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Rick Archer's Note:
Victoria's ability to
sense the presence of Jennifer unsettled me to no end.
Unfortunately,
it unsettled Jennifer even more.
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1979
THE FIRST FRIDAY MORNING PHONE CALL
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On Friday,
September 28, my Year of Living Dangerously took another
perilous step closer to the cliff. This
day of infamy began when Victoria called
to chew me out. I looked at the clock.
It was 9 am.
"What can I
do for you, Victoria?"
"I
am calling to discuss the busy signal at midnight. Who
were you talking to? Who are you seeing?"
"And good
morning to you, Victoria, how nice of you to call. How are you feeling today?"
"You are
an asshole. Who is she? I demand to
know."
"I have no intention of letting
you run my life. I thought I made that clear to
you. I resent it when you call to
check up on me. However, in the interest of good
will, I will confide I really was talking to my mother [a
lie].
She left a message and asked me to call her when I got
home. Do
you have a problem with that?"
Since
Victoria had no idea how to contact my mother, I assumed
I was on
safe ground here. Guess again. Victoria
informed she
had called every three minutes last night for half an hour.
"You
were on the phone for 30
minutes. That is a long time. What exactly were you
discussing with your mother at that hour for thirty
minutes?"
That forced me to make up another story to explain what
could be so important to justify half an hour at midnight.
"She's broke
and needs money."
This wasn't
that far from the truth. My mother was always
broke and asking for money. Better yet, Victoria
had heard me complain about my mother several times.
Nevertheless I
half-expected Victoria to ask for my mother's phone
number for confirmation. Fortunately she did not go that far. I was taking
a real chance here. This was the second time this
week Victoria had used phone surveillance to catch
me. Now that I was the Underdog again, I had assumed Deception would allow me to
continue to see Jennifer fairly easily. Tied to her home at
night by her wedding ring, Victoria could not possibly keep
tabs on me. Or so I thought. I had
overlooked the danger of a midnight phone call.
That is what she used to trip me up. The deeper
question revolved around her sudden decision to call me
last
night. I had known Victoria for a year and not
once had she ever called after 10 pm. Now she
had called late two nights in a row. On Wednesday,
I failed to answer the phone because I spent the night
with Jennifer. And we know what happened last
night. What prompted Victoria's unexpected phone
calls? Was she
psychic in some way? Whatever the explanation, I was in big
trouble.
"So,
Victoria, do
have a purpose to call this morning or do you just feel like harassing
me?"
"I have
already made two other phone calls this morning. Someone told me
you are seeing a woman. I demand to know who she
is and why you have been lying to me about her."
Taken aback
by the certainty in
Victoria's voice, I turned white. Did she really know something?
It was possible, but very unlikely. The only woman who knew both
Victoria and Jennifer was Hazel from Clear Lake.
Victoria had made friends with Hazel during the Lighthouse
performance and had her phone number. Had Victoria
phoned Hazel and learned something about Jennifer
helping me with that class over Labor Day? That
was an outside possibility. However, Hazel knew
Jennifer's name. Since Victoria had not mentioned
Jennifer by name, I concluded she was bluffing. I decided to
take a chance.
"Victoria,
I have no idea what you are talking about."
"That is
where you are wrong. After I got that busy
signal last night, I decided where there's smoke,
there's fire. I have been calling a few of my
friends this morning. Now I know the truth.
Tell me who she is."
Hmm, maybe Hazel had forgotten Jennifer's
name. No, I doubted that. My only
chance was to keep lying. Yes, if Victoria had called Hazel, then I was toast.
But that was a chance I had to take. There was no hope for me if I confessed. My only chance was
to pray
Victoria was just fishing. I looked at the clock.
9:15 am. That was pretty early to be calling more
than two or three people, so I
decided to
assume Victoria was playing mind games.
"Victoria, stop being ridiculous.
No one told you anything of the sort. I am not seeing
anyone."
"I
know you are seeing someone. I have an instinct that tells me things.
You think you are clever by lying to me, but I know you are
hiding something. Tell me who she is and
we can deal with it like adults."
Ah, so
Victoria was operating off her instincts. That
proved she was guessing. Thank goodness I
called her bluff. "How many times do we have to go through this? I am a grown man and I
don't like being interrogated. What makes you think I am your property?"
Victoria ignored the
question. "I am certain that you are up to no good.
Who is she? I can feel her presence. The next
time you fail to answer your phone at night, I am going to get in my car and drive to your house.
If I don't like what I see, that will be the end of it."
"You are
overreacting, Victoria. I told you before, I don't appreciate being
monitored."
