Reflect Me

by K. B. Webb

  “Why would Molly castrate you? She’s just an old friend. Molly isn’t the type of girl to get jealous of you having female friends.”

  “You’re right, she’s not like that. But she is the type to be pretty pissed that I’m bringing my ex-fiancé to the bar she works at.” The look of recognition on Justin’s face was hilarious. I had finally given him all the pieces to the puzzle and he was putting it together.

  “Oh fuck! She is going to flip shit. And so is Wynee. This is really bad, dude. Real bad!”

  “No shit! Now I’m stuck with Lizzy.” I was starting to panic and then I thought of what Lizzy had said. She had appeared to be genuine and honestly happy for me. Maybe we could all make it through this night and one day laugh about the night Justin accidently invited my ex-fiancé to dinner with us. It would be one big joke.

  As I walked into Ricky’s an hour later with Lizzy wrapped around my arm, laughing and telling Justin about my first Mardi Gras, I saw Molly’s face and I knew this was not going to be okay. This was going to be fucking detrimental to Molly and mine’s relationship unless I figured something out quickly. She stared for a few second before running thought the doors that led to the kitchen.

  Well, fuck.

  I knew I wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but in that moment, I felt like a total dip shit. I should have known that things with Logan wouldn’t actually work out. I should have known that the pressure of dating a girl with a young child and a crazy ex would be too much for him to handle. I should have known that he would run back to Lizzy the first chance he got, but I didn’t know. I was blind, and stupid, and fucking pissed. Logan had played me. He had convinced me that he was different. That he loved Lyric and me. But, Logan wasn’t different. He was like every other guy in the world. A liar and a cheat. A fucking jackass. That is what Logan Wade was.

  After seeing Logan and Lizzy together, I ran as fast as I could outside through the back door. I needed a cigarette and few minutes to get my shit together.

  “So, I assume your world record sprint is due to the bleached blonde sitting with Justin and Logan.” I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t even notice Wynee had followed me.

  “That bleached blonde would be Lizzy, his ex. Well I guess they aren’t exes so much anymore. They sure looked real cozy to me. God, I’m so fucking dumb, Wynee. I thought Logan really wanted a relationship with me. I thought he really wanted to try, and I was obviously wrong.”

  Wynee sat down next to me and put her hand on my knee. I could tell she was thinking of what to say next. Some of her Wynee Williams wisdom to help me thought this terrible fucking scenario.

  “Molls, you know I love you, but sometimes, you’re fucking stupid.” I pushed her hand off my knee and looked at her like she had just grown three extra heads.

  Me, stupid? Are you fucking kidding me?

  Wynee put her hands up in surrender. “Before you kick my ass, hear me out. That boy is in love with you. Everyone knows it. Everyone can see how he feels about you, even you! You may not want to admit it to yourself because of your own fucked up issues, but Logan Wade thinks you hung the God damned moon. Now, while I do think that it’s ten shades of shady that Lizzy’s here, you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Don’t jump to conclusions. Talk to him. Because, if you would have talked to him instead of running back here you would know that Lizzy showed up at his door today and Justin being the genius that he is, invited her not knowing Lizzy was his ex. Logan didn’t want her to come, and he is royally pissed at Justin right now.”

  Well, fuck, now I feel like a dipshit.

  “But she still wants him, Wynee. Even you can see that! How the fuck am I supposed to compete with her, huh? She has everything I don’t. Money. Education. Family. She’s better than me. Better for Logan than I am. He may think he loves me but in the end, I’ll lose out to Lizzy. What’s the point in fighting if I know I can’t win?” I felt defeated. Lizzy was on a completely different level than I was and I knew it. How was I supposed to compete with her banging body and old money family? Logan may have had feelings for me, but I knew he would choose Lizzy over me eventually. They belonged together.

  Wynee stood up abruptly and started pacing and wringing her hands. She didn’t look happy with me. Hell, she looked downright furious. She put her hands on her hips and looked me dead in the eyes. Shit was about to get real. “What happened to my ball-busting, take-no-prisoners, fuck-up-your-face-if-you-look-at-me-wrong best friend? I don’t like this wimpy little girl you’ve turned into. Rule number one in the Wynee Williams handbook of life, don’t be friends with weak bitches. So, grow a pair, go punch tits for brains in the face, and claim your man, or I’m defriending you in real life and on Facebook.” With that last statement, she stormed off back into the restaurant.

