our Weeks – Episode 22 – “Thirty Three”
Written by J.D.Denisson.
A sequel to the movie “This is Where I Leave You”.
Characters and back story based on the novel “This is Where I Leave You” by Jonathan Tropper.
Copyright 2016 J.D.Denisson.
Previously…
I’m at a party. I don’t know where I am or who the party is for. People are around me, talking, laughing, drinking. I make my way through the crowd. I’m looking for someone, I don’t know who. The music is loud and I can’t hear myself think. The bass throbs, a thump, thump, like a heartbeat. Then I see her. She’s on the balcony, looking out over the city. She’s not alone. I walk out and say her name. It’s a familiar name, but one can’t quite put a finger on. There’s a man with her. They’re huddled together talking. Her hand is on his arm, affectionate, personal, intimate. Hey, I say, what are you two doing out here? Just getting some air, she says. Great party huh? says the man. I think he’s a friend. Or maybe he’s not. Maybe this is not innocent. Maybe I should see this for what it is. Maybe I should stop it, right here, right now.
…
“You want to know?” she asks me angrily.
“I think I deserve to know.”
“All right...” She takes a breath. “When I went to the hospital you were on the bed. They’d stitched up your head and they were watching you. You had concussion, and you were talking and talking.”
“I don’t remember any of that,” I tell her, but she puts up a hand to silence me.
“And then you started to tell me what you think. What you really think. And now I know.”
“Know what?”
“What you really think of me. And then you made me tell you about the first time I... when I told him I loved him.”
And it’s all become clear to me. The picture has been assembled. The moment I lost her. They’d been sleeping together for a few months by then, but it was only sex. Right then, at that moment, it all changed. It became a relationship. Her bonds with him started to grow strong and hers with me started to fade – slowly, so slow that I failed to see it.
“The New Year’s party at Wade’s,” I say, “On the balcony. I interrupted you two. God... I was an idiot not to see it.”
“And now you know.”
“That’s in the past.”
“Apparently not. Apparently you want to dredge it all up again. You won’t let me forget, will you? You won’t let me forgive myself because you keep bringing this up and I just can’t live like this anymore.”
…
“Quinn is almost a month away from when you lost him, isn’t she?” Grant asks me.
I’m nodding. I can’t speak. The tears have stopped but the grief remains.
“Then she is feeling all of those things again. She’s feeling them because she’s becoming afraid. She may not tell you, but you should know she’s going through that. And it will get worse over the next month.”
“What can I do?”
“Tell her how you feel about it. Be honest with her. And this will encourage her to tell you how she feels.”
…
We do the show, but he’s distracted. He’s thinking about the ramifications of the article. I’d like to think that Chloe is the first thing on his mind, and maybe she is, but he’s thinking about the show as well.
She rings him during our after meeting and he asks us to leave his office so he can talk to her. When I come back in after half an hour he’s still sitting behind his desk, starring into space.
“You alright, buddy?” I ask him quietly.
“She’s kicked me out,” he says simply.
“She’s seen the paper.”
“She has.”
“What are you going to do?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll go home and get some clothes and find a room somewhere.”
I’m no stranger to the process. I can remember the dread that comes with finding yourself adrift and alone, abandoned by the one that is supposed to love you no matter what.
I sigh. “You need any help?”
“I’m fine,” he lies. “She’ll calm down in a couple of days and I’ll talk my way out of it, like I always do.”
“You don’t sound so confident.”
“I suppose that I’m not trying to charm my way back into her pants. Things are different now. I mean, I love her, and I’ve hurt her and I don’t want to lose her.”
…
“Neither Quinn nor I told these people about you and Chloe, which means that someone else talked. Maybe we should try and find out who that was.”
“There’s another thing as well.” I look at him speculatively. What else could there be? “Our New Year’s party has been cancelled. …what with me being here and Chloe not letting me in the apartment.”
“You’re joking, right? You’re worried about a party, with all of this going on?”
“Parties are what make all of this crap bearable. And my New Year’s Eve bash is the one everyone looks forward to. You always looked forward to them. So, I know this news is going to bring you down. So, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t fucked up…”
“We probably weren’t going anyway,” I tell him simply.
“Am I hearing you right? You two always came – without fail.”
“Well, this year would have been different.”
He closes his eyes. He always does that when he thinks. He’s distractible, and this blocks distractions. I wait for whatever thought bubbles to the top of the pile. “This is about Quinn and me, right?”
Thirty Three
Monday
Wade tries to keep his head down the next few days. He tries to do his show like he has been this last month. People are ringing in, wanting to know more, but we’re not giving them what they want. We don’t want to pour petrol on the fire. Not just yet anyway. I have an idea forming, but I want to get it all in place in my head before I pitch it to him. The network hasn’t returned to talk to Wade. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Wade is still staying at the Ritz. It’s costing him a small fortune, but he’s got plenty on money and he doesn’t seem to care. He wants to talk to Chloe but she’s not taking his calls. Karma has moved into Wade’s life, crashed on his couch and has been drinking beer from his fridge.
I’ve been thinking about our problems and I think I’ve finally come to a solution that may deal with everything at once. But this answer involves Quinn, exposes her past sins, and I can’t do that to her without her permission. Over coffee, in the place we met when our relationship was fragile and slowly growing, I explain it. She listens intently, her eyes betraying the small amount of shame that still resides within her. She doesn’t respond angrily, sarcastically, she nods and considers what I have said carefully.
“And you think this is the best way?”
“I do. I’m not sure there is any other option. I’ve been going over and over it, and nothing else has come to mind.”
She sighs. “I’m going to trust you, Judd. Everything in me is telling me not to, but I’m going to. I’m doing this because you came to me first and you were straight with me – and that you care about my opinion and you care about how this will affect me.”
I nod slowly. “I guess I’m worried most about your blood pressure. I don’t want to put you into hospital; I don’t want you to have complications. I certainly don’t want to put you and Rachel at risk.”
She leans forward, places her forehead against mine and closes her eyes. “I know,” she says quietly. “And I know that you’re doing
this more for us than for the show. I know you want all of this to go away – and if this is the only way to do it – then you have my support.”
“Well…” I say, exhaling deeply, “now all I have to do is convince Wade.”
Tuesday
“You want me to what?” Wade asks.
“I want you to tell the truth,” I tell him. “On the radio. Friday, when we start up again for the year.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Not at all. The mistake we made was trying to bend the truth to suit us, and that doesn’t work. Someone is always suspicious, someone always finds out the truth. That’s what happened here. Let’s take that away from them. And more than that, let’s do it so none of those bastards can profit from it.”
“I don’t know...”
“Think about it. Yes, you screwed up. Yes, you slept with my wife. Yes, she slept with you. Yes, we’ve all managed to work things out. We’re better than the mistakes we’ve made. You’re better than your mistakes. You can be a man about it and own up to them, and make up for them. You’re a living, breathing example of what can be done. You see?”
He starts to smile. “I suppose,” he says.
“Just go on there and tell the story your way. Tell the truth. And use this as a chance to tell Chloe that what they wrote was a lie.”
“She won’t listen.”
“I’ll get Quinn to call her and get her to. What do you think?”
“Do you think it will work?”
I nod my head and he grins.
I’ve been watching everyone for the last few working days, looking for the person who leaked the real story to the press. I’m sure I have them, only