I talked tough to
Victoria, but felt
sick inside. I wouldn't put it past Victoria to pull out every
trick in the book. I was not worried about her threat to drive by
my house. Jennifer had not been back since Labor Day.
But the certainty in Victoria's voice was unsettling. Victoria was so crafty, she might find a way to catch
me. If that happened,
I could end up losing everything... Jennifer, the
studio, my reputation, my dreams. I detested being
so vulnerable to the whims of this madwoman. Plus I was
tired of being constantly outwitted. I decided
Defiance was my only play.
"Go ahead, drive
over any time you want. But right now I am tired
of listening to you bully me around. I'll talk to
you later."
With that, I
hung up. Then I promptly fell to pieces.
Victoria had seriously unnerved me with her prescience.
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1979
THE SECOND FRIDAY MORNING PHONE CALL
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Moments after I hung
up on Victoria, the phone rang again. I almost jumped out
my skin. It had to be Victoria determined to
needle me further. Angry, I picked up
the phone. "What do you want, Victoria?"
"No, Rick, it's
Jennifer. I did not go into work today. I am home. Can you come over?
We need to talk."
I had been
worried before, but now I was panic-stricken.
What was Jennifer doing home
on a Friday work day? I could tell by her
voice that she was very upset. In fact, I guessed that she
had been crying. As I drove to
Jennifer's apartment, I knew for certain something was wrong.
As I
climbed the steps, Jennifer must have
heard me coming because she opened the door without
my knocking.
"Why did you think it was Victoria on the phone? You
didn't let the cat out of the bag, did you?"
"No, Jennifer, I promise she
has no idea." Which was not completely true.
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We sat down at
the dining table and I explained
Victoria's morning phone call. I made a huge mistake when I
admitted that Victoria
was certain I was seeing someone. When Jennifer
paled considerably, I could tell she was deathly afraid of Victoria.
"Does Victoria
have any way of finding out who I am? That woman might
just be wacko enough to hurt me."
"Well, she
might call Hazel, one of the women you met down at Clear Lake.
However,
Hazel does not know your last name, so I think you are safe.
Don't worry, I will talk to
Hazel when I see her tomorrow at Clear Lake. Once I
swear her to secrecy, you will have
nothing to worry about. As it stands, Victoria
suspects something, but she isn't sure who it is or if this is
her imagination. She was just trying to trick me this
morning. Calm down, it was a fishing mission, nothing else."
At that moment, the
strangest look crossed Jennifer's
face.
I
could tell Victoria
had Jennifer worried, but there was something else. My gut gave me that
awful 'uh oh' feeling.
"What's wrong, Jennifer?
You look very upset. Why are you home on a Friday
morning?"
"I have something to
tell you, something I have been avoiding talking
about."
Feeling queasy,
I didn't like the sound of this. "What is it?"
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Jennifer
hesitated. She was white as a ghost. Unable
to meet my gaze for some time, she finally looked up and
spoke. "Rick, I am engaged.
I have
a fiancé in
Dallas."
I gasped aloud. "What!?!"
This was a
horse kick to the stomach. In my wildest
dreams, I did
NOT see this coming! I was sick. I couldn't breathe. Just when I thought things
could not possibly get any worse, they got worse. Much worse. The
thought of losing Jennifer tore me to shreds. I stared at
her,
but she refused to meet my gaze.
As I dealt with my disbelief, I wondered if she was kidding. I already
knew the answer. Jennifer didn't tease. That wasn't
her style. Jennifer was serious to a fault.
After a long pause, I spoke up. "Jennifer,
tell me this again. Are you really engaged?"
When
Jennifer nodded confirmation, I felt like throwing up.
This was not a good time in my life for more surprises,
certainly not one of this magnitude.
Urban Cowboy, Victoria's blackmail
ultimatum, the death of Disco, now
Jennifer's bombshell. I viewed Jennifer as my Rock, but
her earthquake announcement had just shaken my
foundation. Shocked beyond comprehension,
all I could do was wonder why would Jennifer do this to me.
I was so hurt I could not see straight.
Seeing the disbelief
on my face, Jennifer whispered, "Yes,
Rick, I am engaged. But I am having second
thoughts."
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I took a
long, deep breath and tried to stay outwardly calm. "Well,
that's nice to know. Where's your engagement ring?"
"I don't wear it in Houston. In fact, they don't know I am
engaged at work. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have been hired in the
first place.
They would have assumed I was too big a risk of moving back home to
take a chance on me."
"How long have you been engaged?"
"Oh,
I don't know. Seven months, I guess.
I lose track."
