Kayla stood in the middle of the bedroom she shared with Steve. Only she wasn’t sharing it with him yet; today she was still tiptoeing around Jack in this room. But she loved it here, even with Jack’s things laying around. It was still a place that made her feel a familiar comfort, even all this time later.
That comfort made it a good place to touch down and take stock. She had been quiet in the car as she watched the Salem of her young adulthood roll past. Shops, restaurants, her old grade school. They were all there, and the craving to walk into them and run her hands over the walls was strong. But she resisted and stayed focused. Now as Steve watched her glance longingly at the stairs that led up to the roof, he saw that her demeanor had turned downright serious. They hadn’t left each other’s side since they met up on the pier, but Steve could feel her hanging on to him both literally and figuratively. She opened a drawer on her dresser and stared into it.
“Sweetness.”
Kayla startled. “What’s wrong?”
Steve grinned. “Besides the obvious?” Kayla gave him a little smirk and absently closed the drawer then opened another one. “Nothing’s wrong with me, Kayla, but there’s definitely something going on with you.” She didn’t hear him; his words just seemed to fall over her like a faint mist. “Kayla?” he prodded more firmly.
“Yeah?” she looked up at him.
“You’re not hearing me at all, baby. What’s wrong?”
Kayla had been relieved to get away from the celebration on the pier and into Steve’s arms. She had thought the plan was a good one and just wanted to get it all over with. But somewhere along the way she started second guessing it. Was this really the best idea to tell Jack at the victory party? They both knew the kind of man Jack was going to be in the years to come, and that was the good kind, the caring kind, the kind that they would both be forgiving in their own way. So, somewhere in her, she wasn’t really interested in destroying him publicly. But, then the feel of this Jack’s unwanted kiss on her lips made her remember other unwanted things, which reminded her that he wasn’t that Jack yet. She wanted to make the right choice. The question in her mind was not whether or not to tell him tonight, but whether they should do it at the victory party.
“I … I don’t remember where my luggage is.”
“Luggage? Baby, where do you think we’re going, China?” That made Kayla smile, which was encouraging. “Well, not yet,” he said with a smile that lightened her mood slightly.
“I mean, I don’t remember where I used to keep my bags. I have to hurry if we’re going to make it to Blondie’s without raising suspicion.”
“There are duffels under the guest room bed,” Steve said.
Kayla looked at him with a sideways glance. “Really? You remember? You’re not even living here yet.”
“For part of me, it’s not really that long ago, remember?” Then he sighed, not sure if he should say the rest, but Kayla gave him a prodding look. She knew her husband so well. Steve shrugged and said, “I also saw them when I ransacked that room the other day looking for … “
“Joe,” Kayla finished, barely a whisper.
Steve nodded. “Looking for Joe.”
Kayla walked into Steve’s arms on the small stairwell and embraced him. She kissed the top of his head as he circled one arm around her waist while the other one reached up to grasp her shoulder. They didn’t say anything, just shared the moment missing their son.
After going down to retrieve a small duffel, Kayla went to work filling it with basics and toiletries. Steve could see the gears turning in her head, trying to suss out whatever was in there.
“Baby, whatever’s goin’ on in that head of yours, it’s not just about where the bags are. Come on, now, out with it.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell him, she just didn’t have it all sorted out, herself. “Don’t get mad at me, ok?” Steve shot her a look, and she nervously licked her lips. “I don’t think we should tell Jack at the victory party,” she blurted. “I think we should wait till after.”
“What?!” He couldn’t keep the irritation from his voice. “Why, Kayla?”
She zipped up the bag and sat heavily on the bed. “Because it’ll destroy him. And is that really the most appropriate place to do this? In public and everything?”
Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I don’t think he’s caring much about ‘appropriate,’ do you?”
“So, what, we’re going to march in there together and tell him ‘Hey, I don’t really love you, and now that you’ve won I’m going back to Steve, so good luck?’ You said, yourself, he doesn’t have the pictures in this time, so there’s no threat to me now.”
