Personal Jurisdiction (18 page)

“Oh, don’t be so traditional, Rachel. Everyone has casual sex these days.”

“Not me,” Rachel insisted.

“Fine. Everyone but you.”

“Look, I’m just saying, there’s something fishy about this guy. He acts all into you and then disappears for no reason. Then he offers an apology out of nowhere. At the very least, it seems like he’s not someone who knows what he wants.”

“I know it sounds weird, but I promise you if you met him you would understand. He’s smart, funny, gorgeous, and easy to be around. He’s an amazing person. I don’t know why you can’t just be happy for me.” Whitney crossed her arms. She knew she sounded whiny, but for the last year and a half, Rachel had rained on her parade every time she mentioned being interested in a guy.

Rachel sighed. “I just think you need to think about what you want. If you really want to be with someone, then great. But don’t settle for Ben just because he’s cute and available and you’re afraid of being alone.”

Whitney still said nothing, but her expression softened. Rachel was only trying to look out for her.

“What happened to that girl I knew who would rant that society’s unwritten rule about needing a man before thirty was ludicrous and kept women down?” Rachel asked.

“That girl is almost twenty-seven. It’s easy to say you don’t need someone when you’re twenty-two. When you start closing in on thirty, it does start to get a little bit scary. You realize that the pool of good, available men is dwindling rapidly at about the same time that you realize your childbearing years are not going to last forever.”

“I know it’s hard to be alone. But it’s even harder to realize you’ve wasted time with the wrong person. You should know that, after Ethan,” Rachel said. Whitney cringed at the mention of her ex-boyfriend.

“So he actually proposed to her at a football game?”

“Yup.”

Whitney rolled her eyes. “I would have hated that.”

“See! Good thing you dodged that bullet!”

The girls laughed, and the conversation circled back into juicy gossip territory. Whitney relaxed. It was good to be home and having lunch with her best friend. Things with Ben were still unclear, but had taken a step in a positive direction. Texas was a chance to regroup for next semester.

On Christmas morning, Whitney woke up to the smell of blueberry pancakes wafting into her room. Her mother made homemade pancakes for breakfast every Christmas, and the familiar smell always brought up an array of Christmas morning memories. Even though her parents did not agree with her on many things, Christmas was always a chance to find common ground and enjoy being a family. Whitney smiled and rolled over to grab her phone and check the time. 9:26. She was definitely taking advantage of time off to catch up on sleep.

She had a text from Alex, and unlocked her phone to read it.
Hey, Kid. Merry Christmas. I know it will be hard to top your amazing Thanksgiving, but try to have a good holiday
! Whitney laughed and texted back.
I’ll do my best. Try not to miss me too much.
She then texted Elise, Jamie, and Lincoln to wish them a Merry Christmas. She was not sure whether Elise would get the text, because she was traveling to Aruba with her family for Christmas, but at least she tried. Within minutes, however, she had received a text back from Elise.
Merry Christmas, Beautiful! Miss you! Xoxoxo!
Whitney smiled. You could feel Elise’s exuberance even through a text message. And, of course, Whitney should have realized that Elise would have an international data plan on her phone.

Whitney got up and brushed her teeth, then started brushing her hair and putting it up in a ponytail. She would shower and change out of her PJs later. Right now, it was time to get downstairs and inhale some of those blueberry pancakes. As she headed out of her room, she picked up her phone and paused, agonizing over whether she should text Ben. She did not want to scare him off, but she also did not want him to think she was still avoiding him. He had said they were friends, right? And there was nothing wrong with texting a friend to say Merry Christmas. Whitney shot off a quick text before she could change her mind, then left her phone on the dresser before heading downstairs. She knew if she took it with her she would be tempted to check it every few seconds.

Whitney hugged her parents and wished them a Merry Christmas, then helped them finish getting breakfast on the table. After they ate, they moved to the living room to exchange presents. Over the last few years, they had settled into a standard routine of gifts to exchange. Whitney would get her mom a gift basket from a bath and body store, and her dad, an avid reader, would receive a book. Whitney’s parents would give her a book, as well, along with an article of clothing—usually a new blouse. Whitney was surprised, then, when she entered the living room and saw a large box under the tree.

“What is that?” Whitney asked.

“It’s for you,” her dad said. “Open it!”

Whitney walked cautiously over to the package as if it might spontaneously spring open. Should she have gotten her parents something different, too? No one gave her any hint that their gift exchange might be different this year. She slowly tore open the package to find a box printed with the words “Rolling Utility Cart” in large letters. Whitney looked at her parents, slightly confused.

“It’s a utility cart. It rolls. And folds!” her mom said. Whitney was still confused.

“It’s kind of like a mini-shopping cart,” her dad explained. “You can take it on the bus, so when you go to the grocery store you have an easier way to lug your groceries home. Your mom found it at Target after you told her you were having trouble carrying groceries home.”

Whitney opened the top flap of the box and looked in at the cart. It was the perfect size to take to the store and lug onto the bus with her. “That’s brilliant!” she said. “Thank you so much! I don’t even remember telling you guys about the perils of grocery shopping in the city, but it’s tough.”

“Well, you definitely complained enough about it for your mom to remember!” her dad said, and laughed.

Whitney gave both of her parents a hug. “Thank you! This means a lot to me. It’s perfect. Getting groceries will be so much easier!” Whitney was genuinely touched. Her parents had been outright opposed to her moving to Chicago and going to law school, and this was the first time they had done anything that could be viewed as supportive of her new life there. Even though they could not afford to help her with tuition, or buy her the outrageously priced study guides Elise was always toting around, this gesture was their way of making her time in law school a little bit easier.

“So,” her mother said, “Have you met any nice boys in law school?”

