Tessa was surprised.“He did?What happened?”
“He ended up agreeing with me.”A sob caught in her throat.
Tessa looked dumbfounded.“What was said exactly?”
Jennifer continued to tear apart the tissues and stare at the sofa table.“I just made him see our differences.I talked about money and lifestyles.”
“What did he say?”
Jennifer sniffed.“He agreed with me.”
No way.“And?All of it, Jen.”Tessa asked.
“He said he didn’t want to be with someone who didn’t trust or have faith in him.”The last words were said in a broken sob.
“Oh, Jen.”Tessa held her as her body was racked with sobs.“That’s not agreeing with you about your differences.That was him wanting your trust.”
Tessa waited until Jennifer calmed down before she left the room and came right back with a cold bottle of water.
“Drink this.You’re going to get dehydrated if you aren’t already.”
She drank half the bottle.The cold water made her throat feel better, and she put something in her stomach, so it didn’t feel hollow.
Both women sat silently.Jennifer picked at the label on the water bottle, drowning in despair, and Tessa waited, concerned for her friend.
“Are you feeling better?”
“No.I don’t think I’ll ever feel better.”Jennifer wiped her eyes and blew her nose on a tissue Tessa handed her.
“Go home, Jen.Get some rest.”
She nodded.“I will.It’s not my turn to close, so I’ll leave early.”
Tessa watched her scrape the label off the water bottle and drop the pieces on the table in front of the sofa.
“I want you to rethink your decision.I think Grant’s the perfect guy for you.”
Jennifer jerked her head around.“Whaaat?”She never thought her friend would say that to her.
Tessa gripped one of Jennifer’s hands.“We have always been honest with each other, right?”
Jen nodded hesitantly, warily.
“I think you made the wrong decision.”
“Why?Remember you told me you didn’t trust him, and as far as I know, you haven’t changed your mind,” she whispered as tears started to clog her throat again.
“I was wrong.I should have said something earlier.I’m sorry you didn’t know how my feelings for him changed until now.I’ve seen you two together.I’ve never seen either of you that happy.I also know it’s the right decision to have a relationship with Grant because you’re not a quitter and stronger than you think.”Tessa picked up her friend’s hands and squeezed.“Look how far you’ve come, Jen.Did you ever, at any time, want to give up or take the easy road because youmightget hurt or youmightfail?”
Jennifer looked at their hands.She let parts of her past slide through her mind.All she went through as a child.She cared for herself and made sure she got to school each day and graduated.She had no adults to help her.All the hard work she had to do to get where she was now.
The suffocating sensation she’d felt since she left him started to loosen enough for her to breathe freely.Tessa was right.She’d come from extreme poverty and abuse, then abandonment, and had made a wonderful life for herself.Not once did she give up or give in.She needed time to think.She was so tired, she couldn’t seem to keep a single thought for longer than a second.She needed to eat and get some sleep.Then maybe she could think straight.
“Go home, Jen.Sleep on it and call me in the morning if you need to talk.”Tessa pulled her into one more hug.
Jennifer nodded, picked up her purse, and followed her friend out of the office.“I’m headed home, Kari.Call me if you need anything.”
“Don’t worry about this place.I want you to feel better.”
