Sad Mess

I spend all day Saturday catching up on the Bachelorette (whyyyy would Andi ever let Chris go???) and Alaskan State Troopers (seriously, watch it!). Chris came over Saturday afternoon so we could go for a run, and then sat in the Alki Beach Park to people-watch and look at the sunset. I must have had good karma stored up from somewhere for Chris to be the first person I met in Seattle.

I nudged him with my elbow and grinned up at him.

"What?" Chris asked and slung his arm around my shoulders.

"I kinda love you a little bit."

He laughed. "Same here, kid."

We decided on not going out that night and just heading to my house to have some drinks, snacks, and a movie night. I don't know what happened to me in the last few years but I was more into nights in with friends than going out partying….maybe I'm just getting old? ;)

After a quick pit stop at the grocery store we drove home. As we pulled up closer to our houses I saw a person sitting in the light of my front porch.

"Who the eff is that?" Chris asked as we pulled up.

"I don’t know. This is weird." I chewed on my gel nails as I squinted out the windshield to see who it was.

"Stay in here." Chris pulled up into the driveway, unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. Despite what he has said I got out the passenger side. "Skye, stay in the car."

I didn’t get back in the car but did stay mostly behind him. The person on the porch was huddled over with his or her hood up.

"Jess?" Chris asked as he got closer.

Um, what? "Jess?!" I echoed, confused. I peaked around Chris to get a closer look.

It was Jess, but I barely recognized her. She had no make-up on, and her hair was a greasy mess. Her eyes were blood shot, her cheeks streaked with tears, and her skin was so pale she looked almost sick. Although she usually towered over me, with her knees drawn up to her chest and bundled in the baggy hoodie, she looked like a child.

"Jess! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I skirted around Chris and knelt in front of Jess on the steps.

She shook her head but didn’t say anything else. Her breathing was so uneven from crying I don’t think she could have talked if she wanted to.

"Come on, let's get you inside." I reach down for her hands to pull her up, while Chris put his arm around her waist to hold up the majority of her weight.

Once the light was turned on in the entry way we could truly see what a sad mess Jess really was. She looked completely hollow and her eyes held none of the sparkle it usually did. I led her to the couch and sat her down on one end. I wanted to be gentle with her but at the same time I wanted to know what was going on. Our last meeting had been less than friendly and I felt uncertain about her presence.

Chris set glasses of wine and water on the coffee table and silently gestured whether he should leave or not. Over Jess' sobbing figure I shook my head no. I felt like back up may be needed in this situation and because I could guess that this had something to do with Rheece it was probably safer with Chris around.

He took a seat on the plush chair across from us. After a moment of silence he gently said, "Jess, what's going on? Let us help you."

Instead of the glass of water, Jess reached for the glass of wine and took a big, shaky gulp. "I…I…don’t even know….I don’t know."

I still held one of her hands in mine. "Are you hurt?"

"N-no…."

We sat in silence. I didn’t know what to say, and Chris seemed just as puzzled as I did.

"Do you want to come upstairs and have a shower and get into some clean, comfy clothes?" I asked.

Jess nodded silently, so I took her upstairs, started the shower for her and set out a pair of my pyjamas for her. "Come downstairs when you're ready. No matter what happened, we're here for you."

I left her to get cleaned up and headed back downstairs. Chris had abandoned his seat in the chair and was cutting up cheese, pickles and crackers in the kitchen. I scooted up on the counter beside him and stole a cracker.

"Did she say anything to you?" Chris asked.

I shook my head. "No, she was completely silent. I'm so worried about her. This has to do with Rheece."

"No doubt." He agreed.

"She is always so vibrant, it's eerie seeing her so lifeless and…hollow."

We snacked in the kitchen for a while (whenever I'm nervous or uncertain I eat everything). When we heard Jess coming down the stairs, we met her in the living room. The shower seemed to have only brought out the dullness in her eyes more.

She sat beside me on the couch and dropped her head on my shoulder like it was too heavy for her to hold up.

"Tell us what happened."