A Call From Jan: The 'Jan Project' Explained
Jan’s voice, faltering ever-so-slightly, came on the line. “Steve,” she said quietly,” it's me.”
Steve was shocked and answered in a slightly faltering voice of his own. “Jan? Is it really you? I thought you were out of town… or that you were going back to New York with your mother.”
“I was, but her flight got delayed, and then before I left for the airport, Linda called and said I should listen to the show.”
“I know we only had a - I mean, we didn't exactly talk about everything,” Steve said before adding, “Why'd you disappear so quickly?”
Jan waited for a moment and then couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, “I was hurt that it seemed the only reason you were dating me was to get to my money. And, then I saw that note entitled ‘Jan Project’ on your iPhone! What was I supposed to think about that, huh?”
“You saw that?” Steve asked, stunned and embarrassed.
“Yes, I did!” Jan shouted, no longer quietly faltering. Dave winced and grabbed his headphones, motioning to the engineer to adjust the volume on his headset.
Steve closed his eyes and spoke sincerely. “I'm sorry, Jan. I didn't mean anything by it. That's just how Greg talks about people. That’s how he talks about projects and work, and I guess that’s also how he talks about my relationships.”
“So, what about my mother and her money?” Jan asked, holding the phone tightly against her cheek.
“Well, we did want it at first, but then,” Steve said, searching for the right words, “other things started popping for us, and this book came along. So, I - I tried to call. I tried to call but I missed you.”
“You missed me? Yeah, I missed you, too. But you never even left a message, Steve,” Jan said coldly.
“I didn’t know what to say. It doesn’t matter now, Jan. Is there any chance we could talk?” Steve asked, but it was too late. She had hung up the phone.