65 #ChauffersAndFriends

 

“Thanks for the ride,” Jon said as Tori started her car. 

 

They’d tried to talk Teddi into coming along, but it was no surprise when she begged off, saying she wanted to catch up on yesterday’s missed work.  Her cousin bitched about the lame excuse, but he’d just let it go.  If she wanted to stay in her hidey hole, it was no skin off his nose – since he was going back to join her after a pit stop at his own house.

 

It wasn’t the wisest way to spend his day.  The smart thing would be tending to his own work in the city, and he probably would if the beach vacation wasn’t coming up fast.  There was no telling when his next trip to Rumson might be, so work could wait until tomorrow.  

 

“No problem.  I was pretty much your bitch before you put that look on Teddi’s face.  Now that I’ve seen the two of you together…  I hope you won’t ask me to kill somebody, but if you do, so be it.  I’ve always wanted to make a pair of cement shoes.”

 

Jon adjusted his sunglasses with a chuckle.  “Nice to know I have connections, but you should probably stay on the right side of the law.  For your daughter’s sake and all.”

 

“Yeah, I guess.  At least until I get her through college.  Although you’re technically the one footing the tuition bills, since you’re paying me bookoo bucks for the piece of crap company I don’t even want.   Thanks again for that, by the way.”

 

“I’m the one who should thank you, but speaking of that purchase….  Could you keep that on the down low for the time being?  I don’t want Peabody finding out before I decide to tell him.”

 

“Do you know how much I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he finds out?  It’s going to make him lose his ever-loving mind, but no worries about me spilling the beans.  Pierce called the other day and said we’re under a gag order.  Glad he caught me and Craig before we started bragging about our newfound wealth.  I hadn’t even gotten around to telling my mom yet.”

 

Pierce, huh?  That was awfully proactive on his part.  Was he doing it because Jon put the fear of God in him or just doing his job?  Or… did he have his own reasons for wanting it kept quiet? 

 

Jon realized that thought was all kinds of dark and nefarious, but life had made him cynical.  His career had caused him to see just how many people operated with an ulterior motive, and the paralegal wasn’t exactly his best buddy.  It wouldn’t surprise him if something else was going on here, but there was no reason for Tori to get dragged into it.    

 

“Cool.  I asked Pierce to keep a lid on it.  Just didn’t realize he’d already contacted you.”

 

Tori checked the rearview and signaled for a lane change while maneuvering the wheel with the opposite hand.  “When are you going to make it public?”

 

“After Labor Day.”  For some reason, that answer spurred quiet laughter from the driver’s seat and prompted Jon to ask, “What?”

 

“Oh, nothing.  Just forgot that it was time for August in the Hamptons.”  A sly, lopsided smile came his way.  “You should ask Teddi to go.”

 

“I did.”

 

Thank God there wasn’t much traffic on a Sunday morning, or she would’ve run head-on into another car after a sharp jerk of the wheel had them veering into the wrong lane.  He instinctively grabbed the doorhandle for support before a second jerk righted the car again.    

 

“Jesus Christ, watch where you’re going!”

 

Unfazed by what could’ve been a near-death experience, Tori riveted her incredulous attention to him.  “You invited her to East Hampton with you?”

 

“Yes.  She’s not gonna go, but I asked.” Her jaw dropped, hanging there for a breath before she snapped it shut and turned eyes back to the road.  It left Jon again asking, “What?  She didn’t tell you?”

 

“Oh, please.”  She had a special talent for rolling her eyes while keeping them on the road.  When the traffic light changed to yellow, she smoothly braked and turned a wrinkled nose in his direction.  “Teddi doesn’t tell anybody jack unless they pry it out of her.  I was shocked shitless to find out about yesterday’s date but knew she wouldn’t follow up with details.  That’s why I came bearing croissants this morning – and still didn’t find out anything.”

 

“Sorry.”  He was.  Kind of.  It would be interesting to know what Teddi might’ve said.  He still wasn’t sure how she really felt about Dave’s “helpfulness” yesterday. 

 

“Apologize by telling me how it went.”

 

He could.  It would be easy enough to do, but it had just been pointed out that Teddi was a private person.  Would she want Tori to know?

 

To buy himself a moment to think, Jon rubbed a hand over the jaw that remained unshaven.  He hadn’t even showered yet.  A quick finger-combing of his hair constituted “getting ready” for this drive, and he absently did it again before choosing an evasive approach.

 

“Why didn’t anybody ever convince Teddi to get help?”

 

Tori glanced over at him with a frown as they accelerated through the intersection.  “Help with what?  Her color impairment or aversion to people?”

 

“I think they’re pretty much the same thing.”

 

Cocking her head to one side, she hunched shoulders toward her ears where they stuck briefly before falling back into place.  “Fair enough, I suppose.  The answer to your question is that she doesn’t want to be helped.”

 

That wasn’t what Teddi said yesterday, but he’d felt like she wanted to with that, “why are you so convinced I need help” line.   She wanted to be this way, or at least didn’t mind it.  Logically, he supposed he’d known that all along.  A woman didn’t willingly adopt a life of solitary confinement if she hated being alone.

 

She would if it was better than the alternative.  You still don’t know whether it’s a choice or coping mechanism.

 

“What makes you say that?”

 

“Because we’ve tried,” Tori said simply.  “Maggie, Cat, Stef, Kizzy and me.  Craig too, I guess, but he’s about half antisocial himself, so his efforts were minimal at best.  When we try to lure her into the world, all she does is put us off and stay barricaded in her house.  We do video chat, texts and calls, but the only time she purposely leaves her fortress is on the Ides of June.”

