Jump

Julia held her coat closely around her face as the fierce sleet threatened to soak her in ice. Finally, she reached her destination - the bridge over the swift Red River. She was almost frozen solid. The only thing keeping her moving was her intense desire to end it all. Julia was counting on the shock of her suicide to make her ex-fiancé feel the guilt, the shame, the horror of her action and be inconsolable in his grief. Murder-murder-suicide of her fiancé, his new lover, and herself had been a close second choice to her solo suicide. The deciding factor was the projected length of time of his suffering. Julia hoped he lived a long life with her memory of what he did to her haunting him the whole time. A quick realization that he was going to be shot dead right before she pulled the trigger would be of little consolation for her.

It took a while for the desolate young woman to maneuver around the iron rail and steel beams. The bridge's designers obviously wanted to make suicide attempts difficult. Julia was sweating underneath her parka-covered clothes by the time she got to a point where she would be able to jump into the swift river water instead of hitting a post along the way or get stuck on one of the concrete bases used to anchor the support posts. She was exhausted, so she took a break leaning against a beam to gather her strength and courage. A severe gust of the cold wind quickly turned her sweat into an icy bath. Julia knew she needed to get it over with as soon as possible. As she hung out on the ledge with one hand, she yelled to the sky as loud as possible, "Fuck you, Hank!"

Just as Julia was about to jump, she heard a man nearby scream, "Damn. You nearly scared me to death! Who the Hell are you and what the fuck are you doing here?"

Julia almost slipped and fell from the shock of hearing him. She looked over to her left and saw a man perched on another ledge like the one she was on. She yelled back, "Stay where you are! Don't you dare try and stop me from jumping. You can't talk me out of it. This is the only way for me."

"What the Hell are you talking about? I'm not trying to talk you out of anything. I came here to jump all by myself. Go away from here and leave me alone!"

"You copycat, I got here first. If anyone needs to leave, it's you."

There was a period of silence during the stand-off while the wind and cold further penetrated their clothes.

The man finally spoke, "Damn, if they find two of us committing suicide, it will take the attention away from my death and my reason for committing suicide. I want my back-stabbing bitch wife to suffer as much as possible. Your suicide will confuse the issue. I'm sorry for getting angry at you, but please go away and let me jump by myself. You can come back some other day."

"I don't think I can. I've got to jump tonight. I'm not sure I can get the courage to do this again. Besides, I don't have anywhere to go. That cheating bastard kicked me out."

After thinking a moment, the man offered, "I've got an idea. You can go to my place. My wife left to go live with her lover. I'll give you the key to my house. Oh, if you don't mind, could you drive my car to my house? It's parked down at the far end of the bridge. I didn't think about it earlier, but I really don't want to leave it here. Someone might hit it accidentally. I don't want someone else to suffer because of me except my wife."

Julia started crying, "Damn you. You . . .You've messed up all my plans."

"I've messed up YOUR plans? You've messed up MY plans. Everything I wanted to do tonight is all fucked up now. As a matter of fact, nothing I have wanted to do lately has gone my way. Why should tonight be any different? Listen, we're both freezing out here. Why don't we both get away from here and figure out what to do. We can always jump later if we want."

"If you don't mind, I could really use a cup of hot coffee. I'm really cold."

"Where's your car?"

"I walked here after being leaving my car at the diner down the road. I think it's still open if you want to go there."

"Good grief lady, you must be frostbitten by now. Let's get in my car and go to the diner to get some coffee."

"Okay."

Julia had some trouble getting off the bridge. The man had his car pulled close to her by the time she got free. Luckily for her, he had the heat going in his car by the time she got in. It took a few minutes with the car heater for Julia to get warm although her toes, fingers, nose and ears were still feeling the effects of the freezing weather. She looked at the man and answered the unasked question, "Julia."

He looked back at her and smiled, "Kyle."

There were only three other customers when they hurried into the warmth of the 50's style diner. A large buxom woman behind the counter greeted them with a big smile. She had on a uniform and name tag that said 'Betty.' "Hey, what brings you two out in this miserable weather? Bird watching?" Her grin showed her lipstick that had rubbed off on her teeth.

Kyle replied nonchalantly, "Suicide. We came to jump off the bridge." Julia was shocked at his willingness to reveal their intent. He was smirking at her expression.

