll stay here with you, we'll wait until he gets home, and keep calling his phone.  If he doesn't pick up before he gets home, I guess we'll find out more at that time.”  Jeff said.

             
“Are you sure it's the right Mike?”  Jenna reached for yet another excuse.

             
“Jenna, come on, sit down with me.”  Jeff took her hand and placed her beside him on the couch.  She rested her head on his shoulder, he could hear her lightly crying, expecting the worst, but not fully knowing for sure yet.

******

             
“What do I do, why would he cheat, if he is?”  Jenna said through her tears.

Jeff held her, wanting to point out the obvious, that Mike was just an ass, but knowing that wouldn't help her out at all.  “Tell you what, let's go to the ranch.” 

Jeff was talking about the ranch where they'd spent their summers.  The two families having been so close had bought land and built a huge cabin on the property.  It was a perfect place to let the kids, when they were younger run and use up all their energy. 

             
“I have work tomorrow.”  Jenna said.

             
“Your the boss, come on, call Caroline and tell her the office will be closed for a few days.”  Jeff told her.

Caroline was her secretary, and it was true Jenna was her own boss, if she wanted to, closing up wasn't that big of a deal.  The thing that held her back was wanting to confront Mike, but that might not be such a good idea when the hurt was so raw.

             
“I don't know, what about Mike, he'll wonder where I am.”  Jenna tried to stall.

             
“You know what, even though he doesn't deserve it you can leave a note for him.  Or I guess if you want we can wait until he decides to show up and have the show down then go.”  Jeff said, though he didn't know if waiting was such a good idea.

             
“Jenna you know I care about you, and I'm worried that you'll let Mike talk you into, well I don't know, another try.  But you don't deserve this kind of treatment.”  Jeff told her.

             
“Jeff, I know you care, but really I think I should talk to him first.  I won't let him talk me into another chance, cheating is not something that is forgivable in my book and you should know that already.”  She said, setting her mind that she needed to first wait for Mike and talk to him.

             
“I know you don't agree with cheating.  However, I can tell you he's going to try and explain it away.”  Jeff explained.

             
“It's okay I can handle it.  For now I think I need a bit of alone time if you don't mind.”  Jenna said.

             
“Alright, I don't like the idea of leaving you alone when you've just found this out, but you know I'm only a phone call away right?”  Jeff stated.

             
“Yes, I'll call you if anything happens.”  Jenna promised.

Jeff gave her a hug before leaving, and kissed her forehead.  “Jenna, I'll never.” 

             
“Don't Jeff, not now.”  Jenna knew where he was going with the comment.

Jeff turned and left, looking back at Jenna one more time before he finally left, closing the door behind him.

Jenna collapsed on the couch, crying tears of pain.  “Why did he have to do this?”  She had no doubt Mike was with another girl, she knew that Jeff wouldn't lie to her.

Picking up her phone she decided to try Mike one more time.  It rang until voice mail picked up, she turned it off without leaving a message, what was the use?  She turned on the radio to a station and sat on the couch, not even hearing the songs that were played, she just sat and wondered.

The tears didn't stop for sometime, but eventually they had dried up for a bit, and exhaustion had hit her and she fell asleep on the couch.  Around four o'clock in the morning she was woke up as she heard Mike with his door keys, unlocking the door.

I wonder if he even took a shower after fucking another girl, was her thought as the door turned and opened.

******

             
“Oh hey, did you fall asleep on the couch?”  Mike was surprised to see her sitting on the couch as he walked inside.

             
“Yeah, obviously.”  Jenna couldn't keep the pain and anger out of her voice.

             
“Woo, why the attitude?”  Mike asked his voice full of anger.

             
“So tell me how is Nancy?”  Jenna noticed the look on Mike's face, and she knew that he had truly been with a girl named Nancy and it wasn't a polite dinner, but something else.  He covered it up quickly though, if she hadn't been watching closely, she would have easily missed it.

             
“Nancy?  What are you talking about?”  Mike said, and he seemed like he honestly did not know.  It was a bit of a lesson for Jenna seeing just how easily he could look innocent.

             
“The Nancy who answered your phone when Jeff called it earlier tonight?”  Jenna looked at him, the daggers were hitting him square in the forehead, the anger was thick.

             
“Oh, I see, it was a nurse who answered my phone when I was with a patient.  Sorry I meant to call back, but just forgot by the time I was done.”  He lied so easily.

             
“A nurse?  At the hospital?”  Jenna lay more rope for him to hang himself.

             
“Yeah, I told you I was working late, remember?”  Mike smiled, figuring he was out of the swamp, or at least getting close.

Jenna smiled too, man, she had to imagine just how many times in the past had he lied to her, and she had swallowed them?  It was a lesson, and one that was very painful, it was hard to smile right now, the tears were what really wanted to escape.  “Mike, you know what?”  She began.

             
“I know your sorry for giving me such attitude, you just jumped to conclusions.”  He laughed.

