Heartbreaks and Cigarettes

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” 

That was the only thing running through my mind as I stood covering my naked body in front of my dad. I quickly turned away from Jonah and my dad and put my shirt back on. When I turned back around my dad was gone. I grabbed Jonah's shirt, that was hanging off the edge of the coffee table, and handed it to him as I ran past him into the apartment's hallway.

“Dad?” he turned around when I called him “Hey! What are you doing here?” I tried to act as casual as possible hoping it would mask the last few awkward minutes of our lives.

“Hey honey!” My dad seemed to agree with this idea.

Right then my mom came in from around the stairwell “Oh, surprise!” she threw her hands in the air

As I went in to give my mom a hug my dad continued “We decided to come into town a little early for some fun. We wanted to surprise you, but I guess you're busy” Never mind, he just made it awkward again.

“Oh, it's fine! You're not interrupting anything...” I avoided eye contact with my dad and led my parents into my apartment. Jonah was still standing by the open door.

“Mom, Dad, this is my friend Jonah. Jonah, this is my mom Amy Lynn, and my dad David Lee.”

Jonah extended his hand out to my parents “ It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Barnes. Lynn has spoken so highly of you both.” I'm glad Jonah was able to recover his normal charming self.

We all went into the living room and sat down. I could tell by the look on my dad's face that he was pretty much scared for life. I was actually kind of surprised he wasn't making a huge deal out of it.

I grabbed some drinks from the kitchen and brought them over to the living room. We sat and talked for a little while.

“So where's ya'lls luggage?!” I looked around to see they had nothing in hand

“Oh, we dropped it off at the hotel before we came here" My mom replied as she looked around the tiny apartment hinting as to why they'd made the decision not to stay.

 I looked over at Jonah and my dad and they seemed to be having their own conversation. I wasn't sure what they were talking about so I tried butting in but right then there was a knock on the door and I went to open it. It was the pizza guy this time. I rolled my eyes thinking about how different my night would have been if the pizza came earlier instead of my dad.

I brought the box over to the breakfast table and went into the kitchen to pull out some plates.

“Mom, dad, I ordered some pizza, come eat!”

My dad looked down at his watch “Anna, we're going to miss our reservations, we better get going!”

“But, you guys just got here...” I said in a sad voice but really I was dying for them to leave.

My mom walked over and kissed me on my head “I know baby, we'll do something tomorrow. We just wanted to stop by and see you. Jonah, it was so nice to meet you!” And just like that my parents were gone.

“Well that wasn't traumatizing and weird!” I looked over at Jonah as we closed the door behind my parents.

“They're so sweet. I don't know why you make them out to be so bad”

“Well, for starters, this was the first time I'm seeing them in months and they made dinner reservations without me”

“Touche” Jonah shrugged his shoulders.

After we devoured the pizza and finished the rest of our movie we went into my room and laid across the queen sized bed. I propped myself up on my elbow while Jonah laid on his back staring up at the ceiling.We both seemed to be lost in thought but I finally broke the silence.

“Jonah, are you planning on moving to LA?”

Jonah furrowed his brows and rolled his head over to look at me “What are you talking about?”

“You left your phone out a few days ago and I saw a text from someone asking if you were ready for the move to LA” Jonah stared at me as if he were caught off guard “You weren't going to tell me?”

“I was going to tell you this weekend.” He said as he went back to staring up at the ceiling.

“So, then it's true, you're moving to LA?”

“That day you came by to see me at work...”

“The day you had a meeting with the network's execs?” I remembered how stressed out Jonah had looked that day and suddenly everything was making sense.

“Yeah...We aren't allowed to talk about it until it's official but the Late Night show is moving to LA. Of course not everyone can just pick up and leave so they're offering me to be a producer for the show along with keeping my current position”

“That's huge! So, that means you're going?”

“I haven't decided yet”

“Well, what's the deciding factor?” I leaned onto my elbow again and Jonah turned back towards me.

“Come with me”

I laughed for a second before I realized he was being serious “I'm in school, you know I can't just leave, Jonah”

He sat upright and let out a sigh “You're always talking about how you're second guessing med school. If you come out to LA with me, maybe you'll find something that you like better”

I sat up and thought about what Jonah said before I responded “I know I said I have a rocky relationship with my parents, but they'd completely disown me if I dropped out of medical school.”

“So, if he didn't disown you, you would do it?”

“Maybe”

“That's what I don't get Lynn, why do you keep doing things for other people? Why can't you just do what you want and be happy?”

“I don't think you understand, Jonah”

Jonah angrily stood up and walked towards the bedroom door “I followed my dreams despite what my family wanted me to do. I didn't follow someone else's plan for my life so, you're right Lynn, I don't understand.”

I didn't know what to say. He was right, this was my dad's plans for my life, not mine, but I didn't want to admit it. I stared at Jonah for a minute. I could tell by the expression on his face that he was waiting for me to respond. When I didn't he dropped his head and let out a sigh “I'm gonna go. I think we should talk later” he turned around and continued to walk towards the door. I opened it for him and watched Jonah leave.