The waitress, Betty, deadpanned in response, "We get a lot of that here these days. My advice is that you should wait until it's warmer and there's enough light for people to see you. If you jumped at night, it might be weeks before your bodies are found. What's the point of a suicide if no one knows about it? So, you two, is this one of those lovers' things -- committing suicide together to be joined forever in the afterlife?"

Julia spoke up, "No. We just met. It was just a weird coincidence. I was planning to jump alone until he showed up and ruined my plans."

Betty reacted seriously, "Hell, I was just joking about you two committing suicide. Were you two really trying to jump off the bridge?"

Kyle said, "Just kidding. Gotcha."

"Good one. You know, they say it's bad luck to jump off the bridge on an empty stomach. You want to see a menu, or do you guys know what you want?"

"Coffee with sugar for me. Julia?"

"Coffee with lots of milk and sugar."

"How about some pie? I make it myself. I guarantee my apple pie and homemade ice cream is the best you will ever have."

Julia remarked, "I can't. I'm watching my weight."

Kyle started laughing out loud.

"What?"

"You were going to commit suicide and you're worried about counting calories?"

Julia grinned. "That doesn't make sense, does it? Ms. Betty, I've changed my mind. I'll have that wonderful apple pie with two scoops of ice cream, please."

Kyle volunteered, "Same for me."

In a few minutes, the two would-be jumpers sat across from each other at a booth that had duct tape covering the tears in its vinyl bench. The apple pie a la mode was delicious as advertised. Betty couldn't help teasing the couple, "You know they say my pie is worth dying for. If you two do decide to jump, do you mind leaving a note that says my apple pie was the reason why you jumped?" All three giggled.

Kyle turned serious and asked, "Julia, if you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to attempt suicide?"

"Hank, my boyfriend, sorry, make that ex-boyfriend, and I have been exclusive for three years. Now I find out I was the only one being exclusive. Anyway, I was sure he was my one and only. I moved in with him two years ago when we got engaged. After a year, I started asking when we were getting married. He kept saying it wasn't the right time yet and got angry any time I said anything about marriage. I found out why. One night when I returned to our apartment after work, my fiancé sat in the living room with a curly blonde bimbo with huge tits and ass almost in his lap. He announced he had decided to move his new girlfriend in and kick me out. I didn't have a clue he had another girlfriend until then. I guess my boobs and butt weren't big enough for him. Anyway, it was his apartment so I couldn't legally stop him from showing me the door. I begged and groveled and cried. I mean I did a lot of crying. On my way out, Hank laughed that he had already cleaned our joint bank accounts out too.

"I was devastated and had nowhere to go and no money to get there. I was too ashamed to call anyone I knew. I especially couldn't call my parents because they hadn't liked Hank in the first place. They told me I was a fool to move in with him without being married. The prospect of hearing 'I told you so' was too much for me. I was feeling bad enough as it was. At first, I wanted to get revenge on him and his new slut but didn't have the guts or gun to kill them. Then I figured the best revenge I could inflict was to haunt them for the rest of their lives by committing suicide. I thought the easiest way was to jump off the bridge."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, now that you stopped me. I'm back to where I was when I left his apartment. I don't have a place to go or know what to do. I bared my soul to you, now what's your story?"

Kyle started with a deep sigh, "Carol and I dated for several years and were married as soon as we graduated from college. I came home after work this evening to see a different car in the driveway. I didn't have a clue what was waiting for me. In the living room, I saw my wife, Carol, sitting next to a man I didn't recognize. Her packed suitcases were waiting besides the door. I barely got a 'What the Fuck?' out of my mouth before she shouted for me to shut up and listen.

"Kyle, I thought I loved you when we were dating, but what I really loved was to get away from my parents more than anything else. When you and I started having sex, it was so good I thought I had it all. Good sex and getting away from my parents - that's why I agreed to get married. It didn't take long, however, for our lives to get B-O-R-I-N-G. As the boring years living with you got even more boring, I decided that I deserved more that just 'settling for you.' I wasn't sure what I deserved until Darryl came to work for our company. Our personalities clicked almost immediately. It didn't take long for us to become intimate. When we had sex, it was spectacular compared to what you and I had. Kyle, you are a nice guy, but Darryl is handsome, charming, intelligent, rich and a stud in bed -- well, he's everything you're not. Believe me, by me leaving our marriage now I'm doing you a favor although you may not see it that way now. My leaving now gives you plenty of time to find a woman who is willing to settle for nice and boring. I'm moving out tonight. I've already taken half the money in our checking and savings. You can have the house. Our lawyers can work on the rest."

