Chapter 5

He had sat there for hours with the cake and bits of frosting in his hair, on his face and dripping onto his golf shirt pondering what Bear said. Was he grabbing happiness or throwing it away with both fists? He wasn’t sure anymore. He had gone about this whole situation in a ham-hocked fashion; inflicting more pain than was necessary on Jim and alienating his best friend in the process. And now Jack wanted to come over to talk.

He hated that word talk. Whenever someone said that they followed it with something he didn’t want to hear. Reed brushed the remainder of the cake from his face and went into the bath. Leaving his Italian silk shirt, light woolen slacks, and cashmere sweater in a lump on the floor, he stepped into the shower. The water in the marble shower was steaming hot; all three shower heads pulsated; placed to hit the right spots. There, he could manage to massage himself. Everything would be better when Jack was back. Jack knew and that made it so much easier.