Designs of Love (TP2)

38 - Jen

Jen

Suddenly she was living for the weekend. She traveled to Maine most of the time because Alex had too much work. There was a sixty-day escrow on his house, but the new ugly house closed right away. He wanted to do as much work as possible before he had to live there. Jen spent her weekends with him while he worked. She also helped him with the design.

At the end of June, Avery sat her down for a talk. Jen knew something was on her mind and was afraid Avery disapproved of her seeing Alex. They had made great strides in the divorce having worked out the financials in which Jen got very little aside from her own account. She knew she walked into the marriage with nothing unlike Sterling who had family money, she just wanted to be compensated well so she could provide for herself, especially since providing for herself included weekly airfare. There was nothing left to do, but wait for a judge to sign off on it.

"Jen, you know I love you, but Tom was wondering if you'd be willing to sublet his apartment."

It took Jen a minute to realize what she meant. Of course, Jen was in the way of Tom and Avery. "Oh, Avery! I've been such a bad friend. You took me in when I needed you and then I stayed."

"Jen, I loved having you here, but Tom and I want to take it to that next level."

"I completely understand and it's nice of Tom to offer his place. Finding a decent place is hard."

"He's nice, but he's also afraid of his brother. He's not about to kick you out!" Avery laughed. "Can we keep this from Sterling for a while? He's being a real pain because he thinks Tom and I are too serious too fast."

"Fine with me. That way he won't come over when Alex is visiting. He won't be able to find me."

Sterling might accept Tom eventually, but he would never accept Alex. Truthfully Sterling would probably never like anyone she cared about. If Sterling knew she was sleeping with Alex, he would be ballistic which was ironic since he was sleeping with Trevor.

The Fourth of July weekend, they all went to Maine. Jen desperately wanted to stay with Alex, Avery, and Tom, but she also wanted to spend time with her parents and friends. She couldn't do both. Friday night was poker night and Alex convinced Tom to fly in early to join the game. Jen and Avery were invited to Kristi's house with Megan.

Jen loved the way her two best friends got along, much as she and Kristi did. The wine and laughs flowed. The talk went from Avery and Tom to Alex. From the very first time Megan mentioned Alex to Jen, she appreciated his physical attributes and Kristi didn't hide her opinions either.

Avery joined the conversation and asked Megan if she ever went after Alex when she was single.

"No, not that I didn't think about it. The problem was he was friends with Peter and that wouldn't work."

Kristi added, "He's had his share of girlfriends although we haven't heard of one lately. Who was that last one?"

"I don't know, but remember when his sister called and yelled at him?" Megan said.

Avery asked, "What was Kate mad about? She's always calling Tom with some drama."

"She was upset when he dumped a girl named, Stacey. She wanted to get serious, but he had no interest."

Kristi said, "I love him, but I'm not sure he'll ever get serious and settle down."

Jen listened and said nothing. Was what Kristi was saying true? It would be hard for her and Alex to be serious while living apart. Still, the thought of him moving on to another woman seemed worse than what happened with Sterling.