SATURDAY NIGHT

Saturday 10 p.m. strikes on the clock in the living room. Jackie impatiently stares at the phone. She is seated on the sofa, and her legs will not stop shaking. Minute after a minute, she feels even angrier and more nervous. This anger is all because Lewis decided to go out with his friends today. She is not the jealous type or possessive, but this time she is feeling a little uncomfortable. They were in a stressful week, and she said she needed some space. Things got heated, and he called a friend to hang out. Lewis left right after breakfast and did not return her calls. He only texted her when he was going home. Therefore, Jackie is getting worried about their relationship.

Jackie and Lewis have been dating for over a year. And now it has been two months since they moved in together. They are very different from each other but similar in a complicated way. This fight started when they went out shopping for the apartment a few days ago. Jackie wanted the yellow chair and Lewis the black one. Guess which one they bought? Exactly, neither! They could not even agree on a simple task. There was a whole argument about those chairs. They have been fighting over space and freedom, and Jackie thinks that acting angry will make Lewis apologize. While Lewis believes that she just wants space from him, so he is giving it to her.

Back to Jackie, she is now talking to herself:

"Well, he said around 10 p.m., right? Now it is 10:15, it is around 10. This means he is doing something more interesting than staying here with me. But why? I do not get it. I asked him if we could have some alone time, and he just left me. Maybe, he is upset with me because I was right about that chair thing. No, it cannot be that. I do not know... I just..."

Steps are near the door. Jackie runs in despair to the kitchen and starts to fill a glass with water. 

"Babe, I'm home. Are you awake? Hi?" Says Lewis as he enters the place.

"Hey, I'm here. I just woke up." Answers Jackie. "So, how was your day? Nervously drinking the water."

Lewis goes to the kitchen, goes for a kiss, but Jackie pretends she didn't see it and steps back. He gets a little confused and stands against the wall. With a fake smile, he answers:

"Well, it was fun. Ted decided to come with us."

"Oh, cool! Wait, didn't you sort of hate Ted?" Says Jackie

"Yeah, I mean, I do not hate the guy. It's just complicated."

"Hum... okay then." Jackie's voice is a little lowered at this phrase, which only happens when she is upset.

"What about you, what did you do?" Says Lewis trying to have a more caring attitude towards Jackie. To see how her mood was.

"It was fine! I worked and went to bed. Just that!" She answers with a dismissive tone. 

Lewis thinks to himself:

"Why is she acting like this? She never goes to bed early on her alone time. She wanted this. So, I went out. Why isn't she happy about it? I just did what she asked for."

She finishes her water and walks in the direction of the bedroom before he could say anything.

"Good night babe!" Says Jackie entering the bedroom in a rush.

Lewis doesn't answer. He stands there thinking of why she was being so cold to him and acting like it was his fault she was alone. Jackie is seated on the bed thinking:

"What's wrong with that man? First, he says Ted is a player and that he's never seeing him again, and now it was fun. The worst part is that he didn't even notice I was angry. He just stood there with that face of "Oh, I care about you, honey." Oh, please!"

Almost at total synchrony, they think to themselves:

"Maybe I should talk to him."

"Maybe, I could talk to her."

Lewis gets closer to the side of the bedroom door, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and goes in. Jackie gets up, and snapping her fingers, she goes out. Like it was ripped out of a movie. Jackie and Lewis hit their heads on each other. Jackie falls to the ground. And Lewis trying to hold her by the waist falls seated on the floor. They immediately start to laugh.

Jackie says, barely being able to speak because of the laughter: 

"Oh my gosh! ahaha! What were you doing, Lewis? Ouch..." 

"What were YOU doing? Oh crap, how did we manage to do this? Ah!ah!ah!" Slowly stopping to laugh, he answers.

Lewis stops to laugh and asks:

"No, really. What were you doing? You said you were going to sleep. If you needed something, you could've just asked me to get it for you."

He is a very intuitive guy. So, he knew something bothered her and that she was coming to talk. That's why he offered her a conversation starter. Jackie, on the other hand, thought he was just coming to find something in their room. And she felt like maybe he wasn't in the mood for talking. So, she lied:

"It was nothing. I was just coming to say goodnight." Jackie answered the first thing in mind, regretting it instantly after saying.

"Again? Asking with a soft giggle." Lewis knew she was lying. "Come on, baby, what's going on with you today? You're acting a little weird."

"Weird? Lewis Francis McCarthy, you know I hate that word! And, there's nothing wrong. With me, anyway." Jackie was already getting annoyed.

"Fine! Whatever you say is true." Skeptically states Lewis 

"What?" She asks, outraged.

"Nothing, forget I said that." Lewis answers as taking off his glasses and cleaning them in his shirt. 

"No, I won't forget that. You're stressed about this. Why? Do you think I don't know my own feelings?" Now Jackie is really defensive. Her head was starting to burn in anger.

"Honey, please. It was nothing." Lewis says trying to avoid a conflict by ignoring its existence.

"Okay, fine. I’m sorry, I’m not in the greatest of moods." Jackie answers. Calming down and getting up.

She stands up and looks at him sitting there. After a minute of awkward silence between the couple, Lewis says softly:

"I can’t do this."

"Wait, what? Are you breaking up? What? Why? I mean… Why?" Jackie spills the words and sits confused. On the outside, she’s shocked but calm. On the inside, she’s desperate.  

'No, no, no, no! Oh my god, no! I don’t wanna break up with you. I love you." He said those words with so much truth that Jackie’s heart missed a beat, and she started to calm down.

"What I mean is I can’t do this fake talking anymore." Said, Lewis. "You say you’re fine and that your day was okay, but I can see it in your eyes that something is making you uncomfortable. And apparently, that something is me, because I say I can’t do this and the first thing in your mind is that I’m gonna break up with you. You asked me to go, remember? Your words were: I need some space from people, I need time to relax. And now that I gave you the time you wanted, you’re blocking me out again. So, please, just tell me what is going on. I can’t keep fighting with you over chairs, or desks, or the time we can’t get back. I don’t wanna lose you. Talk to me, Jackie." His eyes were shining with tears, and his voice was choking.

Jackie lost her words. Lewis has always been honest with her, but she never saw him so emotionally vulnerable like that. She took a deep breath, accepted that she was wrong in playing that manipulation game for an apology, and holding his hand, she said:

"I wanted you." Jackie looked into Lewis's eyes and continued. "We fought so many times this week that I figured a weekend just for the two of us would be perfect. But then, when I said that to you, you left. You understood that I wanted space, and you got out so rapidly. That I didn’t know what to think. I’m sorry for making you feel like this. And I’m sorry for not saying this earlier, but I need you, and I need time with you. I’m sorry" She was holding her tears with all of her strengths.

Lewis was feeling relieved. He touched her cheeks with his hands and said:

"Oh, baby. I will always prefer to spend time with you, even if we fight. And I’m so sorry for leaving you here, alone, thinking I didn’t care. I do care so much. I’m sorry, honey."

He softly kissed her forehead and then her lips.

"So much so that I would rather spend days fighting with you than go out with Ted again, he is awful, and I actually think I hate him." Continued Lewis.

They laughed and kissed again.

"I love you more than anything or anyone, don’t ever forget." Said Lewis

A tear softly dropped from Jackie’s eyes as she laid her head on his lap. 

"I love you too, babe." She answered with a big smile.  "But just so we are clear, the yellow chairs are a much better fit." She said, laughing.

"You are impossible, Miss Parks." Commented Lewis laughing in joy. 

They stayed there for a long time. Lewis ran his fingers through her hair, and they shared everything that was on their minds. The night ended, and so did the space between them.