the jackal

She starts awake with a gasp.

Clutching her chest, she tries to calm her racing heartbeat, but it’s harder than hell when everything felt...

God, it felt so real.

“Midge?”

“I...I had the strangest dream - nightmare, really,” she answers, looking over at him.

Lenny rolls onto his side, his hand sliding comfortingly over her waist. “Want to tell me about it?”

She tells him everything. About Esther’s therapy. Ethan going to Israel and not telling her about his fiancé. About her failed marriages and falling out with Susie. About his rapid descent and...his death.

“It all felt…so real. Down to the fabulous outfits I was wearing. The eighties are going to be great for my wardrobe.”

He chuckles and gazes at her for a long moment. “Well none of that is going to happen - aside from the fabulous wardrobe,” he promises, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re a great mother. I’ve been clean for two years, so no meltdown at Carnegie Hall is going to be necessary. And Susie is your best friend. She’s going to be your best friend until we’re all dead.”

“And four to six months after?”

“And four to six months after,” he confirms with a nod.

Midge blinks back tears and then holds his face in her hands, kissing him deeply.

When they part, he wipes a little of her face cream off of his cheek and smiles at her. “Now I need to get some sleep. I don’t know if you heard, but tomorrow I’m marrying the most incredible woman on the planet, and if I don’t get my beauty sleep, she might realize just how far out of my league she actually is.”

“Careful with that one. I hear she’s got three more divorces in her future.”

He sighs and props himself up on his elbow. “Sweetheart, if you think I’d ever let you divorce me, you’re out of your fucking mind.”

“That’s what I thought about Joel, too,” she reminds him.

“I’m not Joel,” he murmurs, dipping his head and looking at her a little more intently. “I know how lucky I am.”

“I’m the lucky one,” she whispers. “Really, Lenny, I…” She reaches up and caresses his jaw with her fingertips. “Do you know how much I love you?”

He smiles that wonderful smile she loves so much, and nods. “Almost as much as I love you.”

I promise you I will credit your fic 🥺

I don't mind at all! I'm glad you liked it 😊

Spoilers below the cut

Rules: you will be given a word. share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that start with each letter of that word.

Most of the WIPs I currently have are with @wonderlandleighleigh, so I'm not sure which lines were written by whom. Eventually we will get back to writing when life stops kicking my ass.

DIRTY

D - “Don’t make me re-blacken that eye,” she grumbles.

I - "Including the time you were mumbling and popping pills? About sixteen hours," Susie answers.

R - “Right,” she breathes, fiddling with the pillow beneath her head. “I’m glad you called. I already miss you. Is that strange?”

T - The first kiss he gives her isn’t on the lips but on the inside of her thigh, just above the top of her stocking.

Y - “You thought I was going to ask you for a kidney in the middle of an art museum?”