Washed Up

"Sure. Just let me know what you decide."

Twenty minutes later, Jeri knew she had to accept the offer. She also knew she had to tell Link so she called William and told him she'd be there but not until she wrapped up some loose ends.

"Well, don't wrap too long, Jeri. This thing is hot and you do not want to give them any reason to change their minds," he reminded her.

"No. No, we don't want that," she said without conviction, dreading doing what she knew she had to do.

Just before school started, Jeri knocked on Link's door.

"Hey!" he said immediately. "And wow! You look amazing. Like you're going to dinner or something."

"Thank you, Link, and I am going somewhere. Just not to dinner," she said feeling like her heart might break at any minute.

"What's going on?" Link asked. He sensed something was wrong and now it was his turn to experience that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Link. I don't know how to say this, but...."

"Then just say it," he said quietly as she broke eye contact.

"I...my agent...William. He called me. I've been offered a recording contract. Back in...."

"That's great, Jeri. You need to take it," Link said feeling like he might cry for the first time since Connie Martin threw a rock and hit him in the face back in third grade.

"I...don't want to leave, Link. I do like you. A lot. I just...."

"It's okay, Jeri. I understand. I'm happy for you," he managed to say trying to sound sincere.

"I feel so torn," she said hoping to mitigate her pain and his.

"I understand."

"I was so sure this was what I wanted. Here. With you."

"Something more important came along," he said trying not to sound bitter. "You have to follow your dreams, right?"

"Right. I suppose I do," she said still not able to look at him.

"Good luck," Link said not sure if he'd be able to hold back the emotion building up inside him.

"Thank you, Link."

She finally looked up then said, "You, too."

She was hoping to kiss him goodbye, but the look on her face told her that would not be well received.

"So...I guess I'll be seeing you then," Jeri told him.

"Right. Yeah. I'll uh, see around," Link told her.

"Okay. Then I guess I'll be going," she said, her own heart breaking.

"You take care," Link said.

"You, too. And take care of DJ and please tell him how sorry I am the demo thing didn't work out."

Fighting hard not to be sarcastic, Link lost the battle and said, "I'm sure he didn't really care about the...demo thing. Besides, it wasn't like you promised him or anything, right?"

Now deeply hurt, but knowing she deserved that, Jeri told him goodbye and walked out as she choked back tears and headed to the limo waiting outside for her.

During the ride to the airport and for the duration of the flight, all she could think of was why she needed to do this. And the more she thought, the less reason she had for doing it.

It was as though she was on autopilot. Her brain had learned to build her life around music and a huge part of that had been renewing her contract every couple of years. Having had a renewal dangled in front of her after being rejected triggered something inside her she couldn't stop. And yet, as the plane landed and William met her inside, she now couldn't stop asking herself, "What in the world are you doing?"

William talked non-stop all the way to the record company's very large, very expensive building in downtown LA. He opened the conference room door for Jeri, and the same very young executive was sitting there with the same attorney just like before.

"Well, well. Look who's on time," he said rather smugly. "Have a seat."

Jeri stared at him but didn't reply. She sat down, crossed her legs, and waited.

The attorney slid what Jeri knew was a contract her way as the young exec said, "I think you'll find the numbers more than satisfactory. Had we known about this song during our last meeting, all this consternation could have been avoided."

Jeri glanced down at it, and she had to admit he was right. It was a very generous offer for someone like herself who hadn't had an original hit in nearly 20 years. It was more money than she'd seen in a contract since her 'glory days' and yet, when she really looked at it, she wasn't seeing dollar signs but chains. Signing meant two more years of touring and almost certainly two more years of loneliness.

She had no idea whether Link would even consider a relationship with her, but she was now very certain that life in the fast lane was the last place she wanted to be. Deep down Jeri yearned for a husband and a family. Just a simple life lived to its fullest. Money, beyond the ability to pay one's bills, didn't bring happiness, and she knew that all too well.

"It is very generous," she said with a polite smile.

"Excellent!" the attorney said. "Just sing in the three places tabbed in green and initial in the three others tabbed in blue."

Jeri set the pen on top of the contract and pushed it back toward the two men sitting across from her.

"Oh, no. You're not gonna extort more money out of us. That offer is way above what you're worth. Take it or leave it," the young executive said.

"I will," Jeri said as she stood up.

"Jeri. Wait. What are you doing?" William said when he saw his commission being flushed down the toilet right in front of him.

"What I should have done before," she said. "Don't bother showing me out."

"You're done, bitch! You'll never work in this business again!" the cherub-faced exec screamed.

"Promises, promises," Jeri said, enjoying a rare moment of smugness of her own.

William followed her out and pleaded with her to reconsider. He even played the 'I've got a kid in college' card, and that did cause Jeri to feel bad but not bad enough to sign away two more years of her life.

"William? You've been nothing but good to me all these years and I love you like an older brother, but...."

"But? What...but, Jeri? This is career suicide!"

"The 'but' is I...I fell in love."

