The Photograph

"Can you come over this evening? There's something I think we need to discuss." She sounded a little worried.

"Is it about the school reunion? I got an e-mail last night telling me about it."

"Maybe indirectly. It has some bearing, but there's something more important, and I don't want to discuss it over the phone." I took this in. "So, can you come over?"

"Of course, you don't think I'll pass up on an invite from my favourite girl do you?" I was jovial about it, but obviously something was on her mind, she just didn't sound her normal cheery self.

I arrived just as Jess was closing her photographic studio for the day.

"You're early." She said, letting me in. I shrugged.

"You sounded out of sorts, so I came over as soon as I could."

"Soppy sod." She hugged me.

"So, what is it that's worrying you? It isn't the reunion is it? I know that everyone wanting to meet you might be a bit daunting."

"No, not at all." She shook her head. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing everyone again." She looked down momentarily. "Come upstairs. I'll make coffee."

I stepped into the by now familiar self contained flat Jessica lived in above the studio and sat down. Jessie disappeared into the kitchen to put the kettle on. She definitely seemed preoccupied somewhat. I wondered how bad it could be. It was even more apparent something was up when she brought the coffee through. She looked really nervous, so nervous her hand was trembling as she handed me the mug.

"Just sit down and tell me Jess." I said kindly. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

"It can." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "It's something I should have told you a lot earlier." She paused and looked away, unable to look me in the eyes. Now I was worried too. "The fact is Dave, I'm still married."

I nearly spilt coffee everywhere.

"WHAT! You're kidding, right?"

She shook her head.

"We've been separated for ten years, since I left the RAF. I haven't seen him since, but we're still married. I'm really, really sorry." She hung her head. I'd recovered a bit by now. I put my arm around Jessica and held her close.

"Don't start with the apologies again." I kissed her head. "But you might have hinted, and then I wouldn't have made that remark the other week about us setting a date..." I paused, realisation hitting me. "Oh! That's what brought this on, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"So, what are we going to do then?"

"You don't hate me?"

"Why would I hate you? You're my girl now." I smiled at her and she grinned back. "Well then, what's the plan? I presume you have one? And that's why you left it till now to tell me, so I couldn't stop you?"

She grinned again, nodding.

"Well, I spoke to my solicitor and he says that estrangement won't be hard to prove."

"Not after ten years apart."

"I've got the papers and found Mike. He's coming round tomorrow..."

"And you want me here." I finished for her.

"Actually no, quite the opposite. I'd like you to stay away. This is between me and Mike."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Certain."

"Well I know you like to do things your own way, so all right. Just call me when he's gone." I sat back. "Now then, let's talk about the reunion. We are going together aren't we?"

------

It was after nine o'clock before she rang me. I was a little concerned. I was even more concerned when I got the call: Jessie was crying. 'We've had an argument', was all she would say. Ignoring how late it was getting I jumped straight into the car and drove there as quickly as I could.

Jessica opened the door to my ringing. Her eyes were red from crying, but more shockingly there was an obvious slap mark on her cheek. In a sudden cold fury I pushed past her.

"Is he still here?" I demanded.

"No. He left. I waited until he was gone before calling."

"You should have rung me straightaway Jess." I took her in my arms. "What happened?" I asked, calming down a little as I saw her face.

"Same as always with me and Mike. We started to argue and things got out of hand."

"I think I want a word with someone who hits women. Where did he go?"

"Dave, I don't think I should tell you. He was a bit drunk and I don't want you hurt. It's my problem, I should solve it."

"It's OUR problem now. Where?" I was now only just holding onto my temper. It was one of the things I hated, men hitting women.

"The little pub on the outskirts." She said quietly. "But I don't want you to go. It's not just Mike, it's me as well. It was always the same between us. We both had such explosive tempers"

"You don't have to protect him you know?"

"I'm not, it's the truth."

"But you're all right with me. I have a temper too you know?"

"You manage to control yourself, and so do I normally, but with Mike I just..." She waved her hand in despair. "Please be careful Dave."

"Jessie, I'm not going to try and beat him up, I just want to put him straight on a few things. Did he sign the papers?"

"He took them with him, said he would see."

