A female bartender rushed up to take Jeremiah's order. He, too, ordered the chicken wings. She thanked Jeremiah as if he'd given her a gift and peered at him with starstruck wonder before moving off. Universally, this was how women treated Jeremiah. When they'd both been single in their twenties, Jude had benefitted from going out with his brother even though he was the not-quite-as-handsome, younger, not-racecar-driver one. So many women had flocked around them that it had been like having chocolate drop in Jude's lap just because he was standing close to the main attraction.
“What's the matter?” Jeremiah asked.
“A case.” He downed his second shot.
“You've had difficult cases before, but this is the first time you've asked me to meet you at a bar.”
Jude said nothing.
“Is this case particularly violent or disturbing or something?”
“No.”
“Then what is it about it that's bothering you?”
“It's messing with my emotions.”
“Emotions?”
Jude caught a bartender's eye and tapped on his empty glass like,I'll have another.
“Is there a woman involved?” Jeremiah asked.
Jude combed his fingers through his hair.
“There's a woman involved in your case,” his brother stated.
“It's confidential.”
Jeremiah held his tongue for a minute straight, then said, “Occasionally, when I was falling in love with Remy, you'd mention how miserable I looked. Remember?”
Jude had never named what he felt for Gemma as love. Never thought to himself,I'm falling in love. Truthfully, he didn't know what this was. He hadn't permitted himself to examine it because it could go nowhere. But now that he had an opportunity to tell his brother that hewasn'tfalling in love, the words wouldn’t come. “Are you here to gloat?”
“If you're miserable because you're falling in love then yes, absolutely. I'm here to gloat. But I'm also here to be your designated driver and to eat chicken wings and to say that I haven't forgotten how much it sucked when I thought Remy would never have me.”
One of the Celtics slam-dunked the ball. A cheer went up around them.
“Are you not allowed to be with this woman because it's against procedure?” Jeremiah asked.
Jude nodded.
“Would she want to be with you if not for that?”
“I don't know. She has a boyfriend.”
The conversations and laughter of others crowded in.
“She's the one for you,” Jeremiah said. “Isn't she?”
“She can't be.”
“You'd think, once you find the right person, that the road to happiness would be straight. For me, it wasn't. But I can tell you that it was worth all the stress it cost me.”
He was glad his brother was here so he didn't have to drink alone. But his misery hadn't lessened. It was intolerable. More alcohol needed.
An hour later, he made his way back to the bar from the restroom, bemused to note that the lights in the building were all slightly fuzzy and the edges of things blurry.
“Jude?” a feminine voice asked.