"Who is he?"
"Jeff is a guy I dated
off and on in high school. We went to the same college
at SMU, but we dated other people.
In
my Senior year, Jeff found out I had broken up with the guy I was seeing,
so he asked me out. I dated Jeff on the rebound because
I knew he was someone I could trust. Trust was
important to me, especially after being badly deceived by my
boyfriend. On Valentine's Day this year, he proposed.
Don't ask me why I said yes. When they talk about
settling, I suppose that's Jeff. I am fond of
him, that's about it. At any rate, Jeff is in graduate school
up at SMU
while I work down here in Houston. I don't love
Jeff, but he's a good man and I know he would be a great
husband and father. Jeff is the pillar of society type,
a guy people can depend on. However, there is a part of me that would prefer
more passion."
I was dumbfounded. Here we go again.
I was certainly no stranger to Triangles. Now I had two of
them at the same time. Was there something wrong with me that I
could not seem to gain clear title to any woman I cared
about? Right now I felt very insecure.
Patricia had been right. Until I got a stable job and started
making serious money, no woman would dream of choosing me over
another man.
"What makes you think you don't love
Jeff?"
"Well, you for
one. I cannot imagine someone like you coming into my
life if the door wasn't ajar. I am embarrassed to admit I haven't
taken my engagement very seriously. There have been some other guys
here in Houston, but no one quite like you. You are so special you terrify me."
"I have a question. I have been seeing you for
a month. What took you
so long to tell me?"
"I
was going to tell you three weeks ago, but then
my girlfriend
Claudia blind-sided me with her story about Victoria.
Ever since, I've been so rattled I didn't know what to
say or when to say it. It really upset me that
you went the entire Labor Day Weekend and the
following week without telling me about Victoria.
If I had not found out from someone
else about Victoria, I worry that you would have
never told me. How many times do I have to
tell you I don't trust men?
I wonder all the time what else there is you haven't
told me about Victoria."
Jennifer
paused to brush back her tears.
"I've
been having a hard time trusting you ever since.
I can't help but believe that you deliberately
intended to
conceal something from me, that Victoria means more to
you than you are letting on. I hear she's
really beautiful. When she finally leaves her
husband, how do I know what you will do? If
she makes you choose between me and keeping the
studio, I'm certain the studio will win. I
worry constantly. So why bother telling you
about Jeff? I figured once you
decided to dump me for Victoria, then I wouldn't have to go through the
agony of telling you about
Jeff."
I actually
let out a small chuckle
at that one. Gallows humor, you know.
Jennifer started to cry
much harder.
Unfortunately I was dealing with my own misery, so I was unable to offer
Jennifer any comfort. Right now I felt
like I was falling off a cliff.
All this
time I had thought Jennifer was my anchor. Between
Victoria's threats, my hateful
boss, Disco's violent death, my wild
Meyerland gamble and the steady
advance of this unwelcome Western takeover, there was
not an ounce of certainty in my life until Jennifer came
along.
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Jennifer's
bad news was the final blow. Now that my Rock was
gone, I felt myself plummeting
free fall
towards the Abyss. It had been a long time since I
was this low. Hmm. Katie. Yes, this
was the same horrible empty feeling that hit after losing
Katie four years ago, only worse.
Feeling nauseous,
I wondered if this was how Joanne had
felt when I told her I had decided to go back to
Patricia following the Dangerous Liaison. Joanne had been just as much in love
with me as I was with Jennifer. There
had to be some kind of Bad Karma working here. Maybe this
moment
was payback for Joanne. Goddamn, this really hurt.
Jennifer
left the table, went to the couch and lost her
composure. She grabbed a pillow and
covered her face as she bawled her head off. I thought
back to Patricia's Bombshell at the start of the year. Patricia's decision to go see George
was at the root of all these problems. Her
Bombshell had led to my one-night stand with Joanne and
Victoria's subsequent Tirade. Now the love of my
life had just dropped a Bombshell of her very own. I could trace a
straight line from the George Bombshell to the Jeff
Bombshell. What did I ever do to deserve this kind
of punishment? Was it asking too much to find a
woman who would not betray me? I wondered if
my 'Dangerous Liaison' was some sort of Original
Sin. Was I going to be punished for the rest of my
life for sleeping with Joanne?
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Deep breath. I
was in so much pain. The irony was overwhelming. To
think I had believed Jennifer's love meant the Epic
Losing Streak was over. Instead Jennifer had just
joined
the Highlight Reel. I had never had much luck with women.
So far I had lost every woman I ever cared about to another man.
That included Katie, a very special girl who had gone to Jack, the Ballroom teacher.