I went back into my room and slipped under the blanket. I laid there staring up at the ceiling until I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. I tried to keep it in while Jonah was here, but I didn't want my emotions to reflect his decision on moving. He was a talented guy with a bright future and I didn't want to be the one to hold him back. But, I wasn't ready to lose him. I had finally felt what it's like to be loved by a real gentleman. Someone who, despite all my flaws, made me feel like I was the only woman in the world.

I heard Kadie sing hello as she walked into the apartment. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes.

“Lynn? Are you here?” she called out before walking into my room “Oh my god, what's wrong?!” Kadie saw my red puffy eyes.

She came around to the other side of my bed and threw her arms around me. I told her about my night from the awkward dad intrusion, to Jonah getting a new job and leaving for LA. We talked the rest of the night until I dozed off into sleep.

I spent the rest of the weekend mopping around the apartment. Being the best friend Kadie is, she canceled all her plans to keep me company. We spent most of the time sitting around in our pajamas watching movies.

The week had flown past so quickly. I still hadn't seen my parents since the first night they came into town. I was busy the whole week drowning myself in books getting ready for an exam. Once Thursday had rolled around and I was done with my exam my mom insisted that I come to dinner. I went back to my apartment to freshen up and then headed over to an Italian restaurant in Hell's Kitchen to meet my parents.

I stood waiting next to the iron fence outside of the restaurant when I saw my parents walking with another couple.

“Lynn!” My mom excitedly squealed as she hugged me “How was your exam?”

“It went okay. Just glad it's over” Everyone laughed. I was still waiting to find out who they were.

“Lynn, this is Dr. and Mrs. Anderson. They're here for the convention this weekend. Turns out they're in town early and are staying at the Plaza a few rooms down from us. How funny, right?” My dad smiled as he looked over at me.

“Oh, that is funny!” I smiled back and shook their hands. Right then a tall boy with dark hair ran out of a cab and to the couple.

“Hey, mom and dad, sorry I'm late!” he hugged his parents and shook my parents hands. “Dr. Barnes, it's good to see you again” ...again? Was everyone hanging out with me?!

My mom introduced me “Lynn this is Dr. and Mrs Anderson's son, Jamie” as we shook each other's hand my mom continued “He's also in med school here in the city!”

“Oh, awesome! Are you at Mount Sinai as well?”

“NYU” he replied with a half smile.

We all went into the restaurant and followed the hostess to our table. As soon as we sat down both of our parents immersed themselves into conversations. Jamie and I both sat staring at each other while doing an awkward head nod and lifting of the eyebrows.

“So, are you first year?” I tried to ease the awkwardness

“Second.” He responded shortly. The dimmed lighting was casting a slight shadow on his face accentuating his cheekbones and squared jawline. “Just so you know, I'm not interested. I'm really not feeling this my parent's kind of forced me to be here” Jamie pulled out his iPhone and tapped away on the screen. What an asshole!

“Wow. Well, I was expecting to have dinner with my parents, so I'm not too pleased to see you either!” I angrily ate my dinner and avoided eye contact with Jamie for the rest of the night. Who does he think he is? Just because you're not interested in someone doesn't mean you can't have a decent conversation with them. Ugh.

As soon as we were done with dinner I left the restaurant in a hurry using the same excuse I always use “Oh no!” I stared down at my phone “Kadie's locked out of the apartment! I have to go!” My parents didn't seem to mind, they were too busy socializing with their new friends. I hugged and kissed them goodbye and went outside to hail a cab.

A few minutes later Jamie walked out and stood beside me. Without saying a word he lit a cigarette and started smoking. I made a disgusted face and rolled my eyes. When I turned back around there was a cab coming so I raised my arm in the air. Just as it stopped Jamie opened the door and got inside.

“What the hell is your problem?!” I yelled as he shut the door behind him.

Jamie rolled down the window “Drop the 'good girl' act” he took a long inhale of his cigarette and threw it to the curb before the cab drove away.

This had to be the worst week ever. I really needed to see a normal person to cleanse my palette of Jamie's arrogence. But unfortunately Sarah, Jebrone, and Henry were leaving for Cozumel tonight and Kadie was working late. When I was finally able to get a cab I gave the driver Jonah's address. We hadn't talked since he left my apartment but I really just needed to see him.

Jonah opened his door surprised to see me. When I walked in I saw a couple of packed boxes. He saw what I was looking at and responded “I decided to go to LA” I just couldn't catch a break this week.

Jonah turned away from me as he continued talking “I'm leaving next week for a couple of weeks to set everything up and I'll officially be living there by next month.”

I couldn't seem to find anything to say. I pulled Jonah's arm to turn him around and gave him a tight hug. I felt him lean down and kiss my head as he hugged me back. We stood hugging each other without saying a word and that was all that needed to be said.