 

Ides of June?  That didn’t sound right.  Wasn’t it March?  And what did a Roman thing have to do with Teddi?

 

“What the fuck is that?”

 

“Sorry.  I thought you knew.  All the cousins have birthdays in or around June, so we celebrate on the fifteenth.  Ides of June.  I’ve kicked my ass for skipping it in favor of a dance recital this year.  Can’t believe I wasn’t there when she finally met you for the first time.”

 

Second time.

 

The mental correction made him realize that Tori didn’t know about the real first meeting in Boston.  Teddi snuck into his hotel room, gave him her virginity, and never told the woman Jon perceived as closest to her.  It drove home the comment of “Teddi doesn’t tell anybody jack” and had him wondering what else she might be keeping to herself.

 

“You’ve done more in a month than we have in a lifetime.”

 

Drawing his brow in confusion, Jon assumed he missed a piece of the conversation.  “What?”

 

Tori repeated the statement word for word, and then added, “I’ve seen her more in the past three weeks than I have in the past three years, and she voluntarily left her house yesterday.  That’s huge, dude.  I’m starting to believe she might actually go to the Hall of Fame ceremony.”

 

The final stretch of road slid past the passenger’s window as they approached the driveway that would take Jon to his car.  He watched out the front windshield as she took the turn, heartened for the first time since yesterday’s poolside intervention. 

 

Teddi was making progress.  It might be measured in inches instead of miles and coming too slowly for most people to realize, but she was making it.  More than that, she wanted to.  This would be okay.  Agoraphobia wasn’t going to be the Grim Reaper in their relationship, waiting to destroy them with a harsh sweep of its scythe. 

 

He didn’t realize how heavily that possibility had been weighing on him until it rolled off his shoulders, replaced by the feathery lightness of relief.  Teddi wasn’t the woman he would’ve hand-picked out of a line-up at first glance, but she’d slowly gotten under his skin.  He wasn’t ready to think about the end when they’d barely just begun.

 

And now he didn’t have to.

 

“Yeah, well.  Still gotta get in the Hall first.”

 

His chauffeur’s smirk reeked of smug confidence.  “Oh, you will.  You will.”

 

###

 

Teddi fired off her response to an inquiry email, pleased at the prospect of another new client.  This man was interested in growing his small business and helping him do that would keep her occupied for the month of August.  While Jon was in the Hamptons.

 

It was asinine, really, that she would even think in those terms.  This August would be no different from any other.  Teddi would garden, swim, work and scour the internet for pictures of his vacation – just as she always did.  The new client and his investment firm would receive stellar service from her because that’s what she did, not because she needed a distraction.

 

Whether or not she needed one, the chime of an incoming text provided one.  She turned attention from laptop to phone and swiped the screen to find a message from David.

 

[11:12 AM]DAVID: Hey.  We still friends?

 

She stared at the words, reading them several times without arriving at an immediate response.  The warm amusement she’d once found in his messages had gone absent, replaced by a wariness and the need to protect herself. 

 

Yes, the remainder of their get-together yesterday had gone smoothly enough, but she’d never quite shaken off the shadow of his judgment.  It wasn’t as dark when they shared cocktails and grilled vegetables at poolside, but she still felt it.  Even now.

 

Regardless of her feelings, the man was Jon’s friend.  There was no reason to make things awkward because he held a negative opinion of her.  He was entitled to any opinion he wished, and the fact it intimidated her was irrelevant.  She knew how to behave in the face of intimidation.  She’d had a lifetime of practice.  

 

[11:15 AM]TEDDI: You’re up already?  I figured you’d still be sleeping or I would’ve texted before now.  Thank you for the hospitality yesterday.  Your home and wife are both lovely. 

[11:17 AM]DAVID: Since I got high society manners instead of an answer, guess the answer is no.

 

He’s from New Jersey.  They don’t play by the same rules as the Boston snobs.

 

Teddi didn’t have friends in any genuine sense of the word.  She never had, and that made this ground rocky and unfamiliar.  According to books, movies and television, friends were intrusive for your own good – just as she’d said to Jon some time ago.  Maybe what she perceived as David’s negative opinion was really concern?   

 

The uncertainty meant she owed him the benefit of the doubt.  It also meant taking a step that didn’t offer the same steady footing as etiquette.  She had to move forward on faith and bravado. 

 

[11:18 AM]TEDDI: Of course we’re friends. Don’t be silly. 

[11:19 AM]DAVID: As if.  That shit’s in my DNA. 

[11:20 AM]TEDDI: 😄

 

His slide back into goofiness brought only a short-lived relief. 

 

[11:22 AM]DAVID:  Look.  I’d tell you I’m sorry but I’m not.  I like you and he’s one of my best friends.  The two of you plus the phobia don’t add up to happily ever after.  Get help for all our sakes.

 

A name and number appeared on her screen next and sat there alone until the explanation followed.

 

[11:24 AM]DAVID: This lady comes highly recommended and does telehealth visits.  Fuck everybody else.  Do it for yourself TB.  And FWIW, I still think of us as friends.  ✌️☮️

 

This friendship thing wasn’t going to be easy, she thought as another chime chased behind David’s peace signs.  This text message didn’t carry the promise of peace, however. 

 

[11:25 AM]PIERCE:  I’m on my way over.  I have to see you.

 

Saturday night gave me Sunday morning, but Sunday morning isn’t giving me anything but anxiety so far.

 

Thank God there was still some chocolate croissant in the kitchen, but with Pierce arriving and Jon scheduled to be back soon, it wouldn’t be nearly enough.  She was going to need the almond one, too – and a pitcher of mimosas to wash them down. 

 

Oh, and her emotional support fish.