The Platinum Triangle

by T V Hartwell

  The note with the flowers simply read,

  Dear Amanda,

  I still want you to be my girl.

  Yours Truly

  Xoxo

  It wasn’t exactly an apology, but the sentiment touched her nonetheless and it brightened her day. “I will always be your girl, Jake. No matter what,” Amanda said aloud to herself as she admired the beautiful flowers. Although Jake gave her nice things, such an over the top and expensive bouquet was a bit out of character for him, however. Jake was typically more practical in his approach to giving. He preferred gifts of sentimental value that would last and have some enduring quality like when he bought Amanda a new IPod with their favorite songs already purchased and uploaded to it. The bouquet also seemed a bit unwarranted. Their fight wasn’t even that bad, Amanda thought to herself, and then she started to feel a little guilty about making such a big deal over the Kerry thing. “Aww, I must have made him feel really guilty. Bless his cute little heart,” she said to herself as she went for her phone to call and thank him.

  “Hey,” Jake said, noticing Amanda’s number on his caller ID when he picked up.

  “Jake, oh my God, that was soooo sweet of you. The flowers are amazing. Of course, I’m still your girl.”

  “What flowers?” he said stoically.

  “Shut up!” she said still giddy. You know what flowers. The big bouquet of red roses.”

  “Sounds lovely, honey. But they’re not from me.”

  “Wait. Are you being serious?”

  “If I had gotten you flowers I would tell you. Was there a note?”

  “Yes, it said, ‘Dear Amanda, I still want you to be my girl. Yours truly.’ These aren’t from you?”

  “No, they’re not,” Jake said firmly. There was a momentary silence on the phone. “You’re already my girl, so why would I say that?”

  “Oooh my God,” Amanda said, looking as if a light bulb had just gone off. She placed the palm of her right hand against her forehead as her glee turned into distress and embarrassment.

  “Was there a name on the card?”

  “No, I just assumed they were from you.”

  “Who would be sending you flowers saying that they still want you to be their girl?”

  Amanda knew who it was. Adam. He had been calling and texting her since they met for drinks the week before, but she had been ignoring him. It all made sense now. The extravagant gesture was more Adam’s style. More indulgent than Jake, Adam had no problem throwing down money to impress and to get what he wanted.

  Jake became impatient. “So are you going to tell me who this is?”

  “They’re probably from Adam. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s him.”

  “Adam? That guy you were dating after we broke up?”

  Amanda sighed heavily. “He’s been calling me lately all of a sudden; telling me that he wants to get back with me.”

  Amanda could hear the rage in Jake’s voice despite the reasonableness of his words. “Wait. You broke up with this guy more than a year ago, and you’re telling me that all of a sudden he pops up out of nowhere and wants to get back together with you?”

  Amanda wanted to hide under her bed, feeling somewhat responsible for this and afraid to tell Jake that she had met Adam recently for drinks. “I haven’t been calling him back, but he keeps persisting. What am I supposed to do?”

  “What do you mean? Why would this dude be calling you in the first place? Have you been seeing him since we got back together?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “You haven’t seen him, huh?” Jake said sarcastically, not fully trusting her word.

  “You asked me have I been seeing him and the answer is no, I have not. Since we got back together I’ve only been with you.”

  “Okay. Excuse me. So you haven’t been seeing him, but you’ve seen him, is that what you’re telling me?”

  “Don’t be a smartass,” she said, feeling cornered.

  “I’m not being a smartass, I’m just trying to figure out what you mean.”

  “There’s a difference between seeing someone and having seen them at a club or a bar or bumping into them on the street. That’s what I mean.”

  “Okay. So have you seen him since we’ve been officially engaged?”

  “Yes, I have. I’ve seen him once,” Amanda admitted.

  “And when was this?”

  Amanda sighed again, feeling nervous, but decided it was better to come clean and get it out there rather than making things worse by lying and covering up. “I ran into him when I was leaving the gym a couple of weeks ago, and he asked me out for a drink. I know I shouldn’t have done it. It was a big mistake.”

