“THAT is his wife?” Jenny asked, louder than she meant to be still quiet that most people near them didn’t hear.

“I know what you’re thinking, ‘why is he with me and not her?’.  That is a much more complicated topic…”

“We’re not even together, not anymore…”

“Still, to bring you… This is all for show, to make Mommy and Daddy happy.”

“Your parents don’t seem…” Jenny started, being cut off.

“Not my parents, HERS.  Dad was having some trouble with the business, needed some help. He’d worked with her dad, and they had dated during high school, as much as you can when she went away for school.  She was crazy about him, always has been, but only in a bid for money.  So when our dad was having problems, he sweetened the pot by forcing them to get married.  If JC refused, the company would fail and he’d have all this guilt of ruining things for dad. He did the noble thing and agreed.”

“He seemed to hate your dad over it all…”

“Wouldn’t you if you were getting forced to marry someone? He tries to make Dad worse than he is because of it, it makes him feel less guilty if he’d said no.  We all know he didn’t want to, Dad was ready to step away from everything his granddad had built, but Josh went ahead with it to save Dad’s pride.”

“Josh is a pretty decent guy,” Jenny sighed, looking at Heather.

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” she heard whispered in his ear.  He looked up at Heather.  “Not talking shit about me, are you, sis?”

“All good things,” Jenny assured him with a smile.

“Your secret is safe with me,” Heather whispered.

Jenny excused herself to the bathroom.  As she walked up to the sink once she was done, she saw the door open.

“You Josh’s new fling?”  Jenny turned, Alyssa standing by the door.

“No,” Jenny said nervously.

“You’re the only one I don’t know here, you were sitting with Heather, so you must be his latest plaything…”

“Do you love him?” Jenny asked boldly.

“Our marriage isn’t based on that, I’m sure he told you.  Did I once? Yes. Did he ever love me back? No.”

“You dated in high school, how could he have not had feelings for you?”

“That was high school, you should know there’s a difference… Just because we were barely around each other while we were together didn’t mean he loved me.”

“Enough to agree to marry you.”

“Purely business, he made sure I knew that. So know that whatever you have, or had with him, it’ll never be more.”

“Trust me, I’m aware, and that’s just one of many reasons I’m not with him.”

“If you’re here, you were with him, or you’re gonna be.  Either way, I love the power I hold over him…”

“But you can’t marry someone you love, that doesn’t make you upset or something?”

“It’s just paper.  Paper that makes me a very wealthy woman.  I come out at certain times to play the doting wife, then go back home to an amazing man.  I get the best of both worlds.”

“You’d rather be tied to him for money than be married to a man you love?”

“I get an allowance from my inheritance. As long as I live within that, I can do as I please with whoever I please. Sounds like a sweet deal to me…”

“Sounds terrible to me. At some point I’d want more with someone I actually love.  No amount of money would keep me from that.”

“Tell that to my 7 figure inheritance, which I’m investing and making great returns on. With any luck, by the time I get to fully collect on it, it could be 9 figures…”

“But at what cost?  All that money, but no loving husband, no kids.  You’re beautiful, your babies would be breathtaking.  God knows you could afford them.”

“I’ve given up any hope for any of that.”

“Do you want ANY of that? I know not every woman wants to be a mother…”

“Even if I did…”

“Losing money but gaining control of your life sounds like a decent trade off.”

“He wants you, I can tell. The way he whispered in your ear. He smiled as he stood there for a second, he looked so gentle, the man I wish he was with me.  Like he wants to fuck you into next week, but also be loving, affectionate.”

“That was never our relationship, nothing resembling real emotion.”

“Just incredible sex?” she asked with an awkward laugh.

“Yeah,” Jenny sighed. 

“More than I ever got. Even in high school, two horny rich kids with nothing but time and no supervision, we never… I’d almost trade all my money just to know what it feels like to be really desired by him.  I dream about it at night, sometimes, when I’m lonely.”

“I thought you had someone,” Jenny said, confused. 

“Business trips can last a week or more.  I envy you, having that with him.  I never told the other girls he’s brought to things.”

“Why me?”

“Because of how he looks at you. You’re different. What you have with him…”

“It’s over. I’m with someone else.  I’m just a caring friend.”

Alyssa laughed quietly. “Oh honey, I see how you look at him too.  You can’t deny it, there’s still a part of you that wants him.”

“A part I can’t have, so it doesn’t matter.  It’s over, I’m with someone who can give me what I want, what I need in the long run.”

“I admit I came in here wanting to gloat, that I have him in a way you don’t, but I didn’t expect this discussion, for me to wish I had what you do.  I knew he’d bring you, rather, whoever his newest girl was.  You’re different, he’s different around you.  Don’t ignore that, not if you really want him, married or not.”