"You fell in love? You weren't gone long enough to fall in love. It's just some crazy, small-town fantasy. Jeri, you have the potential to put hits on the chart. You'll have it all again! Money, fame, adoring fans. What more could anyone want?"

She smiled politely then said, "Love. A family. Genuine happiness. Things like that."

William stood there shaking his head knowing he'd lost the battle and the war.

"All right. I can only wish you the best of luck," he said with outstretched arms.

Jeri hugged him and thanked him again for everything.

"He must be quite a guy," William said.

"Yes. Yes, he is," Jeri told him.

She was able to catch a very late flight back to Seattle and didn't get in until a little after 4am. She finally slept a few hours on the plane, and by the time she got back to Keri's house, she was so wired she couldn't sleep.

Keri was just getting up and was shocked to see her sister sitting in the kitchen still dressed in the same clothes.

"Is everything okay?" Keri asked without even pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Yes. Better than okay," Jeri told her.

"So did you sign the contract?"

"Nope."

"No?"

"No. I have something here worth far more than anything money can buy," Jeri told her.

"Link?"

"Yes. And even if he doesn't want to see me again, I'll wait and eventually find someone who'll love me for who I am and not who I was."

"Look at you. All grown up and so mature. Just like the big sister I always wanted."

Keri realized immediately how that sounded and started to apologize, but Jeri stopped her.

"No. You're exactly right. I was shallow and completely self-absorbed all those years. It was all about me and the next record and the next big paycheck. I couldn't have been more wrong."

Keri's eyes welled up with tears as she said, "I am so proud of you. And I love you so much!"

Jeri stood up and the same time her sister did, and for several seconds they tearfully hugged one another.

"Now go find Link and tell him how you feel," Keri said. "But please...take a shower first, okay?"

Jeri laughed as they both dried their eyes.

"Good idea. I don't want to scare him off by just walking into his office."

An hour later, Jeri was back downstairs and dressed much less formally.

"Oh, nice look," her sister told her. "Very pretty and very feminine. If that doesn't help it certainly won't hurt."

Jeri looked 'casually elegant' in a dressy-looking, long-sleeved sweater and a skirt that fell to about two inches above her knees. Her makeup was flawless as was her hair.

The rest was now up to Lincoln Matthews who hadn't slept much that night as he tossed and turned vacillating between feeling angry and resentful and wanting her back so badly it hurt. But Link was a realist and he knew he couldn't compete with the kind of money and fame that came with being a recording artist, and by the time he gave up trying to sleep, he knew it was a lost cause. It was time to get up and move on with his life.

Exhausted and bleary eyed, Link had to stop and look a second and then a third time when he got to his office.

"Hi," Jeri said after a couple of seconds. She was just as tired as Link who had no idea Jeri had only slept a few hours in the last two days.

"Um...hi," Link said still not sure he was talking with Jeri or imagining it.

"I learned something very important over the last 24 hours," she said as Link unlocked his door and invited her in.

"Oh? What might that be?" he said trying to be civil.

"Actually I suppose I confirmed something I thought I knew rather than learned it."

Link didn't respond. He just sat down and shuffled some papers before booting up his desktop.

"Link? I didn't sign the contract," she told him.

For the first time since he saw her he stopped ignoring her and looked right at her.

"You turned it down?" he asked wanting to make sure he heard her correctly.

"Yes. I turned it down."

"Why? I thought that was your dream, Jeri. One last big hurrah. Maybe another hit single or an album. Why would you say 'no' to that?"

"Because there's something more important to me than the emptiness of money and notoriety. Or more accurately...some one."

Still hurting from the rejection, Link wasn't sure what to make of what she just said.

"Some...one?" he asked.

"Yes. Someone very important to me. Someone who's allowed me to know what it feels like to...."

Jeri broke eye contact and looked down for a moment before looking back at Link and saying, "To be in love."

"In love? You have a very strange way of showing you love someone," he said. His words were still caustic but his anger and hurt were waning.

"I can never say how sorry I am for letting the allure of...stuff...cloud my judgment. It's like an addiction and even after you think you've kicked the habit, when someone dangles a fix right in front of you, it can be very tempting."

"So what are you saying, Jeri?" Link asked in a way that sounded more like a demand.

"I'm saying that you're the first man I've ever really loved, Link. I know that may sound foolish considering how long we've known each other, but that doesn't make it any less true. Not for me, at least," she told him sincerely.

"I'm also saying I'm so, so sorry, and I'm asking you to forgive me and give me another chance, Link. And yes, I'm saying I love you."

Her eyes were filled with honesty and her words came across with complete sincerity, and it was then that Link knew she meant what she was saying. This beautiful, older woman could have returned to the life she'd lived with money and fans and all that goes with it, but she had turned it down because...because she loved him.

"I hate whiny, needy men, Jeri. And I really hate complaining. But I have to tell you this hurt me more than anything else ever has because...."

He stopped talking and felt himself choking up. Link swallowed hard then said, "Because I love you, too."

Now it was Jeri who had to make sure she'd heard correctly.

"Would you say that again, please?" she asked very quietly.