The look Jenna gave him was not one that would make anyone feel safe.  She made Mike stop laughing as soon as he saw the look.  “No, not at all, in fact that is so far from what I was going to say.  I was going to tell you that when you lie about working late, well you might want to make sure I haven't called the hospital to see I can get a hold of you first.  I know you weren't working late, and no, don't try it again.”  She held up her hand to stop him, he was about to start some sort of other lie, and it wasn't something she wanted or needed to hear.  “Just pack your things and please get out, now.” 

             
“It's all your fault, you know with this crap about not having sex.  I bet you fucked Jeff when you all were younger, otherwise why does he follow you around like a puppy dog?  You are so full of it, you are all high and matter, bull shit, and you look at me like I'm the one who messed up.  You drove me to this.”  He spewed forth.

             
“Mike, just get your things, I don't care if you feel you have to blame me for your lack of commitment, go ahead.  The truth is your missing out on a woman who would never have cheated on you, and would have been by your side forever.  However, I'm glad I found this out before we got married.”  Jenna stated.

Mike had focused on only one answer he was looking for and jumped at her lack of answer.  “See I knew you and Jeff had fucked before.”  He spat.

             
“I've never been with anyone, I am a virgin, I know it's a hard concept for you to understand that I want to Wait for marriage.”  Besides her best try she had to answer him, she just really wanted him out of her life.  “Now please go, get your things now, or leave them and pick them up later, I don't care, just get the hell out of here and leave me alone.”

Mike looked at her one more time, he didn't really feel like trying to save this relationship.  “You know what Jenna, I only dated you because your a good attorney.  It was never about love, hell I don't now if I even liked you.”  He took a dig at her pride.

             
“Get out now, or I'll call the police.”  Jenna stated so softly, her anger getting close to a point she never even knew she had.  Right now she could understand why people would hit others, but she wasn't going to let Mike continue to push her.

He walked out the door, carrying a few things he'd picked up.  “I'll be back when your not home for the rest of my things.” 

             
“You do that.”  She turned away and looked at anything but him walking out of her life.  As soon as the door slammed shut, she let the tears flow again.  Her sobs racked her body, the pain filled up every single inch of her heart and it felt as if it was being ripped apart small shred by small shred.

She thought about calling Jeff, but wasn't sure, it was so early in the morning, why interrupt his sleep?  Like he knew that she had been thinking of him though her phone rang and she looked at it, Jeff's name was on the front.

             
“Hello.”  She answered.

             
“Are you okay?”  Jeff asked, he could hear the sorry in her voice, the pain and the tears.

             
“No.”  She started sobbing again.

             
“I'm on my way.”  He said and hung up quickly.  After he got in his car, he called her back, “sorry I guess I didn't need to hang up, wasn't thinking, just trying to get there.”

             
“It's okay, I, I'll just talk to you when you get here.”  Jenna said and hung up the call.

Jeff knocked on the door when he got there and walked in, “oh, Jenna.”  He said as he saw her tear stained face, he went over and sat beside her, opening his arms, she allowed him to hug her.

             
“He said so many things, so many mean things.”  Jenna said.

             
“It's okay, he doesn't matter.  Just relax, breath, sleep, I know you haven't gotten much if any.”  Jeff said.  He kissed the top of her head, wishing that the one kiss could remove all the pain she had in her heart right now.

Jenna just lay in his arms and cried, soon she feel asleep, from either crying or just being tired.  Jeff sat and held her the whole time, wishing he'd been there when Mike had gotten home.  He still didn't know what happened, but really it didn't matter, all he cared about was making sure Jenna was okay.

Eventually even Jeff feel asleep in the position they were sitting on the couch.  As he felt her stir he woke up though.  Looking down he saw she was awake and crying again.  “Sh, it's okay babe, it's okay, I'll help you through this.” 

             
“He told me he never loved me, it was all my fault he cheated, I was a cold fish, a bitch, and so many other things.  I can't remember it all, some of it I don't want to remember.”  She told Jeff.

             
“I'm so sorry, he's just a bad guy.  Look you know your none of those things, your definitely not a cold fish, and you are not a bitch.  It's his lose if he doesn't realize how great of a girl, sorry woman you are.”  Jeff looked at her.  Touching her cheek, he really wanted to kiss her, but knew that wouldn't be something that would be fair to her, or even him.

             
“I know he's wrong, but it still hurts to hear someone you've been with for three years telling you they never loved you.  Do you think he was telling the truth?”  Jenna wondered.

             
“No, I think he's pissed off he got caught and he wanted to hurt you.”  Jeff told her.

Jenna looked up at Jeff, he was such a sweet guy, the tears were still rolling down her face, she took the sleeve of her shirt and wiped them off.  Her nose though was plugged up so she went to get up and go to the bathroom.  “I'll be right back.”

             
“Alright.”  Jeff watched her walk away.  He knew what he had to do, and it was just bide his time, don't get in a hurry, wait.  He tried to tell himself don't rush her, don't do anything to make her feel that you are trying to take advantage of her, and you'll be fine.  Finally you may get your chance with the woman of your dreams once more.

As she walked out of the bathroom, she cleared her throat.  He turned around to see she had also changed and was wearing a night gown.  The problem was it was not a normal gown, but a lacy and sexy gown, one that made him want her even more.