Or Jenny, the lady who went back to her boyfriend
Randy a year ago. I was sick of losing all the time.
Jennifer had been the one thing that kept me going through
Victoria's September Ordeal. Now she was gone, or at least that's
how I felt. When was
this torture ever going to end? I couldn't take much more of this.
Was there any woman on earth who came without baggage?
Apparently not the pretty ones, that's for sure. With that, another question popped into my mind.
"What was
that stuff about introducing me to your family? They had to know
about your fiancé. Jennifer, tell me something
right now. Was Jeff at that wedding you refused to
invite me to?"
"No, but
he was supposed to be there. He changed his
mind at the last moment. I went by myself and
sat with my family."
"But your
family knows Jeff. Were they laughing behind
my back when I met them for lunch?"
"No,
don't be ridiculous. In fact, they liked you,
especially my father. I
don't know how to explain this. Is it possible
to be engaged, but not take it too seriously?
I mean, it wasn't like we have set the date.
This past summer, Jeff and I decided to back off.
I was free to see whomever I wanted. My
parents are well aware of my 'on again, off again' story."
Unbelievable.
Jennifer's father
knew all about this other man the whole time.
"If your father
knew about your fiancé, then why was he so nice to me?"
"Dad could tell I preferred you. I
think he preferred you too. You are a lot more interesting
than anyone I have ever introduced to him. Dad liked your
story about the dance career and could see how
ambitious you are. You remind him of himself."
That was a strange way
to get a compliment. I dearly wished her father was here right now
to talk some sense into this girl. Wait a minute!
I had just realized something was wrong here. Last
summer was just one month ago. I did some quick
math.
"Jennifer, I met your father
19 days ago. If you
and Jeff decided to back off last summer, then why aren't you a free agent
this very minute? Something has changed. What's
going on?"
Jennifer turned a
whiter shade of pale. Busted...
"I
had a feeling you would figure that out. Rick,
you
don't know me very well. I am not a brave
person. I am terrified of getting hurt.
I was badly deceived by a man in college and I guess I
have never really gotten over that. In my
Senior year, I went
to Jeff on the rebound because he was the
safest guy I had ever met. Now I keep expecting to
be betrayed again by you. I am certain you will hurt me. That is
why I hang on to Jeff. He would never hurt
me. Jeff is like a loyal
puppy dog."
"You didn't
answer my question."
"I
called Jeff last night and asked if he would
consider renewing our engagement."
I stared at
Jennifer in dumbfounded confusion. Seeing me
wide-eyed in total shock, Jennifer resumed.
"On
Tuesday night, I heard the fear in your voice
when you told me
about Victoria's blackmail threat. I
could tell how
upset you were and that scared me. I
realized you have too much to lose by defying her.
I thought it was likely I would lose you to her in a
head to head battle. That is when I lost my confidence in the future of this
relationship. After I hung up, I gave
Jeff a call
and asked if we could have a long talk about our
engagement. He insisted we talk about it face
to face, so I agreed to drive up to Dallas this
weekend. But then
I changed my mind on Wednesday night. I
appreciated how hard you tried to reassure me not to
worry so much that I changed my mind."
"Apparently
you have changed your mind again. What made you decide
to keep your weekend visit?"
"Your
phone call last night. When you told me how
Victoria had caught you red-handed spending
Wednesday night with me, I completely lost it.
It really upsets me to know Victoria is on to me.
She will do anything to pry it out of you. So I
have decided to go through with my visit. Listen, Rick,
nothing is going to come of it, but now that I
opened my big mouth and promised to come see him, I owe Jeff that
much. Jeff worships me. He deserves better than to let
him dangle all the time."
"One thing
I've been curious about are your frequent weekend trips
to Dallas. Do they have something to do with
Jeff?"
Jennifer
nodded.
"How
did you guess? Yes,
every one of them. One of those trips came
after Claudia told me about you and Victoria. I
went to Dallas to see if Jeff was serious about
renewing our engagement."
"What did he
say?"
"Jeff
was all for it, but then I got cold feet. I
said I would give it some serious thought.
But first I wanted to see if you were telling me
the truth about Victoria before I made up my mind."
I was
incredulous. "So you turned your back on me at
the first sign of trouble without even telling me."
Jennifer
nodded wordlessly. Numb from shock, I felt like
I had completely misjudged her. Recalling Patricia's Gorgeous George Weekend, I remembered
a major reason Patricia had gone to see him was her displeasure over Victoria's
constant meddling in our relationship. Now Jennifer
had reacted the exact same way. History was
repeating itself. Run to George, run
to Jeff. Victoria was a neverending pox on my pursuit of happiness.