  “So you met him for drinks?”

  “Yes.”

  “This month?”

  “Yes, last week. The night you had dinner with your parents.”

  “Where?”

  “At The Polo Lounge. One drink. We just talked, Jake.”

  “Why would you go and see him? We’re getting married in less than a month and you’re meeting your ex for drinks at a hotel bar? Are you kidding me?”

  Amanda didn’t know what to say, feeling ashamed and embarrassed and deeply regretful about the mess reconnecting with Adam had caused. “Jake, I’m sorry. It was completely—”

  “Wow, you’re really on a roll, Amanda. Last night I hear that you’re having conversations with Kerry about my romancing skills or lack thereof and less than twenty-four hours later I learn that you’re meeting up with some douche bag you used to date and at the Beverly Hills Hotel no less.”

  “Jake, I’m sorry. I know it sounds bad, but it’s—”

  “I really don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m at work and this is just too much to handle. I gotta go. Bye,” Jake said, hanging up abruptly.

  “Bye,” Amanda said sadly to an empty phone line as tears began to well in her eyes. She sat on her sofa for a moment to regain her composure with her elbows on her knees and face buried in her hands, feeling defeated. With her wedding day around the corner, she became stricken with panic over how and if this matter could be fixed by then. She berated herself for meeting Adam against her better judgment; the flowers would not have looked so bad had she not met with him. She would have been able tell Jake that she had not seen or spoken to Adam and that his advances were completely unexpected. But that wasn’t the case. Instead she precariously invited Adam back into her life at the most inopportune time imaginable and now her relationship with her fiancé seemed in doubt on a level like never before.

  Although Amanda knew the flowers were from Adam, she called him to make double sure and to set the record straight about whose girl she still was.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” Adam said when he answered the phone, seeing Amanda’s name on his caller ID.

  “Adam, did you send the bouquet?” she asked bluntly.

  “You guessed correctly, darlin’.”

  Amanda smirked. “Who else could it be?”

  “I don’t know. You’re a very desirable woman. You could have a lot of suitors pursuing you right now for all I know.”

  “Really, Adam? I’m engaged and will be getting married in less than three weeks.”

  “Oh yeah. Forgive me. I forgot about that.”

  “Adam, please don’t send me flowers, gifts or anything else, okay?”

  “Why? Is your boyfriend jealous?”

  “Adam, I’m getting married. Hellooo! What part of getting married do you not understand?”

  “Well, you are not married yet, so it’s at least fair game to try to convince you to reconsider.”

  “I already told you. Jake and I are solid. I am not in love with you, Adam. I’m in love with Jake and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change that. Now please leave me alone and stop calling and texting me,” Amanda said before disconnecting the call.

  In disgust, Amanda grabbed the large bouquet of roses, stepped out onto her balcony, and threw them over the rail and down to the ground twenty-four
stories below.

  Chapter 23 “Kick 'em to the curb”

  After making her call to Adam, Amanda sent a text message to Jake to tell him what she tried to say on the phone before he hung up.

  I’m sorry. You are right to be upset with me, but it was an innocent drink. That’s it. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since. I’m not in love with him. Never was. But I think he’s a good person and wanted to still be friends. Didn’t expect him to come after me like this. I LUV U!! U R ALL I WANT!!!

  Jake read the text while sitting at his desk at work, but he was unmoved, still sulking and feeling betrayed. He had never met Adam but knew about him. Up to that point Jake didn’t have much of an opinion of him and he certainly never felt threatened by him, especially considering that he and Amanda secretly hooked up on three separate occasions and had awesome sex while she was dating Adam. He knew that even though they had broken up, Amanda’s heart still belonged to him. And when Jake had finally told Amanda what she wanted to hear, that he could not imagine living his life with anyone else and felt ready to take their relationship to the next level, Amanda promptly broke up with Adam and didn’t look back. At least that’s how it seemed to Jake, until now. Suddenly he felt like he had competition.

