Jackpot! Read online

  “I’m enclosing this picture of you and Dad. It was taken on Halloween when you were just two years old. Dad picked out the costume. I know if he was here now, he would be proud of what you’ve accomplished and what you are about to achieve. I love you, Danny, and I’m here for you whenever you need me. Love, Mom.”

  I put the letter down and picked up its envelope, and sure enough, inside of it was the photo. I took it out and stared at it for a long time. Then, all of a sudden, I began to cry. I sat there and sobbed for a long time, something I RARELY did in the life I’d created for myself, the life with all the walls I’d put up around me.

  Maybe I was still grieving about my father, but there was something else. I never realized that there was a part of me who blamed my mother for not having a father. I resented her and that’s why I’d always kept my distance. I’d always felt that if I got close to Ma, I was being disloyal to my dead father. In any event, I realized I didn’t appreciate my family half as much as I should. I’d always been kind to Ma, like every Jewish kid is to his mother, and I’d been the best son I knew how to be. Still, there was a certain distance I kept between Frankie and myself, between EVERYONE and myself.

  As I sat there sobbing, I realized that my dream wasn’t really my dad talking to me, it was ME talking to me. I didn’t really know if my dad could watch us, but I felt pretty certain that if he was up there looking down, he WOULD be proud of me for being a teacher, because I was proud of me. And my dad wasn’t the one telling me to go for it with Courtney, I was telling myself that.

  And then there was Frankie. Now I desperately wanted to talk to her. I wanted to apologize and tell her what a good mother she was to me all my life. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, something I wasn’t sure I’d actually ever said to her. As soon as she got home from her trip, I would say it. I would tell her I understood how hard her life must have been. And I would ask her questions, lots of questions. I now understood why Jamie always wanted to know all the details of our mom and dad’s lives. They were our parents, after all. And living or dead, I wanted to know them both.

  I spent most of the day looking through my tins that contained lots of pictures of me and Jamie growing up. Birthday parties, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, high-school football games, prom, graduation… And what I realized was that Frankie was in every picture. My mother was always there for me, supporting me, encouraging me, and most importantly, loving me.

  Yes, she had gone totally overboard with her whole grandchild bribe, but maybe I needed to talk to her about it. Maybe she and I needed to understand each other more. I suddenly wondered how the hell I was going to wait two weeks before seeing her. I was dying to tell her about my eye-opening realizations. I’d have to wait though.

  In the meantime, there was someone else I had to have a little chat with, a girl who I was certain my mother would love. More importantly, a girl I was beginning to think I couldn’t live without.

  Chapter 26

  “Pretzel boy! What are you doing here?” cried Vito, when he saw me walk into his shop, “You’re not working today.”

  “No. I’m actually here to buy something.”

  “Fantastic!”

  “I’ll take two dozen pretzels, just mix them up.”

  “Sure, no problem!” said Vito, happily preparing my order, “Nice to see you actually believe in what you sell.”

  I stood there smiling, but what I really wanted to do is tell Vito to shut up and ring me up quickly.

  “Here you go,” he said, handing me a box with a big blue bow around it, “forty-o-nine.”

  I handed him my credit card and a couple minutes later, I headed out the door. “Thanks, Vito,” I said.

  “See you next Saturday, Pretzel boy!” he said loudly.

  “Don’t call me that!”

  I could hear Vito laughing as I left the shop.

  ‘What an asshole,’ I said to myself with a chuckle, as I hailed a cab.

  My next stop: You Sexy Thing, You. I knew Courtney closed her store at 6:00, so I wanted to get there right around then. I figured that would be the best time to talk to her.

  At 6:04 I was standing outside, peeking through the window. There didn’t appear to be any customers in the store. All I could see was Courtney reorganizing some nightgowns on one of the racks. God, she was beautiful, and I don’t just mean hot-looking. I missed her sweet demeanor, her quirky jokes, her smart, sexy personality, her lips on mine, and her giggle when I teased her about Sean Kingston.