The very first thing he’d done when they entered the loft was burn every last photo and the envelope in the kitchen sink. But that didn’t mean there weren’t more where that came from. Without the terrified Canby they’d been counting on, there was no reason to believe that he didn’t have more where those came from.
“No threat? You sure about that?” he asked. “’Cause I think you’re way off if you think there aren’t any more photos in that reporter’s back pocket.”
“Well, if they exist, they’re not going to be seen at the victory party. Last time he’d seen them by now, and nothing happened at the party, it all happened … back here.”
“Kayla.”
“And we’re not going to end up back here, so it doesn’t matter, anyway! We just wait to tell him at the end of the party.”
“Oh is that what we do? We just tell him at the end of the party?”
“Yes,” she replied defensively, not appreciating Steve’s mocking tone.
Steve plowed his hand through his hair and stood up fast. “Dammit, Kayla! What do we do, play our roles then? You’re the loving wife, I’m the big riverfront supporter? Been there, done that, finished!”
“It won’t be for long, Steve.” Kayla was getting irritated, herself.
“But it’ll be long enough for him to stick more of his tongue in your mouth!”
Kayla paused for a beat to take that in. “Is that what this is about,” she asked with big, angry eyes, “you’re jealous?”
“No, I’m worried, don’t you get it?” He sat down opposite her, held both her hands in his, and gentled his tone. “If we don’t tell him at the party there’s no way we’re not going to be separated. How do I stay by your side? I don’t want to risk jumping while we’re apart. Do you know how panicked I was when I got here and couldn’t find you? If we go to that party pretending to be our 1988 selves, then what the hell kind of excuse will we have to be with each other?” He was right. Kayla knew he was right. “And yeah, I don’t want him touching you, ok?”
Kayla squeezed his hands. “I don’t either.”
“Hell, I wasn’t even invited.”
“Oh yes you were,” she interjected.
“No, baby. I was invited the first time, not this time.”
“Oh, that’s right.” It was all so confusing in her head, she was having a hard time separating the first round’s events with the ones of today. She looked over at him from behind her duffel and tried to find a scenario that would be believable. “Couldn’t you just show up? You usually did anyway.”
Steve smiled, and Kayla smiled, too. “Yeah, he said more calmly, I turned up a lot in those days. Checking on you.”
Kayla nodded. “I know,” she said, smiling at the memory of how being in his presence during that time was always the thrill she rolled out of bed for every day. Maybe he’ll come by today, she’d wish.
“So, just show up, it won’t be out of the ordinary because you were campaigning for him this whole time. You can come in right after I do, and then you’ll have me to watch over all night.”
Steve still didn’t like it. Plus he figured Jo and other people in their lives would be there that he didn’t want to have to be “on” for. Despite his memory being unnaturally fresher than Kayla’s, not everything came easily to him. The whole thing just seemed pointless to him. Eventually they were going to jump. Maybe in five minutes, maybe in five hours, maybe in five weeks, there was no telling. And when they did every indication was that everything was going to reset, that their actions today wouldn’t impact a thing once they jumped away. So, if they could push Harper into a speeding train and it wouldn’t stick, then there was no logic in playing this out for Steve. He worked the muscles in his jaw and turned his face away in frustration.
Kayla palmed his face back to face hers. “What if we’re here a long time, Steve? What if we have to live in these bodies for more than a few hours?”
“But, Sweetness, what we do here won’t matter to these bodies once we jump away.”
“But it’ll matter while we’re living in them. And if it’s a long time, then I want to make things easy on us, too.”
Steve looked at his wife for a minute and admired her hair, done beautifully in twists on either side of her head. Her face was so beautiful, lightly made up, and she smelled so good. “Fine,” he said. “But I don’t like it, and if I think that things are getting out of hand, then I’m telling him on the spot, I don’t care where he is or who’s listening.”
“Ok,” Kayla agreed.
“And you are to get a headache ten minutes after you arrive so that you can get the hell out of there.”
Now Kayla smiled. It was so simple, why didn’t she think of that? “Even better,” she beamed.
“Then we’ll come back to the loft to tell him, then head …” Steve wasn’t sure what to call it. “… home. To my place.”
