JENNIE
"You have to choose, Jennie," Lisa told me sternly. "I know this is really hard for you, but you have to do it. In the next thirty seconds, you have to make a choice."
"But…" I bit my lip as I stood in line at the ice cream shop, staring at the menu. "I don't know. What are you getting?"
"There's no way I'm telling you what I'm getting because then you'll just get the same thing."
"That's not true!"
She cocked her eyebrow.
Okay, that was true. Even though I'd discovered how I liked my eggs, I was still learning other things I enjoyed on my own without the influence of the people around me.
"Fine, fine. Okay, I can do this." I took a deep breath, and when we made it to the counter, I told Lisa to order first, but she wasn't falling into my trap. I looked at Mary Sue, the cashier, and gave her a big smile. "Hey, Mary, I'll have the peanut butter swirl sundae, please."
"For sure, and what can I get for you?" she asked Lisa, and I saw it in her eyes—the way she drooled while looking at Lisa's face.
While the men were saying rude things about Lisa Manoban, many women secretly yearned for her.
"I'll have the same," she told her.
"What?! You just got what I was getting!" I hollered.
"That's what she gets every time," Mary Sue said, smiling at Lisa with her flirty eyes. Gross. "Are these together or separate?" she asked.
"Separate," I said quickly.
"Together," Lisa replied, handing her credit card.
"You don't have to do that."
"I know." She gave me a small smile before taking her card back. "I'm gonna run to the bathroom. I'll be back."
I moved to go grab a table, but Mary Sue called out to me. "Jennie! Jennie."
"Yes?"
She bit her bottom lip and placed her hands on her hips. "Not to pry, but are you and Lisa on a date right now?"
"What? No. We aren't—we don't—we're not…we don't date. We're just…" My words faded away. "We're not seeing each other."
"Oh good!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Well, I know this might be too forward of me to ask, but as I'm sure you know, Peter and I recently broke up, and Lord knows I'm heartbroken over it. So, I was just hoping maybe you could put in a good word for me? I just feel like if I got a chance with the fixer, I might be able to get Peter back into my life."
What a screwy little town we lived in.
"Oh, uh, well, I don't know, Mary Sue. I think maybe that's something you should do for yourself."
"Oh, please, Jennie! You know how shy I get. I just couldn't face her and ask her to hang out with me for a little while."
"Well, okay. I'll see what I can do."
Not a chance in hell will I help her.
"Thank you! You're such a sweet little peach! It truly means a lot to me. Also, do you think maybe we could keep this between us girls? I don't want to be a part of any rumors."
"Trust me, Mary Sue, your secret is safe with me."
She thanked me again then handed me the two sundaes. I walked over to an available table and sat down.
It might've been the most uncomfortable conversation I'd ever had in all my time in Chester, Georgia. Mary Sue was asking me to be her wing-woman to help her snag the person I was sleeping with.
"Why the weird expression?" Lisa asked, walking over to me.
"Mary Sue wants to sleep with you," I told her flatly.
"Who the hell is Mary Sue?"
I gestured toward the cashier, who was staring our way, smiling brightly. She gave Lisa a nervous wave before blushing and turning away.
"Why does she want to sleep with me?"
"To fix her relationship."
"Oh," she said, sitting down. She began to eat her ice cream. "Not interested."
Those two words brought me more comfort than I'd thought they would. "But why not? She's pretty, and well, I'll be heading back to Atlanta soon enough."
"So?"
"So, you're free to do whatever you want when I'm gone." Just saying that made me want to vomit. The truth was, lately, I'd been coming up with hypothetical situations where Lisa and I somehow found a way to make something real work between us.
But that was just my silly mind messing around with my heart.
There were a million reasons Lisa and I couldn't work…but my heart kept telling me I only needed one good one to give it a try.
She grimaced. "You want me to sleep with Mary Sue?"
"What? No. I'm just saying, there's a line of women waiting for you once I leave."
Her brows knitted. "I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to just hook up with random women."
I narrowed my eyes. "Why not? Isn't that what we've been doing?"
She lowered her spoon. "Come on, princess…" She gave me a look. "You don't really believe that's all we've been doing, do you?"
"I know we just had it yesterday, but it's a craving," a voice said as someone walked into the ice cream parlor. As I looked up, I saw Rosé walking in as Taehyung held the door open for her. The moment they saw me, their faces went pale, almost as if they'd walked straight into a ghost.
"Jennie," Rosé muttered, her voice shaky.
My eyes fell to her stomach where a small bump was forming, and nausea overtook me.
Taehyung was quick to drop his hand from her lower back, which he had been massaging as they entered. His eyes darted back and forth between Lisa and me then he cleared his throat, but he didn't say a word.
Rosé's eyes watered over, but I groaned. "Don't do it."
"Don't do what?" she asked.
"Cry."
"I…I won't. It's just…" She began crying, and she was still beautiful.
That made me want to cry.
"I'm just going to run to the restroom," she said, hurrying away.
Taehyung kept standing there, and he awkwardly stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So, you two are like…buddies now?" he asked, his voice deeper than it had ever been, which was odd.
"Taehyung, don't do this," I warned. "Just go."
"It's just a question," he said, moving in closer. He tilted his head my way. "I've been calling you."
"I blocked your number, remember?"
"We should talk."
"I think you should go," I said sternly. The wave of comfort that washed over me as Lisa placed a hand on my knee and squeezed it under the table was shocking. I needed that. I needed her there.
"Yeah, but—" Taehyung started.
"You should do as she said," Lisa said harshly.
"Or maybe you should mind your own business," Taehyung shot back. He looked at me, then toward my ice cream. "Since when do you like peanut butter ice cream? You always get strawberry."
"I'm trying something new."
"Yeah?" he huffed, glancing at Lisa once more. "Is that what you're doing?"
"All right, on that note, we're leaving. Enjoy your date with Rosé," I said, standing up from the table.
"It's not a date. It's just…ice cream. She's been having cravings."
"I don't care."
"What's that on your back?" he inquired, seeing the plastic covering my new tattoo. "Jesus, did you get a tattoo? Your mom's going to flip out."
"Taehyung, can we stop this? We aren't having conversations anymore, okay? Come on, Lisa. Let's go."
As we began to walk away, Taehyung quickly grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me closer to him. "This isn't you, Jennie. Whatever's going on between you and this woman…this isn't you."
"You have no clue who I am," I told him.
"Maybe not, but you have no clue who she is."
"Let me go, Taehyung."
"No. I can't let you go with this woman," he insisted as I tried to twist out of his grip.
Lisa stepped forward and lowered her voice as her gaze pierced Taehyung. "You have five seconds to let her go before I rip your arm from the socket."
For a moment, Taehyung debated, uncertain if he should believe the threat or not.
"You better listen to her," I warned. "Last time a guy stepped out of line, she snapped his cell phone in half."
Taehyung dropped his hold on me and took a step back. "It's only a matter of time before she hurts you, Jennie. People like her always snap."
"And people like you always let people like me down."
"You're acting like a fool," he barked, but I didn't even give him a reply.
I was so tired of being in his presence.
I took Lisa's hand in mine and we walked out, my stomach in knots and my mind spinning. I hated how Taehyung still had that effect on me, how he could make me feel so small and naïve.
That was the biggest difference between the two people standing in front of me.
Taehyung always caged me.
Lisa allowed me to fly.