After the fourth time I read it, I pulled out paper and grabbed a pen.
Chapter 9
Briana
The day after I left my reply taped to Jacob’s locker, I found an envelope with my name on it stuck to the backside of the supply closet door.
Dearest Briana,
I laughed.
Thank you for your kind reply and for offering to repair the phone. I had insurance and the cost was minimal, so that won’t be necessary, though I appreciate the offer. I will however accept your invitation to be invited and never come. That sounds like an excellent time. I also enjoy not answering calls, not networking, never leaving the house, and hanging out with my dog.
I’m glad you were able to forgive me, and of course I forgive you as well. I understand what it’s like to go through a tough time and the strain that it takes on your mental health and patience. I think you were generous in your interactions with me, all things considered, and I look forward to continuing to work with you. I hope you’re not too hard on yourself over it and that you thaw and eat your cupcake.
I must return to my isolation now. I need twenty to twenty-two hours of alone time a day to function.
Sincerely,
Jacob
P.S. I’m only partly kidding.
I laughed. Then I read it again. I liked someone who could poke fun at himself.
An hour later, I left a yellow folded Post-it taped to his charting computer.
You have a dog? Can I pet it if I promise not to make direct eye contact with you or make small talk with you about the weather?
–Bri
An hour later there was a folded notepaper taped to my charting computer.
Dearest Briana,
Yes, you may pet my dog. But I should probably mention that Lieutenant Dan likes talking about the weather, so while you might not want to bring it up to me, maybe mention to him what a cold spring we’re having?
Do you have any pets? I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Jacob
We got super busy after that and I didn’t have time to respond before I got off. I stopped at Target on the way home to get some nice paper and a better pen than the cheap Bic I’d been using, but I didn’t really like the selection, so I Googled and found a stationery place called Paper Waits Cards and drove there instead.
For his letters Jacob used really nice heavy paper and this linen-type envelope. It was very fancy and it kind of made me want to be fancy.
It was a nice diversion going into a store I’d never had a reason to go into. It felt like a mission or a scavenger hunt or something. It felt like I had a project that I was actually into.
I went with pink-lined paper that had vintage flowers in the corners. The package came with three prints: roses, lilacs, and daisies. That way I could write him three different letters and they’d all be on different paper.
Once I got what I needed I hurried home. Benny’s dialysis machine was getting delivered today.
It took me two hours to set it up and then a long training session with a dialysis nurse to make sure I knew how to use it. Then I had to hook Benny to it and get dinner going. I watched a movie with him while I monitored his vitals, so it was late by the time I sat down to write.
The writing was really relaxing. Cathartic.
I liked having something to do.
Chapter 10
Jacob
After I left the note on Briana’s computer there was nothing else for the day. The next morning, however, I found an envelope taped to my locker again. I slipped into an on-call room to read it.
She’d gotten new paper and envelopes. She said she didn’t write letters, which meant she probably got them just for this. The thought of her making that effort made me smile to myself.
Jacob,
Lieutenant Dan? Lol
I don’t have any pets, but my brother and his cat have moved in with me, so I sort of have a cat I guess? His name is Cooter. He’s really cute. My brother found him behind a dumpster by a gas station, which I’m told is where the best cats come from. Benny was a college student at the time and he lived in a house with his best friends, Brad and Justin, and they thought the name was hilarious. Now seven years later I have to make psps psps noises in my kitchen and call, “here, Cooter Cooter!” when I need to feed him.
Anyway, I’ve barely seen him in the week that he’s been here. He’s sort of freaked out being in the new place and he hides. I only know he’s alive because he does this 3:00 a.m. zoomy thing where he tears through my house and somehow gets involved with the blinds?
I cracked up.
She was funny. I could see why Zander and Gibson—well, everyone—liked her. I went back to reading.
Okay, so this is going to be super random, but stick with me. I follow this travel blogger, Vanessa Price, and she’s always got these wild stories. Once, before she was married and her husband went everywhere with her, she got locked in a tower in Ireland by this earl who thought it would be funny. She was sooo pissed. I guess towers are really drafty? Lots of bugs, not as romantic as they sound. He gave her this Shetland pony as an apology gift and she was like “thanks for the tiny horse, dick, I want my five hours back.”
I barked out a laugh.
I was just thinking, what if I sucked at apologies and instead of giving you drunk extrovert protection, I’d just given you a small horse. Don’t you feel lucky?
She drew a wide-eyed smiley face and a stick horse and signed it with the letter B.
I read this one twice before I left to start my shift. On my lunch break I grabbed a spinach wrap and some paper and wrote her back.
Chapter 11
Briana
Right before I left for the day, I found an envelope in my locker.
I broke into a grin the second I saw it. It was a little long, and I got a flutter of anticipation when I saw all the pages.
This was fun. I was actually having fun, for the first time in I couldn’t remember how long. I took the letter home and crossed my legs under me on the bed and unfolded the papers.
Dearest Briana,
While we’re on the topic of insufficient apologies, a story for you if I may.
I have three sisters, Jewel, Jill, and Jane. And yes, my parents named all of us with J names. My brother is Jeremiah, my mom is Joy. Please do not hold any of this against me.
Jewel is a tattoo artist. She owns a parlor in St. Paul. She’s very gifted.
A few years ago I lost a bet with her. If I lost, I had to let her give me a tattoo of her choosing.
I don’t have any tattoos. I’ve always been too afraid to commit to something so permanent. But Jewel is amazing at what she does, so I thought she’d give me something profoundly beautiful, an everlasting imprint that I’d cherish. Something I never knew I needed to carry with me through life.
She gave me a tiny lawn mower on my chest next to a small patch of shaved chest hair.
I cackled.
I laughed so hard I think I scared the cat in the other room.
It was sort of surprising how funny Jacob was. He seemed so uptight. But then I realized that it was probably the anxiety that made him come off that way. I felt like there was a lesson here about not judging books by their cover or something…
I read on.
The tattoo has since been lasered off, which cost me eight hundred dollars and was quite painful. She refused to apologize. Something about stupid games and stupid prizes?
If Jewel had lost, she had to shave her head. She shaved her head anyway. She’s always wanted to, apparently, so my losing was a foregone conclusion. I should have known after a lifetime of experience that I am not capable of outsmarting the women in my family—which I suppose was the lesson.