We Need to Talk

A Chapter by audreycrooz

"Jack, what's going on..?" I said bluntely as he walked over to his sofa. He turned to me, giving me another one of his half-smiles. "What do you mean? They were just my friends trying to be funny. There's nothing wrong with that." he said and sat right in the middle of the couch, sprawling his arms over the back of it. Jack had been my best friend for years, and I had no reason not to believe him.

"Would you loosen up a bit? Come on, sit down. Or make some coffee in the kitchen." He said, and I just stared at him. "There's some left-over caramel cheesecake from a few nights ago in the fridge on the third shelf, I think. I know how much you like cheesecake." he laughed. I tried to loosen up, I really did, but being a cop made me always suspicious. Always.

"Jack, you never told me where you worked, or what you even did for a living. Not once. We've never spoken about that." I said, taking a few steps forward so I was standing right infront of him. He stood, and put on his 'serious face'. "Yes, we have talked about it, Kerri. We talked about how I don't want to talk about it. Several times." he said down to me. That wasn't the answer I was looking for.

I laughed, but it was fake. "What are you, Jack? A male stripper? Come on, it can't be that bad. Unless you really are prancing around in a thong at a night club, ha!" I laughed again, but this time it was real. The image popped into my head of Jack skipping around in a thong, thus making my face turn read, and so I laughed harder. He dropped the serious act and laughed with me. I figured it didn't really matter. I didn't need to know his work-life.

"It's fine, Jack. Nevermind. If you don't want to talk about your job, we don't have to." I playfully punched his arm. He smiled at me; it was a wide, happy smile. A smile I hadn't seen from him in quite a long time. I missed that smile, so I smiled with him.

Jack, still smiling, turned to the kitchen and said "Hey, let's have some cheesecake." and walked away from me. I followed him into his tiny kitchen, where he opened the fridge door and pulled out a thin piece of cheesecake. I hadn't had caramel cheesecake in a long time, and I was flattered that he remembered I loved it. "S**t, well I guess there's only one piece left. My fat-a*s must have eaten the other piece yesterday night." he said, and handed the piece to me. "Thanks, Jack. I didn't think you remembered that caramel cheesecake was my favorite." I gave him a slight smile as he also handed me a plastic fork. "Of course I remember, Kerri. Remember that one time your boyfriend broke up with you, so I came over with this BIG 'ol thing of cheesecake and you scarfed it down?" He laughed. I laughed. I remember that. I wouldn't eat anything because I was mildly depressed, so he ended up shoving it in my mouth. "Good times." I smiled up at him before taking a small bit of the cake.

Good times indeed.

prev chapter