Unexpected

Chapter 4

Maggie still hadn’t decided what she was going to do after passing the Nebraska bar. She had a job offer at the law firm she had clerked at throughout our second two years of school, pending her successful passage of the bar, but was also considering moving with me to Washington D.C. in the fall. Maggie wasn’t nearly the planner that I was -- I was much more stressed about her lack of a concrete game plan come September than she was. Things typically seemed to just work out for her, as they never did for me, so I knew she would be just fine no matter what direction she chose.

As much as I loved spending time with Maggie, the rest of the day all to myself sounded amazing to me. As an introvert (an introvert that could pass convincingly as an extrovert, but an introvert all the same), I had always adored time to myself.

Despite the temptation to hole up in my room with a good book, I was determined to maximize every moment at this paradise. I went back down to the beach for the rest of the afternoon, returning in time to enjoy an amazing dinner for one prepared by our villa’s chef. Before an early bedtime -- despite my nap I was still exhausted from our crazy day of travel and pampering the day before -- I went for a quick dip in the pool. I could certainly get used to this...

 

While I was eating breakfast the next morning, again out on the deck (because how could I not with that view?), I heard the front door open. A visibly chagrined Maggie joined me on the deck moments later.

“You dirty shacker!” I mock yelled at her, using my favorite college term for when a girl stayed overnight in a guy's room.

“That’s so funny that you used that word -- I was just the worst shacker ever in college with Jack--my roommates would give me so much shit about never sleeping in my own bed,” she said, flopping down in the deck chair beside the couch I was sitting on.

“So…?” I prodded.

“So…,” she responded, teasing me.

“C’mon, you’re killing me here. Remember you barred me from watching TV, you’re my only source for drama or entertainment here!”

“I don’t know what to say! Yesterday was...it was perfect. Jack is just..he’s just so...Jack, you know? Ok, I realize you don’t know but we just had the best time together,” Maggie was all but gushing, which I had never heard her do. “He wants us to spend as much time together as we can -- he’s here for two weeks as well. I feel like a total dick leaving you here all by yourself, though, this was supposed to be our amazing girl’s vacation and I’m being all ‘that girl’ that ditches her friends for a dude. I HATE that girl.”

“You are SO not that girl, I promise. Maggie, seriously, have fun. You deserve this after the hellish three years we've been through. We have the entire summer to talk while we’re studying for the bar, just enjoy yourself. All I want to do is just lay around, read crappy romance novels that I haven’t had a chance to read in ages, and sleep -- all things I can do by myself. You know how happy I am in my own company, so it’s really a non-issue. Plus, he’s painfully hot. I’d do the same thing in your shoes, no question.”

“God, Charlie, you’re the best friend ever, what did I do to deserve you?”

“I’m sure it was something very, very good,” I teased. “Now get back to Jack, before someone else snatches him up.”

“That’s why my plan is to never let him leave his room,” she laughed. “Well, that and the insanely amazing sex.”

I threw my pillow at her. “If you’re not going to share all the dirty details, I don’t want to hear about it. And I hope his room is far, far from those loser friends of his’ bedrooms.”

“It is, he has the master and it's on a completely separate wing. Char, it’s just so, so amazing being around him again, it’s like no time at all has passed since we've been together. Except it’s obvious that it has ‘cause we’ve both matured so much, and all the issues we used to have just seem to have disappeared.” She moved over to sit next to me on the couch.

I patted her on the leg, nodding knowingly. “That’s just the sex talking, dear.”

“Shut up!” she laughed, ramming me with her shoulder.

“It’s great to see you so happy, Mags. You deserve it.”

“Thanks, reconnecting with Jack is pretty much the best graduation present ever. What’s crazy is that it’s so unexpected, I hadn’t even thought of him recently, you know? Then to come across him here of all places. It just feels like fate or something.”

“Not to bring up a potentially touchy subject, but why did you guys break up in college?”

“That’s the thing, we broke up because he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life and no apparent drive to figure it out. He played basketball and that was really his only focus -- so much so that he didn’t graduate in four years like he could have, like I did. I tried to push him to get shit figured out but he just kept putting things off. I finally had enough -- I knew nothing was going to change until he wanted to change it. Well, me breaking up with him and leaving to go to law school must have been just the kick in the pants he needed, because he finally realized he wanted to be in the medical field, so he graduated, applied and got into PA school, which is a two year program, and bam, here he is today. He’s already got a fantastic job lined up in Chicago -- Charlie, if you would have known him three years ago, you would be amazed by his transformation. Jack was always the best guy: the life of the party, the friend that would do anything for you, and a super sweet and romantic boyfriend. But a huge slacker. And I couldn’t be his mom, you know? I’ve always been really driven and I knew if I pushed him into being what I wanted him to be, we’d both end up resenting each other until it killed our relationship. Oof, sorry for the monologue, I guess I needed to get all that out.”

“Don’t apologize, I asked!” I said and gave her a quick one-armed hug. "I know it’s early to even be talking about this, but have you thought about whether you’ll see each other when you get home? It’s quite a distance from Omaha to Chicago; I mean, nothing crazy, but long distance relationships never seem to work."

“We haven’t talked about it yet, but I’m sure we will. I'd like to see where this could go. Chicago is one of my favorite cities ever so, who knows?”

“But you’re taking the bar in Nebraska, does Illinois even offer reciprocity?” I asked, referring to the process by which certain states will allow those that pass the bar in one state to practice in another state without having to retake another bar exam. Having to retake the bar exam would pretty much be my worst nightmare.

“Slow down, Charlotte, sheesh!”

“I’m sorry, I’m a planner, you know that about me. When you plan, you have control over things and control...well, control is a good thing.”

“I had really hoped ‘non-law-school-Charlotte’ would let go a bit more than ‘law-school-Charlotte,’ but I’m beginning to see that’s not likely,” Maggie teased.

“I may be ‘non-law school Charlotte’, but I’m still ‘Charlotte that needs to pass the bar or she’s dead,’ so, yeah, not all that different. But I’m currently playing the part of ‘free as a bird, vacation on a private island Charlotte,’ so I say, don’t worry about the future, just have fun with Jack while you can, k?”

“I knew I’d like laid back Charlotte!”

“But use protection!” I couldn’t help throwing in.