Alyssa walked out of the bathroom, Jenny following suit shortly after.  It wasn’t until she saw JC across the reception hall that she saw a familiar head of blonde curls, her eyes widening as they made eye contact.

“Jenny, darlin’, I didn't expect you to be here…” Lynn said.

“I found out about the professor’s loss and I wanted to show my support,” Jenny said, trying not to make eye contact with her boyfriend’s mother or her former lover.

“They have a game tonight,” JC recalled, “is he nervous at all?”

“No, he’s excited.  Jenny, do you want to come to dinner with us tonight?  We’re picking Justin up from the airport tomorrow, maybe you could come with us…”

“Let’s do the airport for sure.  I’m not sure about tonight just yet.”  She saw a smile creep across JC’s lips with her peripheral vision.  “How do you know the family, to be here?”

“I worked with him on a community project a while back.  Lynn and Karen put together an incredible fundraiser to get the funds we needed for the project.  My company worked with his on a business deal a while back as well.  I wasn’t on the project, but he was around the office a bit so we’d grab lunch every so often for a bit.”

“I didn't realize,” JC said.  “I was at school during the fundraiser, probably midterms or something, I only knew you as Justin’s parents from this year going to the games.  “You have a very lucky son, I hope you know that, I hope HE knows that…”

Jenny wasn’t lost on the reference to Justin being with her.  She saw Heather and sat back down at the table, feeling JC’s eyes on her as she walked.

The people began to leave, JC quietly pulling Jenny to a side exit after saying goodbye to his family.

“Can we talk?” Jenny wondered aloud as they headed towards a black sedan.

“Where?  About what?”

“Somewhere we won’t be seen, so no one misconstrues, and about a lot of things.”

“Take us to my place,” JC said, the driver nodding as they approached the car.  Jenny got in first, followed by JC.  

It was a short drive to his apartment, letting her in the building and leading her up to his apartment.

She sat down on the couch, JC getting a couple glasses of water to start.  “Ok, no one can see or hear us, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Everything.  Your dad doesn't seem like the guy you made him out to be.  And during the reception, I ran into Alyssa.  Rather, she ran into me…”

“Can we talk about her first? What did she say?”

“She was trying to flaunt that she’s your wife, something I’ll never be.  Then it turned into me telling her she deserves to be happy, that money won’t buy her what she wants.”

“It gets her exactly what she wants,” JC sneered.

“I think something I said changed her. She envied me by the end, that I had something with you she never had, and that I’m not like the other women you’ve been with and brought to things.”

“You’re not,” he sighed.

“I feel sorry for her, with a guy she can’t marry because she’s more focused on money.”

“Well, it sounds like you carried yourself well with her,” he said, surprised by the way the conversation went.

“Are you ready to talk about your dad?”

“Not really. I need alcohol first… I snuck sips from a flask Tyler brought for me, but still had to be discreet.”

JC went to a cabinet, pouring himself a drink, taking a couple sips before sitting down on the couch.

“Big question, why don’t you look like any of them? Is that why there’s issues?”

“I’m adopted,” he said matter of factly.  “Not as a baby, I know my birth mom.  I was another charitable thing they did.”

“You can’t mean that,” Jenny said.

“I love my dad, deep down. Just a lot of resentment for making me marry Alyssa.”

“Heather said he gave you an out and you went through with it anyway.”

“I couldn’t be the reason the company went under.  I always felt different, knowing I wasn’t actually part of the family. Even being the oldest, I never quite fit.  Tyler will eventually fill Dad’s role, I couldn’t do what is expected of me…”

“You married a woman you don’t love to keep the business going and you’re doing what you love.  That’s very selfless and also being your own person. I can’t begin to imagine… Thank you for opening up to me.  You didn’t have to, kept all of this from me. Why?”

“You love your dad, in spite of where he is right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t make my mistakes, Jenny. Don’t resent him for something he probably felt he had to do, whatever it was.  See him as much as you can. Once I could leave the house, I was gone and rarely saw my dad. I regret it so much now.  I hated him for so long over one thing he gave me a choice in. Don’t let that go, keep up that relationship with him, because you never know when it’ll be over forever.  So many things end before their time, appreciate them while they last…”

He found himself close to her, feeling her breath on his face.  He looked into her eyes, closing them before taking his shot. He pressed his lips to hers, needing one last kiss if nothing else.

Jenny melted into his kiss, deepening it.  His hands brushed against her, and a switch flipped inside her. She pulled away.

“I shouldn’t have done that… I… I gotta go.  I’m sorry for your loss, Josh.  I hope you make peace with everything.”  She quickly stood up, walking towards the door, looking at him one last time before she opened the door.