“I just found out,” Jennifer said. “I’ll call him today.”
“Alright, as soon as you can,” Aaron paused. “Do you want me to run down the hall and see if he’s available now?”
“No, please don’t. You’re not his assistant, I shouldn’t treat you like you are,” Jennifer said. “I’ll call him when we hang up.”
“I’m done at 4 today, Jenn,” Aaron said trying out the nickname to see if it landed. “I can watch Jeffy and Chris. When are you off tonight?”
“Not till 8,” Jennifer said. “I’m on my 30-minute lunch now.”
She sounded exhausted and slightly embarrassed. Her job had good pay, offered benefits, retirement, stock options, but the schedule wasn’t as predictable as she wanted. She had wanted a regular 8-4 office job, so she could still be present for the boys, but she couldn’t find a place to hire her. More humiliating for her was the fact that her 17-year-old son had helped her get a job. She felt like such a loser, her life falling apart around her.
“Chris has soccer at 5:30. Are you sure this is OK?” Jennifer asked, her voice shaky as she held back her tears.
“That shouldn’t be a problem. We’re sure Jenn,” Aaron said. “Fred is due to be home about 6 and I know he’d love to see the boys.” Jennifer paused for a long time. Aaron almost asked if she was still there.
“Are you sure Fred is OK with this?” Jennifer asked. Aaron’s mind briefly flashed to the conversation they’d had that morning.
“Yes, he wants to help Jenn,” Aaron said.
“He’s already helping so much,” Jennifer paused. “You both are. Are you sure you’re OK with this? Even with the soccer practice thing?” Jennifer’s voice was thick.
“Yes, I’m sure. Fred’s sure. Let Ben know he can bring Jeffy and Chris over to ours then he can just focus on his schoolwork,” Aaron said.
“Alright, fine. I’ll let him know,” Jennifer paused. “If Jeffy and Chris go, Taylor might be… jealous. I can’t tell with him right now. 15 has been a weird age for him. Half the time he seems like a little kid, the other half he seems just as old as Ben.”
“15 is weird time. If Taylor wants to come hang out too, he can,” Aaron said.
“Are you…” Jennifer started.
“Jennifer if you ask me if I’m sure one more time, I’m going to lose my mind,” Aaron said quickly. There was a pause and then he heard a nervous chuckle from Jennifer.
“I’m sorry. I just feel like it’s such a big ask,” she said.
“It isn’t a big ask. We’re happy to help the boys and you,” Aaron said. “You should give Lloyd a call before your break’s over. Have you eaten yet?” There was another pause and when Jennifer spoke her voice was quiet and husky.
“I have a salad here, but haven’t had a chance to eat it yet,” she sniffed.
“Take a few minutes and eat, Jenn. Then you can call Lloyd,” Aaron said. Jennifer sniffed again and cleared her throat. The sound was so similar to when Fred was trying to keep himself together that Aaron’s heart clenched.
“Thanks, Aaron,” Jennifer said. “I guess I’ll see you tonight.”
“It’s no problem, talk to you later,” Aaron said.
They hung up and Aaron scraped a hand down his face. He walked down the hall to Lloyd’s office. His paralegal said he’d stepped out for a moment but would be back in a few minutes. Aaron told her Jennifer would be calling soon and went back to his office.
~~~~
Fred met Aaron in the lobby of his building. The bus ride between the two offices, was a pretty straight shot down one of the main roads downtown. Aaron had timed it just right, so he was at the bus stop just as it pulled up in front of his office building and hopping off at Fred’s right around 1 o’clock.
Fred planted a kiss on his cheek and the couple grabbed some sandwiches, chips, and drinks from the deli in the lobby. They headed back upstairs and ate in Fred’s office.
Aaron gave Fred a quick run-down of his conversation with Jennifer. It seemed to help convince Fred that her hesitation was grounded mostly in her own insecurity and dented dignity. He kept trying to tell her she was doing great, but her self-doubt seemed to drown out all of his encouragements.
“A big part of her problem is she still talks to Ma,” Fred said. Aaron scrunched up his face.
“Really, she’s still talking to her?” Aaron asked.
“I don’t think they talk often, but it’s enough to keep her feeling like the shittiest mom in the world,” Fred said. Aaron snorted. If anyone was a shitty mom… Aaron dared not say out loud what ran through his brain.
He and Mark had always thought Wanda was the very worst, but Fred wouldn’t let anyone say a bad word about her. Aaron wondered how he dealt with his therapist saying negative things about her. Probably the therapist knew how to phrase things in a better way.
“That must be how she found out about Russell talking to her,” Aaron mused as he opened his bag of chips.
“What do you mean?” Fred asked. He had his iced tea raised halfway to his lips and he let it lower slowly back to the desk.
“Apparently, Russell has been seeing and talking to your mother,” Aaron replied. Fred’s eyes narrowed.
“Are you fucking kidding me? After fucking everything? Ma is talking to that piece of shit?” Fred’s lips pulled into a snarl. “And she’s telling Jennifer she’s a shitty mom, unbelievable.” Fred shook his head, trying to sigh out his anger.
“Considering her situation, Jenn is doing fine,” Aaron said. Fred raised his eyebrows.
“Did you call her that?” Fred asked. Aaron looked up surprised.
“Call her what?” Aaron asked.
“Did you call her Jenn? When you talked to her on the phone?” Fred asked. Aaron blushed a little.
“Yeah, I did,” he admitted.
“She let you? She didn’t shout at you or anything?” Fred asked. Aaron shrugged.
“No,” Aaron replied.
“Interesting,” Fred said. He finally sipped his iced tea.
“What?” Aaron asked. He wrapped up the remaining half of his sandwich and sipped his sparkling water.
“We don’t do nicknames. She only ever lets me call her Jenn. Not even that piece of shit was allowed to call her anything except Jennifer,” Fred said. Aaron rolled his eyes.
“Oh please, I’m sure someone else has called her Jenn before me,” Aaron said. But Fred shook his head.
“No, I’m serious. We don’t do nicknames. They bug us,” Fred said. “You remember how ape shit I would go whenever anyone tried to call me Freddie. Until you.” Aaron blushed again and waved a hand.
“She was at work she probably didn’t want to make a scene,” Aaron said.
“Maybe, or maybe you’re just special Aaron,” Fred said. Aaron huffed out a laugh.
“Sure, I’m special. We’ll go with that.” Aaron lowered his voice. “Honestly though, I think you only let me call you Freddie because you like to hear it when you fuck me,” Aaron said with a devilish grin. Fred returned the wicked smile and glanced to the windows of his office.
He stood slowly, closed the blinds, and clicked the button lock on his door. Then he came around to the front of his desk and leaned against it in front of Aaron.
“That’s true,” he said quietly. “I do like to hear it when I’m pounding you from behind.” Fred ran a finger along Aaron’s jawline. Aaron licked his lips and grinned up at Fred.
“I know you do Freddie,” he agreed. Fred brought his hand to the bulge that had started to strain against the fabric of his pants and rubbed it up and down slowly. Aaron watched him as his own cock began to stiffen in response.