Carol and doofus took her suitcases and left. "Oh, I'll send you the address to send the divorce papers to. I advise you to be fair to me or you will regret it." No good-bye, no final hug, and no farewell kiss. I stood there in shock long after she and he left.

"Like you Julia, I decided, in lieu of murder, I would get revenge by laying a guilt trip on her for causing my suicide. Now, I wonder if she would have even cared if I was dead. Hell, she might be happy because she would inherit all my assets with my death. I need to think of something else."

"Kyle, is that offer to stay at your house still on the table? I need some place to stay until I figure out what to do. I mean, if you don't mind."

"Well, they say misery loves company and we're both miserable, so why not? Just follow me in your car."

"Kyle, thanks."

"You're welcome."

They went to his house. Julia was shown the guest bedroom and the bathroom they would have to share. Julia had not brought any nightwear, so Kyle gave her one of his university sweatshirts. They drank quite a bit of wine before feeling sleepy. Given the heights of emotion they had been at earlier in the evening, the crash to exhaustion fell hard and swift.

They talked the next day over morning coffee. Julia asked if Kyle would go with her to retrieve some of her things from the apartment she had shared with Hank. She didn't think he would get violent, but she thought if Kyle was there, he wouldn't try anything. Kyle agreed. Julia called Hank and told him she would be coming by to get her stuff. "Good riddance to bad garbage" was his reply. She teared up but refused to cry. She mumbled something about wasted years.

When they got to the apartment, Julia and Kyle were met by Hank and his new girlfriend, Susan. Hank announced that he had put the rest of Julia's things in garbage bags for her. "I didn't have enough clean bags so some of the bags have trash in them." That was enough for Kyle. He got an idea.

Kyle yelled out at Susan, "Tiffany? Baby, is that really you? Oh my gosh! You look great! How long has it been?" He went over, picked, twirled and hugged the startled blonde. She broke from his grip and pushed him away.

"What the hell are you doing? My name is Susan, not Tiffany, and I've never seen you before in my life!"

"Tiffany how could you not remember? You used to say every time we went out that I was your favorite John of all time. So, you're Susan now. I figured Tiffany was your professional name anyway. I never knew your real name until now. I'm glad to see you've settled down with one man. Good for you. I know it's really hard to leave the profession."

Hank yelled, "What the hell is he talking about, Susan? What's this about him being a John of yours? Were you a prostitute?"

"No. No. I have never been a prostitute! He's lying."

Kyle interjected, "Ooops. My bad, Tiff. I figured he was a John of yours that you fell in love with. I put my foot in my mouth. We better get your stuff and run, Julia."

Susan demanded, "Wait! Tell him I am not some whore named Tiffany. Tell him I'm not a prostitute!"

"Sorry, Hank. Obviously, this must be a case of mistaken identity. Come to think of it, she only resembles Tiffany a little. I made a stupid error. I apologize." Kyle, Julia and the garbage bags left in a hurry to the sounds of loud cursing in the apartment. Apparently, from the sound of it, at least one piece of glassware bought the farm that night, and the night was still young.

Once they jumped into the car and sped away, Julia asked, "Hank's girlfriend was a prostitute?"

"I don't know that." And with a big grin, Kyle added, "And at least for a while, Hank will wonder too." They both laughed.

Julia kissed Kyle on the cheek and said, "Thanks, Kyle."

"For what?"

"For getting a little revenge for me and making me laugh. I didn't think I was ever going to be able to laugh again."

They went back to his house and celebrated the evening's event. Julia put away her clothes and came back to join Kyle on the loveseat in the living room. She had poured some wine while Kyle drank a beer. They started going over work schedules and household chore duties. At the end, Julia giggled.

"Julia, what's funny now?"

"Us. We sound like an old married couple." She changed her voice, 'It's getting late, dear. Let's go to bed, but I warn you, I have a headache.'"

