at MCI," I reminded him. "I don't wanna stay there."
"I'm not kidding. We need to talk. Seriously."
I dug my toes into the comforter on the bed, my free hand mindlessly toying with my hair. "At the Palace?"
"Yeah. I'll send a car whenever you're ready."
"But I never agreed to anything," I said, delicately walking the line between saying yes and no.
"Effie, I'm serious." He actually did sound serious, free from his usual jovial tone. "I've been thinking about this a lot and we need to talk about it."
This was weird but in a good way. I had called him to talk, and here he was asking me to talk while we talked. "Okay, Jack. You're on."
"Okay. I need to finish up some work, but after that, anytime is good. Do you want me to make dinner?"
"Sure." I had nothing better to do.
"So six-thirty is okay?"
"Yeah."
"Be ready then," he said. "See ya, Effie."
The call ended and I sat there in silence. I figured he had some apology to give, some insight into why things were happening as they were. I was intrigued for sure, but I had no idea what direction this would go.
And now my fucking apartment was paid off for the rest of the year. Was he just trying to make me some slacker who sat at home all day doing nothing? I didn't like that idea one bit—but then I realized it was actually up to me to find another job. I had one less bill to pay for the time being, and that wasn't bad. I wondered if should I call my mom and tell her to call off the money transfer.
No, not yet. She liked that she had the opportunity to help me after I had turned her away so many times in the past. My humbling of myself had actually turned out to be a good thing.
I packed some clothes in my backpack and sat there on my computer, watching episodes of TV shows instead of looking for jobs. I didn't know what Jack had up his sleeve, but wondering about it was really driving me crazy. I couldn't focus on anything. In this situation, mindless entertainment would distract me better than job searching, I was sure of that.
Obsessively watching the clock, I allowed the day to fade away slowly. I needed to savor these long summer nights, because winter would be arriving soon and it would be cold as hell. Why couldn't it just be summer forever?
Finally, it was time. The limo was waiting outside, ready to take me to that fancy hotel where all of my troubles had really begun. Jesse hadn't arrived home, so I left him a note on the table that just said "Out with Jack."
The limo was empty, and Percy was friendly and affable as usual. I sunk into my seat and did my best to keep my mind straight. I felt like a canvas, one attacked by splashes of random color from a rogue painter. The colors blended and coalesced, the intended shades a mystery.
Life had too many questions, and the harder we fought to discover the answers, the more they evaded us. You could spend your whole life trying to make sense of everything, only to suddenly uncover the answer the second you stopped trying.
Sometimes you were inches away when it felt like miles. And because you didn't know, you'd actually wander miles away, a self-fulfilling prophecy regarding wisdom.
The trip to Jack's suite seemed to take longer than usual, my mind overwhelmed by flashing memories. What had gone wrong? Had anything actually gone wrong? Were the pieces just finally fitting together? Why did I remain so obstinate, so unwilling to budge with regard to my career options?
What was the source of that feeling?
"Miss Jacobs, we're here. You can sit in the back as long as you want because I've got all night, but I just wanted to let you know we've arrived. It's my duty."
"Oh, thanks, Percy," I blurted out. I hadn't even realized that the limo had stopped moving. That familiar hotel was in the picture, the one I had visited with Jesse not that long ago. It felt like years, but I knew it wasn't.
"Jesus, girl, you've got something big going on in that pretty head of yours." Percy let out a boisterous laugh.
"Yeah. You could say that." I looked away, not quite embarrassed but also not quite comfortable.
I grabbed my bag and bid Percy farewell, walking up to the hotel by myself. Jack wasn't there