"Something else I'll need to talk to him about. Don't worry; I'll call when I have some news." I slipped back out before she could protest any more.

-----

I asked the barman to point out Mike to me. I looked long and hard at him. He was sat with a pint glass, looking at it moodily. Pulling myself together I walked up to where he was sitting.

"You're Mike, right?"

He looked up at me.

"Yep. And I'm guessing you're Dave." He pointed to the seat next to him. "Jessie sent you?"

I sat down.

"Actually, she didn't want me to come. She wanted to sort things out for herself."

He took a drink and nodded.

"Sounds like my Jess."

"Except she's my Jessica now."

"Why should I listen to you?" Mike said with a sneer. I could feel my temper beginning to rise and tried to keep calm. "Running around behind some broad's skirt, sucking up to her."

"At least I don't hit her. Only losers hit women!" I snapped back, my temper going up several notches.

Mike sneered.

"She deserved it."

That pushed me over the edge. I swung my fist around and caught him full in the face, knocking him over. The sudden hurt in my hand brought me back to reality.

"I'm sorry; I swore I wouldn't do that." I held out my sore hand and helped him back up.

"Thanks." Strangely he was smiling. "I hoped you'd have the bottle to stand up to me. I couldn't just let Jessie go to any old wimp." He saw the puzzlement on my face. "Yes, despite all our arguments, I still care for her. You surprised?"

"Not really I suppose. I feel the same way."

"Good man!" He clapped me around the shoulder. "We should get on fine now." I was totally bemused by the turn of events. "By the way, did I hurt Jess?"

"You left a slap mark. It didn't look pretty."

"I'd show the damage she did to me, but this is a public place."

"She said that it was her fault too, the argument."

He shrugged.

"That was our problem; we just sparked each other off. Nobodies fault, so we decided to cut our losses." He sighed. "I kept hoping, but it's obvious we were never meant to be together. Incidentally, watch out for her knee in an argument."

Mike smiled and I grinned back.

"Vicious is it?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

After that we just talked. It was really strange, I had sought him out with a cold fury in my heart but once I realised he was still looking out for Jess in his own way we got along just fine. As I was getting up to leave as they called time he handed me an envelope.

"I've signed the papers, I trust you to give them to Jessie."

"Thanks Mike. I hope you can find someone else."

He just shrugged.

"Thanks for that. I have got my hopes for someone."

We shook hands and I left.

-----

Jessica was still waiting for me. Without a word I handed her the envelope Mike had given me. She didn't open it, just putting it down and then hugging me.

"I'm so glad you're all right."

"We're all okay. Mike has a bit of a broken heart and is a lot sore between the legs, but I think he'll be fine too."

Jess looked down.

"He told you then?"

"He intimated if I do get into an argument with you, it would be a good idea to keep away from your knee." I smiled. "But I don't intend to ever get into that sort of disagreement."

She kissed me.

"Thank you for that. Now I suppose we can start to make some plans."

"I suppose so, starting with the reunion."

"Oh, that first."

"Indeedy do. I reckon we need to get a taxi to the club. What do you think?"

-----

I heard Jessica's Cosworth pull outside my flat while I was still fiddling with my tie. I wasn't convinced that the tie was a good idea, but Jess had insisted. She wasn't going to meet all her old friends with a scruffy-looking partner. I knew she was onto a loser there though; scruffy-looking was my natural state, even with my best clothes on. I opened the door for her and went back to the battle with the tie. I heard the door close behind me and asked.

"You couldn't help me with this could you?" I turned around, the tie half done around my neck. And stopped and stared open mouthed at the gorgeous sight before me. Jessica positively shone in a figure-hugging shimmering full-length dress. She gave a little twirl.

"Like it? I do a little portfolio work for a couple of models and one of them insisted I borrow it." She looked at me. "Close your mouth Dave, you're dribbling."

"Sorry, but you look absolutely stunning."

"Thanks. You look a mess."

"I am a mess. I always was a mess, and I probably always will be a mess."

"Not tonight sunshine, I'm going to sort you out."

"Why bother Jess? Stood next to you I could wear a bin-liner and no-one would notice."

"I would notice. Please Dave, just for one night, let me sort you out."

"One night only then. Then you let me be me."

