Page 64 of The Virgin Playboy

“Oh, so right after we broke up?” he questioned, it finally making sense why he was so tense. If he hadn't left the church, this was exactly who he would have probably ended up with. She did compliment him, given that they were likely similar in background, upbringing and culture. We were cuter, but I could see how on the outside they made a lot of sense.

“Next thing you're going to tell him is that you've got six kids with names from anywhere from Sour apple to Peppermint Rose,” I joked, but clearly it went over everyone’s heads.

“I actually only have four—” Phew, I almost fainted. If they grew up together, that meant she’d had a whole bunch of toddlers before she even turned thirty. How did some women do that?

“Oh, well, that's nice. You always wanted at least four,” Graham recalled. “Glad you got to have that.”

“What about you?” she asked Graham, but it felt directed toward both of us.

“We're just enjoying our time here, Annie. We're not complicating it with things we're not ready for,” he asserted.

“Your girlfriend’s so pretty. At least you're dating someone normal and not some old lady like I kept hearing about—” But even though Wilhelmina and Ka’imi kept warning her behind Graham's back to stop talking, the damage was done.

Everyone had been expecting a forty-one-year-old woman needing a walker, and while I had nothing to prove, I had nothing to hide either.

“Old lady present,” I smized. “I left the cane and hearing aid at home just to be here, but I assure you, I've still got all my marbles,” I assured.

“Wow, Jacqueline, accept my apology. I shouldn't have stuck my foot in my mouth.”

“Yes, you really shouldn't have,” Graham doubled down.

“It's okay. I guess I should be flattered that I didn't give off more than Auntie vibes. Good thing I didn't bring my purse with my old lady candy in it. I would have left you with a keepsake,” I winked.

“Let's get back to our seats before the show starts back up,” Annie's husband argued, attempting to find a way out of the conversation. Graham seemed more upset than I was, the exchange silencing him for the rest of the show until we went out for burgers at the only late place open.

“I don't know if I should trust a place called the White Lady,” I joked, “I hope they season them burgers.”

“They're amazing. I promise,” he assured.

“Hey, Graham, Jaq, we're gonna take ours to go if you don't mind. We'll just Uber. Apparently, the kiddo can't sleep, and nothing Mum is doing is working for her. So, it's more of a job for…” His sister posed into a superhero stance. “Super Mum and Dad!”

“That's fine. Hope everything's okay,” Graham dismissed, as we regarded the menu. “Sorry about earlier.”

“Why?”

“Annie is nice, but she had no right to say that about you.”

“Graham, I'm Black. To society standards, I literally age in reverse. Your girl gon’ be alright,” I dismissed.

“Yeah, but you shouldn't have to deal with that just because everyone wants to share their opinion.”

“Graham, I'm a woman, it's nothing I haven't heard before. And contrary to anyone under thirty, you will experience it too when you're forty. Karma will have its way of humbling you, because aging is literally the only thing no human being can't un-experience. I'd only care if I were your age, because only people your age are obsessed with their ages.”

“I don't care about age.”

“But you seem to care that your ex was married with four kids,” I remarked.

“Not because I want her or anything. It's just anyone is going to feel a type of way when someone they dated literally got married the moment you broke up⁠—”

“Yeah, because she was definitely benchwarming, but I can't be mad. She looks happy, and not to brag, but I definitely got the better end of the stick. You never talk about her, so I'll put this on the list of many things that I don't know about you since coming to New Zealand.”

“Jaq, that's because there's so little to tell. We wanted different things. We split up, no hard feelings. I think Annie would have been content with anyone giving her a ring. I did love her, but I think she liked the idea of marriage more than the reality of it.”

“Would that have been your reality if you had stayed?”

“Does that matter?” he queried.

“It kind of matters. Given you wanted six kids growing up.”