Jenny Pt. 06

Constructive criticism and comments encouraged. This is the 'almost' end to the Jenny and Mike story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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Begin Jenny Pt. 6

Jenny awoke to the smell of fresh coffee and bile. At some time during the night, Mike had gotten sick in the short space between the bed and the bathroom hall. She avoided the mess, pulled on a robe, and headed downstairs. Dave had just started to fry some bacon.

"Quite some night you boys had. You seem better off than Mike, at least."

"Good morning, Jenny. I drink, but I don't allow myself to get drunk. It's a control issue with me." He poured her a cup of coffee.

"What happened to Ken?" she asked , as she sipped the black nectar. Dave must have gone out for the coffee beans, because this wasn't the normal homebrew they kept in the house.

"He went home with a barfly. He called me this morning to have us meet him at the lighthouse for lunch, if he isn't back before that, and we could leave from there."

"Good coffee." Jenny thought she would ask what else happened last night, but changed her mind.

She went back upstairs to check on Mike. He started to show signs of life, which was good, and eventually pulled himself out of bed. She took a quick shower and dressed in shorts and t-shirt for the warm weather that had moved in overnight.

While she dressed, she heard Ken's jeep pull up outside, followed by the slam of the screen door as he came inside.

"Breakfast is ready!" called Dave from downstairs. Jenny and Mike made their appearance a few moments later. Dave had gone all out with the supplies available: cheese omelet, cinnamon buns, and fried bacon. Jenny noticed that Ken was staring at her. "Good morning, Ken. Something wrong?"

"Nope." he said, and a knowing smirk crossed his face. "just happy it's Wednesday. Big day today." Jenny heard something under the table, as if Mike was trying to kick Ken.

"Oh? And how's that?"

He shot a smirk at Mike, but cleared it from his face before he turned back to Jenny.

"I got a call this morning. Last minute, I know, but have an interview tomorrow. I thought Dave and I could hit a surf shop this morning, and then meet you two at the lighthouse. We'll head out from there."

"Congratulations. Best of luck." She actually got that out with a modicum of sincerity. She had taken a definite dislike to surfer-boy.

"Besides, Dave and I feel like he proverbial fifth wheels around here. We'd hate to think we were inhibiting you two lovebirds. Right, Dave?"

Dave gave him a look like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. There was a long pause, and then Dave spoke up. "Yeah, right, Ken. Jenny? If it's alright, I, I mean we, I mean Ken and I would like to treat you two to lunch at the lighthouse restaurant. As a way of thanking you for putting us up last night."

"That's sweet of you, Dave. We really only put one of you up, but I think we can accept. Mike, do we have anything planned for lunch today?" She knew they didn't but had to keep appearances.

"No, Jenny. I don't think so." She could tell by the way he was picking at his food that his hangover was really hitting his stomach hard. He paid little attention to the conversation.

When Jenny finished, she excused herself and went upstairs. Dave cleaned up the breakfast dishes, and Mike and Ken moved outside. When Jenny got upstairs, she caught the tail end of their conversation from the upper balcony.

"Stop being such a fucking wimp, for god's sake." That was Ken.

"Leave me alone."

"No, I won't. You can't let her rule your life. I don't care if she is the best lay in the world, man, if she carries your balls around in her purse, it isn't worth it. Be a man for once."

"Who says I'm not?" Mike's anger was overriding his hangover.

"I know what happened last night with Charlene. Either you put your foot down now and get that thing off, or I'll do it for you."

"I think Jenny might be the real deal, Ken. I know she is special. She may just be the best thing that has ever happened to me, despite the weirdness. You screw this up for me, Ken, and so help me I'll kill you. "

"Yeah, yeah. Maybe if you found somebody that still had a set of balls to back you up."

Jenny moved back into the bedroom and slipped her cel phone into her pocket. For some reason, she now thought she might be getting a phone call today.

She looked at the wet spot on the carpet as she went to the bathroom. At least he had cleaned up the vomit.

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The lunch was cordial, at best. They talked about the ride home, the weather, what looked good on the menu, so on and so forth. Jenny waited for the inevitable blowup between Ken and Mike. After their food had arrived, she pardoned herself and went to the bathroom to freshen up. She knew that they waited until she was out of earshot before the subject was changed.