  I sat outside for a few more minutes thinking about what Wynee had said. I had never been a quitter. Hell, I was a fighter to my core. I fought for everything I had in life, and everyone I loved. And no matter how much I had tried to deny it, I loved Logan Wade. I loved his laugh. I loved the way he snored in his sleep. I loved how great he was with Lyric and my friends. I loved everything about him. And yes, Lizzy was skinnier than I was, and had more money, but there was no way she loved Logan like I loved Logan.

  In that moment, the light bulb in my head finally went off. I would not lose out to some plastic Barbie. I was going to fight for what I loved, and I loved Logan.

  I stood up and walked back into Ricky’s with a determination I hadn’t felt in years. I was going to walk right up to Logan and do what I had planned to do before Lizzy showed up, kiss him and finally let everyone know that he was mine, only mine.

  I stopped in the bathroom to make sure my tears hadn’t totally ruined my mascara. I was staring at myself in the mirror when Lizzy walked out one of the stalls and stopped next to me to fix her fake tits in the mirror.

  “Oh, hey, you’re Molly, right?” Her voice made me want to stab my ears with pencils.

  “Yep, that’d be me. And you’re Lizzy. Now that introductions are over, I need to go say hello to my boyfriend.” Yeah bitch, my boyfriend. Choke on that wannabe Barbie.

  “Oh, how cute. You really think Cowboy is your boyfriend.” Cowboy? Who the fuck did this girl think she was? She had the balls to laugh at me when she said it too which just pissed me off even more.

  “Actually, Lizzy, I don’t think Logan’s my boyfriend, I know it. I’m not real sure what the fuck you’re trying to do, but it won’t work. Logan doesn’t want you.” I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my eyebrows at her. Two can play this game bitch.

  “See, Molly, that’s where you’re wrong. Logan is just a little confused right now, but he will come back to me. Why wouldn’t he? What man would choose a washed up nobody with a bastard child over a girl like me? You may have him now, but he will be mine in the end.” She pushed herself away from the counter and brushed past me with a smirk on her face and walked out of the bathroom.

  I stood stunned for a few seconds. Did that bitch just call me a washed up nobody? Who the fuck did she think she was? And she had the nerve to call my daughter a bastard child. Oh hell fucking no!

  I stormed out of the bathroom and straight into the dining room where Lizzy stood next to Logan with her arm around his shoulders while Logan tried to push her away. I tapped on her shoulder and as soon as she turned around, I hit her with a right hook that would have taken a full-grown man down. When she landed on the floor, I leaned down to her. “No one calls my daughter a bastard, you dumb bitch. Now get the fuck out of my bar!”

  Checkmate, bitch!

  I shouldn’t have been turned on by watching Molly deck the fuck out of Lizzy, but I was. Seeing her stand up to Lizzy was one of the hottest things I had ever witnessed in my life. I sat stunned for a few seconds thinking about how damn sexy my woman was until Lizzy scrambled to her feet with blood pouring from her mouth.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you know who I am?
I will sue you and this shitty bar for everything it’s worth!” Lizzy was fuming and it was hilarious.

  Molly stepped beside me, wrapped her arm around my shoulders, and smirked at Lizzy. “Well, Lizzy, there are a few problems with that plan of yours. First of all, I’m a nobody, remember? So I’m not worth a lot, and second of all, you can’t sue me when you instigated a fight.”

  “I didn’t instigate shit! You hit me first!” Lizzy’s expensive shirt that probably cost more than my rent was now covered in blood that was pouring from her mouth.

  “Really? Because I don’t think anyone here will back up that story. Right, guys?” Molly turned to people in the bar who had watched the whole thing unfold. There were nods, a few laughs, and overall sounds of agreement. These were Molly’s people. They knew her. And they trusted that whatever reason she had for hitting Lizzy was a damn good one.

