“Yeah?”
“You okay?” She asked around a stretch.
“Movie hunting.”
She nodded, and patted the bed, “I have to tell you stuff, just screw it.”
I went around to the other side and took out my wallet, keys, and phone to lay it on the floor near the bed.
She rolled to her side, “you look debonair.” She said.
I wiggled my brows. “Is that a come on?”
She laughed, “yes, come take me till sun up.”
Jesus, we need to stop, because I’m thinking about it. I’m considering doing just that.
I took off my blazer, shoes and belt then lay down. She sat up and immediately told me about the night. About the talent scout and about what this would mean for her.
Using my elbows as a prop, I sat up, “Chloe you have to audition. Please don’t tell me you did anything other than agree to do it. You said yes right?”
“Kind of,” she drew up her knees and wore a dopey smile I’m all too familiar with and it made me feel something not happy. “I asked him if he was going to ask me out and he said not unless I auditioned. So I said okay.”
I nodded but I felt frustrated. “So you’re going out with him?”
“He’s cute Moses. He’s older, like thirty-nine, but he’s really hot and he’s super old school. I kinda love it.”
I raised my brows and nodded because words aren’t working right now. She then said, “and you know the best part? Now that I told you the truth I feel like my feelings for you were maybe nothing. Maybe it was carrying around the secret, maybe having a crush on you was just habit. Since you cleared it up in my head I feel positive about this guy.”
I frowned, “how did I clear it up?”
“Well, you asked if it was lust feelings or something else, I think it was just lust. You were right when you think about it. We’re a guy and a girl, so the thoughts might filter in and out, it doesn’t mean anything. Look at Jenzy and her brother-in-law Todd. They never had sexual anything and even now they’re super close.”
I’m listening but I’m also listening to the silently loud crack in my skull. Why is everything she’s saying pissing me off? “Yeah, but don’t like, rush into something to feel better.”
“I don’t feel bad, that’s what I’m saying. You have Jenzy and I’m happy for you. I might give good guys a chance though if I’m not holding back in my mind for you.”
I let that go. Because I’m her friend. Her fucking friend.
November
I sat on Jenzy’s parent’s couch with her dad sitting in his armchair watching me. This is the most unnerving feeling in the world. Back in October Jenzy apparently had this big explosion fight with Chris and he made their relationship in its entirety sound like a mistake. Now they haven’t spoken and Jenzy has allowed herself to get closer to me. That means meeting her parents.
“So Abraham.” Her dad said sitting back.
“Moses, Sir,” I corrected gently with a smile.
He frowned, “ya Jewish?”
“Uh, no Sir but my parents were partial to the name.”
His frown deepened. “I had a lot a Jewish friends back East. We lived in New York before coming here.”
I sat forward, “that’s neat. Jenzy told me you guys were from upstate-.”
“So ya know everything then don’t ya?”
I was taken back by his sudden change in mood and stumbled for a retreat, “oh, no that’s not what I meant-. I meant, I’ve never been to New York, it sounds…great.”
“Don’t you go tryin’ to move our daughter back East. We live out here now and I won’t have her living miles away.”
I felt smacked by a shovel. “Well, no sir. I don’t plan to-.”
“Chris never talked about moving her East. He understood the value of family.”
I narrowed my eyes to think up an answer. So apparently her dad was a big Chris fan. Fantastic. “I would never pressure Jenzy into anything.”
“Why you wearin’ beads? You a homo?”
“Daddy!” Jenzy appeared in the den before I had to answer that and she rubbed his shoulder. “Daddy, you promised to be nice.”
“I am. If he’s a homo I won’t know not to say homo unless he says so.”
I laughed, “I’m straight. In fact, I’m so straight I’m dating your daughter so…”
Jenzy laughed but he frowned again, “you making fun of me?”
Shit! “No Sir, I meant-.”
“When is ya mother gonna finish that roast?” He changed the subject so quick I had to stop short. He looked back at Jenzy, “I don’t wanna eat late. I told her that at Lunch.”