Jenny watched the three men when she exited the bathroom. Mike and Ken were arguing about something, and it looked like Dave was siding with Mike, at least in part. The morning had been filled with tension. Something had happened last night between Ken and Mike, she figured, and it came down to her relationship with Mike. Dave had witnessed it, but thought Mike was in the right. On a whim, Jenny checked the cel phone to make sure that it was on, but really hoped that she wouldn't need it.

Dave stood as Jenny approached, and pulled out her chair for her. Mike started up a moment too late, realized he was on the wrong side of the table anyway, and sat down again. The three men were quiet.

"So, what did I miss? I'm going to get a paranoia complex if conversation shuts down every time I enter a room."

"It was nothing, Jenny. Ken and I had a difference of opinion about a football team we both like."

"Yeah," Ken said. "I think the coach is insane, and that the quarterback should be calling the plays, not the coach."

"You think differently, Mike?" she asked.

"Yes." He stared at Ken. "I think that a coach knows better than the players what needs to happen. He preps the team, he knows the action, and so he should be calling the plays."

It was obvious to her that they were substituting football as an analogy for her and Mike's relationship. "Oh. I'm not one much for football, but it sounds interesting. Tell me, who calls the plays on most teams? The coach, isn't it?"

Ken stabbed a piece of steak. "Sometimes. But if the players don't have the ability to make decisions on the field, it breaks down. People start to think that the coach is arrogant and full of himself, especially if the quarterback looks like a complete idiot on the field."

Jenny turned to Dave. "You've been pretty quiet, Dave. Tell me, who's right? Should the coach call the plays? Or the players on the field?"

Dave was caught off guard. She had talked very little to him since he arrived. He had the feeling that she was watching him the entire time, like a cat might watch a mouse hole, and it made him uncomfortable. "Um, I think there has to a compromise. The coach should be in charge, but if the quarterback sees something the coach doesn't, then he should be able to make adjustments."

Ken snorted derisively, and stuffed some potato in his mouth. "Typical."

Jenny turned to Mike. "Sounds reasonable to me. Mike, is that where you were heading with your point of view?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Big surprise there, Mikey. Dave, get the bill would you? We need to get on the road if we are going to beat the evening rush."

Jenny took her time getting up. "I'll be right there, hon. I want to pick up some muffins for tomorrow morning" she said.

She sat and watched Mike as he left with Ken. They began arguing again as soon as they got outside.

The tension between the four of them was palpable as they moved into the parking lot. Ken walked ahead with Mike, while Dave moved to catch up after he paid the bill. He sidled in next to Jenny and tried to start a conversation, but she was preoccupied and apologized. She walked behind the pair of friends, watching the interaction. They talked, but too low for her to hear.

The jeep was parked next to a storm grate on the far side of the lot, leaving a wide space in which they could talk. When they got to the jeep, Ken turned around to face her and Mike moved to stop him. "Jen, I don't know what kind of nut job you are, but I think the shit you are putting Mike through makes you a royal bitch."

She stopped dead. What did he know about what she and Mike did? "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Ken, shut up" Mike interjected.

"No, Mike, she needs to hear this. Whatever kind of power trip you are on, lady, you can just leave him out of it."

Dave decided it was better if he didn't get involved.

"Mike is free to leave whenever he wants to, Ken. I won't hold him back. And he knows that."

"Yeah, real free, with his dick locked up tighter than a drum. You have him so pussy-whipped he doesn't know which end is up."

"I told Mike what I expected of him when this all started. He knows why I have done everything I have done, and I haven't heard a complaint yet."

"That's because he is a wimp, you bitch. You made him one."

Jenny looked at Mike. He said nothing, and looked at the ground.

"No, Ken. I didn't think he was a wimp, though after seeing him around you I am starting to change my mind." Ken's chest puffed out a little at the comparison. "That wasn't a compliment, Ken. When he is around you, he stops being a man."

"Fuck you, Jen."

"I only wanted to show him how a woman should be treated. How *I* wanted to be treated. And I offered plenty in return. More than you will ever get from a woman, Ken." Jenny took a deep breath. "If my methods were a little out of the ordinary, then 'oh well'. Mea culpa."