  What could I possibly say to get her back? Would she give me another chance? Did I deserve one? I wasn’t sure. I just knew I was going for it. I had been in love once in my life. The outcome had sucked. Now, I was being given a second chance and I was going to do everything I could to un-screw up everything I’d done with her. I ate an Altoid, fixed my hair with my fingers, and took a few deep breaths. Then I went into battle.

  The minute I walked in the door, I knew I was screwed. Courtney saw me and I watched the relaxed, peaceful look on her face instantly transform to uncomfortable.

  “Hi,” I said with a nervous grin.

  “Danny, hi…” she said. She seemed so nervous, it was painful.

  Right then, some dude walked out of the bathroom.

  “Who’s this?” the guy asked.

  Courtney turned to him. “Matt, this is a friend of mine, Danny Jacobson. Danny, this is Matt Hill.”

  The guy extended his hand to shake mine and had the nerve to say, “Nice to meet you. I’m Courtney’s boyfriend.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  “We’ve known each other for four days,” Courtney answered.

  “I don’t think that really matters,” answered Mr. P-whipped.

  “Courtney, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked.

  “Sure…”

  We both looked at Matt, expecting him to walk out of the room, but he just stood there. “Dude, I’m thinking you should go outside for a minute,” I said to him, “Is that cool?”

  Matt looked at Courtney. “Is that okay?” she asked him.

  “Sure.” He looked pissed, but he did it.

  The second he was gone, I said, “You already have another boyfriend?”

  “He’s a little bit of a stalker, I have to say, but he really likes me.”

  “Do you like HIM?”

  “Why are you here, Danny?”

  I handed her the box of pretzels. “I came to apologize. I was such a jerk. I’m so sorry.”

  “What is this?” she asked, holding up the box.

  “Chocolate covered pretzels.”

  “Thank you. That’s thoughtful.”

  “Sure.”

  “Listen, you weren’t that bad. You just did what you felt was right.”

  “See, that’s just it. I DIDN’T do what I felt at all. I was selfish and a complete idiot. Look, here’s how I feel…” Then, I kissed her, and I mean hard on the mouth. I pulled away after a minute and said, “I like you, Courtney, in fact, I like you more than anyone I think I’ve ever liked.”

  “What about Matt?” she asked.

  I looked at my watch. “It’s 6:10. Maybe you can have a little chat with him, and then I’ll meet you for dinner at 7:00? Where should we go?”

  “You’re unbelievable!”

  “Not really. I just know I like you and I think you like me. And I don’t want to waste one more minute being without you. I don’t want to scare you and I don’t want to be a stalker, but I feel a connection I don’t think I’ve ever felt before. And I think you do, too. Don’t you?”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “My not being able to have kids, are you really okay with that?”

  I gave her a huge grin and said, “More than you can imagine.”

  Courtney’s face lit up. “I’ll meet you at Las Pinata’s at 7:00.”

  I went to kiss her again, but this time she pulled away. “Go. I don’t want Matt to see this.”

  “Okay,�
� I said with a smile and a wave. Then I walked outside and told her boyfriend he could come back in. I did feel kind of sorry for the guy, but I felt great for myself!

  As promised, Courtney showed up at Las Pinatas at 7:00 and we ended up having a couple margaritas, chips, salsa, and tacos. It was a really fun night and I couldn’t have been more sure that I did the right thing giving up the cash and going for my girl.

  After dinner, we ended up back at her place, where I spent the night. And yes, we slept together. I knew we weren’t making babies, but I didn’t care. What I felt for this woman far outweighed my desire to knock up some chick and get my mother’s money. Screw it. I was done.

  Eventually I would tell Courtney about Frankie’s contract, and even though the thought of it made me cringe, I would also have to let her know I got arrested for solicitation of prostitution. I wasn’t looking forward to that, but I would figure out the right time to tell her about everything. Right now, I just wanted to enjoy her and get to know her better. I felt like we had all the time in the world now. And it felt amazing.