In answer, Kayla kissed this man that she loved so much.
Suddenly, she remembered her ring and knew they had a problem. “Steve!” she pulled away from his lips with a smack.
“What?”
She held up the back of her left hand and cocked her head questioningly.
“Shit.”
“Yeah,” Kayla said. “Now what?”
“Well, if we just tell him at the party it won’t matter,” he tried one more time.
“No,” Kayla said firmly, “you want to do things the right way this time, that’s not the right way.”
“Then baby, you’re gonna have to take it off again.”
Kayla exhaled heavily and fell back onto the bed in a heap. “Why did I throw it in the river? I had plenty of room in my coat for it. I wasn’t thinking.”
Steve couldn’t help himself, he lowered his body on top of hers and kissed her neck. “You were thinking that you were wearing the wrong ring, Sweetness.” He cupped her breast with his hand and rubbed himself against her gently while dragging his kisses up to her ear. “You were thinking that this was the worst night of your life and that you wanted to right it,” he said as he lowered his soft, warm lips to hers, urging her tongue to taste his. “You were thinking that you want to make love to me right now in this bed. The bed that should have been ours all along.”
Steve’s seduction was intoxicating, and all Kayla wanted to do was get all their clothes off and feel him inside of her, filling her with his presence, possessing her. But time was getting away from them, and she knew that if they didn’t show up at Blondie’s very soon that here in the days before cell phones Jack was going to come looking for her.
Steve felt her thoughts tense her body and raised his head to look into her eyes. He sighed deeply.
“You do want me, Kayla, don’t you?”
“You know I do,” she said as Steve reached down to tuck a stray hair back into its twist. “But if we do this, I am sure Jack will walk in on us. I don’t want that. For a lot of reasons.”
Steve understood and didn’t disagree. He looked gently down at his wife. He wasn’t lustful or at the brink of sexual insanity, he just wanted to be joined with his wife. He wanted to make love to her, feel himself pour his love into her, and feel her love him back.
“I want to be with you so bad,” Sweetness. I just need to feel you around me. I need you so much.”
“Me, too. I love you.”
She kissed him lovingly, then pulled the ring off her finger and gave it to him. She watched through unshed tears as he put it back on the chain around his neck and said, “I want it back the minute we leave Blondie’s.”
Steve nodded and gave her a sad smile.
Kayla changed out of the blue dress that she’d come to hate and felt instantly better. They held hands in the car for the short trip it took to get back to Steve’s place to drop her things, then in no time flat they were at Blondie’s. They decided to play their roles only so far and that having her walk in before him was risky, so they walked in together, appearances be damned.
The music was so loud when they entered the restaurant that Kayla wasn’t going to have to work too hard on generating that headache. They stopped dead in their tracks when the first people they saw were Jo and Marcus laughing joyfully over drinks. The sight of his old friend who’d died suddenly of a congenital heart defect while Steve was still missing took Steve’s breath away. He reached out for Kayla’s shoulder just as Angelica came over with an irritated look on her face.
“Kayla, darling, people have been asking for you.”
“Really,” she said while looking directly at Marcus, who hadn’t spotted them yet. “I’m sorry, I had a little car trouble.”
“Well, in the future, I suggest you come to political events in the same car as your husband and not in your own car. That’s what we have drivers for.” When Kayla didn’t respond she looked over at Steve gawking at his mother. “Mr. Johnson,” Angelica said with her nose in the air, “you’re here why?”
Steve ignored her and walked slowly to Marcus. Kayla instinctively followed, and Angelica’s focus shifted to a supporter who’d caught her eye. Marcus and Jo looked up from their boisterous conversation as Steve headed toward them. “Steve! Hey, they’ll let anybody in here, won’t they!” he said as he put a brotherly arm around Steve.
“Hey Homey,” Steve replied a little too quietly. He didn’t sound like himself.
“Steve?” Concern hit him immediately. “What is it, man?”
“Are you alright, son?” asked Jo.
Steve looked at his mother and said, “Hey Jo,” giving her a smile.
