She responds, "Yes. As far as I know. She was with him last night. That's why she wasn't there when Abby and I got into it this morning. Why do you ask?" He quickly comes up with an unassuming response as he replies, "Because I didn't realize she'd already moved on. Fitz made it seem like she was focusing on work or something for the time being."
She inquires, "When did you talk to him?" He responds, "This morning when I saw him in the gym." It's then he thinks about the two drinks that he was holding earlier. Even Rob and Ne-Ne commented on them when he ran into them in the gym.
As his mind works to put the details together, his thoughts are interrupted by her saying, "That's just like him to run interference for her. Clearly she's focusing on something and it's not just work. We haven't seen her since Thursday night."
Their conversation is again interrupted, as they walk through the large grey door leading to the parking level, and they see the promotion coverage for the gala tonight for Edison's campaign launch on a huge monitor on the wall of the garage.
Mellie sees the coverage of Edison and Jasmine together and says, "Hard to believe that's the same girl that went out clubbing with us a few months ago. Now she's on the arm of a potential senator. She really fooled Liv, some friend she turned out to be. She helped her alright. Helped herself right to her man."
He sees her almost take enjoyment out of making such a statement, which causes him to ask, "So Liv knows her?" She nods as she replies, "She more than knows her; she was her TA who she befriended. And next thing you know; she's fucking Eddie behind Liv's back. That's why they broke up."
Jake grins with excitement as he now has the very information he was looking for, and he didn't even have to go directly to the sources to get it. With Eddie not taking his calls, due to their falling out previously. And, him not having Olivia's number. This conversation with Mellie has been quite the gold mine and he cannot wait to unpack all of these details for future use.
As he prepares to ask a few more follow up questions he hears her say, "Thank God. There's my car!" He sees her walking toward her car as if it's the finished line of a marathon. She rests against it for a moment and then looks at him as he walks over to her side. He realizes their conversation is over, and lets her go as he says, "I'm glad we found it. I guess this is where we part."
She smiles at him as she replies, "Yes. It is. But, thanks for seeing to it that I found my car. I appreciate your help." He nods and smiles as he responds, "You're welcome. It was a good talk, I certainly learned a lot."
She doesn't know how to take his response, but honestly she's so ready to go. It doesn't matter. She simply opens the door to her car, pushing him back a bit, as she gets into her car, saying. "Well thanks again." He gets the message and walks away as he replies, "Okay, cool. See you later."
She starts her car and turns on the air conditioner; but as she pulls out of the parking spot she blows her horn, and he stops, looking back at her. She rolls down the window and says, :"Hey why don't you come to my house tonight? I'm throwing a party." He gives her a look of confusion as he thinks, I thought it was a small gathering for a game night. But he asks, "How's that going to work with you feuding with your roommates?"
She shrugs her shoulders as she replies, "It's fine. There will be tons of people there, so there won't be any tension. Fitz will still likely be there too by the way." He's now even more curious about what's going on. Why is he invited to her house for a party if she just wanted to chop him up and feed him to a shark not long ago?
Unsure if he can get out of his prior engagement to watch the game at Rob's; but definitely interested in seeing what can only be described as a trainwreck waiting to happen, with more info he can use in his possible pitch to his editor.. He replies, "Sure thing; I may be able to make it. Send me the address." She nods as she replies, "Cool. I'll DM you." He responds, "Cool. Take care." She smiles as she says, "I will. See you tonight." He waves as he says, "See you then."
Jake walks off and takes to his phone immediately. He pulls it out of his pocket and is glad to know his phone is still recording. He smiles as he envisions some good news coming his way. But his thoughts are abruptly interrupted as he gets a text from Rob. He then remembers he was supposed to be meeting him for lunch. He looks at the text and it reads, "hey Bro. Ne Ne and I are down here now to grab a bite. So if you want to join us, you can. Sorry I flaked a bit ago, but you know things came up. (eyeball emoji)." Jake is confused about his text at first and then sees he texted him a few times before, letting him know he wouldn't make lunch. He then realizes what's going on. Rob got laid, so he blew off eating lunch with him, but now they're ready to eat.
