Chapter 2:
Over at Jasmine's, she was just getting ready to go out shopping. She had gotten my message and had decided she would go out and buy a new outfit for tonight. She also knew that Jay's good friend Randy would be there for the poker game, so she wanted to get something to grab his attention. She had first met him at mine and John's wedding and several times after that since he was both friends with Jay and John. They had gone out together a couple times but that was usually with someone else, and since Randy didn't know about Jasmine's feelings he hadn't asked her out. She wanted him to notice her tonight before she went out with Steph and me.
It was just after 11 when she left for the mall, she had called me back and invited me to come and help her choose something to wear. I agreed to come so Jasmine was going to pick me up and then head to the mall. When she picked me up, she asked how things were with John since she knew that we were having some problems. I didn't feel ready to tell everyone about John's arrest the night before, so I just said that everything was fine. Jasmine, being one of my best friends, knew that when I said 'fine' it meant something was going on. But as one of my best friend, she also knew that if you put your nose into my business at the wrong time, you got snapped at.
When we got to the mall, I made Jasmine try on everything that she possibly could. Every dress, skirt and pair of jeans that we could find. The three of us were only going out for drinks and dinner. After three hours of looking around, Jasmine finally saw the dress that she had been looking for. It was in the window of a little boutique called Zara, and it was exactly what Jasmine wanted. It was a low cut, black halter top dress that flared out just slightly at the knees. She ran inside to try it on with me following close behind her. There were just two sizes left and luckily, there was a five. Jasmine went into the dressing room and when she came out, I couldn't believe how great the dress looked. It fitted her perfectly and fortunately, it was on sale. After several minutes of looking at herself in the mirror, she finally bought it.
We spent another hour looking for matching shoes, a purse and any other little accessories like jewelry. By this time it was nearly 5:30 and we both needed to be getting home. When they arrived at my place, Jasmine thanked me for coming and asked once more if I was sure that Randy would like the dress. I winked and for the 17th time, assured her that he would. I laughed and hugged my friend goodbye, then went into my house.
I called out for John but didn't hear him reply back, so I went up the stairs and called for him again. Still nothing, I walked into the kitchen and found a note on the fridge. It was from John and said that he had gone over to Randy's. I didn't know why he went over to Randy's early, but I assumed it was probably why Randy had called earlier that morning. I ran around the apartment cleaning up and checked my answering machine messages.
There were only three and two were from Steph. The first was reminding me to bring her white sweater back and the second was asking where I was. She had been calling my cellphone all day but I had left it at home when I went out with Jasmine. The third one was from Randy. It was something I wasn't expecting and I was completely taken away by it. He was calling to ask if it was all right with me if he asked out my friend Jasmine. This was funny because here she was trying to get his attention and now he's calling to get her attention. Not that Randy Orton needed any help getting a woman's attention, he was handsome and usually had quite a few women after him. Laughing, I turned off the machine and went to get ready to go to Steph's since it was now just after 6:00. I had also called Randy back and let him know that I thought it was a great idea that he take out Jasmine, he was thrilled. After we hung up, I started getting dressed.
I didn't wanna wear a fancy dress and shoes like Jasmine because I didn't really have anyone to impress. We would only be spending about 10 minutes at Steph's and then be leaving for the restaurant. I put on a black skirt with a red sweater underneath my leather jacket. I wanted to wear the new boots I had bought last week so I pulled them out of the box and zipped them on. I had already put my make up on when I went to the mall, so I just re-applied my lipstick and brushed my hair. Spraying my perfume on, I grabbed Steph's sweater, my purse, cell phone and keys. Locking the door on my way out, I got into my car and left for Steph's house.
When I got there, I saw that Steph was running around picking up toys and books of Robbie's. He was whining that it wasn't fair that Mommy got to go out and he had to go to bed. He wondered why he couldn't go with her. I could see Steph was getting a little annoyed at him for asking so many questions so I picked him upand carried him over to the sofa. Robbie and I had a pretty good relationship, ever since he came over and I had to look after him when Steph and Jay went to Cuba for their 2 year anniversary. I spoiled him so much during that week, and ever since then we've had a good relationship. While Steph cleaned up, I saw Jay come down the stairs looking quite handsome. I asked him why he was so dressed up for a bunch of guys coming over to play poker and he said that Randy had volunteered to take them all out for drinks at Botanica, a local night club, instead of poker. That's why John was over there, along with a couple other guys, Jay would be going over there soon.
He grabbed his keys and went looking for his jacket. Before he left for his car, I teased him by asking if the three of us could join the boys at the club later that night. In a very manly voice, he said we could, but it'd be alot more guys than gals and we would probably be bored. I insisted that we were three women who didn't mind a club full of men, and he just laughed. He said that if we wanted to join them, we were welcome to. Well I didn't want to pass up a great opportunity so I told him to look for us later on that night. He agreed and left for Randy's.
When Steph finally came back downstairs, I saw she was wearing a similar dress like Jasmine's but it was a deep red. She had a phone to her ear and even more toys in her hands, she was talking to the babysitter. When she hung up, I told her about my idea to go out with the guys and she thought it was a great idea. Why not go see what the guys really talk about when we women arent there? We both agreed we wouldn't show up till about 10:00 because we knew that's what time they would get in and order drinks. When Jasmine got there, we told her about our plan and she loved it. Then of course, she loved anything that involved her getting closer to Randy. That's when I remembered his message, and laughed out loud. We grabbed our coats and all got into Steph's car, by this time the babysitter had arrived to watch Robbie and we could finally leave.
On the way to the restaurant, Steph asked how things were going with John and this time I couldn't change the subject. I broke down and told her and Jasmine everything that happened in the past couple of weeks. All we did was fight and yell at each other. We went days without speaking to one another and little things turned into huge things. I told them about John getting arrested the night before and how everything was going pretty well now but I didn't know how long it would be until our next fight. They listened until I was finished and finally Steph assured me that everything would work itself out. She told me that things with Jay in the beginning had been the same way, it felt like it would never stop. But eventually, they learnt to work together instead of against each other and now they're so happy together.The whole time Steph was holding my hand and driving, pressing it for comfort. She also reminded me that the first year of marriage has to be hard because it creates foundation for the coming ones.
We pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and went inside. I was feeling alot better now that my friends knew what was going on and not feeling as if I had this huge secret on my shoulders. When we sat down to eat, Steph was telling us how Robbie had just gotten over a terrible cold. He had been coughing, sneezing and sleeping alot for the past couple of days and she had been really worried about him. When the waitress came around, we all ordered drinks and appetizers. Shortly after our drinks arrived, my cell phone rang. Checking the call display before answering it, I saw it was Randy's number. The third phone call today? I answered it and found out he wasn't calling to talk to me. He asked if Jasmine was there and if he could speak to her. I giggled and handed it to her. She didn't know that it was Randy on the other line, so when he spoke she blushed. This big smile spread across her lips and she kept innocently laughing.
When she hung up, she kept smiling and handed me my phone back. Finally me and Steph couldn't take it anymore, we had to know what was going on. I sort of already knew, but I knew Steph didn't know so I played along with her. She told us that Randy had invited the three of us up to the club they were at tonight. He also asked if she was free tomorrow night to go out to dinner with him. She giggled and told us she had agreed to it. We all laughed and hugged her, finally she was going to get to go out with Randy after months of wondering. The rest of the night was spent talking about girly things, household things, relationship things and men things. After we ate, we headed back to Steph's to freshen up and then left for the club. Seeing Jasmine and Randy together was something me and Steph had to see...