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20
Austin
I continue to stare at my phone. Jade said she’d contact me after she broke up with Bret, but I figured it’d be sooner than what it has been. I definitely thought it’d be sooner than two days. I don’t know how it went, or even worse if she tried to do it, and he turned into a completely different person than the one I’ve met twice and is trying to get her to change her mind. And I don’t want to call her because I don’t want to seem pushy or anything like that. Besides, as much as I’ve tried to fight off these thoughts, she could’ve changed her mind.
I felt like we had all the time in the world the morning we were together, and now I don’t know. I think what has me nervous the most is a nagging inside that continues to mount and eat away at me. She doesn’t know who I am.
She knows me and the things I like. Everything I’ve told her is real, and everything I’ve said about how I feel about her is honest. But she still has no idea who my father is. I know I need to cross that bridge. She doesn’t seem like someone who would care if my father is Jimmy Richards or the local mailman, but the longer I go without telling her, the worse it looks. If she’s already disgusted with my dad and his shady business dealings, how much worse could it look that his son is starting to date her, and she doesn’t even know it?
“Hey,” Shawn calls out, walking into the apartment. “What are you doing?”
He steps to the edge of the couch where my feet are, while I stare up at the ceiling, twirling my phone in my fingers. Turning it back on to check for messages, I find none. “Nothing.”
“Just call her. Forty-eight hours is more than enough time as a bumper. What if she broke up with him, and then some other guy came in and swooped her up?” I glance at him, rolling my eyes. “Hey, it could happen.”
“Shut up,” I call out. “She’s gonna call. I don’t want to be the overbearing dude who acts jealous or wants her all to himself. It wasn’t like she was going out for breakfast. She was breaking up with someone. She had to have some feelings for him.”
“Then how long are you going to—”
My phone starts ringing, and I immediately sit up, making Shawn laugh. Her name appears on the screen. “Hey,” I answer.
“Hey, sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you.”
“It’s okay. I would’ve called, but I didn’t want to seem like a stalker or obsessed or anything.” Shawn laughs in the background.
She giggles. “You mean, you’re not obsessed with me? I don’t know that I can go out with anyone who doesn’t worship the ground I walk on.”
She sounds upbeat. Happy. That, combined with the comment, makes me laugh. “Good to know.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line. How do you ask the girl you like if she broke up with her boyfriend? Is there a tactful way to do that?
She clears her throat. “So, uh, I took care of everything.”
“Oh, okay. How did it … I mean, are you okay?”
A light chuckle that seems to be laced with annoyance floats through the speaker. “Honestly, I have no idea. It wasn’t difficult and I don’t regret it, but … I don’t know. I guess I just thought there was going to be a fight or argument or … something. He didn’t even try to keep us together. I’m sorry for not calling sooner. I needed a couple days to figure everything out.”
My excitement dies down with her comment. Maybe she was just caught up in the moment.
“Right,” I reply, trying to sound confident. “No, I understand.”
There’s a pause, and for a split second, I think she’s going to tell me to forget everything. Then she calms me. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about that right now. Actually, when it was over, I left the studio and haven’t been back. I liked the different atmosphere, but I was already weirded out by Jimmy Richards courting me to his company. Now, being the spot where I broke up with Bret, it feels gross.”
“Yeah.”
“But I’d really like to see you again.”
Her last sentence sweeps most of the nerves away, minus the one that continues to swirl around. I need to tell her.
“What are you doing tonight?” she asks.
“Oh, um, nothing really. My roommate and I usually just hang out and stuff.”
“Okay. Well, my friend and I were going to go to a club in Santa Monica.”
“Really?”
She laughs. “Yeah, I don’t go to them a lot, but my brother has a guest DJ spot there, and I kind of feel bad for the other night.”