His stomach then reminds him he is hungry, so he replies, "Cool man, I'll be down in a minute." He gets an immediate reply, "Cool bro. We'll be in the back." He then responds, "Okay. Be there in a few." He gets a thumbs up reply. And just as his thoughts begin to settle back onto his recording, while he makes his way to the restaurant downstairs he gets a call from his boss.
He quickly answers, "Hi Jamie. I was just about to call you." Instead of a warm or pleasant greeting in return, he hears, "Unless it's about a story or a fantastic lead on a story. I don't care to hear it Jake. I was calling to remind you that your employment here was based on you being an insider of the political world, being near the up and comers on the political scene. And so far, you haven't brought us anything worth printing. If you're going to stay on here, you've got to bring us something not now; but right now. Or else by the end of the week you'll be out of a job, again."
Hearing his boss' summary of how he's failed to rise to the occasion would normally dampen his spirits and darken his light. However, today is a different deal. Today he has information that is a true game changer, so he quickly says, "Well, I hope you're sitting down. Because I have quite the story for you." Jamie sits up in his seat as he asks, "Go on." Jake proceeds to give him a breakdown of what he has, as he walks along, making his way to lunch with Rob and Ne-Ne. Jamie listens to him and actively asks clarifying questions to gain an understanding of what the story idea is and it's value. In the end, he agrees there's definitely something there to print, and he says, "This is the makings of a bombshell story Jake. If you can get some insight on who Olivia is sleeping with; it may make for a better read. With her connections it could be another powerful political name."
He didn't think of that, but now that he hears his response, he replies, "Good point. I will work on it. I was invited to a party tonight at her house. So I can see what I find out." Jamie responds, "Yeah. Especially if the guy is there. He shouldn't be too hard to spot. Even if he's trying to keep things on the down low. At parties it's difficult for people to keep their secrets hidden, when there's alcohol involved."
He nods as he replies, "Agreed. Well, I am going to grab a bite to eat and get some research done before getting ready for the party tonight Jamie. So I'm going to let you go. But I'll check in with you soon to let you know what I found out." Jamie then says, "Okay. But Jake, do me a favor." He asks, "Sure, what's that?" He replies, "Don't fuck this up okay? It's literally your last shot at keeping your job." Jake responds, "Understood Jamie. Talk to you later." Jamie says, "Bye."
He takes a breath as he steps off the elevator and makes his way into the restaurant. He clears his head as he sees his friends sitting at a table in the back, as Rob advised. He puts on a smile as he waves to them, and reaches the table. As he has a seat they share pleasantries and the waiter comes to get his order, as well as bring him some water.
After putting in his order he says, "So what's up guys?" Rob replies, "Nothing much man. Just chilling. How's your friend? Did you finish comforting her in other ways?" He laughs at his remark and Nyemah chimes in, "What friend?" Jake smiles as he responds to Rob first, saying, "Man come on, she's just a friend, nothing more." Rob teases, "Sure she is. But, it wouldn't be a bad thing to change that, she seemed kind of into you." Nyemah, not taking kindly to being ignored blurts out, "I know both of you heard me, so answer the question. What friend are you talking about?" Her forcefulness catches Jake off guard a bit, and he thinks, damn why are women so damn demanding? It's not that serious.
He bounces back to the moment as he hears Rob calming her down as he rubs her back while saying, "My bad babe. We didn't mean to ignore your question. It was just some extremely angry chick, he almost flattened like a pancake when they collided coming around the corner." She fills with some annoyance at his description as she replies, "So you recall her emotional description pretty vividly, but not her name, huh? Maybe she had a good reason to be upset, did you think about that?"
Rob then realizes he has really stepped in it, and didn't see it coming till the moment arrived. And right now more than anything he needs a lifeline. Luckily Jake steps in as he responds, "Her name is Mellie. And she was pretty fired up when we ran into her; I think that's what he's referencing. She apparently had a blow up with Fitz, and was still coming down from it. But she was good when I left her."
