Jenna curls up on a hotel bed and finally checks all the texts Adam has been sending.
Adam
Adam
I saw you dodge into the elevator. WTH?
Adam
Adam
Let’s just meet at the café down the block. Neutral territory. Ok?
Three minutes pass.
Adam
Adam
Jen, where the hell are you?
She exhales, knowing she can’t keep hiding.
Jenna
Jenna
I’ve checked into a hotel.
Adam
Adam
You WHAT?
Adam
Adam
Come back. You said you couldn’t face me, but I didn’t think you’d actually run away.
Adam
Adam
I’LL check in somewhere else. This is your apartment, not mine.
Jenna
Jenna
No. Things have gotten way too serious. I need to sort my crap out and get some perspective.
Jenna
Jenna
After you move to LA, we’ll talk.
Adam
Adam
What?
Jenna
Jenna
It’s not like I’ve been looking to get personal with a man anyway.
Jenna
Jenna
Work gives me all the fulfillment I need.
Even Jenna winces at that lame excuse.
Adam
Adam
Now that is some prime bullshit.
Adam
Adam
Are those the speaking points of your defense mechanism?
Jenna
Jenna
Speaking points? Are we in the midst of an interview?
Adam
Adam
That wasn’t actually my point.
Adam
Adam
You know what? If an interview is the only way we can communicate, then let’s do it.
Adam
Adam
Tell me, Little Miss Work Is All the Fulfillment I Need…
Adam
Adam
Care to comment on your relationship with that toy I found?
Jenna
Jenna
Not funny.
Adam
Adam
Not trying to be.
Adam
Adam
I’m pointing out that you clearly need more than work to satisfy you.
Jenna
Jenna
So we’re playing it this way? Okay.
Jenna
Jenna
Little Miss Work’s relationship with that toy began after she discovered that guys suck.
Jenna
Jenna
She also came to the conclusion that dealing with them took too much energy.
Jenna
Jenna
Kind of like the energy she’s exerting now.
She tosses the phone to the mattress.
That didn’t feel as good as she hoped it would.
Damn him.
She picks the phone back up.
Jenna
Jenna
All right. There’s actually another reason for my toy and the defense mechanisms.
Adam
Adam
I’m listening.
Jenna
Jenna
Relationships are tough for Little Miss Work.
Jenna
Jenna
She hasn’t put much effort into having one since…
Adam
Adam
Since you met that dashing kid you tutored in college?
Adam
Adam
I hear he ruined you for anyone else.
Her throat tightens.
Jenna
Jenna
That kid used to be so easy to talk to.
Adam
Adam
What changed that?
She squeezes her eyes shut.
Courage seeps out of her second by second.
Adam
Adam
Are you afraid to get too close to him now for some reason?
Jenna
Jenna
Little Miss Work has ended the interview.
Adam
Adam
Don’t do this, Jen.
Adam
Adam
I’m getting the feeling that you use your job and all your nerdy things as shields.
Adam
Adam
That you hide behind all your geeky fandoms to avoid relationships.
Jenna
Jenna
Wrong and wrong.
Adam
Adam
Am I?
Jenna
Jenna
You like to think you know so much about me, but you don’t.
Adam
Adam
Well then let me tell you something I DO know.
Adam
Adam
I’m in my room and it looks like someone’s been in my bed.
Jenna swallows heavily.
Adam
Adam
It makes me wonder if there was some non-work related fulfillment going on.
Adam
Adam
It also makes me wish you were still in that bed now.
Jenna
Jenna
Are we really starting this up again?
Adam
Adam
I told you…if you want to play, Jen, I’ll play.
Adam
Adam
Whatever it takes to break through to you.
Adam
Adam
Maybe you should even give me equal time in YOUR bed while you’re AWOL.
She gasps, thinking of his tie and the sexy pics she tossed into her room before running away.
Jenna
Jenna
Stay out of my room, Adam!
Adam
Adam
You know what? I’m just going to lay it out for you.
Adam
Adam
Ever since we reconnected, I haven’t been able to think of anyone but you.
Adam
Adam
You really have no clue about how I felt about you in college.
Jenna’s world starts to spin.
Jenna
Jenna
You fantasized about my anime tee shirts. Big deal.
Adam
Adam
Jen…the first time I saw you in the library, it was like a giant fist pounded me into the ground.
Adam
Adam
There you were in your geek ponytails, a Princess Leia shirt, and a pleated skirt.
Adam
Adam
I didn’t know anyone else who was so unafraid to show the world who she was.
Jenna
Jenna
And THEN you decided that I was one big defense mechanism.
Adam
Adam
No, not back then.
Jenna’s hands are trembling while holding the phone.
Adam
Adam
That night, I did start to wonder if you might be putting on an adorable act.
Adam
Adam
All the girls I met were good at that, but you turned out to be different.
Adam
Adam
You joked that I was a clone who blended into the Imperial ranks—
Adam
Adam
That’s what you called the rest of the frat boys.
Adam
Adam
It was hilarious, and it shocked the crap out of me.
Adam
Adam
Because I’d never been called out like that before.
Jenna
Jenna
I should’ve kept my mouth shut.
Adam
Adam
Then I brought you that Stormtrooper eraser to show I was in on the joke.
Adam
Adam
That’s when you started looking at ME differently.
She can’t swallow away the lump in her throat now.
Adam
Adam
By graduation time, I knew what I felt for you was real.
Adam
Adam
I thought you might feel the same, but you just said a chipper farewell to me on that last night.
Adam
Adam
So I told myself I was being an idiot, that I’d imagined something between us.
Jenna
Jenna
I really had no clue, Adam.
Her heart is aching so badly that she presses her hand over it.
But it still hurts.
Jenna
Jenna
You make solving this situation sound so easy. But here’s the thing.
Jenna
Jenna
You’re always saying what a sweet nerd I am.
Jenna
Jenna
What if I wasn’t that way at all?
Adam
Adam
What? A nerd?
Jenna
Jenna
Sweet.
As the seconds crawl by, she stares at the phone screen.
Adam
Adam
But you have a sweet nature. You even smell sweet, like flowers.
Adam
Adam
All I want to do is bury my face in your hair and smell your skin.
Adam
Adam
Your lingerie even smells sweet…
She jumps to her feet, knowing where this is going.
Lingerie…the drawers in her bedroom…the tie and pictures on the floor…
Jenna
Jenna
Don’t go in my room.
Adam
Adam
Already opening the door…
Jenna
Jenna
ADAM!
Jenna waits for a full minute, but there’s no answer.
Jenna
Jenna
Adam?
Another taut minute passes, and Jenna’s heart is exploding with fear.
Adam
Adam
Jen, what am I seeing on your floor?
Adam
Adam