Jenzy patted his shoulder and when he looked away she rolled her eyes at me and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
I smiled and shook my head like it was nothing. When she left though I had to fight the impulse to staple her to the couch so he and I weren’t alone again.
The den is full of man icons. It’s got hunter green walls and beige carpet, sports team flags hung on the walls, a snack bar was behind us and the wrap around couch was facing the big screen mounted on the wall.
I tried again with her dad, “I heard you have a beach house and a cabin in the mountains. That’s awesome. Do you vacation out of state?”
“You’re a nosy little shit.” He glared.
I pressed my lips together and sat back. Okay. Attempt, failed. One more go. “The elections were crazy right?”
“Stop talking.” He clicked on the TV. “I don’t wanna end up in a political debate with a nosey homo.”
I bugged my eyes when he wasn’t looking. I’ve never had a Dad not like me. Even in high school. I was the safe kid they were happy to see their daughter with.
He turned on a football game and I relaxed into it. Silence is better than a grilling. We watched in silence a good five minutes then someone scored a goal and he got excited before looking over at me. “What’s your team, Moses?”
I perked up, “uh, I don’t really follow sports but my dad is a Redskins fan…”
His whole face fell. “Don’t say that word in my house.”
I looked at the TV and wished this was the poltergeist. I’d like to be sucked in about now.
Jenzy came back in and sat next to me. We held hands and her dad burned a hole through us, “eh!” he glared, “leave room for Jesus.”
“Daddy,” she warned.
“Don’t Daddy me. This is my house, and you’re still married technically. Scoot.”
“That’s offensive!” She argued.
He put up his hand, “I forgot you do all that meditation crap. I didn’t mean Jesus, I meant Buddha. He’s bigger anyway. Leave room for Buddha.”
I tried to move over but she pulled me back, “I meant telling us to scoot is offensive. Daddy, I’m a grown woman, you can’t just yell at me-.”
“Chris ain’t signed no papers, it ain’t official. Scoot!”
“Daddy!”
“Jennifer Paulette! Move your tush or ya won’t have a breathing date!”
“Scotty!” Her mom came storming in and stuck a rubber spatula in his face, “Stop being a shmuck!”
He waved her off, “is the roast ready? I’m wasting away.”
“Good, less to bury.” She snapped. This jump started a fight. Edna, Jenzy’s mom is a gorgeous lady. She looks like an older Jenzy and her kindness is unending, but I still sense that she’s as unsure about us as Scotty. Chris wasn’t just Jenzy’s husband, he was their family.
“I’m sorry,” Jenzy whispered while they fought.
I kissed the back of her hand. “Don’t be, they’re cute actually.”
“They fight all the time but they love each other crazy.”
“Moses,” her mom’s voice went soft after the fight. “Are ya hungry doll? We have snacks. You want a snack?”
“Sure,” I stood up, “let me help.”
“Not the wavy chips.” Her dad announced. “Those are Chris and I’s.”
; Jenzy bristled. “He doesn’t have a reason to come here with the divorce going final Dad.”
“Well, it’s not yet and I want him to feel at home if he visits.”
Jenzy straightened, “after what he said to me, he better not come here! Daddy, why on earth would you still talk to him?”
“He was angry, people say things when they’re angry!”
Edna murmured and walked out. I went to follow her and she sighed once we were alone in the kitchen. “I’m sorry Moses, my husband is rude. Let them fight it out then they’ll be fine.”
I laughed and took down the bowls for her, “no worries.”
We talked easily until, “Chris, honey, get the milk out.” She covered her mouth after the slip and winced. “I’m so sorry Moses. I meant Moses.” I can tell by the horror in her eyes it was an honest accident.
I got the milk out and shrugged, “it happens.”
She took the carton then set it down and looked me over, “I can tell you’re a good young man. I like your aura. You’re too good about all this. Does it ever bother you?”