As soon as he mentions Fitz's name, Nyemah stops looking at Rob, and her demeanor changes as she focuses on Jake, as she asks, :"Wait, Mellie. Does she have dark hair and beautiful bluish-greenish eyes?" Jake nods as he responds, "Yeah. That's her. I didn't realize you knew her." Rob pipes up, "Me either, how'd you meet her babe?"
Suddenly the waiter bringing their food breaks their conversation and they settle into their meals, as Nyemah replies, "I don't know her, but I met her when I was with Harry and Drew that day we were all hanging out at the beach and Fitz didn't show." Rob nods as he says, "Right. I remember that. I didn't realize you met her though." Nyemah replies, "I didn't think it was worth sharing, till now." Jake sees Rob seems to be engrossed in knowing more about her meet up with Mellie. But, because he's not sure if the conversation is going to go left again or not. He's hoping he backs off, and maybe decides to have that discussion later, when they're alone.
Thankfully, Nyemah looks at him as she asks, "So what happened with her and Fitz? Why was she so angry?" Gleefully he answers, "Well, apparently he's not being a supportive friend after their recent break up, and he's only doing it because he has a new girlfriend, or at least someone he's seeing." Rob, now greeing to move on in the conversation asks, "When was he dating Mellie? This is the first time I've ever heard her name."
Jake replies, "Exactly, it was more like they were old friends and grew up together. But their parents essentially paired them to be a couple in the future. So it wasn't a real relationship. But it worked because they'd always been real good friends." Nyemah responds, "So you're telling me they were involved in some type of arranged marriage situation?" He nods as he says, "Pretty much, yeah. It's quite common in the high society circles of life. Rich families pair their kids together as couples all the time."
Rob agrees as he says, "Yeah. I've heard about that. But I'd never seen it in real life. That's crazy. So she was mad at him because she felt like he was welching on their friendship due to his new lady friend, that's an actual girlfriend, not an arranged situation, huh?" Jake nods as he says, "Yep. That's it. So, it took some cajoling but I think she calmed down well enough to let cooler heads prevail."
Nyemah's interest peaks as she blatantly asks, "So any idea who the new woman Fitz is seeing?" Jake responds, "No. Not a clue. Although I'm sure he's been with her recently. I remember seeing him with some drinks in a carrier earlier today when I saw him at the gym." Rob and Nyemah look at eachother, and Rob says, "Yeah. We saw him with drinks too this morning, before we got to the gym. He was getting on the elevator."
Jake says, "So she was here this weekend. Damn, no wonder he cut off our conversation so quickly." Nyemah adds, "Wait, there was a woman he was entertaining last night on the balcony. That must have been her."
Jake perks up as he asks, "What woman?" Rob also adds, "Yeah, what woman?" She replies, "Rob, before you came over, I was sitting on the balcony enjoying the cool, calm weather. And, I saw a woman on his balcony. But I couldn't see her face. It was too dark out and coupled with the privacy glass doing its job, there was no way to make out her identity." Jake asks, "If you couldn't see her face, how do you know it was a woman? You said yourself that the view was distorted."
She replies, "Because it looked like she was setting the table for two. Which is something two straight dudes wouldn't do. And, looking at her physique there was no way it was a man. When she stepped inside, in the light, I could only see her from behind. But she had on Red capris and sandals, and her hair was in a ponytail. That doesn't sound very masculine to me."
Her description doesn't ring a bell for Jake or Rob at all. With them still in thought, Nyemah continues to speak as she says, "You know, the more I think about it it's no wonder he was looking so out of sorts when he was looking at his phone this morning. Remember babe, he said he was engrossed in a message when we saw him. I bet she probably stayed the night, and this morning sent him a nasty pic that caught his eye. Hell, he looked like he was barely holding it together when we saw him. You guys think he was a virgin before he met this new girl?"
Rob and Jake both laugh as Rob asks, "Babe what in the hell would make you ask something like that?" She shrugs her shoulders as she responds, "Hey, I'm just saying. You saw how he looked. He was acting like the cat who swallowed the canary, wasn't he?"
He admittedly says, "Yeah but that doesn't mean he was a virgin. If you're into someone, receiving a sexy pic or text from them can sometimes get you going and even shock you depending on the individual. You know how I get when you send me your pics babe."