justifer 2

4. catch up

"hello?"
jen sighs just at the sound of the voice on the other line as she sits down on the sofa in the quiet living room.
"hi honey"
"jen! what's been happening we haven't spoken in a few weeks"
"i know sorry, i just haven't found the time"
andrea laughs, "but seriously what's been going on?"
"not much, the kids are getting ready to finish for the summer so not much work is being done" jen laughs, absentmindedly stroking dolly's smooth coat.
"atleast it's the summer break, i'm guessing you're coming back to LA like usual?" jen can hear the hopefulness in her best friends voice, making her smile widely.
"of course. can't miss out on spending the summer with you guys. oh how's circling going? i've missed them so much"
"it's great, we're getting a lot busier. i had to turn some people away the other week because the class was full"
"wow that sounds great. ugh i miss sitting with you girls"
"we miss you jen. and we miss your gorgeous children of course"
"believe me they're itching to get back to LA to see all you guys. i think summers just ready for the school days to be over honestly"
"yeah...i heard about that. how come you didn't tell me you were starting the homeschooling process?"
jen pauses for a second, her face going slightly red.
"how did you know we're homeschooling?"
"it was some article that came up on my feed"
"oh great, of course. god she's gonna love that" jen rolled her eyes, picking at the threads sticking out of the cushion in her lap.
"is everything ok?"
jen can hear the seriousness in dre's caring voice.
"yeah" she sighed "you know how summer struggles, we just thought- well actually no the school were ready to kick her out so we just decided to take her out ourselves. hopefully it gives her more relaxation to work on other things, you know like her anger" jen adds the joke in the end and smiles as andrea's laugh fills her ears.
"well i hope it gets easier for her..."
jen nods silently, forgetting dre can't see her.
"and how are you?"
that's when the awkward silence begins.
jen and andrea have been friends since they were 14. even if one of them wanted to lie, it would never work. the other would be able to see straight through it.
"i'm- i think i'm getting lonely"
jen felt the heaviness in her chest on voicing that aloud for the first time.
"it's just- i've not been working for what, over 10 years now? and i've loved it. i never saw myself being a full time mom but the job was wearing me down so much more than i realised" jen pauses again "recently i've felt the urge to work again...or just the urge for something new, a new scene. sitting at home all day not having anything to do, nowhere to be...it's getting old"
jen chuckles under her breath as she feels hot tears prickle her eyes.
"what has justin said?" andrea asked.
"i haven't spoken to him about it" jen sniffs "he's pretty busy right now and i-...i don't want to ruin anything we have in our lives by saying i don't want to be a full time mom anymore"
"jen, there's nothing wrong with being a full time mom. just like there's nothing wrong with balancing the home and work life and i know justin will understand and support you...i'll talk to you more about this when you come home"
dre calling LA jens home is not something that goes by without jen noticing, but she prefers not to bring it up...probably because andrea is right. LA is her true home. is it time to go back?
"maybe mention it to justin and see what he thinks, he might have a mini role he could give you or something"
"mhh i'll try, thank you sweetie"
"of course...so" andrea decides to change the subject "what do you have planned for next week?"
"honestly not much. oh next week they finish school so we're thinking of having a little meal a few days before, i think jack mentioned bringing nic" jen trailed off trying to remember if he'd invited his girlfriend or not.
"ahhh so they're serious?" andrea asked, jen could hear the smirk in her friends voice.
"oh yep, they're basically glued at the hip, hands or lips"
the girls laugh, knowing exactly what that feels like.
"well be careful, you might have yourself a daughter in law soon"
"oh don't say that, he's my baby he can't be getting married yet" jen wails, still laughing through the sentence.
"oh speak of the devil" jen smiled as she heard a car pull into the drive. "they're just getting back from school. i'll text you letting you know when we're coming down"
"ok honey, see you soon"
"yep. ok i love you"
"love you too, bye"

they hang up just as jack walks in, coincidentally without his girlfriend on his arm but his twin sisters aren't far behind him.
"why are you grinning like that?" jackson asked, his eyes narrowing as he pretends to be scared.
"what? oh- i was just talking to dre"
"ohhhh" jackson knew what that meant. his mom and her best friend, when they spoke to each other you could always tell because his mom would have the biggest grin plastered on her face for a few hours after the call had ended, she became lighter.
"mom what's for dinner?" summer asked as she walked through the front door.
some of the light behind jens eyes faltered as she was reminded briefly of her conversation a mere 10 minutes ago.
"you guys can order something, i can't be bothered making anything to night" jen smiled as she headed into the office. she just needed some quiet time to think over her conversation with andrea and how she was gonna approach the subject with justin.