INSTALLMENT FOUR

INSTALLMENT FIVE

Jenna kicked the door to the bathroom open. She looked around the bathroom to see if anyone was there. Luckily it was empty. She gingerly touched her face. Thankfully the damage was to the inside where no one could see. It was just slightly puffy. She tasted the metallic taste of blood in her mouth and spit into the sink. She turned on the tap and watched her blood mix with the water as it flowed down the drain. She reached over and pulled out a handful of paper towels, soaked them under the cold water, and brought it up to her face.

"Ouch….fuck…." She switched the compress to her left hand and tried to work the pain out of her right arm and shoulder.

She threw the compress into the trash bin and stared at her reflection.

"What the hell just happened?" Jenna's head was reeling. She went through the moments from the cafeteria to Brett's office and then everything broke loose.

"It's that damn Victoria!! If she hadn't walked in, I would have worked things out with Brett." Jenna remembered what Brett had said and her shoulders slumped. As much as she hated Victoria Hull, she couldn't deny the truth of what Brett had said.'What makes her any better than me? The difference between you and her is the fact that you're still conscious. When I asked her to stop, she did. That's a heck of a lot more than what I can say for you.'

Jenna looked at her reflection and the guilt of what she had done washed over her. She hadn't wanted to hurt Brett. That was the last thing on her mind. She knew that she had changed and she wanted nothing more than to dedicate her life to making Brett happy. That's why she moved all the way to New York. She wanted to offer Brett the kind of love that she thought she could now provide for her.

"But how does it look to them? It looks like a psycho bitch that hasn't shown her face in four years just up and decides to move to where her ex-girlfriend lives and gets a job where her ex-girlfriend works… So, maybe I didn't think this through very well." Jenna spit out another clot of blood and shook her head.

"You never do." Jenna released a heavy sigh and thought about the other things that Brett had said.

"It was true. Everything she said was true. What did you hope to accomplish here? You beat her into a coma and you expect her to take you back with open arms four years later? Maybe you do need to get your head checked everyday." Brett's words rang in her head once more.'There are millions and millions of other people in this world and I suggest you try someone else.'

"Brett was right. I need to move on. We both need to shut the door to that part of our lives and move on." Jenna let out another sigh and checked her appearance one last time before she went back to her office and killed time before her 4:30 class. Her clothes were ruffled and her face was swollen. But there was nothing she could do right now. " It'll have to do." With a heavy sigh, she felt the weight of her action cast over her again. There was no one to blame: this time.

******

Tori tried to sleep but couldn't. She had never lost control like she had and it scared her. Never in her life had she wanted to kill someone. But she had come very close with Jenna. She knew her feelings ran deep for Brett, but to love someone so much that you would kill for them. Am I really capable of that? She thought about what Jenna had said. 'What makes her any better than me?' She remembered the look of horror on Brett's face and at that moment she realized that she was the one that placed that look there. " Jenna and I had different motivations. She feared she was going to lose Brett so she tried to control her and she lost control. I tried to protect Brett from a perceived danger and I lost control. I'm not saying what she did was right but given her background at the time, she didn't know any better. The question is what is she doing here now?" Tori got up from her position on the couch and decided to go to the bathroom and freshen up.

She opened the door to Brett's office and spotted Brett's secretary, Irene.

"Hi, um I'm just waiting for Miss Montgomery to return." Tori smiled at the woman.

"Yes, Brett said you were sleeping and not to disturb you." The woman returned the smile and was obviously looking Tori over appreciatively. Irene was in her late thirties and had short brown hair, big brown eyes, and a very pleasant smile. Ooh I think we have a sister. Hey what is Brett doing having a secretary that's a sister? Tori didn't know how to feel about it so she thought she would leave it be for now.

"Yes well … can you tell me where the restroom is?" Even though the worn out executive looked a little tired, she still looked beautiful to the casual observer.

"It's down the hall two doors to the left." Irene was obviously taken with Tori because she had this shy blush on her face and Tori of course noticed immediately.

"Thanks I appreciate it. Oh I'm Tori. And your name is…..?" Tori held out her hand and waited for the woman to answer.

"I'm…I'm…I'm Irene." The woman was absolutely taken. It didn't help that the tall woman before her oozed sensuality even at her worst.

"Well it's nice to meet you Irene. I'm sure we'll be speaking a lot. Especially since I'm close friends with Brett." Tori winked and tried to be subtle but Irene clearly understood how close her boss and Tori were.

"I'm sure. Brett's talked about nothing else but you this last month. She seems very happy. Anytime you need to get hold of Brett while she's here or if you need me to do something for you on her behalf, please feel free to call me." Irene smiled and Tori gave her one back.

"Thanks. That's two doors to the left….." Tori started walking towards the hallway and pointed in the direction indicated.

"Yeah, that's right, …uh….I mean left. You know what I mean." Irene had truly never met anyone quite like Victoria. Ooh Brett you lucky dog.

Tori laughed and walked the few short steps to the restroom. Just as she was about to open the door, the door opened and the two adversaries met once again.

Tori and Jenna stared at one another for a moment, the tension between them thick and deadening.

Jenna was the first to break the silence. "We really need to stop running into each other like this."

Tori looked into the math professor's eyes and tried to imagine where the blonde-haired loon was going with this line of communication.

"I think your right. It's doing nothing for my state of mind and it's definitely not making you any better looking." Tori could have sworn she saw a look of amusement on Jenna's face.

"Your right, it's not." Jenna looked down in thought. She was thinking about what she needed to say. "Look I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I know that's the last thing you want to hear, but it's the truth." Jenna stood at the doorway of the bathroom and Tori just stood there with a perplexed look on her face.

"You're right. It is the last thing I want to hear. But I have to admit, I'm kind of confused about what you're trying to achieve." Tori gave Jenna a concerned look. "Since the day I met you, you have done nothing but make me think the worst of you. For the life of me, I don't know what Brett ever saw in you in the first place."

Tori could see that Jenna was hurt by her comment but there was no sign of anger.

"I've asked myself that very question a million times. When you sit in a hospital room and have nothing else to do but think about everything you've ever done and all that has been done to you, you can do nothing but ask yourself the hard questions." Jenna looked at Tori and thought that maybe now would be a good time to mend another fence. "Look…. in the last six years, you and I have spent all of what an hour in each other's company. But in that time, we've managed to make idiots of ourselves and well… maybe… if we sat down and talked like civilized human beings, maybe we might come to some kind of truce. I know Brett doesn't want to have anything to do with me. Believe me. She made that perfectly clear. But I know we both love her and my actions have obviously made an impact on you as well." Jenna looked at Tori and could see her words were getting through. "Do you want to go get a drink? I know Brett has a class."

Tori stood there, wondering if this day could get any stranger. She couldn't believe she was actually thinking about having a drink with this woman. What good could it do? When the words left her mouth, she was just as surprised, as Jenna seemed to be.

"Okay, Brett doesn't get back until 4:00. It's 2:45 now. Do you know of some place close?" Tori waited for Jenna to respond and Jenna thought of a few places.

"Yeah… there's a pub about two blocks away that the faculty goes to. We could go there and be back fairly quickly. Is that okay?" Jenna waited for Victoria's response and was now just as confused at the turn of events.

"Yeah, let's go." Tori thought about this new development and thought it was a good idea. Better to know what your enemy is doing then letting them run around unseen.