As the sun goes down on our evening, Jacque steps outside to return Pamela her phone and says he'll explain everything to her later. He politely asks that I stay inside and not make any noise, so I respect his wishes. When he returns, he tells me he didn't lie to her or kiss her, but plans to end it with her in the morning.
"Now, that I have you back, I need to end it with her, and you're ending it with Grant in the morning," Jacque says it so demanding it turns me on to have a real man in my life again. He lays down next to me on the bed we once shared and now share again, and cups my face in his palm.
"I can't believe you're really alive, all this time, and all I had to do was look for you," Jacque says softly.
"My Mother-" I begin to say but Jacque shushes me, "I'm sorry, that woman, really tried to connect with me about losing her two husbands and relating to me, I was all too vulnerable, and you're right, she took complete advantage of that." Jacque rubs my face gently as I explain all that happened and he simply looks at me in awe, as if it is the first time we made love. I turn over to look into his deep blue eyes that always reminded me of a deep blue ocean, wondering if my eyes remind him of dirt. I giggle at the thought.
"What's so funny?" Jacque asks. I lick my lips softly and kiss him.
"I was just wondering if my eyes remind you of dirt," I say with a light giggle again, thinking he might laugh. He looks deep into my eyes and sighs.
"No, they remind me of waking up to morning coffee with you in the early hours, the tree stump by our apartment with the dark brown spot in the middle, the hazelnut boots I put on before we went to work," he replies. How can he remember so much after all this time. All I could think of was the deep blue sea.
"Did you ever sleep with Pamela here? On our bed?" I ask so carelessly changing the subject. Jacque grabs his face with his large hands and chuckles softly. This annoys me so I grab his hand covering his face and yell: "Whaat?"
"That's the thing, we just slept," Jacque answers so honestly, I can't help but want to pry a lie out of him. "She knew it was taboo to have sex in my apartment, so she'd always want me to come over her place, but I feel more at ease here."
"So, you did sleep with her," I say with a slight pout in my tone. I roll back to my left side, back turned to him and feel like a child who was lied to about Santa Claus. Of course they slept together, men still have desires and needs, and women function differently. It almost makes me wish I had slept with Grant.
"Natalie, c'mon, we were together for six months, I thought I had to move on, and she's a very sexy woman, what was I going to do?" Jacque explains it so nonchalantly, it disturbs me a bit, but I am a logical and sensible person and know that I thought he was dead, too. I take a deep breath and roll back to my right, facing him.
"I know, it's just so unfair, I've only ever enjoyed sex with you. No one else. And you were literally my last," I say with a light laugh, making him smile after he gets the joke. "So, you're really going to end it with Pamela tomorrow?"
Jacque strokes my face gently, and tugs a strand of hair behind my ear. He looks deep into my eyes and doesn't speak for a long time, making me believe he's forgotten to answer my question. But I know him well, and I know that he likes to think carefully about his words because he's very articulate.
"I will simply tell her the truth: 'Natalie is not dead, her mother lied to both of us, and I need to be with my wife.' If she needs further assurances, I will invite her over so she can see I am not lying, but she knows I'm a man of my word, I don't doddle or lie about things unnecessarily, but," Jacque turns back to grab his phone off the bedside table, "I can call her now if you'd like and ruin this moment, just know there's going to be a lot of crying."
I slap the phone out of his hand playfully and wrap my arms around him, softly kissing his neck down to his shoulders.
"No," I say through muffled kisses, "I want to enjoy this moment for as long as we can." Jacque gently strokes my back as I initiate another round of love-making. It all seems so effortless, the way we connect to each other, as if not a day has passed since we were last together. I manage to tear up after our passionate consummation, and Jacque holds me tightly as if I was about to have a seizure. I assure him that I'm crying out of joy.
I never thought I could feel like this again. So, we continue through the night, passionate and sensual, with only one break to eat, and continuing the night.
As the sun slowly peeks through the blinds, I grunt in a disapproval tone, telling the sun to go back down. This makes Jacque laugh in his barely awake voice, which makes me laugh, and starts a contagious laughter between us. As we slowly come back to reality, my phone goes off, and it's my mother. I stare at it for a long while, with no real intention of answering it, but contemplating if I even should answer.
"Who is it?" Jacque asks after a drawn-out yawn, "Lover boy?"