Link stood up, moved around his desk, and took her hands, and helped her stand up.

"I love you, Jeri. I love you and I forgive you, and I want to be with you more than I've ever wanted anything."

Tears filled her eyes as she said, "I won't ever do anything like that again, Link. All I want is to feel this way for the rest of my life. To feel the way you make me feel."

He put his hand on her cheek and said, "Nothing would make happier than to do my best to make you feel that way, because that's exactly how you make me feel."

Jeri managed a smile then said, "If you don't kiss me right now I don't think I can stand it one more second."

Link leaned down and kissed her softly and then more passionately until the heard someone clear their throat rather loudly.

"Ahem!" Keri said as the kissing couple slowly ended their kiss. "I know I'm butting in, but I couldn't wait to see how things went, and obviously they're going very well."

Link was holding Jeri's hand and all three of them were smiling happily.

"You could say that," Link told Keri as he looked at the woman he loved.

"Yes you could," Jeri agreed as she stared into her lover's eyes. "You could because it's true."

Keri was clapping her hands together at light speed in front of her and smiling so broadly it felt like her mouth might tear at the corners.

"I am so happy for you both!" she said as she moved toward them. "Group hug?"

The three of them hugged each other tight before Keri backed away and said, "Did I mention how happy I am for you guys?"

Keri and her sister were on the verge of crying as Jeri said, "I owe you so much, Keri. If you hadn't let me stay with you or encouraged me to substitute, none of this would have happened."

"I guess now I can finally stop envying you for all of your success," Keri said with a smile.

"And with any luck, maybe I'll be able to finally stop envying you for all your happiness," Jeri told her.

From that moment on, Link and Jeri became inseparable. They spent as much time together as two people with full-time jobs could, and both of them also made time for DJ. Some of that time included finally making the demo Jeri had promised, and although he never had the fame or success she'd once enjoyed, DJ did have a modest, local singing career that helped him pay for four years of college.

Spring Fling was a huge success with her kids performing her song for free. She and Link danced to it together, and Jeri's heart was on the verge of bursting with happiness.

On the last day of the school year, Link proposed to Jeri in front of the entire faculty which had became a kind of second family for her. The principal finished with the last of the announcements after having made a number of presentations for various achievements during the year.

"Oh. There is one more announcement," she said as Link came up on stage. "I believe Mr. Matthews would like a moment of our time."

"Thank you," Link said. "I uh, well, as all of you know, I met someone this year who's become very important to me."

He looked right at Jeri and smiled before continuing.

"This...someone...is the most beautiful, loving, caring, and giving person I've ever met. She's made me happier than I could have ever dreamed of being, and I love her with all my heart."

The women in the room began either tearing up or 'oohing' and 'awing' or both as Link continued.

"Had she not had the misfortune of being told her career was over and that she was...washed up...she would have never returned home, and I would have never met her."

Link walked down off the stage then took Jeri's hand and said, "And I'd have never known what it's like to love someone so much it hurts."

Jeri's eyes were now filled with tears, too, as Link smiled at her and said, "Jeri? I love you with all my heart. You once said something about wanting to feel this way for the rest of your life."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box which drew more 'oohs' and 'awes' as he knelt down on one knee.

"Jeri? I want to feel this way for the rest of my life, but that can only happen if you're in it. So...Jeri Kennedy? Will you marry me?"

Women were grabbing each other's hands or arms and tears were freely flowing as Jeri, who was now crying openly, began nodding her head as she said, "Yes! Yes, I will marry you!"

The applause was loud and long as Link slid the ring on her slender finger then stood up and took her hands before kissing her in front of the entire staff. When the kiss ended, they turned toward the other teachers and staff members who were still clapping and crying.

"We're so happy for you! Good luck, you two! Congratulations!" were some of the calls that came their way before they all got up to either hug or shake hands with the newly-engaged couple.

On a chilly November morning, the happy couple said 'I do' after exchanging vows in a small ceremony held at Keri's home with DJ serving as Link's best man.

Two weeks later, the music teacher returned to her old job, and Jeri happily started her new life with Link after learning just one week after that that she was pregnant.

The following August, their first child was born, and Jeri cried tears of happiness yet again as her baby boy was placed in her arms for the first time.

Link was right there with her as she held the little boy and said, "Not bad for a washed-up pop star, huh?"

"Washed up? Honey, we're just getting started," Jeri assured him.

Jeri laughed as Link leaned down and kissed her before kissing his son for the first time.

"I can't believe I ever even thought of giving all this up for...anything," Jeri told him as the thought of having missed this kind of happiness made her want to cry.

"But you didn't miss it, honey. This is real," Link told her.

Jeri smiled again then said, "More real than anything else I've ever done. And my life with you is far better than anything I ever had before or ever dreamed of having."

Link kissed her again and said, "I love you so much."

"And I love you, too," she told him.

They both looked at their baby boy and said, "And Mommy and Daddy love you more than anything else in the whole world," as the new parents tried to soak in all the love and happiness filling the delivery room where their dreams had finally come true.