I sat at the table where she was working and folded my arms over the surface, “I worry sometimes that…I’m in the way of something but…your daughter is worth the risk. I get that Chris mattered, though and that he still does.”
She smiled, “Chris and Jenzy were like…magnets…when they met. Where she went, he went. Even when they were home. When he proposed it was here, at the house. He wanted Scotty’s okay and for some reason, my pissy spouse thought he was the bee’s knees. I think he saw all the love. He felt safe knowing he was with her. They had this strange understanding, he knew that Chris would lay down his life for our girl. That’s why this is hard. He doesn’t want to believe that Chris has anything other than love for Jenzy and that this whole separation is temporary. If it’s not, it means trusting someone else to love her like that and if Chris fails completely Scotty won’t be easy to trust again.”
“I understand that.”
“Well,” she smiled again and stirred, “you won’t totally know until you got a daughter of ya own. Little girls break even the biggest a men. You have to have that to really know.”
I nodded, “you’re right. All I have is a big sister and a best friend. My sister is too hard to let me look out for her but Chloe is…” I shook my head, “she’s the one I guard dog. She has the worst taste in guys and she either ends up hurt or cutting them loose.”
Edna listens in the way that calculates. She’s always registering information and computing a wise response. “Ya sound like you love her a lot.”
“I do, she’s my girl. She’s dating this guy now, I guess he’s alright.” I pulled at the friendship charm around my neck. I strung it from rawhide today but the feel of the engraving is making me thoughtful.
Edna stopped, “you look as worried as Scotty.” She teased.
I looked up and laughed, “I want her happy. With someone worthy…”
“You know,” she went back to cooking, “at the end of it all, it’s who ya want around when the mask comes off. We all wear one, to put our best foot forward but it’s the one you want with you when ya crash at night when you’re imperfect. The one ya call to wind down. The one your voice doesn’t change for. Ever notice when you talk to a love interest or at work, you got a voice you use ya know? To sound reliable, professional…but when ya with the right one, you sound like you.”
I thought on that but then Jenzy came in and massaged my shoulders. “Dad wants to know how much longer.” She told her mom.
Edna screamed, “don’t ask me again or I’m gonna come in there and shove it up ya ass!”
Jenzy and I laughed but then set the table. It was a good visit minus the confrontations. Then on my way out her Dad shook my hand with an iron grip and said, “you do anything to upset my baby, I’ll make you disappear.”
So if I do go missing there are two suspects now.
Chapter Twenty-One
As December rolled around I took extra measures about Jenzy’s birthday, which was the seventeenth. She’d taken me to an arcade on my birthday last month and made dinner. Unhealthy dinner thankfully. She cooks fine but not when she’s health conscious.
First on the list was sending flowers and a note to her work along with tickets to the showing of The Nutcracker at the theater. It was big and sold out the first week but I’d bought the tickets ahead of time.
She texted me while I worked the bookstore and it read,
“I can’t believe you got tickets! Moses, I’m squealing like a teenager here!”
I finished with a customer then replied,
“Yeah, it’s exciting. The showing is at five, so I figured we could go downtown after and get dinner.”
She was typing fast,
“Great idea! I’ll bring a change of clothes.”
I went back to shelving more books from a new shipment when my phone buzzed in my pocket again. I looked to see Chloe’s name on the ID and her picture. I let my eyes take in her face before answering.
I set it between my ear and shoulder so I could multitask. “Hey Baby Girl, what’s up?”
“Oh my God Moses! Prepare to freak out!”
I laughed, “guys really don’t have the same excitement level as girls…”
“Elijah got tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet!” She said in a hype. “Moses! It’s the ballet! Do you know how many ideas for dances I might come up with? He said that the Arts & Hopes Tours gift tickets to the scouts and he wants me as his date! At the Ballet!”
I paused and checked around before turning my back to the counter. “So…you guys are still going out?”
“Moses, we started going out around Halloween. We dated all of November and now it’s mid-December. Tell me this isn’t amazing.”
