It Had To Be You

Chapter 2: Gameplans

So the good doctor has a name. Bruce. And I'm sure he is a good guy if Dakota has been spending time with him for nine months. But if he (or she) thinks I'm going to fade into the background...not.a.fucking.chance.

I'm going to take my time and gently insert myself back into her life and remind her of the unspoken bond between us that neither of us was free to acknowledge before. I will not badmouth the good doctor, no matter how tempting. Rookie mistake. I'll reconnect. Stay in touch. Be a friend. And be ready to pounce the minute the door opens a mere crack. I lost her once without a fight, but I refuse to do so again now that I'm free to fight for her. With a woman like Dakota, I never expected it to be easy. There was a slim to none chance that she would be unattached. But she's not married. She's not engaged. And unless I miss my guess, she's not madly in love with her current guy. So in my mind, she's fair game and I intend to play to win.

She's the other half of me. I knew it five years ago. I know it now. And I think I'm her mate as well or I wouldn't be so determined. We're meant to be together. It's one of those things we both sensed and never voiced. There's no reason to ignore it now and I'm going to make it impossible for her to do so. If I have to fight dirty, I will. In fact, I wonder if Don is up for a game of golf when I'm in town....

*****

I got done filming in Italy and returned home just as Bruce was leaving for a conference for a week. And strangely, I'm okay with that. My brain is weary with thoughts of Jamie. Even though it shouldn't be. Just because he's on his way to singlehood doesn't mean that I am, and it doesn't mean that he even has feelings for me anymore. I need to be on my guard and think carefully. We are both different people in different stages of life and the past is in the past. And our past, lord, I sometimes wonder if it was all in my head. We never had 'the talk' – we couldn't. He wasn't free and I wasn't a home wrecker. I know what I felt for him, and if I'm honest with myself, what I still feel for him, but I wonder if I've romanticized it over time.

I know he cared about me, but he hated it because he wasn't free to. So who knows how strong or how real it was. We lived in a pretty alternate universe for a few years there, and reality has a way of bringing things back into focus. At this point, I'm probably just some nice costar that he had a great connection with and who is easy to talk to. I need to be very careful to not read anything from the past into the current situation. It's not fair to him or to me.

And then there's Bruce, who my Mother is currently grilling me about. She hugged me breathless when I arrived for lunch and quickly sat me down with a glass of wine and a flood of questions.

"It's so good to see you, Coqui. You look amazing. Italy agrees with you." She cheers me and launches into her inquisition. "So how is Bruce?"

I take a bite of salad, "He's fine, Mama. He's in Denver at a conference this week."

She frowns, "Did you two get to spend any time together before he left?"

I shake my head, "Not this time, Mama. We're both used to it. It's not a problem."

"Don't you miss him?"

I nearly choke on a Kalamata olive and meet her questioning eyes, "Well sure. I guess."

She puts her fork down. "You GUESS? It doesn't bother you that you've been apart from the man for nearly a month?"

I roll my eyes. "Oh Mama, it's not like that. We're not teenagers. We're stable and comfortable. I have my job and he has his and we both understand that."

She doesn't speak for a while as she watches me eat. "How's the sex, Dakota?"

Shit. She never calls me Dakota. I put my fork down and face her, "Don't you think that's a little intrusive?"