Perfectly Lonely - Jessica Marin Page 0,4
of us toward the path to Lake Michigan. Cal employed Mason to be with Jenna when he’s not around, especially since the paparazzi were aggressive with her when the story of her and Avery first came out.
I’m about to ask why she needs peace and calmness today when I look over at her and notice for the first time the purple bags underneath her eyes before she conceals them with her sunglasses. My gaze travels down her body and the looseness of her leggings confirm my suspicions of weight loss. Since it’s not her busy season with her event planning business, the only reason for her stress would be the absence of Cal.
“What’s going on, Jenna? You look like shit.” I was never good at sugar coating my words, nor did I ever try to be.
“How kind of you to think so,” she remarks sarcastically. “I’m fine, just tired.”
“Late night talks with your boyfriend will do that to you.”
“That would be the case if I could get ahold of him.”
“What do you mean?” I ask in alarm, hoping that this isn’t a repeat performance of what they went through before.
“The director is trying to play catch up from delays, so they’ve been shooting scenes non-stop. I barely get to talk to him and when I do, it’s usually in the early morning hours due to the time difference. Text has been the consistent communication since he tries not to wake me because when he’s free, we are usually sleeping. But I want to hear his voice, so I tell him to call no matter what time, but sometimes he’s even too busy for that. Avery hasn’t physically talked with him in over two weeks. They communicate by sending videos to each other.”
“Has he told you how much longer they will be filming?” I ask, partially in concern for her and selfishly for me since I need to know how much longer I get her to myself.
“He doesn’t know,” Jenna says as she shakes her head. “They’ve been filming for three months already and are now in their last filming location, so hopefully soon.”
Three months! I had not realized he’s been gone that long already.
“Are you sure being tired is the only thing that is going on?” I probe, as we finally reach the start of the path to the shoreline.
“I don’t know, Layla,” she says with a shrug. “I guess I just feel lost…I have no clue what I’m doing when it pertains to my personal life.” She sighs and picks up her walking pace.
“Wait, what does that mean?” I ask again, feeling like a broken record with my line of questioning.
“I have never done this type of long distance relationship before and I thought I was cut out for it, but I don’t think I am.”
“Um, news flash, you were in a long distance relationship before or does Jax Morrow not count?” I remind her. It was only a year ago that she was dating the handsome hockey player, who spent most of his time in the minor leagues during his hockey season, which was two hours away from Chicago. He would also spend his summers in Canada with his daughter from his previous marriage. Robert and I both knew this was not a serious relationship for Jenna, as she barely acknowledged they were dating. When she did decide to become more serious about Jax, Cal showed back up in her life.
She stops short and stares at me, her mouth hanging open in shock. “Oh my God! How could I have forgotten about Jax?” she practically screams in hysterics.
“Jenna, is everything okay?” Mason turns back to us, his voice filled with concern at her uncharacteristic outburst.
“Oh, she’s fine, Mason. She’s just realizing what a cold-hearted bitch she is,” I joke with laughter, but quickly stop at Mason’s questioning look.
“I really am a bitch!” Jenna says and I know from the sound of her voice that tears are starting to well up in her eyes. I immediately grab her hands and squeeze them.
“Jenna, you are not a cold-hearted bitch. It’s understandable that you would have forgotten about Jax,” I reassure her in hopes to make her feel better.
“How is that understandable? I shouldn’t have forgotten about him! Jax doesn’t deserve that — nor did he deserve how I treated him,” she says and I see her take a deep swallow of guilt as she has a quick mental trip down memory lane.
“You have a lot on your mind right now.