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Chapter 6. Reaction
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     I somehow had to let Jeff know that he might have a son. Fred was really indifferent about the whole thing, once he was off the hook. That made me irritated and we had a fight about it during the entire flight, and over the next two days.

     At first I thought it was pure jealousy, that Fred was disappointed that Jack wasn’t his child and that he envied the fact that Jeff was the real father. Sure, Jack is a great kid and all, but I’m not sure I would’ve been able to handle the whole thing quite as well as I want to believe.

     What would you say if your husband suddenly had to take care of someone else’s child?

     Later I assumed Fred was acting weird because the two of them had a child, but we didn’t, so he envied that instead. While I forgave Fred almost instantly, I’m still angry with Catalina for not telling Jeff earlier. She just took off, without saying anything. She gave birth to his son and let the child grow up without a father. I know Jeff; he would’ve helped her out if he could. But she couldn’t even give him that much credit.

     Since I didn’t know exactly how to tell Jeff about this, a few days passed by without him knowing what was going on. I felt sorry for him, aware of how his life would change completely the minute he found out.

     Fred’s practice ended early the Friday after we got back home, and he came to see me at my rehearsal. It had also ended, and Jeff and I were the only ones left. We were just chatting about things in general, I hadn’t even dared telling him too much about the trip, afraid to accidentally tell him everything.

     “Fred’s picking me up, you need a ride?”

     “I think I can manage on my own,” he grinned back. “I wouldn’t want to come between you and your reconciled husband anyway.”

     “Bah,” was all I could say to that. Idiotically enough, I’d told Jeff about our fight, but not what we had been fighting about. I just mentioned that Fred and I weren’t getting along over some issue. Then I quickly added that it wasn’t a big deal. Instead, I made a huge deal over how we had solved our differences.

     I’ve known Jeff for about fifteen years. He must think I’m weird by now.

     I’m the only one of my friends who is married, and I still haven’t gotten used to it. I’ve only been married for eight months, so I still need some time to settle with it. It’s not too different from before, Fred and I act pretty much the same anyway. I never thought I’d get married at a young age, but I did and I don’t regret it.

     “At least I have someone to reconcile with,” I said. “Isn’t it time for you to go out into the world and find a date soon? It’s been months since you even made an effort.”

     “I’m considering the offers I’ve received thoroughly. I can’t just pick anyone, it has to be…”

     “Jeff? It shouldn’t take months to get a date. It’s just a date; you’re not expected to propose until the second date, at least.”

     “I’ll be fine,” he muttered. “Get off my back. It’s my life.”

     “Not much of a life, if you ask me,” I had to comment.

     “But I didn’t ask you, did I?”

     Fred decided to show up right around then. “Calm down, youngsters. Don’t fight. There’s no need for arguments. How did the rehearsal go?”

     “Great,” both Jeff and I answered at the same time, making Fred laugh.

     “Good, you’re back to being freakishly close. Can you read each other’s minds?”

     “No,” Jeff said when I said ‘yes’.

     “Ah, the magic’s gone,” Fred smirked. “Lex, you ready to go? Jeff, you need a ride?”

     Jeff eventually yielded, as he always does. “Sure. I just have to get my jacket.”

     As soon as Jeff had left the room, Fred pulled me closer. “Have you told him?”

     “No! You told me not to!” I pointed out. “Don’t say you’ve changed your mind!”

     “Just a little. He deserves to know the truth.”

     “Fred!” I exclaimed.

     “Well, sorry, but he does!”

     We were still arguing about it when Jeff appeared next to us. “What do I need to know?” he asked, making me yelp. Fred and I exchanged a look, and that got Jeff annoyed. “I know you’re married and all, but could you stop exchanging looks? I know it’s about me when you do that!”

     “Sorry,” I apologized. “Uh, Jeff… We need to talk.”

     “We do?”

     “Yeah. Maybe you should sit down or something,” I suggested. “We need to talk.”

     “You’ve said that already,” he smiled. “It can’t be that bad, Lex. Just tell me.”

     Just by pure habit, I exchanged another look with Fred, but Jeff just sighed without commenting about it. “Okay… Uh… Okay, uh, you know…”

     “Lex!”

     “You know Catalina?”

     Jeff’s defense mechanism was immediately switched on. “I’m familiar with her, yeah.”

     “We met her in Minnesota,” I quickly said, waiting for him to explode.

     “What? When? Now? How? Where? What?” Jeff stuttered. “Catalina? My old girlfriend? What?”

     Fred decided to be helpful. “She was at the airport when we were about to board the plane. She wrote a letter for you,” he blabbed. I kicked him hard. “Uh, I mean… Old letter. Very old. Probably not even readable. Not worth reading. It was a long time ago. The paper is probably… moldy.”

     “Great, thanks Fred,” I interrupted. “Jeff, we just didn’t want you to-”

     “It’s okay, Lex. Really. It’s fine. Can I see the letter?” I guess both Fred and I didn’t say anything for a minute or two, because Jeff repeated the question with a much more annoyed voice.

     “Of course, but there’s something else you have to know-” I tried to tell him. Fred put his hand on my shoulder.

     “Let him read it himself,” he whispered. “That’s how she wanted him to find out.”

     I reluctantly gave Jeff the fateful letter. “Jeff, don’t be upset,” I begged. “We were going to tell you, but-”

     “Can I just read it?” he cut me off. I wasn’t sure if he was angry or not, his voice had a weird tone I very rarely hear.

     I realized I was holding my breath, and Fred was staring into the floor, while Jeff unfolded the letter and skimmed it through. “It’s her handwriting,” he mumbled to himself.

     A very awkward silence settled throughout the room. “Where did you meet her?” Jeff finally spoke up.

     “Eh, she works at Starbucks, at the airport in Minneapolis.”

     “For how long?”

     “I don’t know. They seemed to know her pretty well around there, so I’d say… A while?” Fred helped out again.

     “Oh. Well, if you see her again, tell her I said hi,” he muttered and grabbed his jacket, walking past us towards the door. I hadn’t expected him to react that way. I wanted to run after him and talk about it, but something held me back, and for once it wasn’t Fred. We both stared at Jeff when he ripped the letter to pieces and threw it in the trash.

     “Great plan, Fred. Awesome.”

     “It’s my fault now?”

     “Obviously.”