Absolutely Unforgivable(7)

I guess that would be a nice job to have and they seemed to pay him well for it too. Not only did he earn his own salary but they also covered many things under what he called expenses, including where he lived, his meals, his cell phone, his iPad, his laptop, his car, and all the gas it uses -- and Hummers use a lot of it.

He once joked about his expense check being almost as much as his normal paycheck. This was astonishing because with his own money he really had almost nothing to pay for except maybe his clothes, his beer tab, and all the money he spent on me, which lately had been far too much.

Jeromy and I had been together just a few weeks before I found myself staying the night at his hotel almost every night. Within a few months I was officially living there.





Chapter 3 - Our New Life

Everything was going great in my life. That was until graduation. I finally had my bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of Tulsa and was excited to start my career and my new life, my grown up life. I’ve dreamed about this day for so long it hardly seems real now that’s it here. Finally, no more school. Just the thought of that gave me a thrill. The problem was, the economy was horrible and finding a job in my chosen profession wasn’t exactly an easy task.

I had only really just finished refining my new resume when Jeromy came home from a long day at work. He had a solemn look on his face as he sat down on the couch next to me, and began staring at the television. I turned the volume down and he didn’t seem to even notice, so I turned the television off completely and turned my body towards him.

“Okay Mr. Pouty Pants, out with it. What’s on your mind?”

“We are finishing up with this job next week.” I looked at him, trying to read the strange expression on his face. His voice was hushed and far away.

“Oh. What’s that mean?” I really didn’t get it yet. I hadn’t put it all together.

“Well, it means I have to move on to the next job.”

That was the worst part of his kind of work. While he might have been born and raised in Houston, Texas or a small suburb just outside of it, he hadn’t actually lived there in a long time. His job took him all over. There was the eighteen months he spent in Marshall, Texas; another nine months in the small town of Alice Texas; then six weeks in El Reno, Oklahoma; and the two months he spent in Provo, Utah. Tulsa was just one in a long line of temporary residences for him. Our life had been so wonderful lately, I had almost forgotten that.

I tried to hold back my emotions but I couldn’t help it. The sting of tears welled up in my eyes as I realized this meant he would be leaving me. I knew that long distance relationships never worked and this was in essence him telling me he was leaving me. My older sister Sarah tried the long distance thing with her high school sweetheart when they went off to different colleges and their relationship ended in disaster. I don’t want that for Jeromy and me, I would rather we part on good terms. I don’t want to end up hating him like my sister did with her boyfriend. I couldn’t bear the thought of that.

I took a deep breath and asked the dreaded question. “When are you leaving?” I was still doing my best to hold back my tears or hide the utter anguish I felt. It wasn’t easy but I didn’t want to let him see me fall apart like that. I took slow breaths and just tried to focus on the here and now, on the time we still had together.

The look on his face changed just slightly “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.” My heart sped up when he said that.

“I was offered another job already. It’s a really great opportunity and it would last a minimum of three years. I’ve never been on a project where I could be in one place so long.”

I was hoping we would have more time, but I guess not. Just as I started to ask him what place it was he would be going to, he interrupted me. He was almost excited. Was he really that happy to be leaving me?

“But that isn’t the best part. This job is back in my hometown, well close to it.”

I forced a smile across my face. “So you are going home? That’s great.”

He was gently stroking my hand by now. I think he probably knew I was about to burst out in hysterics and he wanted to comfort me. But then he said something I wasn’t expecting.

“Yes, but I was kind of hoping you would want to go with me.” He looked up at me with a boyish grin.

He didn’t really give me a chance to answer before continuing on. “I know it’s a lot to ask because you’ve lived here all of your life -- your friends are here, your family is here. You just ….”