Jared and Jessa Part I
Jared sat at a big table in the back of Il Caprice. He was a Pasadena native and had been coming to this restaurant with his family since he was a kid. He was there with his mother and father, his sister Madison, her husband Allen, and their four-year-old son Tommy. He looked around at all of the people seated around him who were smiling and laughing with one another. Jared felt like such an outsider. That is how he felt most of the time, despite the fact that his whole family had gathered that night just for him.
“Are we getting dessert?” asked Tommy. “I want dessert!”
“Ssh, ssh,” replied Madison. She looked up at Jared. “What do you say, Uncle Jerry? Indulge your sweet tooth?”
Jared shook his head. “No, I---,” he started to say, but before he could finish, the faint sound of the birthday song started creeping up from behind him. Soon, the whole restaurant joined in the singing. The smiling waitress placed a round chocolate cake in front of him with exactly thirty lit candles on top. Madison reached into her purse and pulled out one more.
“Thirty-one for good luck,” she said as she lit it and placed it beside the others. “Now, make a wish!”
Jared closed his eyes and really thought for a few seconds. He blew out the candles and everybody cheered. After dinner, Jared and his family walked out to the street.
“I want to go to Uncle Jerry’s house!” Tommy shouted.
“Not tonight, little man,” replied Allen.
“Next time,” Jared offered, but Tommy was already enthralled with a spinning pinwheel in the closed storefront of the toy store next to the restaurant.
“What are your plans now? Going to meet some of the guys from work for a drink?” asked Ruth, Jared’s mom.
“No, not tonight,” he answered with a yawn.
“How about grabbing a beer with your old man?” asked his dad.
Jared shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m just going to call it a night.”
“BORING,” teased Madison. She winked at him as she reached out to give him a hug. “I love you, baby brother.”
“Thanks for everything, Maddy. Love you too.”
“And I love you, Uncle Jerry!” Tommy exclaimed, wrapping his arms tightly around Jared’s right leg.
He reached down and tousled Tommy’s dirty blonde hair. “Goodnight, little man.”
Jared hugged the rest of the family before all of them dispersed into different directions down the streets of Old Town. Jared sat in his car on Central Avenue fiddling with the buttons on his XM Radio. He settled on a talk show with a pleasant-sounding woman giving advice to someone.
“Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results,” she said. Jared’s mind started to wander and his eyes drifted to a little dive bar close to his apartments. It had always looked intriguing to him, but he had never gone in. “So if you want something you’ve never had,” the woman continued, “you’ve got to do something you’ve never done. It’s really very simple…”
Just then, as if something was guiding his hand, Jared found himself parallel parking in front of the bar. He got out of his car and walked inside. The place smelled like cigarettes even though smoking had been banned in bars and restaurants for years. It didn’t seem like cops or much of anyone else stopped by that often, so they probably didn’t have anything to worry about. There was a jukebox in the back. A blinking neon sign that read, “Bada Bing!” with the silhouette of a naked woman hung above it. A couple drunk barflies sat at the far end of the bar laughing and slapping each other on the backs.
Jared took a seat.
“What can I get you, stranger?” asked the bartender.
“Whiskey, neat.” Jared pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. No missed calls. He didn’t know why he even checked anymore. Habit. The bartender set his drink in front of him. “Thank you,” Jared said.
After a few sips, the door opened loudly. Jared looked and saw a woman enter. She was beautiful with thick, long brown hair that reached down to her waist. She wore a long black skirt and she walked with purpose. Jared looked back down at his glass.
“What can I get you?” asked the bartender.
Despite all of the empty seats at the bar, the woman sat right next to Jared. “Rum and cranberry please.”
“Rum and…”
“Cranberry,” she repeated and then started digging through her large leather purse.
“Does that even taste good?” Jared asked before he could stop the words from coming out of his mouth.
The woman looked at him, a little startled by his question. “Yeah, it is actually.” The bartender set the drink in front of her. “Want to try it?” she asked.
Jared shrugged and took a sip. “Hmmm...not bad,” he said, sliding the glass back to her side.
“Yeah, I used to get rum and Cokes, but the Coke kept me up late at night, so it’s rum and cranberries for me now.”
“I see.”
“Plus,” she continued. “The cranberry juice is good for U.T.I.’s.” Jared looked at her. She covered her mouth with her hand. “Jesus, Jessa. Learn to shut up for once. I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I tend to over-share with strangers sometimes.”
Jared smiled and replied, “That’s all right. I don’t mind.”
She smiled back. “What’s your name?” she asked.
“Jared. Yours?”
“Jessa.”
“I like that,” he said almost inaudibly.
“What?”
He cleared his throat. “I said, ‘I like that.’ It’s pretty.” He could see Jessa blushing. After a few moments of awkward silence, Jared asked, “Do you mind if I over-share something with you?”
“Absolutely not,” Jessa replied, tipping her head back to consume the last of her cocktail.
“Today is my 30th birthday,” he said.
“Oh, well, happy birthday! The next round is on me.”
“That’s not the part I wanted to share,” he continued.
“What is it then?” she asked, waving the bartender over.
Jared looked her dead in the eyes. “I haven’t slept with anyone in almost two years.”
Jessa’s eyebrow raised with curiosity. “Well,” she replied, “I guess we better order a couple more rounds.”
Jared felt delicious chills run up and down his spine. He couldn’t believe the dumb wish he had made on his birthday cake earlier that night was actually coming true.
Oooooh, what is going to happen next?!?
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