When you see my face, hope it gives you hell

It was easy, being with Jacob. I had thought it was easy to be with Jason, but after being with Jacob I realized that Jason and I spent most of our time arguing. While it could be compared to the great love story of Allie and Noah from The Notebook, most of the time it didn’t feel that romantic, just exhausting. Jason and I both had such short tempers, and big buttons that both of us knew how to push. We were constantly setting each other off. Jacob and I just had fun, and it didn’t matter what we were doing, it was just… Fun.

I didn’t get much sleep being with him either, but it’s not because of why you might think. While we did plenty of… Well, that, mostly it was because we’d lay down in bed together, planning on sleeping, and just start talking. I could talk with Jacob for hours, and we never ran out of things to say. We’d start off on something simple, what we were going to do tomorrow, and the next thing we knew, the conversation would have branched out into what we were doing for the rest of our lives, and then what we thought the future was like, and if we’d ever get the point where the Jetsons were a reality…. We’d bounce from one place to another, one rambling, pointless conversation after another, and the next thing I knew, it was four AM and we were both wide awake.

It was in one word, amazing. I did spend some time with his Mom, as well. She told me that while she loved her rough and tumble boy, she did always want a daughter, and looked forward to the day when Jacob settled down and she’d have one. She took me shopping, to the spa, out to eat… And she was so much like Jacob that it was easy being with her too. So easy, in fact, I often found myself forgetting she was his Mother and gushing on and on about how great he was. At one point I even let it slip that I could easily see myself marrying Jacob. As soon as it came out, I was horrified. I had only physically been with Jacob for a week, if that, and while we did talk through email while he was deployed, that was still not even a year. Who says things like that? I was afraid I looked like some crazy clingy freak who just had her sights set on marrying the first man that came alone.

Jacob’s Mom, however, just laughed. And then she told me that if Jacob was lucky enough to get me, she’d certainly be happy to have me as her daughter-in-law. That made me beam. I was so used to Jason, again, and his family who, with the exception of his little sister, barely tolerated me. His Dad was such an angry man, and his Mother such a broken woman that I never got to know them. And here I was, feeling like I was best friends with Sandy after only a little bit of quality time.
Everything was going so great, but still, I was paranoid. Every place Jacob took me, I wondered if Michelle would be there. Things were going so great, that I couldn’t help but think that someone or something would pop up to ruin it. I didn’t think I was a pessimistic person, but it seemed to me that when it came to relationships, it was never this easy.

“So. How’s it going?” Toni asked me one night I was there. She had called to tell me that they had seen the baby for the first time on ultrasound, a tiny little blob that Nick had named Ping, since they didn’t know the sex and it looked so much like a ping pong ball.

“Good. Really good. I just can’t wait to get home though.”

“Why? Sandy driving you nuts?” I heard her munch down on something.

“No. She’s great, but being here just puts me on edge. I kept expecting

Michelle to pop up and cause some drama. What are you eating?” I asked, slightly annoyed at the loud crunches in my ear.

“Celery. It’s so good.” She said, munching some more. “Michelle’s not going to pop back up, so just relax and have a good time.”

“You hate celery. And how do you know that Michelle’s not going to show up somewhere? She’s like, fifteen different types of crazy. I think random stalker is included in that.”

“She’s crazy, yes. I’ll give you that. She’s also smart, and she just took a HUGE blow to the ego. She’s not going to come back right now. She’s too busy licking her wounds and plotting. I don’t think she’s gone for good, but I think she’s smart enough to wait until you’re gone before she makes a move.”

“Oh great.” I moaned, “now I just need to worry about her making a play for Jacob when I’m not around.”

“Yeah. I mean, she’ll try. But, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Jacob wouldn’t have picked you over her if he didn’t really want you. He’s not a game player, if he wanted her, he would have chose her. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“How do you know all this stuff?”

I heard Toni munch down on another piece of celery. It cracked loudly in my ear.

