In The Interest Of Transparency

I’m not wrong; the hen party turns out to be as raucous as they come, with the bride-to-be being set various tasks, dares and good, old-fashioned drinking games. The gaggle of drunk women is thankfully being herded by a very sober mother and future mother-in-law which keeps things from getting too out of hand, but as the group moves onto shots and their volume increases, I’m not sure how long the restraint will hold.

One a.m. finds us mopping sticky floors, wiping down the booths and tables, and moaning about crazy females who can’t hold their liquor. Sam and Bailey are arguing about who is going to clean up the delightful mess left in the ladies’ bathroom while I feel relieved that I’m getting out of that one. When at last the bar is back to rights, we troop out into the night, and once again I thank my lucky stars that my bed is only a couple of floors up.

“Bloody hell, that was a long one,” I grumble as I unlock the door to our apartment and wait for Finn to walk through. He hands me a pile of mail that he collected from our box on the way up, and I idly start flicking through the pile while he locks up until a brown envelope catches my eye. Uh oh. These are never good.

At once my heart begins to pound, and I start calculating the weeks. Has it already been six months? Finn catches the look on my face and instantly snags the envelope from my shaking hands. It’s the same routine every…single…time.

“It’s fine, Kit Kat,” Finn soothes. “Just the date for your review. Everything is going to be fine. Better to be safe than sorry after this latest flare. You know the drill; poop and bloods and then, if necessary, the wee camera up your butt.” He’s doing his best to make light of the situation and reassure me, but no matter what he says, I’m going to be a ball of nerves until I get my results back and I know where I am with my labs.

Snatching the letter back, I wish him a soft goodnight before retreating to my room. I know that I’m unlikely to get any sleep tonight, no matter how hard I try so instead I decide to take a long shower to help me decompress. When I finally emerge, I check my phone and see that Jackson is still active on the messenger app. Our parting earlier is still playing on my mind so on a whim I type him out a quick message.

*Me: Hey! I don’t know if you are still awake? I just wanted to say that I really did forget to tell you about Chase. I wasn’t keeping secrets or anything.

Jackson: Why are you still awake?

Me: Finished work late…. That hen party made for a super busy night.

Jackson: Hahaha. Were there dares?

Me: Loads!!!! Thankfully the MIL and mum kept it all FAIRLY P.G.

Jackson: Sounds like a busy one. You must be shattered. I’ll let you get some sleep.

Me: It’s okay. Am still too wired to sleep. How come you are still up?

Jackson: Jetlag

Me: Ahhhhh! Yeah that sucks!

Jackson: So, was everything okay with Chase? He didn’t say anything apart from that he apologised.

Me: Yeah, it was cool. I wasn’t expecting him to just pop in like that though and he caught me in my office clothes…

Jackson: Um, I actually don’t know what that means…

Me: You can ask him about my pink crocs

Jackson: Hahahaha!

Me: He was nice actually. Apologised for what the girls said even though that wasn’t him. He also apologised for spreading the video around but again I’m sure there’s more than one video of that night doing the rounds. I told him all was cool and that I wasn’t looking to get between you and your mates. He seemed relieved. So nothing to tell. Really, it slipped my mind because Soph got back from her trip the next day and there was a little bit of drama with her housemate. So I was all busy with that.

Jackson: Ah okay. I was just worried as Chase can be a bit blunt.

Me: No more than me lol

Jackson: True

Me: Though on the subject of transparency and all that…

Jackson: ?

Me: I got a letter through about my colitis review. They are never fun!

Jackson: What can I do to help?

Me: Just be patient with me. It’s normally blood tests and a stool sample followed by a colonoscopy which all sounds simple but emotionally I struggle…

Jackson: Oh, Kat!

Me: I’m not saying this to scare you. It's just…hard…

Jackson: The not knowing?

Me: Yeah, and the waiting for the results

Jackson: Will you let me be there for you?

Me: I would really appreciate that! I’m just giving you fair warning that my moods tend to be quite volatile ☹

Jackson: I can handle that*

We message for a few more minutes until I realise that I’m struggling to keep my eyes open.

*Me: I’m going to try and get some sleep now. Thanks again for our date. I had such a nice time.

Jackson: Me too. Goodnight beautiful xxx

Me: Back atcha handsome xxx*