I saw a lady coming so to avoid her I sank onto the floor and sat under the counter. This call can’t be interrupted even if I begin to resemble Anne Frank. “That’s…cool. I’m taking Jenzy too…”
She sped on, “that’s right it’s her birthday! I need to text her. Great move! Ballet is super romantic. As you can see, this was probably her reaction too.”
I wanted to laugh with her but something is poking at me, “but what I did is different. I want to take her out to like…excite her…”
She got quiet. “I’m pretty sure that’s why Elijah did it too.”
I grimaced, “maybe, but…Brianna said you haven’t like… slept with him yet though, so it could also be like a….” I can hear my own dickness.
“Oh, so that’s why you’re taking Jenzy out then. Okay, I see. Because last I heard you two are going on eight months…? And still no sex. So you must be taking her to get in her pants like Elijah then, although, you’ve been deprived longer so I’d say your motive is stronger.”
I shut my eyes and banged the back of my head into the counter. “I just want you to-.”
“Elijah isn’t like the others. He’s older and wiser and less of an ass because he learned how to treat people.”
I felt annoyed, “and you said he’s divorced, there’s a reason for that.”
“Like Jenzy? Or are we pointing fingers today?”
“The last date you had punched you in the eye. I think I have a right to be skeptical of your choices Chloe. You’re not picking Nobel Prize winners.”
She was in her studio because I could hear the echo when we talked. She came back calmer. “I’m sorry, I was calling my friend, guess I got the wrong number.” She hung up before I could say anything and I tried calling back until my dad’s shoes showed before me and when he bent he whispered,
“What the hell are you doing?”
“It was-.”
“Get your ass out from under there!”
I hit my head coming out but when I stood I saw why he was pissed, we only had a line as long as the great wall of China.
When I got off at three I went straight to home to change into slacks and a dress shirt then to Chloe’s. I let myself in and walke
d right in on her.
This might be burned in with the images I hate most. Chad’s ass, my dog getting hit by that car when I was in third grade, the day my sister broke my soccer trophy on purpose, now this. Chloe standing in the middle of her apartment while Elijah holds her close and kisses her. I think what’s jabbing at me most is I haven’t seen her kissed like this.
Most her dates kiss her like they’re trying to see if their tongue can make it down to her toes but Elijah kisses her in attentive breaks. He presses his lips to hers while holding her hands, then breaks it to kiss her again and linger but sweetly. He kisses her with affection, and respect and it should comfort me to see her happy but it’s frustrating.
When I came in she looked up and a frown creased her brow as they separated, “what the hell are you doing?”
Goliath came to get a pet from me and I did before putting my hands in my pockets. “Wanna talk to you for a quick second,” I confessed.
She looked back at Elijah, “I’m sorry-.”
He stepped back, “don’t be, I’m going to make coffee before tonight. Want a cup?”
“Sure.”
She started my way with a look of hatred. She looks good. Little black dress that has see-through strips across her thighs. She’s got glittery heels on and her hair is up in in springy curls. She looks classy but sexy.
We gathered in her hall outside her door and she set her back against the wall. “What do you want?”
I had this all recited in the car but now it’s gone. “I’m…I didn’t mean to be critical.” I started, “I just worry.”
Chloe shifted uncomfortably, “I like Elijah. He treats me better than any guy I’ve dated and it hasn’t changed even though we’ve dated longer than some. He also doesn’t ever pressure me about sex. He’s like you are with Jenzy. He’s patient.”
I forced back the disappointment at hearing how much she liked the guy. “Then ignore me. I’m being a hypocrite, that’s all. Don’t be mad at me alright?”
She let the indifference slip, and her mouth tipped up in a smile. “I love you.” Her words spiked something in my soul, but then I categorized the meaning. “You’re my best friend,” she pulled at her charm and I realized she almost never takes hers off. “I can’t stay mad.”
The Friend Zone (The Relationship Quo Series Book 2) Page 18