"Jealous?" I ask a little too cheekily, making him rub his eyes to open them more properly. I sigh deeply and put my phone back down on my bedside. "It's my mother- sorry, no- that woman, I just let it go to voicemail." I rest my head on my palm, while tracing the scar on Jacque's chest. I can't forgive my mother if she really was behind it all: the car accident, the death certificates, the gravestones, paying Lawrence to lie to both of us. I can't forgive her this time.
Jacque raises my face up to his and kisses me softly on the lips. I look at him more closely now, and see the bags under his eyes; I begin to laugh.
"What? Why are you laughing?" Jacque asks with a still raspy morning voice. I begin rubbing my eyes to feel the bags under them as well and stop laughing.
"We look like we've been up all night!" I say after I lay back on the bed.
"Well, yeah, but it was fun, right?" Jacque says this as he continues to rub his eyes. "Don't worry, I have remedies for this, give me one second." As he dashes through the bedroom to the kitchen in nothing but his socks, I hear my phone vibrating again, and this time it's a number I don't recognize, so I answer it.
"Natalie? Hey, it's me!" I recognize the male voice, but it's a little staticky, so I say: come again?
"It's me, your old brother-in-law: Lawrence?"
"Lawrence, of course I remember you, it's been a long time since you cut me off from the family," I say loudly enough for Jacque to hear and come running back with packets of under eye masks. He insists on taking the phone from me, but I hold up a finger, assuring him I have it under control.
"How'd you get this number?" I ask quizzically.
"Ah, you know, I heard you were in town from an old friend and heard you were looking for my older brother at the magazine place," Lawrence continues prattling on about nonsense I can't fathom. Jacque begins opening the packets of under eye masks, while suppressing his desire to grab the phone from my hand.
"Uh huh, well, I was just as confused as you, I mean what a coincidence! But, if you want to discuss it some more, we can talk about what I found out at my hotel in Manhattan," I say this as Jacque's eyes widen, wondering what I'm plotting. "Okay, sounds great I'll see you there at noon, I'll text you the address, alrighty, bye-bye!" As I end the call, I begin to chuckle in spite of my horrific genetic relations to that woman.
"What did you just do?" Jacque asks as if reprimanding a child. I bite my bottom lip while smiling and jumping off the bed to find my clothes. "Natalie, c'mon, please let me in on what you think you're doing?"
"That woman, has already figured out why I'm here, and I want her to, because I'm not letting her get away with this, not this time," I explain almost a little too cheerfully, as if I'm not afraid of my plan falling apart. However, I had a lot of time to think this through carefully, and I know my mother has gotten sloppy over the years with her plotting. I've been one step ahead of her ever since I found that Jacque might be alive. I'm not the weak little girl she thinks I am; I've learned from her, and paid more attention than I care to admit.
"Please let me in on it, I don't want to be in the dark, I've been there far too long," Jacque says this so sadly, I start to be more serious and cup his face with my hands. After a long and soft kiss on the lips, I pull my pants back on and take a deep breath.
"I know how to play these games my mother claims she doesn't play, and I know how to play them better than her," I explain as I go out to the living room to search for my silk shirt which was thrown in a fit of passion after we went out to eat last night. "You see, after I started connecting the dots, and knowing how sloppy my mother can be when she relies on predictable human behavior and her inability to think three steps ahead, I knew Lawrence would call me after she attempted to call."
"Wait, how did you know my brother would call you?" Jacque asks very confused.
"I know my mother, almost too well, even after all the years she pretended to have changed, I figured it out very quickly," I continue to explain as I grab my hair pins from the bed post.
"Wait, so why are you rushing to get ready? It's only 7 AM, you're not heading there till noon," Jacque asks even more confused.
" I need to set the stage, as you photographers always say," I sit to catch my breath but continue to put my shoes on.
"Okay, Natalie, maybe it's too early or maybe it's the lack of sleep, but how are you functioning right now and please tell me where you're going?" Jacque asks while rolling back on the bed and stretching.
"I'm going to get my mother caught, legally and above board, using your brother, is that okay?" I say this a little too quickly as if I have the whole plan completely figured out. Jacque stares back at me, a little too unsure if he is okay with using his brother. I see the war he has with himself, contemplating if he should even agree to something before knowing the full plan. He takes a long and deep breath before rubbing his eyes once more.
"Only if you explain this to me in full detail, so that I can help you," Jacque answers so confidently, it makes me smile.
I know I can pull it off, and now I have my husband at my side to help me.