Six years
ago Vanessa had
given me my first real lesson in betrayal. Five
years ago Rachel reinforced it. Earlier this year
Patricia betrayed me whenever I turned my back. As
a veteran to disappointment, I thought I knew how to keep my
guard up. However, I never imagined this. Jennifer's
Bombshell was one twist I had no defense
for. Nothing could possibly hurt worse than
this. I began to tremble. 1979 was quite
a year. What was the Cosmic Limit on the number of
headaches a guy could face in one year without
flipping his lid?? Had I reached my limit yet? It wouldn't take
much more. I had been out of control all year long with no end in sight. My problems simply kept
multiplying.
"Tell
me again when you are going to see
Jeff?"
"I am
leaving when you and I finish talking."
"That's why you decided to tell me, right?"
"That's one of the reasons, yes. I
assumed you would notice I wasn't here."
"Good
point. What's the other reason?"
"This stuff with Victoria is
really getting under my skin.
I don't know how you are ever going to stand up to her without
losing the studio. I am scared you will have to choose between
me or keeping the studio. If it comes down to that, I
expect to lose. That studio is too important
to you. Besides, there's more."
"What's
that?"
"I am
starting to feel like a mistress. All this
Secret Lover talk and
sneaking around, I can't take it. You could be feeding me the
biggest line of bullshit in creation and I'm so
gullible, I'd swallow it. You could be just as
easily be screwing Victoria in her car and I would never know it."
"Oh my
God, you cannot be serious. C'mon,
Jennifer, don't talk like that. I have been candid with you every step of the
way."
Jennifer
interrupted. "No, you haven't. You concealed
Victoria from me at the start!"
"Okay, yes,
because Victoria was a touchy subject. I concealed
her for the
exact same reason you concealed Jeff from me. I
assumed Victoria would be gone soon, so why alarm you
needlessly? Victoria is not my girlfriend. I
have no romantic interest in her."
"How do
I know that Victoria is not your girlfriend, Rick!?! The guy who cheated on me
in college said the exact same thing! I told
you I am not very brave and this Victoria story is
just too far-fetched to believe. No woman in her
right mind would leave a man like Michael unless you
guys are having sex or have had sex, I'm sure of
it. You must be leaving something out.
Maybe it's all about the money. What do you
pay her?"
No matter
how depressed I was, I laughed in spite of myself.
"I paid her $240 in August for teaching 8 classes.
She will make $120 in September."
Even
Jennifer managed to laugh. "No, it can't be the
money, that's for sure."
"Jennifer,
listen to me. I
have not had sex with Victoria. Yes, I'm stuck with a huge problem, but if
you can be patient, time is on our side. All you
have to do is believe in me. Please!"
Jennifer
looked away. "I told you I wasn't very brave."
Jennifer's comment
unsettled me. Oh, great, now we're back to
Soothsayer Jennifer. The fatalism
in her voice had me worried. I was prepared to
fight Jeff and Victoria, but I
could not win unless Jennifer helped. Damn these women and
their intuitions. It seemed to
me Jennifer was convinced the die was
already cast. What did Jennifer know that I didn't
know? Why was she so fearful?
"This trip you are going to take,
Jennifer, what do you think
Jeff wants to do?"
"If I had to guess, I would say he wants to
set a date. Jeff was never happy about the summer moratorium. That
was my idea all along. However, now that I
have shown renewed interest, I think he wants me to
get serious."
"What are you going to say?"
"I don't know. I'll have to see how I feel
when I see him.
I hate to 'settle'. I think Jeff and I are more good friends than anything else.
But he is a dear man and I owe it to him to hear him out. After all, I have known
him all my life and he has never done a single thing to
hurt me. As husbands go, the guy is a safe
bet, a sure thing. I can't just turn my back on him."
"Are you
sure you have to go? I can't talk you out of
this?"
"Of course I am
going to go. After all, I'm technically engaged.
But stop all your worrying. My intention is to
actually call it off and get some closure."
Yeah, sure, right.
I didn't believe a word she said. Right now I couldn't
take any more of this. Heartsick, I
got up from my seat and wordlessly let myself out
the door. We both had some crying to do, but I preferred to do mine
in private.
When I got
home, the phone rang. My heart leaped with hope
that it was Jennifer calling to say she
had changed her mind. But then I decided it was
Victoria so I ignored it. The voice on the
answering machine confirmed it was Victoria. For
crying out loud, will you please leave me
alone!! I can't even have a good cry without
Victoria interfering.
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