  Geo walked from behind the bar and stood between Lizzy and Molly, who were almost chest to chest and looking like they were both ready for round two.

  “Excuse me, Miss, you’re bleeding all over my clean floor. And I think this nice young lady already asked you to leave.” Geo was polite, but firm. After the whole Tiffany ordeal, I knew he didn’t like drama in his bar, but he would always back up Molly. She was kind of his surrogate daughter. I also knew though, that Molly would be getting an earful from him later.

  “Is this really what you want, Logan? Some country bumpkin who has a bastard child and punches people for no reason?” Lizzy was not happy. She always got what she wanted, and probably for the first time ever, she was realizing that this time she wasn’t going to get what she wanted, me.

  I stood up and wrapped an arm around Molly’s waist, pulling her in close to my side. “Yeah, Lizzy, this is exactly what I want. Molly is exactly what I want. She’s not a country bumpkin, and you deserved to get hit for calling Lyric a bastard child. Get the fuck out of here, Lizzy! No one wants you here, especially me!”

  She took a step towards me and got in my face. “This isn’t over, Logan.” She only called me Logan when she was really pissed off at me, any other time, she just called me Cowboy.

  “Actually, I think it is over, Lizzy. Leave. Now.” Molly spoke to her though gritted teeth and I noticed she was clenching her fists.

  Lizzy huffed and continued to talk shit while she gathered her things before storming out of Ricky’s.

  “You, my office, ten minutes.” Geo was not happy, which was kind of terrifying because Geo was always happy.

  “Yes, sir.” Molly responded and looked at the ground, shame covering her face.”

  “Not you, him.” He pointed at me and I felt my stomach drop. I nodded at him and he walked into the back of the restaurant.

  “Ohhh, you’re in trouble!” Justin teased from his spot across the table. I really was going to punch him before the night was over. I looked at Molly though and realized he was right. I was in trouble. Molly may have stood up to Lizzy, but I still had to answer for what she was doing here in the first place.

  She pulled away from me and crossed her arms over her chest. I knew it was supposed to make her look intimidating, but all it did was push her tits up and turn me on even more. “Start talking.” That was all she said to me, so I did.

  I told her about Lizzy showing up at my house and about Justin being an oblivious dipshit and inviting her to come along with us. I also told her that I had royally fucked up because I was dumb enough to believe that Lizzy was genuinely happy for me. After I rushed through my pre-thought out speech, I gave her a few seconds to take it all in and then waited for the verbal beat down I had coming for me. “Well, I am pissed at you. But I know you didn’t do anything to piss me off intentionally. But, you should have called me, texted me, something, to give me a head’s up that she was coming, because if you would have, this whole confrontation could have been easily avoided.”

  “You’re right, Cookie, and I am so, so sorry. I fucked up. I mean, I really fucked up, but I swear to you it will never happen again. Ever.” I prayed she believed me. I wasn’t ready to lose her yet. Hell, I wasn’t ready to lose her ever.

  “Do you want to be with me, Logan?” Was she serious? Of course I wanted to be with her!

  “God, yes, Cookie. More than anything.”

  She smirked at me from her seat across the table and leaned forward placing her chin in her hands. “Then ask me!”

  Ask her? Ask her what? It took me a whole 30 seconds to realize that she was telling me to ask her to be my girlfriend. She told me in one of our late night conversations that no one had ever actually asked her to be their girlfriend before, they just assumed she was and she never argued.

  I took the hands that were holding her chin and placed them in mine. “Cookie, will you be my girlfriend?” She laughed the laugh that I had fallen in love with.

  “Yeah, I guess so.” She smirked at me for a few seconds before I stood and pulled her mouth to mine. I kissed her with so much passion that she moaned and my dick grew in my pants. Molly Scott was mine. All mine. Only mine. This was really happening.

  I was pulled out of my momentary bliss by the whoops and hollers of everyone in the bar. Molly was the first to break contact and I was terrified she was going to be embarrassed of our very public display of affection. Instead, she did something only my sweet Molly would do. She turned to the packed restaurant and bowed repeatedly while saying “thank you”. I laughed along with everyone else. She really was one of a kind.

