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His footfalls echoed around the courtyard as he plodded down the stairs. When he saw them, he halted and offered a half-hearted nod. “Hey.”
Esther nodded back, just as half-heartedly.
“Hi!” Jinny called out, waving.
Jonathan nodded again, plunged his hands into his pockets, and continued on to his car.
Esther had never once seen the guy smile. The closest he’d ever come was a pained sort of grimace.
“He’s cute,” Jinny whispered when he was out of sight.
Esther gave her a sidelong glance. “Who?”
“Him. Your neighbor. Whatshisname.”
“Jonathan? Ugh. No. He’s not.” Pretentious, beanie-clad, farmer’s-market-shopping hipsters weren’t Esther’s type. Objectively, she supposed he might be considered attractive—so long as he didn’t open his mouth and start talking. He was just so damn annoying, it was impossible to separate his looks from his personality.
“Yeah, he is,” Jinny insisted. “He looks like a young Jake Gyllenhaal. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”
“He does not look like Jake Gyllenhaal.” Esther didn’t even like Jake Gyllenhaal, but she felt this was an unfair aspersion against him that required her defense.
“Come on, he’s got that great, thick, wavy dark hair—”
“Which is always covered by those dumb beanies he wears.”
Jinny sniffed. “I like a man in a beanie.”
Of course she does. Stuart wore beanies all the time. So did half the men in LA under thirty, but still. Esther felt justified in her loathing of them.
“Plus, he’s got those soulful blue eyes,” Jinny added.
Soulful? What was she talking about? Esther wrinkled her nose. “You can’t even tell what his eyes look like under those hipster glasses.”
“I love those glasses! Guys in glasses are super hot. Oh!” Jinny reached over and smacked Esther on the arm. “You know who else he looks like? Dev Patel.”
Esther stared at her. “Dev Patel is Indian.”
“I know that. Duh.”
“And looks nothing like Jake Gyllenhaal or Jonathan, both of whom are white.”
Jinny laid her magazine aside and leaned back, crossing her legs. “It’s the hair. Jonathan has the same great hair Dev Patel has. The kind you want to run your fingers through.” She wiggled her fingers for emphasis. “And that beard. God, I love a beard.”
Stuart had a beard. Although his hair was golden brown instead of Jonathan’s darker, almost-black-brown.
Esther’s eyes narrowed as she tried to decide whether Jinny was actually interested in Jonathan or projecting Stuart onto him. “How long have you felt this way about my neighbor?”
Jinny shrugged and reached for her mimosa. “I’ve always thought he was cute.” Her phone vibrated beside her, and she picked it up. “Ugh. I wish Stuart would just leave me alone.”
Esther frowned. “What does he want?”
Jinny set her phone down without replying. “Forgiveness. Reconciliation. More sex. Take your pick.”
“I’m telling you, you should get a restraining order.”
“Thanks, your honor, but I don’t need a restraining order. It’s just Stuart.”
Stuart, who’d been gaslighting Jinny for the better part of six months. Who had her convinced she was dating above her level and should be grateful for his half-assed attentions. Who steered her around like a child.
