The Hornometer
by Mudak
- part 14 -
Jason woke up the following morning, slowly found his way down the stairs into the kitchen, and poured himself a cup of coffee. His father looked up at him from the morning newspaper and remarked, “Are you feeling all right, Jas?”
“Um, yeah. Why?”
“It’s just that ... well, you look tired and you’ve been kind of quiet these past couple of days.”
Jason sighed. “I’m ... I’m kind of upset with my girlfriend right now, and I don’t know how to tell her how I feel.”
“Ahhh. I certainly know that feeling, buddy. Sometimes I have a hard time telling your mother when I’m upset with her, so I can relate. Do you want to talk to me about it?”
“Um....” Jason was tempted to tell his father what was going on. “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it but I think I’ll pass.”
“That’s cool, man. If you change your mind, you might be surprised at what I can do for you.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. By the way, while you were in the shower, Mike called. He said he needed to talk to you as soon as possible.”
“Gotcha.”
Jason looked around, went into the living room and called Mike.
Mike, recognizing the number on the caller ID, picked up the phone. “Hey, Jason! Thanks for calling me back.”
“What’s up, Mike?”
“I, um, I saw Caitlyn’s sister yesterday. I mean, she came to see me.”
“Uh, okay.” Jason’s voice was a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. “What did she say?”
“She wanted to know why you weren’t returning Caitlyn’s calls.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“You see, that’s the thing. I wasn’t sure if she knew Caitlyn’s working at that strip club, so I was cautious about saying anything. But then..”
“Uh oh.”
“Well, it turns out that Samantha works there, too, now.”
“I didn’t see her there that night, did you?”
“Nope.”
“So, I take it this means that Caitlyn knows I’m upset over seeing her at the club, huh?”
“Um, well, probably. I hope...”
“I... I can’t be mad at you, Mike. I really can’t. But something doesn’t seem right, ya know? Samantha works with Caitlyn at the club, right?”
“Right.”
“Why would Samantha come out to see you in hopes of finding out why I’m upset? I mean, isn’t it obvious that I’m upset because of what Caitlyn did when we saw her at the club? Who knows what she’s done there when I wasn’t around, ya know?”
“Yeah.”
“So, if Samantha didn’t know, I think we can safely assume that Caitlyn didn’t know, which makes no sense whatsoever.”
“Well, you haven’t been calling her back.”
“Yeah, because I need to work out what I’m supposed to feel, knowing my girlfriend’s a stripper! And yes, I’m upset at that. But if she honestly doesn’t know that I’m ... well, even if she didn’t know I was upset, shouldn’t she realize I’ve got to work out what I want before I drag her into it? I mean, I care about her a bit too much.”
“Maybe you should go talk to the guy who sold you that thing—what’s it called again? You know, the necklace?
“Hornometer.”
“Right, talk to the guy who sold you the hornometer in the first place before you talk to her.”
“You know, that might not be a bad idea. Not over the phone though. I should probably head down to that jewelry store.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
Jason paused for a while before responding, “That’s not a bad idea. What do you say we head up there after lunch?”
“I’ll come by your house around one, kay?”
“Fine with me.”
“See you then.”