  She leaned in and gave me a soft peck on the cheek, “Well, I have to go work, and you’re late for your Geo visit. Good luck!” She slapped my ass before bouncing off towards the bar to help Dani.

  Geo. Right. Fuck, I totally forgot. What the hell could he want with me anyway? Was he going to tell me to leave Molly alone? Was he going to ban me from Ricky’s? I knew I’d brought Lizzy to the restaurant, which started the drama, but I didn’t intentionally start anything. It just happened. These were all the thoughts running through my head as I headed towards the back of the restaurant.

  I walked into Geo’s office to find him sitting at his desk looking through different stacks of papers.

  “Logan, my boy, shut the door and take a seat.”

  I did what I was told and sat down at the only chair in his office which was placed right in front of his desk.

  “I bet you’re wondering why I asked you in here?” I nodded but still didn’t speak. Geo was old school. Respect was key to guys like him, and since I could tell he had something important to say to me, I decided it was best if I kept my mouth shut.

  “Logan, I’m going to get straight to the point. I care deeply for Molly. I love all the girls who work here, but Molly is like family to me. I feel like it’s my job to make sure she isn’t with someone who’s going to hurt her more than she’s already been hurt. So my question for you, son, is what are your intentions with my girl?”

  I felt like I was in an old mobster movie. Geo folded his hands, placed them across his stomach, and leaned back in his chair. I could feel him sizing me up and I squirmed a little under his glare. I didn’t usually get intimidated by anyone, but something about Geo made me nervous. He cared about Molly and I knew Molly valued his opinion, so if he told her I was bad news it could change everything.

  “Well, Geo, I’m in love with Molly, and my intentions with her are to make her the happy, carefree girl she deserves to be. I want to be there to take some of the stress off her shoulders. I want to show her that she doesn’t have to do everything alone anymore. I … well, I want to spend the rest of my life with her. And I know I can’t spring all that on her just yet, but that’s the end result for me. I want to be with her forever.” He nodded but didn’t say anything. Fuck. I prayed I hadn’t said something wrong.

  “Has she ever told you about Colt?” Colt. I had heard that name come up on more than one occasion, but Molly had never elaborated. I could tell he was a soft spot for her though because anytime anyone said his name, her whole demeanor c
hanged. She seemed distant and sad.

  “No, she hasn’t. Why?”

  “Well, you know some of the things she’s been through I’m sure. I know she’s told you about her crazy mother and I know you know about Brian because you were there for parts of it. Those things shaped Molly into the naturally guarded girl she is, but Colt, the story of her and Colt is the piece of the puzzle that you’re missing.”

  “What happened with him?” I knew Molly wouldn’t willingly give out that information, but it was obviously something I needed to know about.

  Geo shook his head a few times and let out a long breath. “Son, that’s not my story to tell. Tonight, after she gets off work, ask her about him. Don’t push her. Because if you push her, she will push back and you won’t get anywhere. But, you need to know. She needs to talk to someone about it. She has Wynee, but if you two are going to have any kind of successful relationship, she needs to be able to come to you with anything. And that includes her situation with Colt.”

  We talked for a few more minutes after that. He told me that if I was dumb enough to bring another one of my exes into his bar again, that he would have me thrown out on my ass and banned from ever coming back.

  I stood to walk out of his office, but he called my name right before I reached the door. I turned to look at him, “I like you son, but if you hurt my girl, I will break your kneecaps. I was never dumb enough to believe Brian was good enough for my girl. I knew in my heart he hurt her, but I never did anything about it because she wouldn’t admit it and I had no proof. But this time, if I even think she is slightly unhappy, I won’t wait for proof, I will just fuck you up.”

  I knew better than to laugh, so I just said, “Yes, sir” and walked out, shutting the door behind me.

  I spent the rest of the night sitting at our usual table with Justin. Molly would stop and kiss me every time she walked by, and Justin spent the night laughing about nothing like he always did. I tried to enjoy myself, but after what Geo had said about Colt, I couldn’t shake this feeling that things were about to get ugly. I didn’t think Molly or I needed any more negative events to add to that evening, but I had to know once and for all who Colt was and what had happened between them. I just prayed it wasn’t something that would tear us apart.