  For the next week, I pretty much lived at Courtney’s apartment. Besides going home to get more clothes, or going to my job, I was a new fixture at her place. So uncharacteristic of my personality, I felt extremely at ease there, and other than the tremendous fear I felt every time I got off the elevator and passed Jennifer’s door, I was truly enjoying co-habitation.

  Every morning, both of us would go to work, and like some whipped dude, I’d constantly think about how great it was going to be when we both walked through the door that evening. I found myself smiling all day, like some love-struck idiot. Even my students noticed.

  “Mr. Jacobson, what’s up with you?” asked Corinne Keller.

  “Mr. J., you’re different,” said Will Jones.

  “Mr. J. has a girlfriend,” said Angela Walker, smiling from ear to ear, “I can tell.”

  I smiled back at my number one, bright, beautiful student, who looking at these days made me depressed as hell, since she was planning on leaving school in the next couple of months. Angela was job searching and was set to drop out of Martin Luther King as soon as something came through. And as much as I’d tried to convince her not to quit school, her mind seemed to be made up. She was going to be a mom and a high-school dropout, and she was going to give up her dream career in marketing and public relations. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t think she could do both.

  But as frustrated as I was about my student, I was on cloud nine for myself. I did some very romantic things that week. I just wanted to do nice things for Courtney. I felt like she deserved it. On Tuesday, I sent a dozen red roses to her store. Thursday, I gave her my high-school basketball jersey (which really meant a lot to me) so she would have something to sleep in besides lacy lingerie. And on Saturday, after my miserable day of dressing up like Mr. Salty, I ordered Ranalli’s pizza (which besides being good pizza was sentimental) and had dinner on the table when Courtney walked in the door at 6:15. The table was set, candles were lit, and a Nora Jones CD was playing on the stereo.

  “What’s all this?” she asked.

  “Dinner.”

  “You did all this for me?”

  “Sure.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I…” The words I love you were dying to come out. They were festering inside my body, trying to escape the frightened idiot who never had the guts to use them.

  “Because you mean a lot to me,” I said.

  Courtney threw her arms around me and told me I meant a lot to her, too. I was pissed at myself. ‘Did I have any balls at all?’ I wondered. As my girlfriend held me in her arms, I told myself that I’d tell her I loved her soon. Very soon. I would tell her lots of things very soon. Very soon…

  Chapter 27

  Rarely do I start my day at 5:30 in the morning, but today I was so excited that I popped out of bed. This was a big day for me. According to the directions of my ovulation kit, I was supposed to start testing myself six days after my period. Today was that day. Today was also the day I was seeing my boyfriend for the first time in almost a week. Drew had gotten home late the night before and would be at work this morning. I was so excited to see him I could barely stand it.

  The week he was gone, he texted me a few times and called twice, but both times I could tell it was hard for him to talk because his family was around. What I got from him, though, was that he was having a good time and that he was glad he’d chosen to go there.

  “I’ll give you more details when I get back,” he said during one of our conversations. Other things he said and texted during the week were, “I miss you,” “I can’t wait to see you,” and “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  My response to all of those sentiments was the same every time. “Me too,” I’d say or text.

  Drew did tell me he loved me one time during his trip. My response was not “me too.” Instead, I went with, “Okay, well, have fun! See you soon!”

  He chuckled and then said, “Sleep well, honey.”

  Honey did sleep well, thanks to the Xanax I felt like I desperately needed as a result of hearing “I love you” again. I knew “I love you” wasn’t going away. I felt sure that Drew really did mean it. As far as my feelings, they were all over the map. Yes, I was pretty sure I loved him, too. But what about the plan? What about the baby? The money? My desire to be wealthy and make movies was still a big priority. Couldn’t I have it all? I wasn’t sure, and I felt like I was in too deep to tell Drew the truth.