"Agreed." She walked over to my meagre wardrobe and opened it. "Not much to work with is there?"

"I've got the suit." I protested.

"That's a suit is it?" She sighed.

After half an hour of fussing Jess had got me looking presentable. She looked around.

"What now?" I asked.

"Where's your camera? We need a picture of this."

"You must be joking."

"No. Where is it?"

Sighing I took my camera out of the drawer and handed it over reluctantly.

"Only on the understanding I take a picture of you as well."

"Okay. Its got a timer as well hasn't it?"

"I think so, why?"

"We could get another one of the two of us."

"We can try I suppose, as long as it doesn't take too long. The taxi should be here any minute."

-----

As it turned out we managed to get the three shots we wanted before the taxi beeped his horn. Actually I took more than one of Jessie in all her finery, snapping several when she wasn't looking. Now we were outside the club where the reunion was being held, having confirmed a pick-up time with the cabbie. Jessica looked a little nervous now.

"Are you all right?" I asked. "I thought you were looking forward to it?"

"I was, I am. But I'm still a bit scared. There's going to be a lot of questions."

I put my arm around her and kissed her.

"I'm worried too. But it will be fine. They're all just interested in you. And me I suppose."

"Why?"

"Why me? Because most of them went on to higher education and I didn't. I'll probably fit in less than you dear Jessica."

She hugged me.

"Still with the worrying about silly things, eh?"

"You can talk. Come on, it's getting cold out here." With that we walked into the club hand in hand.

As we opened the doors and entered the function room, the drummer of the live band happened to look up. It was mistake on his behalf as the sight of Jessica in her slinky dress caused him to miss the drum kit. The rest of the group looked at him in annoyance and then where he was looking. The music ground to a halt. Now everyone in the room was looking at us. I desperately wanted to hide, but Jessica had already steeled herself and towed me towards the bar. The band started up again and soon old friends were gathering around us, asking how we were and where we had been.

-----

After an hour or so I was getting tired of repeating the story of how I had found Jessie again, but people were interested so I persevered. At least they weren't asking what I was doing now. I wasn't ashamed to tell them but it was so dull compared with the careers they had all seemed to follow. Jess was revelling in the attention, not caring how often she had to repeat herself. I picked up a few nuggets of information myself, things we hadn't talked about. After all, we had had twenty years of catching up to do in the past six months. I had decided that I wasn't going to get drunk so was being careful. Jessica had no such inhibitions and seemed to be drinking more than ever, but with no apparent effect. I wondered how much was too much for her and hoped I'd be able to spot when it was close to happening. For the moment though she was a gregarious as ever. My friend John, provider of the original photograph, came over and we began to chat. He was one of the few who knew the story of the reunion already and subsequently was more interested in my story.

"Come outside, it's a bit noisy in here." He said. Picking up my carefully nursed drink I followed him outside. "Tell me Dave, why have you never tried to get further up the success ladder?" He asked. "We all know you had the brains."

"But not the ambition mate. I found something I liked and just keep doing it. Oh they ask me to do odd things at times, but I just suspect that's because I get them done."

"You could have done more though."

"Don't nag. Anyway, I'm happy. Even more so now that I've got Jessie. There's a great feeling of satisfaction at times, especially when there are twenty cars stuck behind you." I grinned.

He laughed and shrugged.

"Well, if you ever need another job, just call me."

"Thanks, I'll remember that. Now let's go back in, or Jess will have started a martial arts tournament or something."

-----

It wasn't as bad as that, but she had got up onto the stage and was making a speech. Or that's what I thought. What she was actually doing was making an introduction for someone else's speech. Mine! There was polite applause as she finished and friendly hands pushed me towards the stage. What was I going to say? I stumbled onto the stage, blinking in the light. I remembered what John and I had been talking about, and thought that something like that might do.