Then he stood back from Marcus and gave him a hard look. His eyes welled up, can’t you control yourself, dude, what the hell is this leaping doin’ to your self-control, man?! and he embraced his best and oldest friend in a hug that he knew would make them question what the hell was going on, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t seen Marcus in two decades, and he never would again. He didn’t know if he’d be jumping anywhere that Marcus might be after this, so he had to take this chance that this jump was giving him.
“Steve, man, what’s wrong with you? Is it Kayla?”
Kayla!
“I’m fine,” she said from behind them. Steve whipped his head around and looked upon her with relief.
“Baby, I’m sorry. I got …” he ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his patch. “… I got distracted.”
Kayla smiled. “It’s ok. I’m glad you had the, um, opportunity to have that distraction.” She wanted to cry, herself, seeing her good friend again. But she knew she needed to stay focused so they could get this over with.
“What the hell are you talking about? Jo demanded, suddenly not so jovial. What are you two kids up to?”
Steve mentally pulled himself together and added this as yet another item on the buffet he was going to have to pass up. “Marcus, um,” he took a deep breath. “Kayla and I, we’re ending this tonight. We’ve been going through some,” he lowered his eyes, “stuff, and we just decided this is it now.”
Marcus grinned with genuine delight. “’Bout damn time, brother, don’t you think?”
“Steven Earl, you can’t be thinking of ruining Bil—Jack’s night, now, can you?!”
“Mama,” he said, “I don’t wanna go ‘round with you on this again.” Steve took his mother by the shoulders and kissed her forehead. “Can you trust me, please? Trust me that I know what’s best for me and Kayla, and for Jack, too?”
Mama, Jo heard him say again in her head.
“Ok? Just please trust me.”
Now it was Kayla’s turn. “Marcus,” she said. She kissed his cheek and hugged him. “You’re a wonderful friend. And in case I haven’t, ah, told you … lately … I love you for everything you did—that you do for me—for us.”
Marcus wasn’t buying any of it. “What’s this fecal matter you people are trying to sling my direction, Steve?”
Steve let out a hearty guffaw. “Homey, you always did have a way with words, man!”
“Kayla,” Jack bounded over to the group surrounding his wife. “Where have you been, I was worried about you.”
“Jack,” she said with as much of a smile as she could muster as he hugged her. “I’m sorry it took me so long, car trouble. I-i-it’s fine now, I made it fine.”
“You changed clothes?”
“Yes,” she began as she put a hand up to her hair, “I—“
Jack grabbed her hand. He looked down upon her empty ring finger and, driven by some kind of knowing instinct, shot an angry glance at Steve. “What happened here?” He was holding Kayla’s arm way too hard, and Steve inwardly seethed as he watched Kayla twist her arm free of him.
“That’s what I was going to tell you, Jack, she practically spat, “my ring fell off my finger … you know how thin I got when I was ill, so it’s been loose for weeks, and it finally fell off tonight. And, well, it went right into the river. I tried to get it, but it’s lost, I’m afraid.”
You’re doin’ great, baby, keep it up, you can do it, Sweetness, Steve thought at her when she looked to him for a split second.
“I got wet and filthy as I was lying on my stomach trying to fish it out of the river.” Jack caught her glance at Steve and felt instantly skeptical. “What, did you want me to show up to your victory party looking like I’d just been through a dirt factory?”
“So, you went home to change?”
“Yes, I went home to change.”
“You said you had car trouble.”
This was not going well. “Yes, that’s because I did, Jack, why are you giving me the third degree in front of our friends?” Kayla could see that last statement woke him up a bit to his behavior, appearances always very important to Jack. “What’s the matter, are you alright?”
“Actually, I’m exhausted,” he said.
“I am, too,” Kayla said, jumping on the in his statement gave her. “Actually, I have a terrible headache, and I really don’t feel well. I’d like to get out of here as soon as possible.”
Before he could answer, Harper took the microphone to give the opening speech. “How about right after the speeches,” Jack said. “I’m feeling victorious, if you know what I mean. I think it’s time we celebrated properly, don’t you?”