"As for being a wimp when you aren't around, if that means pampering his woman, taking her places, and generally showing her attention, then I will take a wimp any time. The fact that he is afraid to defend his girlfriend from the accusations of his friends makes him a pussy in my mind, not a wimp. He puts your so called 'friendship' above our relationship."

"Damn straight, and he should. If that makes him a pussy, then he is a pussy."

Mikes head snapped up at the statement. It didn't count, did it? He hadn't said it - Ken had! It didn't count even though Ken said he was speaking for Mike, did it?

Jenny turned to face him. "Is that how you feel, Mike? If you side with Ken, tell me you are a pussy."

Mike looked at her, then at Ken. He needed an out. There was a long, uncomfortable silence as he prepared an answer.

Mike had to figure out a way to mollify bith Ken and Jenny. Jenny was more important to him than Ken, but he didn't want to lose his friend. He opened his mouth just as the phone in Jenny's purse rang. Her face blanched visibly, and she pulled it out of her purse like it was alive. Nobody had that number except Mike, and he was standing in front of her. He knew something was wrong, and that awareness had spread to his friends. Jenny stared at Mike as she answered the phone.

"Hello?" There was a long pause as the person on the other end spoke. Jenny looked at Mike, then Dave and Ken, then back at Mike. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly, and her eyes started to tear. She was on the verge of breaking down when she spoke again.

She swallowed away the emotion, and said, "Yes, that is right. Five hundred dollars is the reward. Tell me what it said. Wait, let me put it on speaker. I want everybody to hear it." Jenny's hands were unsteady as she pressed the speaker button on the phone and handed it to Mike. He looked at it as if it was going to bite him.

Jenny spoke again, louder. "Okay, tell me exactly what the message was. If you get it wrong, there is no reward."

A female voice spoke from the phone. "I wrote it down just in case, so I wouldn't get it wrong. It said, "Property of Ms. Jenny. If found, call XXX-XXXX. $500 reward'. Well, do I get the money?"

Another tear rolled down Jenny's cheek. She reached to the chain around her neck and gave it a tug sharp enough to break the fragile links. She looked at it for a moment, then looked at Mike questioningly. He stared at her, ignorant of where the conversation on the phone was going. Had he lost something of hers this morning? What did she have that would say 'property of Ms. Jenny'?

"Yes, you'll get the money. Are you at the club now?"

"Yeah, I am about to start my shift." Mike recognized the woman on the phone as Charlene.

Mike started shaking his head back and forth. "No, no, no..."

Jenny's hand held the chain and locket over the storm grate. The heart swung back and forth in the sunlight. She looked at Mike, and her lips drew into thin lines in anger.

"Good. I'll drop it off on my way home. Would you mind telling me where you saw the message?"

"It was written on the underside of a guy's cock, in a henna tattoo. Part of a dragons tail."

She let go of the chain. The locket bounced once on the grate, then fell through a hole and disappeared.

Mike stood there, dumbstruck. The phone slipped from his hands and smashed on the curbside. He started to shake. First his hands started to shake, then his arms, and then his whole body as he collapsed to the ground crying. His voice was a whisper, "no...no...no...no..."

Jenny looked down at Mike She had let only a few tears slip down her cheeks. "I think we both know what happens now, Mike." She choked back the tears again. "I am truly sorry. I thought...I thought you were the one. I thought you would be different."

Jenny looked at Ken and Dave. Ken stared back smugly. Dave looked at Mike. who was staring into space.

"You win, Ken. He's all yours. Dave, it looks like it will be a little tight in that jeep with the three of you and all that gear. If you would like a ride back to the house, you can ride with me. It seems I have an empty seat for the ride home."

Dave didn't even answer. He grabbed his bag from the jeep and ran to the SUV to open the door for Jenny. Jenny wiped another tear from her eye, and straightened her back a little She gave one last look at Mike and turned towards the SUV. As she strolled back across the lot, Mike heard her ask, "so, Dave, how do you feel about museums? I still have a couple of days of vacation left, and seeing as I don't get here very often, I was wondering if you might be interested in taking in the local sights with me. There's something about them that makes me feel warm inside, and I think I could use that right about now."

Dave replied, "I love museums."

"Great. Maybe we could go to one this afternoon. I just need to stop at the house to pick up a few things - you don't mind, do you?"

"No, Jenny. Not at all."

End Jenny Pt. 6