AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sorry, I just realized you probably don’t want to have a dinner date in the same resort you work in. I should have taken you somewhere else,” I tell her.
But she just shakes her head. “This isn’t a real date, remember? You don’t need to impress me. Besides, I like it here. It’s also way fancier than what I could afford, so as long as you’re paying, I’m happy to be here.”
She says it with a goofy smile though, and I’m starting to realize I like her dry sense of humor.
“Definitely still paying,” I tell her with a grin. “Even if it’s not a real date.”
She smiles again, this time with gratitude. Despite myself, I’m curious to get to know her more.
“So why are your parents trying so hard to marry you off?” I ask, hoping the question isn’t too prying.
She sighs, rolling her eyes a little. “I don’t know. They mean well, I guess, but they’re just really traditional. They want me to settle down and have a nice husband and a nice house and two-point-five kids and all the rest of it.”
I laugh again. “And that’s not what you want, I take it?”
“Nope. I want my independence. I want to figure out who I am, what makes me happy,” she says with a look that harks back to my first question of the night. “Honestly, I don’t even know if I believe in real love anymore, anyway.”
I nod like I’m hearing a particularly moving speech.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I say. “I don’t think most people get anything even close to true love or happily ever after. Even people who do get married are mostly just settling. Because statistically, the likelihood of finding your ‘soul mate,’ even if that even exists, is next to zero. And anyway, it’s not like everyone needs a relationship to be happy. I certainly don’t, and it sounds like you don’t either. I say, forge your own path.”
Jada smiles and as the waiter comes to take our order, I can’t help but think this is the best date I’ve been on in a while, even if it’s not actually a date. Maybe especially because it’s not actually a date.
We spend the rest of the night talking and laughing, and I feel way more at ease than I ever do with these things. It’s actually really fun hanging out with Jada, and it turns out we have a lot in common besides overbearing parents obsessed with textbook romance.
I even joke with her at the end of the night as we’re eating our desert.
“You know this is actually pretty fun,” I tell her. “Why don’t we do it again some time, just to keep our parents happy?”
“Oh I’m sure they’d love that,” she tells me and takes another bite of her chocolate mousse.
4
JADA
We make our way back to the beachfront bar, but by the time we get there, it’s almost completely cleared out. It’s gotten much darker, and the stars are shining all around us, giving me a reason to smile. I love the night, and how it makes everything calm and quiet.
However, I can’t stop thinking about what Carter said, that we should see each other again just so our parents leave us alone. I laugh to myself again.
It’s a silly thought, especially because my parents obviously aren’t going to believe me when I tell them, “Yes, I have found a man.” I just don’t know how much longer I can handle their constant stream of men who ‘just sohappenedto stop by, so we invited him for dinner!’ I might actually explode into a million pieces if they invite one more man over from our church.
I am my own person. Just because they are happy together, it doesn’t mean they know what man can make me happy. Considering the men they’ve brought into the house, I don’t think they could pick a murderer out of a lineup. If they tried for a decade, they still wouldn’t find someone half as nice as Carter.
I know they mean well, but I can’t take it anymore.
Heidi’s still working, but no one’s around as she cleans the bar. I’m glad to be able to talk to her without wandering ears.
We sit at the bar, and she smiles at the both of us, using all of her teeth as she does.
“Okay, so, how did it go?” she asks, her hands in fists under her chin. She blinks several times in succession, which makes me want to smile. “Are you both inlooooove? Am I the world’s best matchmaker, or what?”
Carter ignores his sister, but I can tell he’s trying not to laugh. “You know, it wasn’t so bad,” he says, looking from me to Heidi. “I had a good time. Better than I thought I would tonight, that’s for sure.”
I nod. “I did, too. Honestly, it’s probably because our parents had absolutely nothing to do with it. What a rare occasion.”
Heidi rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. “It’s because there wasn’t any real pressure. You were just two people sitting and talking over a meal.”
“She’s right,” Carter says, looking back at me. He pushes some of his brown hair out of his face, giving me a closer look at his brown eyes for a moment. “Neither of us were really expecting things to go any particular way. I think that made things easier, and painless to boot.”
