“I’m glad to hear that.” I am glad, but it also hurts, because it confirms what I thought before, that as long as I’m around, Jess couldn’t heal.
“She’s had a lot of stuff to work through, but at least she’s honest about it now. She dropped a few classes, she's seeing a counselor, and she even took up yoga. She still runs a lot, eats and sleeps not very much, but she smiles more. She even laughs sometimes.”
“That’s good.” I’m ready to end this conversation, go back to the bar and drown my feelings another way, but one more question is eating at me. “What about her boyfriend?”
“Michael? He’s in Korea now, but I’m not sure you could still call him her boyfriend.”
My heart gives an involuntary leap. “Why not?”
“They had a big fight before he left. When she called to tell him she wasn’t moving with him. He told her she was immature and selfish,that she’d led him on and made him blow a lot of money on her. She told him he’d never taken the time to figure out who she was or what she actually wanted, that he was only interested in the person he was trying to make her into.”
“You heard all of that?” I’m thinking that Jess’ roommate has a big mouth for a psych major. Something I’m grateful for right now.
“Some of it I heard. They were both pretty loud. Other stuff she told me later. We’ve gotten close. I think her telling him off was the catalyst for her getting better. One night she was packing up everything she owned to run away with him. Two days later, she called to tell him where to get off. I don’t know where she got the courage.”
A grin plays around the corners of my mouth. Maybe my conversation with Jess had more of an effect than I thought.
“They kind of got over it. He apologized, and she promised to be more honest with him. But she’s not. He still calls her almost every night, but a lot of times she texts him she’s working late when she isn’t. She doesn’t act like she misses him. Not like you’d think she’d miss the guy she’s engaged to.”
My heart stops. “Engaged?”
“Well, engaged-to-be engaged according to him.”
“But she doesn’t have a ring?”
Angelica shakes her head. “No. They have a weird relationship. Michael is he’s used to getting what he wants and telling other people what to do. Kind of a control freak. That doesn't work for Jess. At least, not the way it did before.”
Something like hope bubbles up inside me. I work to push it aside, but despite everything, it’s still there. “Has she ever said anything about me?”
“Not at first. At first, she wouldn’t even tell me about Matt. She was…I don’t know, shut down. Like all there was in her life was school and her work at the hospital. It took some work, but I got her to talk to me.”
“But she told you about me?”
“I asked her who you were after…” she hesitates, like now she realizes she’s said too much.
“After?” I prod.
“The first time I heard your name was Jess talking in her sleep.”
I’m floored. “She said my name in her sleep?”
'Yeah."
We're still taking up space on the little dance floor, but I don't care about the annoyed looks we're getting from the people as they try to move around us.
“Why would she say my name?”
“I’d guess she has some unresolved issues when it comes to you.” Angelica looks unsure of herself, like she said too much again. “Things she won’t talk about during the day come out in her sleep. Did she always talk in her sleep?”
“I don’t know.” My head is swimming.
“Maybe it would help her if you two got together and talked things out. She’s here now.”
“Here?” I scan the room
“Sorry, not here, here. She’s at home. I drove up with her from Spokane. I’ve never been on this side of the state. She didn’t want to go out tonight, so I dragged Taryn along, but she’s not much of a–”
“Jess is here,” I repeat. “Do you think I should call her, or stop by?”