Steve couldn’t believe his ears. She’d just said she wasn’t feeling well, and all he wanted was to get out of there and have sex with her. And he said so right in front of them all. The part of Steve that had come to love Jack as his brother was so far away from him right now that all he could see was the monster who attacked Kayla.
Jack went to kiss her, and Kayla turned her cheek toward him. “Jack,” she said harshly. “I don’t feel well, show me a little courtesy, will you?” She glanced back at the three of them behind her for effect, and Jack finally showed some decorum that the power coursing through him had overtaken.
“I’m sorry, honey. You’re right.”
Harper then called the two of them up to the stage as he droned on and on. Steve didn’t waste a moment and started in on Jo and Marcus immediately. “Look, you two, I need your help. I’ve gotta get out of here with Kayla. She can’t leave here without me. I don’t care who’s with us, but we have to be together. Whatever happens, we have to be together. Jo, can you ask Jack to take you home in the limo?
“Oh, I don’t know—“
“Just ask him if he’ll give you, this special friend of his, some time before he goes home or something.”
“Steven, don’t drag me into whatever cockamamie—“
“Mama!” Again, she was all ears. “Mama, please, I know you don’t understand, and I don’t have time to explain it to you!” Steve’s frustration was apparent, and Marcus started recognizing his buddy again. “But I need this from you like you don’t know. Please do this for me. I haven’t asked you for much in my life, now just do this for me!” He hated manipulating her like this, but there was no way to stay by Kayla when she and Jack left. He had to get Jack out of the picture.
Jo sighed. “Alright. But I don’t like it!”
Steve kissed her. “Thank you, Mama.”Jo reached a hand up to her cheek where her son had just kissed her.
“Now Marcus, you need to tell Kayla that you want to check her out. You can’t let her leave with Jack. I don’t care what it takes, but she has to leave here with me. Not with him is even better, but no matter what it has to be with me.”
“You got it, Steve. I’m with you, man.”
The speeches ended, and Steve put his hand to his head, motioning her to feel sick.
Kayla stepped off the stage and immediately swayed. “Oh …”
“Go, Marcus,” Steve whispered to his friend, and in no time flat he was at Kayla’s side. “Kayla, you don’t look good, are you feeling ok?”
“Marcus,” Kayla said airily, “no, actually, I’m not feeling well at all.”
“You dizzy?”
“Ah …” Marcus encouraged her to be dizzy with the look in his eyes. “Yes, yes, I am.”
“Dr. Hunter, what’s wrong with her?” the Senator asked.
“I think she is having a bit of a relapse from the effects of the poison.”
“What?” Jack asked with concern. “That was two months ago, how can she still be sick?”
“Well, I don’t think she is, Jack … here, sit down, Kayla,” he guided her to a chair, “But the poison did a lot of damage to her organs, and that takes a long time to heal from.”
“Neil Curtis gave her a clean bill of health.”
“No, he wouldn’t let her go campaigning with you, remember, I consulted on that as a friend of hers. She is healthy, but dizzy spells are common after that kind of poisoning while the body continues to heal. This has been a lot of excitement, and I think she needs some rest.”
“Then I’ll take her home right now,” Jack said.
“My head is pounding,” Kayla played it up, clasping her palms on either side of her head then lowering it to her lap.
“Sorry Jack, she can’t go home with you, I want to check her out at the hospital.”
“Is it that bad?” he asked with concern.
“I don’t think it’s anything to be too concerned about, but she needs to be looked at.”
“Ooohh,” Kayla moaned as the senator looked on curiously.
“Mama,” Steve whispered, “go ask him.”
“Now? With Kayla sick like this?”
“She’s not really sick, Mama! If you ever really wanted to see both of your sons happy, then you have to do this. If you don’t, I’m telling you, we’re all gonna catch hell, here!” Jo implored him with a look. “Go!”
Jack sat next to Kayla with his arm protectively around her, all thought no longer on anything but his wife and her well-being. Kayla felt guilty; this was the Jack that Steve was slowly going to bring out as the years went by.
“I need to get her to University now, Jack,” Marcus said.
