Notes: this is set in about seven years time...Jubilee's about 22, work everything else out from there :) It's pretty much a PG, maybe a 12 'cause it doesn't deal with the most pleasant of subjects. If it's going to offend you, don't read it, or if you really have to, don't flame me, okay? Bits and pieces [i.e. translations] are at the end. -This- is emphasis. And the notes are almost as long as the story, .

"Jono said I should go out and have one last fling before I get married. He didn't mention that it should be with his wife."

Dreams that go Bump in the Night

His jeans are tight across my hips, but I'm aware of loose denim against my back. He's thinner than Jonothon, and his legs aren't as long. Oh God, what am I doing? I can't compare them...

This isn't me. I'm not like this at all. Am I? I just did what I always said I wouldn't, and I can't honestly blame the alcohol, because when I admit it, I've been wanting this for years.

At the moment he's in the other room, making some coffee. I wish he wasn't such a gentleman...I need to share the blame. But he even offered to mend my dress for me.

What was I thinking? I've just ruined my marriage. We're not on the rocks anymore, not even drowning in stormy waters...we're -nothing-. And Angelo...Angelo is -not- what I want. He's beautiful and tactile and sensual and passionate, but -- he's Jubilee's! I can destroy Jonothon, but Jubilee -never- hurt me, not even when she had good reason.

He's going to come in now, I can hear him. He's going to find me crying, and pass me a t-shirt or a sweater so that he doesn't have to see his best friend's wife naked. He's going to give me a coffee and push my hair around my ears and he's going to look into my eyes and say, "This wasn't a good idea, was it?". And he'll apologise, even though it wasn't his fault. I'll want to kiss him and comfort him and promise that she'll understand, but it won't be an option, because I -know- he's. not. mine.

I'm making coffee for the woman in my bed. She isn't my fiancee, but I slept with her. I did it out of choice, in my right mind and with sober, free will.

For Jubilee, I know I shouldn't have attempted it. For Jono, I shouldn't have even thought of it. And for Paige, I definitely shouldn't have done it. But I didn't think of them; I did this all for myself. And despite what people say, it's cleared my mind.

I'm not in love with her, I'm really not. She's beautiful, soft, and, like warm liquid, she can diffuse right into my bloodstream, but -- but I've lost my desire for her. I expect that the price we'll pay for that revelation will be high, too high. And in the end, I doubt it's worth it, especially for Paige. So for her, I'm sorry. For her sake, yes, it was a bad idea.

Angelo was late to the meeting this morning. I know why. Got to give the man some respect though; I've been trying to get Paige into bed for months.

She's made her point, though at what cost to Angelo and Jubilee, I can't tell. She knows I won't contest the divorce now.

Dear God, Paige, couldn't you be kinder? I thought you loved me. Once, you made me feel almost normal. You played the perfect wife; now, no doubt, you'll play the perfect divorcee.

I'm confused. It's like, I coulda sworn that shirt Paige was wearing this morning was Angelo's. But I only saw it for, like a second, so I can't be sure. Then Ange disappeared immediately we finished the strategy meeting -- I guess he went into town. I'm worried about him.

He's been acting...normal, but not normal. I can't place it. I mean, if I'da only seen Paige today, I would've seriously thought she'd slept with my fiance; a woman does -not- react to her man like that unless -something's- goin' on. But he was...too confident...too -normal-. And I honestly just don't think he'd do that to me.

Yeah, he used to feel 'like that' about her. Yeah, Paige and Jono are splitting, but Ange has -honour-. He said he loved me and I know he wouldn't be marrying me otherwise.

Damn it! I wanna know what's happening round here!

She found him that evening in Our Lady of Sorrows, Boston, sitting in the front pew, his head bent before the altar. She watched him muttering, praying in soft, flowing Spanish. His voice disappeared in the bustle as a party of confirmation candidates took over the church, and she followed the children up to the front.

From there, she could hear him singing to himself, a slow, almost melancholy chant in his mother tongue. She found herself mouthing the words along with him, words he wanted for during their wedding ceremony.

"Nada te turbe," he whispered, "nada te_es pante. Quien a Dios tiene, nada le falta. Nada te turbe, nada te_es pante-"

"Solo Dios basta," she finished, out loud.

His head moved up sharply to look at her. Standing a few feet in front of him, as she was, she appeared framed by the stain-glass windows and bathed in candle-light. A smile crept across his face. "Si," he said. "He brought me you."

She stepped forward and knelt on the floor, to be on his level. "Please," she whispered. "Tell me the truth."

He was quiet for several moments, gathering his thoughts. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "I've been thinking today, and I'm going to say this: You were the reason I stayed with Generation X when I wanted to do everything my own way. You were the reason I stood up to Cassidy and fought Ev when the odds looked impossible. You were the reason I bought this ring," he said, taking her hand and kissing it, "and, as we're here before God, you are the one and only reason I'm getting married tomorrow."

She considered this, looking at him.

Then she kissed him.

1) The chant is from Taize and means:

Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you,
Whoever has God, lacks nothing.
Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you,
God alone is enough.

2) This is the third story set in my Crescent Universe, which is basically a future GenX type thing, focusing so far on Angelo and Jubilee. You didn't need to have read the others to understand this, did you? Well, anyway, the others are, in time-line order, Pandora's Box [where Angelo was planning to leave GenX] and The Long Walk [well, it's got the ring thing at the end] and are both archived at: https://members.tripod.com/~cynzemaya/shorts.html

3) Send Feedback! Please! I really want to know what you thought of it, however that was...

Mail the author, Cynjen, with comments!