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I Did Not Break Up Claire and Jeremy(continued) Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a pretty inlaid wooden table
in an alcove. There was a chessboard on the table. I took a step in
its direction and saw that the pieces looked old. Perhaps it was a Reed
family heirloom. I wanted to ask, but I was frozen silent by those blue
eyes. Claire emerged with her makeup fixed. Jeremy looked at her briefly
and sighed. He must have missed her. She was a beautiful woman. And
every time you look at Glory, you see Claire. Claire kissed the kids goodbye. If she said goodbye to Jeremy, I didn't
hear it. We walked to the curb and caught a cab. Inside the car I told her, "I feel guilty about breaking up your
family." She laid her hand in my lap, and I stroked it gently. "We were
already breaking up," she said. "I could never be myself in
that penthouse. You let me be myself. I love that about you." I kissed her. "Was he good to you?" "Always," she said. From her look, I knew she didn't want
to talk about it. "Good," I said. "Because if he wasn't, I was going to
have to put him in his place." "I don't know," she said. "You're tough, but I still
think he could take you. It'd be a good fight, though." "You're a little bit turned on thinking about it, aren't you?" "A little bit," Claire said. "Is that weird?" What was weird was that I was the other woman in Claire and Jeremy's
relationship. I never imagined that I'd be an "other woman."
I certainly couldn't have foreseen that one day, the three of us would
be cooperating. Jeremy said his first words to me, tersely, over the phone. "Come
and pick up Aidan and Glory at eleven." He hung up. I didn't even
get in an "okay." At eleven, Claire was still at brunch with
some producer. I would have to go alone. The doorman brought me up in the elevator, and Jeremy opened the door.
"Come in," he said, sounding civilized for once. The doorman's
presence helped. I stepped inside, and my eyes fell once again on the chess set. Impulsively
I asked, "Do you play chess?" He was caught off guard, and so paused, then nodded. "I tried
to teach Claire once, but she didn't seem interested, and didn't have
the head for it anyway. When Aidan's old enough, I'll teach him."
Reflexively, we both looked over at the little boy playing with plastic
dinosaurs on the carpet. "Do you play?" Jeremy asked me, looking
back at the chess set. It had been several years since I'd played. A former girlfriend was
obsessed with the game and taught me the rules. I became moderately
good, to Shayna's utter delight. When we split up, she took the chess
board with her and (I'd thought) out of my life forever. This beautiful
antique board, sitting in an alcove in Jeremy Reed's penthouse, brought
it back to me. "I have played before," I said casually as Glory came over
to me. "Perhaps we'll have a game sometime," he said, smiling slightly.
I reached out to smooth Glory's blonde hair back into place. "Mom,"
she said, rolling her eyes. I'd embarrassed her. But to Jeremy this was only a painful reminder that the family had
changed. Now his expression fell. He hurriedly finished getting Aidan
ready and showed me and the kids out the door without saying anything
else. I got the message loud and clear. He softened, however, one day when Claire and I dropped in unannounced,
just to see Aidan and Glory. My girlfriend, in her elegant black slacks
and matching sweater, got down on the carpet and played checkers with
her little girl while her son pretended to be cooking her a meal on
an invisible stove. She was happy then, and I was happy just watching
her, wondering what Aidan would make for me. We looked like a complete
family then, just the four of us, kids and moms. The kitchen door opened,
and Jeremy appeared. "Crystal, would you give me a hand?" "Sure." I patted Aidan on the head as I walked toward the
kitchen. Once behind the kitchen door, I added, "I didn't think
you knew my name." "Crystal Johnson," he said, showing off. On the counter sat
five identical plastic cups of apple juice. He needed a hand carrying
refreshments. I put a cup in each hand, and stood for a split second
considering how we were going to manage the fifth. "Crystal Johnson,"
Jeremy repeated. "That's a funny name for a lesbian. You sound
like an expensive dildo." He laughed, then suddenly looked serious.
That was when he backed me up against the counter and kissed me, hands
holding onto my arms so I couldn't push him away. I'd never kissed a man before. It wasn't totally unpleasant; he seemed
to know how. Still, the idea was a little ridiculous to me, and I found
myself laughing as I got out, "You're barking up the wrong tree." He looked hurt, but let me go. "Why?" "Why? Because I'm completely gay. I feel the way that you would
feel if you kissed a man. And anyway, I love your w- Claire." I
stared directly into his eyes, and he seemed to understand. He deftly
picked up two cups with one hand. As he turned toward the door, he said,
"Let's play." "I just told you I didn't want to... " "Chess," he said, cutting me off. He smiled. We sat on the fancy leather sofa, sipping apple juice from plastic
cups. Claire looked adorable, holding the plastic cup in her delicately
manicured hands and sharing her juice with Aidan when he'd finished
his. I decided that I wasn't going to say anything to Claire about the
way Jeremy acted in the kitchen. There was no need to get her upset
and ruin this happy little scene. "I think we'll play a game of chess," Jeremy said to Claire. She made a face. "You know I hate that game." "Crystal likes it," he said. "I hope she's fairly good,
too. I could use a challenge." We went over to the alcove and sat. Aidan followed, looking with great
interest at the funny little pieces on the board. "Dad, can I play?"
he asked. "Watch, and you may learn how," Jeremy told him. Aidan pulled
a wooden chair away from a writing desk and sat, feet dangling above
the floor. As the game started, Claire and Glory wandered over to watch.
We looked like a family then. Just the five of us.
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