"Thank you for that introduction Jessie. I hope it was for me." A laugh ran through the room. "Well everyone, it's good to see you all again. As you can see, Jessica has managed to overcome her shyness." She blushed and got a couple of friendly prods. "Unfortunately I haven't and am in danger of drying up quite quickly. But before I do, I'd like to say a few words about contentment. I really only recently realised how happy with my life I was. Sure, I don't have a lot of money or a high-powered job, but I enjoy what I do. I enjoy my free time and my hobbies. When I found an old picture of Jess, I wondered what had happened to her and decided to try and find her. You know that story by now; she's been telling anyone who'd listen." Another laugh. "While that was happening in here, I was outside talking with an old friend and suddenly it came to me. Finding her and falling in love again had given me everything I needed to be satisfied, someone to share with." Jessica was blushing again. "So, as I'm running out of things to say, I just want to thank Jess for making me so happy." A round of applause rose up. I waved my hand. "And thank you all for listening to my rambling!"

Thankfully I left the stage and Jessie hugged me and planted a kiss on my lips.

"That was lovely Dave. Thank you."

"Well, it was true." I disentangled myself from her. "Anyway, I need a drink now. And you're buying, volunteering me without asking you cheeky madam."

She grinned.

"All right, I suppose I can splash out a little for someone who is so content. And I apologise for not asking, but if I had you'd have said 'no' and then you wouldn't have said those nice things." She kissed me again. "So I'm not that sorry."

-----

The taxi came and took us back to my flat. We dropped onto the sofa, both a little merry, and just sat quietly in each others arms. After a little while I stirred.

"Don't Dave. Let's just stay like this."

"But I need to get the blankets so I can bed down here."

"It can wait for a while. I got something this morning that I want to show you."

"Why have you waited until now to mention it?"

"Because I want to share it with only you, with no pressure from the clock or anything else." I was intrigued now. Jessica sat up and pulled an official looking envelope from her bag. She passed it to me, a barely suppressed grin on her face. I took it and opened it, taking out the contents. A quick scan told me that it was a court date for the finalisation of her divorce. I looked up smiling into her beaming face. "So, what do you think?"

"It's good news." I said waving the paper.

"I didn't mean that." Her look darkened slightly.

"Oh, I see. You want to set up another photograph."

"That's not it either!" She turned away grumpily.

"You mean you don't want pictures of our wedding?" She turned back to me slowly, the grin broader than ever. "Sorry. Think of it as payback."

"It's a good job we're sat down or my knee would have been coming your way, you horrible teaser."

-----

"Have you got the white balance set right?"

"Jess, leave him alone. I know he's your assistant, but I'm sure you've taught him how to take group pictures. Now stand still."

-----

I was sure I hadn't made any more noise than usual as I prepared for the three-quarter hour trip to work, but there was Jessica in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Sorry Jess, did I wake you?"

"Not in the way you think. I always wake up not long after you get up for work, but I usually wait until you've gone before I get up."

"Why the change then?"

"I just felt a bit odd, that's all."

"Anything I can do?"

"I don't think so, but thanks for asking. You don't need to get there this early do you?"

"Not exactly, but since we moved out here I like to allow an extra half an hour." Jessie came into the kitchen and sat down while I finished my early morning coffee. She looked wistful and began to play with the sugar bowl.

"Remember the first meal we had here? It was so romantic."

"That's not what you said at the time! I was threatened with the knee, if I recall."

"Well, fancy forgetting to get the gas and electric turned on, you silly sod. Anyway, bacon sandwiches cooked on a camping stove and eaten by candlelight never tasted so good."

"So, you'll forgive me for that then?"

"I might eventually."

"Eventually huh?" I pulled on my body warmer and picked up my keys. "I better get going." I looked at her. "If you don't feel well perhaps you'd better stay home today."

"I'll be fine. Besides I've a couple of things I want to do. I'll call you later."

"All right darling. Talk to you later."

-----

It was lunchtime and I was still a little worried about Jessie, so I called her at her studio. The receptionist answered.

"Tracey, is Jessie there?"

"Sorry Dave. She and Alan went to the solicitors a couple of hours ago."

"That's odd. Any idea why?"

"No, sorry." She paused and I heard someone else in the background. "Oh, Alan's just come in. Want to speak to him?"

"Okay, put him on." Jessica's assistant came on the line. "Hello Alan, what have you and Jessica been up to?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you. Jess said she'd tell you later on."

"She's being mysterious again is she? Okay, it'll wait. Where is she?"

"I dropped her off at the doctors. She said she'd walk back."

"More mystery." I sighed. "Is she all right? She said she felt a bit odd this morning."