Chapter Two
I Never Meant to Lie to You
Rio
As our meals were served, Jem seemed to tense up. Now I'm worried about what she had to talk about... I know that it was without reason, but I worried something serious was about to happen.
"Rio, um... remember back when the Holograms and the Misfits were competing for the mansion and the movie contract? And we went to that first party on Countess DuVoisin's yacht?" Jem asked.
"Yes," I answered cautiously. I remembered all right... that was the first night Jem and I ever acted remotely romantic. Sometimes I wonder if I had not gone, would I have such a complicated love life now? I know the attraction is there, but if I had spent more time with Jerrica, maybe...
"I was going to tell you something that night. Something... important." Jem looked as worried and anxious as I felt. What was going on?
"Okay," I prompted. Did I really want to hear this?
"Well, I was going to tell you about... about why..." She trailed off. "About why we could never be anything more than colleagues and friends--close friends, but just friends."
What! Inside, all these feelings caught themselves up in a whirlwind of confusion. What does this mean? I asked myself. Does she not want to "see" me anymore? I don't know how I feel about that...
Before I could answer back, a voice behind me said, "Oh? And just why would that be?"
Jem sighed. "Hello, Pizzazz."
"What are you two doing here?" Stormer asked as Pizzazz and Jetta scooted into my booth.
"Yeah, and where's Jerrica?" Roxy plopped herself down and started picking at Jem's calamari.
"Yeah, she's the one that's supposed to be goin' with you," Jetta snapped back. I winced.
"I don't think this--" I gestured at our table "is any of your business, Misfits. Why don't you take a hike?" They always seem to show up at the most inconvenient times--at least for us.
"Come along, Pizzazz," Eric called. "We have a meeting with the owner of that venue--don't you want a performance Jem isn't beating?"
"Aauugh!" Pizzazz screeched. She reached for my water glass and promptly flung it at Eric. It barely missed his head, shattering against the wall behind him.
"Pizzazz!" Eric hollered. "Watch it!"
"Excuse me." The Maitre D had made his way to the commotion. "What is the problem here?"
"Sir, there are some rather... disruptive people bothering us--we are trying to have a civilized dinner here!" Jem complained, obviously using her position for once.
That's kind of cool, I thought. She's actually standing up for herself.
"Ladies, Monsieur," the Maitre D gestured to the Misfits and Eric.
"Fine, we can take a hint," Roxy growled as she got up to leave.
"We can escort ourselves out, thank you very much!" Pizzazz asserted, elbowing a security guard in the ribs as she left.
"Right! And don't expect any patronage from Charles or the royal family! I'm a blueblood, you know! I've got connections!" Jetta repeatedly poked the Maitre D in the chest as she spoke. Stormer rolled her eyes at her and left with her bandmates.
I shook my head. "The Misfits..." I muttered. "Now, Jem, where were we?" I remembered exactly where we were, of course, but I needed to hear her say it again before I could truly believe.
Jem
This is so nerve wracking, I thought. So much harder than I ever imagined. I simply can't get the words out... "Well, Rio," I began again. "You know, Jerrica and I are very close. Closer than almost anybody knows--"
"Jerrica is...my girlfriend, right? Don't tell me you two are--"
"Rio!" I exclaimed giggling. That would be interesting. Ha, ha, I thought to myself. "No. What I was about to say is that it's obvious the two of you are completely in love. But it's also no secret that you and I have had our moments. And, while you haven't cheated per se, I have been a temptation for you..." This is not going the way I hoped, I thought, studying Rio's poker face. It's just not coming out right.
"Well," I continued. "I mean, you're very attractive and a very wonderful man--but the two of us can not continue to be more than friends and less than lovers. I can't steal Jerrica's kisses anymore."
"Jem, I don't think I'm clear on what you're saying--you're breaking up with me... but you're not, because we were never really a couple?" Rio's face was a mask. I hated not being able to see how he felt about all this!
"No, Rio," I sighed. It was so much easier to say things like this in my mind! "I just want to set some long overdue boundaries so that no one gets hurt. Especially you and Jerrica as a couple."
He was silent for a long time. I think I was holding my breath the entire time, waiting for him to respond in some way. The waiter returned, filled our glasses, left again. We finished our meals. If it kept going this way, I couldn't finish what I started!
Finally, Rio spoke.