  A rush of emotions and questions ran through Jake’s head. Should he try to confront Adam and tell him to back off? Was Amanda starting to get bored with him and their relationship? Were there other guys with whom she was “friends” that he didn’t know about? Was he really not that romantic? Should he and Amanda postpone their wedding until they sorted things out?

  As the day went by, Jake calmed down somewhat, which allowed him to think more clearly. Calling off their wedding entirely seemed irrational and a bit knee jerky, so that wasn’t an option. Deep down, he didn’t believe that Amanda would actually cheat on him. In fact, the more he thought about it, he actually believed her when she said that she loved him and only him. They had been together too long for him not to have a pretty good read on that by now. However, he could not comprehend how Amanda could think that a guy who had been fucking her for nearly a year and doting on her with expensive gifts and lavish trips to Italy and France, would settle for a platonic relationship. What did she expect?

  After work, Jake left to meet up with Kirby at the gym. He needed to blow off some steam, and there was no other person he felt more comfortable confiding in than the friend who knew him best. Monday was one of their regular workout days and they always met each other there at 7:00 p.m. sharp unless the other canceled ahead of time. Kirby normally waited for Jake at the juice bar near the entrance if they didn’t run into each other in the locker room. However, when Jake arrived, Kirby was not there.

  After changing into his gym clothes, Jake walked around the main floor looking for Kirby and he even texted him a couple of times, but didn’t hear back. Jake decided to proceed upstairs to the cardio machines as they typically began their workout with about ten minutes on the bike or treadmill. With it getting late, Jake figured he might as well get started. If Kirby doesn’t show up, fuck it. Let’s just get this over and done with, Jake thought to himself.

  As he reached the landing at the top of the stairs, there was Kirby, sweaty and buffed, pushing it out on the first bike to the far right. Taken aback, Jake walked over to him with a puzzled expression on his face. Kirby looked back at him unconcerned.

  “Dude, what’s up?” Jake said with the palm of his hands outstretched in a WTF posture.

  “Hey, bro, what’s up with you?” Kirby said nonchalantly, refusing to acknowledge he’d blown Jake off.

  “Did you already work out?”

  “Yeah, I had to get here a little earlier today.”

  “Well, thanks for letting me know, bro,” Jake said sarcastically.

  “Oh, I didn’t tell yah?” Kirby said with a chuckle.

  “You know you didn’t tell me shit, man,” Jake said, glaring at Kirby and then looking away, shaking his head.

  Kirby laughed. “You’re so cute when you pout,” he teased. “I’m sorry, dude.” But he clearly wasn’t. “My dad’s making me do this management training program at the bank starting tomorrow morning, and I have some things I need to get done tonight. It’s really cramping my schedule, man.”

  “You’re doing a management training program?” Jake asked incredulously, knowing how much Kirby wanted absolutely nothing to do with working at or running a bank.

  “Yeah, man. It sucks. But I have to do it or else he threatened to cut off my funds.”

  “Shut up. Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious. He’s puttin’ the squeeze on me big time. I only have to do it part time, but it still sucks. It is what it is.”

  “You working in a bank, now that would be something to see. Will you be a teller? You’ll be so cute wearing your little name badge and your matching pants and shirt,” Jake said, poking fun.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Kirby said with a chuckle.

  Jake chuckled along with him and continued to tease. “You’re going to look so cute standing behind the counter counting people’s money back to them. But wait, you’re not even that good at counting. Didn’t you suck at math?”

  “Man, I’m gonna fuck you up,” Kirby said, laughing and punching Jake in the arm. Kirby then tried to grab Jake around the neck while he was still peddling on the bike, but Jake dodged backward to avoid Kirby’s grasp.

