Jenna glanced at her watch. It was almost 11:30pm and Troy still hadn't come home yet. It was Saturday night and Jenna had been hoping to be done babysitting her neighbour's three year old son by now. She impatiently paced around the living room, texting her friends and letting them know she would be late. She walked outside onto the front porch, into the cool Miami air with the August breeze blowing through her hair. Jenna was a college junior about to enter her senior year and during the summer breaks, she lived with her parents at home to save money and spend time with them since she went to school on the west coast.
Troy had moved into the house next door a few years ago with his now ex-wife and son. He was only 31 but seemed to be getting along okay. The divorce was drawn out and long but in the end, he won custody and got to keep the house. Troy was always nice to Jenna as she grew up from a teenager into a young woman and she always had a slight crush on him. He stood six feet tall, worked out almost every day, and was unbelievable charming. He was a devoted husband and father but got married too young to his high school sweetheart. Now that a year had passed since his divorce was finalized, he decided to finally get back out there and start dating again.
Troy had met a woman at the coffee shop in the lobby of his office building and they were out on a date tonight. Jenna had seen Troy off and spent the evening watching his son, Tyler, and watching television. Two unanswered texts and one unanswered call later, Jenna started to get worried. She was sitting on the couch contemplating whether or not she should call Troy again when she heard him pull up in the driveway and hurry up the front steps into the house.
"I'm SO sorry! You will NOT believe what happened," Troy walked in directly to the fridge and grabbed a beer. Twisting it open, he dropped his jacket on the couch and sat down beside Jenna.
"Troy, you're over an hour late and you weren't picking up! What the fuck?"
"Jenna. My date. Holy shit. We were at dinner and having a nice time.. she's talking about work and her friends and travel.."
"Get to the point." Jenna was trying to hurry this story along. She wanted to head out immediately and meet up with her friends before last call at the bar. It was one of the last nights all of her high school group of friends would be together before everyone started heading back to school all over the country.
"Okay, okay. Yeah. So her ex shows up and then I realize that hey, she's not single, he's not her ex, he's her FIANCE. So he tried to kick my ass, we were removed from the restaurant, he drove off and she followed me. Tried to persuade me that it wasn't what it looked like... all of the classic lines."
Jenna started laughing. "That's hilarious. Shit. Did you get hurt?"
Troy polished off his beer and got another one from the fridge. He leaned against the door as he took a sip. "No, but he got a pretty good punch into my ribs. Just a bit sore though."
"Ok well I'm glad you're okay but I need to go. My friends are waiting for me so that'll be $50 for tonight. BUT you owe me though, for staying so late." Jenna picked up her cell phone and walked towards the door where Troy was standing. He pulled out his wallet and handed her a $50 and waited to see her reaction. Jenna looked at him and teasingly coughed as if to shake him down for some extra cash.