  At 5:35 a.m., I had my official result of the ovulation test, which was that I, Jamie Jacobson, was in fact in baby-making mode. I was ovulating! According to the doctors who commented on the pamphlet, it was highly unusual for a woman to ovulate on “day 6,” but possible. My heart began to pound. This was it! My egg was ready to be fertilized! Cha-ching! And at the same time, the thought of tricking Drew into having a child was causing extreme guilt, and I don’t just mean the typical Jewish person’s guilt, I’m talking major, major shame and disgust in what my ethical standards had become, and what I was setting out to do. Still, eight million dollars was far outweighing any amount of reason. In fact, it was tipping the scales against morality and integrity as well.

  I decided that in any event, I had to look spectacular for work today. I wanted to look my best when Drew saw me for the first time in a week. So, I wore a light pink silk dress with a matching jacket and gold sling-back sandals. I also flat ironed my hair much more than usual, I made sure my nails and toenails were done, and I took lots of extra time putting on my make-up. Just before I headed out, I sprayed two sprays of Chanel Allure on my wrists. I can honestly say, it was the first time I’d ever worn perfume to work.

  I got to the station around 8:30 and saw that my boy-friend was already there. He was sitting in the equipment room training a new audio guy named Gerard. He looked so cute! Drew, that is, not Gerard.

  Drew was wearing a white Polo and khakis, and I had this strong desire to run in there and squeeze the crap out of him. I couldn’t, though, because I didn’t want anyone to know about Drew and I yet. I’d never been a big fan of the whole inner office romance thing. In fact, I’d always thought it was a little cheesy to date someone in the office. But I was doing it, and was oh-so-happy about it.

  As I spied on Drew, watching him teach Gerard, and at the same time crack jokes in an effort to make the guy feel at ease, I thought about his gift of always being able to find something to smile about, even in a serious situation. I thought back to an incident that happened at the station a couple years earlier. One of the reporters, Samantha Banks was being stalked by some weirdo, who would call and e-mail her dozens of times a day. Samantha tried to let the guy know in a nice way that she wasn’t interested, but he was obsessed and wouldn’t let it go. Finally, one day, he showed up at the station, and to this day no one can figure out how he got past security.

  When Samantha got back from lunch, the stalker was waiting for her in her of
fice. When she walked in, he closed the door behind her, locked it, pulled down the shades and began to attack her physically. Samantha tried to scream but he covered her mouth and began lifting up her skirt. The whole thing was so bizarre because this was happening in broad daylight with everyone going about their daily business, not knowing a rape was about to occur just a few feet away.

  Luckily for Samantha, our news director, Larry, had just returned to the office, as well. Larry was a guy who frequently enjoyed a few cocktails during his lunch hour. He headed to Samantha’s office to talk to her about a piece she did on Vince Vaughn. Actually, rumor has it that Larry was planning on giving her an earful about how bad he thought the story was.

  He knocked on the door and when he realized it was locked, he began pounding on it. Had it not been for Larry’s aggressive drunk behavior, God only knows what would have happened. Larry heard noises coming from Samantha’s office and began screaming her name while continuing to bang on the door. This apparently caused the attacker to become nervous and lose his concentration, and Samantha was able to let out a scream for help. Larry now knew for sure something was wrong. A few people had begun to gather around Samantha’s office door, not knowing what to do, until finally, Chuck, one of the editing guys, grabbed a fire extinguisher and started hitting the door until it broke open.

  Drew had just walked by and realized what was going on, so when the psycho guy started to run out, he was able to grab him and hold him down. The whole experience was a nightmare for Samantha, and for everyone in a way, but what I remembered so clearly was Drew making jokes about the attacker to ease the tension and make all of us laugh.

  After the cops took the stalker away, Drew went over to Samantha and said, “He really did seem like your type. Want me to call the police station and get his number?” Some people thought it was funny. Even Samantha laughed. At the time, I thought his joking around was annoying and inappropriate. Now, however, reflecting back, I saw it as a sweet gesture, and an effort to make things easier by comforting everyone.