  For a moment the playful lightheartedness that characterized their relationship for so many years shifted the mood and tension between them. They hadn’t spoken to one another since the morning before when they were on their hike. It was a difficult conversation for both of them, and although Kirby acted agreeable to the idea of them no longer having sex, Jake could tell from Kirby’s body language and disengagement afterward that he wasn’t really happy about it. Jake wanted to revisit the topic with him, but the gym wasn’t the right place. Plus, his situation with Amanda felt more pressing and he needed to talk it out with someone he trusted.

  “I gotta get going,” Kirby said as he stepped off the bike.

  Jake’s demeanor changed from jovial to serious in an instant, feeling like he needed to get his situation with Amanda off his chest sooner rather than later. “I’ve had kind of a shitty day, man. I wanted to talk with you about it.”

  “What’s up?” Kirby said.

  “I found out that Amanda has been seeing that dude, Adam, that she dated.”

  “What? Get out. No way.”

  “He sent her flowers today and she thought they were from me.”

  “What?” Kirby said again, louder.

  “So she calls me all happy and shit, and she said the card said something like, ‘Dear Amanda, I still want you to be my girl’ and I said to her, you’re already my girl. Why would I send you a card that said that? Right?”

  “Right!” Kirby said in agreement.

  “So I asked her, who would be sending you flowers with a note like that, because it wasn’t signed. There was no name on it or anything. And she finally admitted that it was Adam. Son of a bitch.”

  “Oh my God. This is crazy. And you’re about to get married? That doesn’t sound like Amanda. I can’t imagine her cheating. I mean, did she say she was cheating? How long has she been seeing him? Wait, let’s go downstairs. I’ve got to hear this.”

  Jake and Kirby continued to jabber on as they hurriedly went down the stairs so that Kirby could retrieve his towel and sweatshirt from his gym bag in a locker on the main floor before they headed over to the juice bar and grabbed a table to continue the conversation.

  “So how long did you say she’s been seeing him?”

  “Well, she actually said that she hasn’t been seeing him, but that she met up with him for drinks last week.”

  “Where?”

  “At The Polo Lounge.”

  Kirby chuckled. “That’s his spot. Adam likes going there.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot you know the guy.”

  “Yeah, I know him. I
worked with him on Hell-bent.”

  “That’s right. I forgot about that.”

  “So why did she meet him? Did she call him?”

  “No. She ran into him at Sports Club LA and he asked her out for a drink. She said that she just wants to be friends with him; that he’s a good person and whatever. I’m like, how can you think this guy just wants to be friends? Now he’s got his hopes up and sends her flowers. He’s been texting and calling her too, apparently.”

  “Really? Wow. So she said she’s only seen him that one time?”

  “Yeah. She claims to be blowing him off and not taking any of his calls. I don’t know. The idea that this guy thinks he can step in and scoop her up at the eleventh hour just pisses me off. She broke up with this ass more than a year ago. She never really even liked the guy. I was banging her the whole time she was dating him. The guy’s a fool. Seriously.”

  “I can’t say I’m all that surprised to hear that Adam would still be trying to make a move on Amanda. He’s pretty arrogant and thinks he can do whatever he wants. He was boning that actress, Daphne Cox, when I was working with him and she was married.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Do you think I should confront the guy?”

  Kirby hesitated before responding. “I don’t know. Maybe. It depends.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know, man. I think you might be overreacting a little. I mean, I understand why you’re pissed off and all, but it was just a drink. If Amanda really doesn’t want the dude she’ll kick ’em to the curb. It’s just like me and you.”

  “What do you mean, like me and you?”

  “We’ve been fooling around since you met Amanda. Actually, before you met Amanda. Way before. Have you ever told her about me and you?”

  Jake didn’t answer Kirby. He stared at him as if waiting for the punchline.

  “Exactly. So, if she was willing to admit to meeting the guy as recently as a week ago, then there probably isn’t anything really going on, and there’s nothing to worry about. But if there was, all she needs to do is kick 'em to the curb, just like you did me, and that settles it.”