“Ok, I’ll go with you,” he said. Kayla felt suddenly panicked.
“Jack,” Jo interjected. “I think you should let Marcus take her to the hospital, and then let him take her home after. You should go back to your apartment and make it comfortable for her, don’t you think? Make sure the heat is back on, that the fridge is stocked? I’ll help you, you can bring me with you and we’ll pick up a few things. How’s that?”
“I really think I need to be with Kayla right now—“
“Well, there won’t be much you can do in the waiting room,” Marcus replied. “But making sure the loft is ready for her would make a much bigger difference, good idea, Mrs. Johnson.”
“Come on, Jack. Let me help you. Your parents can hold down the festivities here, don’t you think?”
Kayla still had her head in her lap waiting for someone to fix it so that she wasn’t separated from Steve. She looked briefly up into his eyes, and it was the first time they’d made eye contact in several minutes. She felt a little better when he gave her a subtle nod.
“Is that ok with you, Kayla?” Jack asked.
Kayla nodded, “Mm-hmm. I’ll be ok with Marcus,” she said. She didn’t want to look at him.
“Wait, what about your car?” Jack asked.
“I’ll drive it back to the loft for her, Jack,” Steve said. He’d stood his ground in the same spot the whole time, not making an attempt to crowd the stage where she was now sitting with her head in her hands. “No skin off my back, I’ve been supportin’ ya this long, may as well help you out with the car.”
Jack didn’t like it, but it made sense. “Fine, Johnson. That’s just fine. Thanks.”
“Ok, let’s get started. Kayla, let’s get you a drink of water before we head over, ok?”
“Yes, thank you, Marcus.”
“Jo,” Marcus prompted, “You and Jack should get started and make sure everything is ok over there.”
“Right,” Jo said. She took Jack by the hand and watched Steve nonchalantly down a shot of something amber-colored as if he didn’t care a bit. She knew they were plotting something, but she had a trust in Steve that she didn’t like but went with. “Let’s go to the store and get those things now, Jack.”
Jack raised Kayla’s hand to his lips and kissed it, lingering his gaze on her empty ring finger and getting a bad feeling about this whole thing, but swallowing it down anyway. “See you back at the apartment,” he said. “Love you.”
Kayla looked up at him and smiled, then swayed a bit again, “Ooh,” before Marcus stuck a glass of water in her hands.
Jack told Angelica what was going on, just before he disappeared out the door with Jo, whom Steve mouthed “thank you” to when she turned her head to look at him right before she disappeared out the door. Now Steve hovered a lot more closely as Angelica made her way toward them. “Kayla, dear, I’ll go with you to the hospital.”
“No!” Kayla said too loudly. “Someone needs to stay here at the victory party.”
“She’s right,” Harper said. “Our place is here. I think Dr. Hunter can take care of things.”
Never contradicting her husband in public, Angelica said fine and went about the business of talking up her stepson to everyone that would listen to her while Harper, happy to be rid of the whole lot of them, followed where she led him.
When it was just Steve and Marcus standing in front of Kayla who was still sitting with the glass of water to her lips, Marcus dropped the act and said, “If you wanna do this, then you’d better get out while the gettin’s good.”
“Thanks, man. You don’t know what you just did tonight.”
“Oh I know, I’m adding it to the very long list of favors you owe me. Good thing you have such a high credit limit.”
Steve looked into his friend’s eyes and wished he could confide in him. Wished he could tell him what was going on. But he stayed silent. Marcus saw the look in Steve’s eye and wanted to ask what the hell was happening, but he decided to save it.
“Ah, here are the keys to my car. Thank you for, ah, taking it back home for me,” Kayla said for effect.
“Sure, baby, you get on to the hospital, now. Hope you feel better.” Then the three of them walked out together, Marcus with his arm around her to “steady” her. When they were free of eyes and ears, Kayla threw her arms around Marcus and thanked him. Then Steve gave him another bear hug and said meaningfully to him. “You’re my best friend, Marcus. The finest man I ever knew. Ever.” Then he took Kayla’s hand and they ran for the car and didn’t look back as they both silently shed a tear for him.