“I don’t know. It’s like, if I were still dating, I probably would have told you to be paranoid, and watch your back and protect your man and all that. Once you get married though, it’s like the clouds part and you can see other people’s relationships so clearly.”

“Well thanks for sharing your wisdom, oh wise one.” I joked.

“Thanks for listening to me and not wrecking the best relationship you’ve had yet.” She joked back.

I took Toni’s advice to heart, and decided the next day with Jacob (which happened to be my last in his hometown) I would relax. I would stop looking for Michelle every place we went, stop panicking every time I saw a girl who looked slightly like her, and I would just have fun.

We spent the day with his Mom, going to all the museums and local hot spots they had in their town. You know the kinds of places you go to during every school field trip? We went to a bunch of those. We hit favorite local restaurants for breakfast and lunch, and Jacob’s Mom cooked us a huge homemade meal for dinner. I really felt like I had an idea of who Jacob was now, an inside look as to how he grew up. I could picture him, a little boy, (although when I picture adults as children it’s always the adult head plastered onto a child’s body,) running the streets, playing soccer, raising hell. All the stories Sandy had told me really came together in my head, and I really felt like I knew Jacob a whole lot better.

“So, kids. What are you up too tonight?” Sandy asked, clearing away our dinner plates. I stood up to help her.

“I wanted to take Ella over to the club. See what we can get into.”

Sandy paused, and gave Jacob a look. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yeah. Why not?” Jacob answered, shrugging.

“Well, Ella can’t really dance, not with her ankle. It’s going to be loud and hot…”

“Yeah, but Ella likes music, and they’ll have a live band. We can just go and sit and listen.” Jacob argued back.

Sandy gave him another long look. Then she turned to me. “Does that sound like something you want to do hon?”

Now it was my turn to shrug. “If it’s too much we can always leave. Right?” I asked, looking at Jacob.

“Right.” He answered.

After I got freshened up, I went to meet Jacob downstairs. He was in the kitchen with his Mom. I could tell that they were arguing, but their tones were harsh, and I couldn’t make out what they were arguing about. I tried to eavesdrop for a few moments, straining my ears, afraid that they were fighting over something I did, but I still couldn’t hear. I decided that it was better to not know, rather than to get caught listening in, so I walked into the kitchen where Jacob and his Mom stopped talking.

“Well. Have fun kids.” She said, her voice strained. She was giving Jacob that look again.

“We will.” Jacob answered, breezing out of the house.

“What was that all about?” I asked once we were in his car.

“What?”

“You and your Mom? Arguing? She was shooting you looks? Did I do something?”

“No. God no, Ella. She loves you. So much I think if she could disown me and adopt you she would.”

“Well, then what’s going on?”

“She’s just worrying over dumb stuff. You know, she’s a Mom.” He answered.

Even though he didn’t really tell me anything, I decided to drop it. I was here to have fun, and as long as I hadn’t done something to piss off Sandy then I wasn’t going to worry about it.

Jacob let me out in front of the club and went to go find a parking spot. It was a little chilly, and I was glad he had handed me his coat before he left. I wrapped it around me and leaned up against the wall, trying to get support. My arms were starting to kill me, being on crutches, but at the very least they were also starting to get toned.

Jacob walked up a few moments later, and we went to go stand in line. He wrapped his arms around me, rubbing my arms to help warm me up. I snuggled into him, excited for an evening of music and dancing… Well, chair dancing for me. I loved live music, and I got excited over the prospect of finding a new band to listen too. We talked while we waited, we had gotten there early, and while that meant good seats for us, it also meant waiting a little bit until they decided to let people in.

I was feeling relaxed, chatting with Jacob about the places I was going to take him when he came to visit me. I should have known that’s when it would happen.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. Or at least I thought I did. I had seen Michelle all over the place since getting her. I turned to get a better look, to assure myself that it wasn’t in fact her.

It was her. And just as I was trying to duck her, to avoid being seen, she turned and spotted us.