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“I’m in a long-distance relationship so, yes, I am somewhat.” She stood and looked me over. “You’ve got it bad for him and before you protest, that’s a good thing. I like Grant for you. I got to know him a bit before I decided he could have you.”
“You could have told me,” I said, grabbing a plastic bag from underneath the sink and using it to wrap my hand so I could fish my phone out of the toilet.
“I just did,” she said with a grin. “I fucking hate what David did to you and—”
“Dead horse, Jennifer, and this is not about David or getting over him. That’s over, been over,” I cut her off. “This is about Grant and this is way different. I can be one hundred percent me when I’m with him and he seems to accept me.”
She nodded as I brushed past her. “I’m happy for you, Rose.” She followed me into my bedroom where I dressed in preparation to go buy a new phone.
“It’s just shitty timing because I want that damned spot under McGuire, you know. I know that’s all I need to concentrate on, but now I want him, too. He’s agreed to take a back seat to school, but I don’t know how long it will last. My schedule will only become more demanding.”
Jen sat on the edge of my bed. “The man for you will wait as long as it takes. Look at me and Alex. We haven’t seen each other in two months but we do the work, and the wait is almost over.” Her voice shook as she looked up at me, happiness and excitement seeping out of her every pore. “God, just thinking about the next few months makes me fucking...giddy,” she piped, teary eyed.
“You two give me hope,” I said, grabbing my keys.
“Where are you going?”
“To get a phone not covered in a death strain.” I winked. “And you can leave your selfie-stick on my bed.”
She chuckled as she followed me out. “Thatta girl. And remember good lighting and use a soft filter.”
“I think I’m falling for him,” I said, pausing at the front door and turning to look for her reaction. “And I’m not doing a damn thing to stop it.”
Jen simply nodded, taking her seat on our ancient blue couch and opening her laptop before pausing to look up at me. “I’ve got your back.”
“Love you, bitch,” I said before making my way out the door.
“Just remember to give credit where credit is due,” she called after me before I closed the door. I made it two steps before I heard her again. “You know when you two decide to name your kids!”
I practically skipped to my car in light of her support and the realization that I may, for the first time in years, be in love. I wanted to call my sister and tell her but was already afraid of an adverse reaction. Dallas hadn’t been a fan of anything love related in some seriously long years. She’d had one love, her ex, Dean, and like my own experience, it had turned out just as bad. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the crap she would give me if she knew I had fallen in love with a man in mere weeks. So on the trip to town, when I asked myself the question of whether or not Grant and I could fall in love in the blink of an eye and live that way forever, I was sure, like everything else Grant had predicted, he could make it true. We, together, could make it true.
It would be our story. We would have one of those and it would start with him declaring to me within five minutes of meeting that I would become his wife.
So instead of calling my sister, I purchased a new phone and when Grant sent his next text, I sent him one in return. It was a picture of a woman, hopeful of falling in love and completely bared to him, both in body and soul. I could see my vulnerability when I studied it. I could see the hope in my eyes and the flush of my body. I could also see my confidence, and for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t ashamed of the un-manicured woman I wasn’t. I was proud of the woman I was. Whatever high I was on was due to his affection for me, I knew it wasn’t going to end anytime soon. So with both my mind and my heart in agreement, I jumped in with both feet.
I felt her nails dig into my arm before I saw Rebecca’s face. “You bitch, what did you say to my boyfriend?” she hissed, pulling me to her and taking me away from the deli line at The Bistro.
“Take your hands off me or so help me, psycho, we won’t be talking.” I was way too old for this shit and knew better than to threaten an angry bee but stood my ground. I had the strength of an eighty-year-old woman, but I could bark like a scary Chihuahua.
“We had a good thing going then you come along and he won’t even talk to me!”
“Let me make this perfectly clear: he came to me, I did nothing,” I said, darting my eyes around to see who was watching.
“You did something,” she snapped crossing her arms.
“I can’t help what he did to you and I’m sorry, really, I know how that can hurt, but I did nothing to start this.”
“I don’t believe you. He was going to marry me.”
“Did he tell you that?” I felt a tug of jealousy at the thought.
“No, but it was coming.”
“He made his decision, and I ask that you respect it and our relationship.” Clearly, this wasn’t the right thing to say as I watched her eyes bulge.
“Your relationship?”
“Yes, we are deeply involved now. I’m sorry if that hurts you, but it’s the truth.” I shrugged my shoulders as she took in the yoga pants and t-shirt I was wearing.