Kyle answered in a pseudo gruff voice, 'That's what you always say. I get more sex from my hand than I do you.' Then he got serious, "This dialogue is hitting too close to home for me. I haven't had much of a sex life in the last six months. Evidently, my wife did, though." He looked sad.

"I'm sorry I brought it up, Kyle. I hope you don't think I was trying to tease you about your lack of a sex life."

"Hold it right there. Julia, we're both recent victims of getting dumped. We're both fragile and vulnerable right now. I hate to mention it, but it might be a challenge for us to live in the same house given our emotional state right now. Given that, I don't think it would be a good idea for us to get into another relationship quickly with each other or anyone else. I admit the idea of some revenge sex sounds good and you certainly are attractive enough to tempt me, but I would feel guilty because I was taking advantage of you. I think one should have sex because of love and not mutual self-pity.

"What I think I'm saying is let's just take it slow and see what happens between us without any pressure. Right now, I'm only interested in friendship and helping each other heal and move on."

"Okay, Kyle. I'll try to get out of your hair as soon as possible."

"Please, I didn't say that to offend you. I want you to take your time and do what you feel is right for you." He paused in despair. "Damn, I can't seem to do anything right with a woman." He started to cry.

Julia grabbed hold of him. "I'm sorry, Kyle. I'm obviously not very good in communicating with a man either. Your idea of taking is slow is a good one. We share the same goals. I want to be your friend also." She hugged him and headed for her bedroom. Then she turned and said, "Thanks for the compliment."

The next few weeks went well. It did take some time getting used to each other's habits. They spent a lot of time talking about each other's family and what happened in their recent failed relationships. The deepest discussions were about whether or not they felt they were to blame and, if so, to what extent did they cause their relationships with Hank and Carol to end. Both assured the other that he or she was certainly not to blame for the most part, but both still hung on to some guilt for it ending. It helped having someone to talk to who had a clue as to how the breakup had felt.

Every time Kyle got a letter regarding his divorce, Julia was there to comfort him. They planned a celebration when his divorce was finalized. Every time something reminded Julia of good times with Hank, she started crying. Kyle provided a dry shoulder and comfort. She seemed to recover faster each time. Her episodes got fewer and fewer.

Kyle was grateful to Julia in many ways. Her income helped offset the loss of income from Carol's leaving. That gave him the money for the lawyer's time necessary to fight Carol's surprising settlement demands. It was obvious that she or Darryl was trying to bully Kyle into accepting a favorable settlement for her in hopes that in his frustration just to get it all over with, he would fold. It looked like they were not finished punishing him.

Kyle also realized how much it had helped him mentally to have a woman in the house. He felt fortunate that he had a woman who seemed to care for him. It didn't take him long before he believed he could confide his innermost turmoil without fear of negative criticism. The only problem he was having with her living in the same house with one bathroom was seeing her partially clothed at times and the horniness that caused. She was a very attractive woman.

Julia and Kyle established a routine that seemed to work for both parties. They did not go out to eat much as both were saving money for when Julia moved out and would then be without a financial partner for living expenses. One of their favorite activities was to watch old movies, eat popcorn, and drink wine and beer. On one such a night, the doorbell rang.

Julia went to the door and opened it. It was Carol. Carol was shocked to see a girl in the house, especially one clad only in an oversized sweatshirt and panties. Julia asked, "Yes, may I help you?"

Carol huffed, "Yes, you can get out of my way, slut." She brushed by Julia on her way into the living room where she saw Kyle sitting on the loveseat with his gym shorts and tee shirt on.

Carol quickly reviewed the scene, "Well, it sure didn't take you long to get over me, or maybe not. I bet you two were going at it before I ever moved out."

Julia moved over to a now standing Kyle and put her arm around him. "Actually, I have you to thank for us getting together. We met at a diner the night you left. After chatting a while, we immediately recognized we had similar interests and that became that. You know Carol, revenge sex can be as good sex as any other kind. I was so happy with him that night, I have been living with him ever since." She reached up and kissed Kyle passionately then continued. "Carol, I was hoping I would see you sometime so I could thank you for letting Kyle go. I admit that I was a bit wild in college, but it gave me experience to bring into the bedroom. I can honestly say, Kyle is the best I ever had and, if I have anything to say about it, ever will have."