“Mom!” Whitney protested. She knew her parents wanted her to find someone and settle down. They, like most couples with children her age, were itching for grandbabies. If they had it their way, she would be marrying a lawyer instead of trying to become one. Their dreams for her involved staying at home, raising several babies, and lovingly cooking and cleaning for her doting husband. They had given up overtly saying this, but still always asked her if she had “met someone.” Whitney was not about to confide in them about Ben. If she said one word about liking someone, that would be all they could talk about with her for months to come.

“I’m focusing on law school right now,” was all Whitney said.

“Well, just don’t focus too much on that and let the rest of your life pass you by,” her mom replied. Whitney resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She did not want to get into a fight with her parents on Christmas, especially right after they had made an effort to give her a meaningful gift. She opted to change the subject instead.

“I know, Mom. Now let’s get this wrapping paper cleaned up so I can get some more coffee. I can never get enough caffeine these days,” Whitney said, and started gathering up the wrapping paper strewn around the Christmas tree.

After the mess was cleaned up, Whitney decided to go for a run and went back to her room to change into workout clothes. She picked up her phone and saw she had a text from Ben. With excited fingers, she swiped to unlock her phone and read the text.
Merry Christmas
. It was not much, but it was something. At least he was not ignoring her!

Whitney laced up her running shoes with a smile and headed out into the mild Texas winter. It was forty-five degrees outside, which felt tropical after the bitter cold of Chicago. Whitney had been told by veteran Chicagoans that she had not seen the worst of it yet. “Wait until February,” they would say, shaking their head sympathetically at the poor Texas girl. All Whitney knew right now was that she was going to enjoy going for a run without feeling as though needles were piercing her lungs with each breath. She hated running on a treadmill, but she was not sure how much longer she could stand running outside in Chicago.

Whitney’s feet pounded the pavement rhythmically as she began her run. There was almost no other sound, and Whitney was left alone with her thoughts, interrupted only here and there by the faint sound of children’s laughter echoing from a backyard. She reflected on the year that was ending. There had been many difficult moments, but she had accomplished a lot, too. Although New Year’s Day was still a week away, Whitney decided to make a New Year’s Resolution to be more confident next year. It was an abstract resolution, true. But confidence was something Whitney knew she needed to practice. What was it they always said? “Fake it until you make it?” That’s what she was going to do.

Whitney was determined to make it.

The rest of winter break flew by, and Whitney soon found herself on a plane back to Chicago. She dreaded returning to the cold and snow, but she looked forward to catching up with Elise and Jamie. Elise had texted Jamie and Whitney to set up brunch the weekend before classes resumed. On the last Saturday morning of winter break, Whitney slid into a tiny booth at a new brunch spot Elise had scoped out.

Elise was very tan, and Whitney was openly jealous. “You look amazing, Elise. Must be nice to not be as white as a ghost like the rest of us.”

“Hey now, speak for yourself. I prefer to refer to my skin as ‘porcelain’ rather than ghost-like!” Jamie said.

“Oh my word, you two! I wish you could have been there. It was fabulous to not turn into an icicle as soon as you go outside. And…” Elise said, her voice taking on a devious tone, “I got you guys something!” Elise reached into her large tote bag and pulled out two adorable gift bags. One bag was printed with a beach snowman made out of sand and wearing giant sunglasses. The other bag had a drawing of a reindeer lounging in a beach chair with a tropical cocktail.

“These are so cute!” Whitney said.

Elise pushed the bags toward Whitney and Jamie. “Open them!”

The two did as they were told, and inside each bag was a chocolate gift set, tied with a turquoise ribbon.

“It’s Dutch chocolate! So yummy! It’s everywhere in Aruba, and I ate so much of it while I was there. I fell in love with the chocolate from one shop in particular and couldn’t possibly not bring some back to share with you guys!”

“Thank-you!” Jamie said. “This is so adorable!”

“Thanks!” Whitney said. “And I agree. This gift set is so cute. But, I didn’t get you anything!”

Elise waved her hand at her. “Don’t be silly. It’s not a big gift. I just wanted you two to be able to try out this chocolate! Now! Tell me about your breaks! I’ve missed you both so much!”

Jamie laughed. “My break was the usual. Too many family members crammed into my parents’ home for too long. I wanted to pull my hair out by the end of it. I saw Lincoln, though. I guess his parents are divorced and his mom recently moved to New York City. He was spending the holidays with her this year. He doesn’t know anyone in the city, so he tagged along a lot of the time when I was hanging out with my friends.”

“Aw, that’s so nice of you,” Elise said. “I hope he was not a ball of nerves the whole break like he is during school.”

“No, he was relaxed, actually. He’s a lot of fun when he isn’t obsessing over what Professor Neals thinks of him.”

“Ugh, don’t mention Professor Neals,” Whitney said, and groaned.

“Hey, Missy, you don’t get to complain about Professor Neals. You never even got called on in his class, you lucky bitch!” Elise said.

“That doesn’t mean I did not live in fear of it every single day!” Whitney said.

“True. But I had it worse than anyone since I got called on the first day,” Elise said. “Anyways, the good news is that we have all new classes this semester so we never have to be in a classroom with him again. What a horrid, grumpy old man!”

Jamie and Whitney laughed.

“Well, just don’t tell Lincoln that you think Professor Neals is horrid,” Jamie said. “He practically worships the ground that man walks on!”

“Enough about Professor Neals. I don’t even want to think about him,” Elise said. “What about Alex? Has anyone heard from him?”

“Why?” Jamie asked, her voice teasing. “Are you still wanting to hit that?”

“Oh, grow up, Jamie. I should have never said anything. I just think he’s hot, because he is. But he’s not my type. I was just wondering how our
friend
Alex is doing.”