Page 40 of I Love My Mistake
I smile, my elbow on the counter, glass held loosely in my floating hand. “I’m trying to be funny so I don’t strangle you.”
She frowns. “Am I really that difficult?”
And this is where I have to bend. When you’re hitting this close to home, joke over. It’s either time to have a real conversation or it’s time to shut the hell up and be kind. I am choosing the latter. This is not called lying, under these circumstances. It’s called compassion.
“No, you’re not difficult at all.”
Amber looks to the door, primed. “Oh good. I didn’t think I was difficult.”
I glance to the door, suspense rising as we wait. Leaning over, I ask, “So… what’s the plan?”
Her eyes never leave the door. “I’m going to come right out and say, we’re afraid you’ve lost your way.”
This hits me to my core.
“Oooh, this is going to go deep.”
Amber, still looking at the door, whispers, “To having the courage to say what needs to be said.”
We both drink much larger gulps this time. Then I say, “Why are we whispering?”
But she doesn’t have time to answer because in walks Jess holding hands with a handsome man neither of us has ever seen before. This is not James. We know James.
Amber sits up straight, confused. “Whose hand is she holding? Is that the guy from San Francisco?”
“I have no idea, but can you say wow? They look so cute together.”
She shoots me a look and I shut up. But it’s true. Jess and this guy are balanced energy. He smiles at us on his approach, but it’s clear he only has eyes for our redheaded friend, who’s calm and peaceful as she greets us. The way they stand together is as if they’ve always been together. Amber and I are extremely interested and curious, and when I say interested and curious, I mean shocked as hell.
“Guys, this is Chris. Chris, these are my best friends, Amber and Nicole.”
Chris asks her, “What do you drink?”
She smiles up at him and says, “Chopin. Rocks. Two limes, please. Thank you.”
He reaches out to touch her hand before he leaves.
Amber, for once, has no idea of what to say, so blurts out, “What is going on, what’s that fucking bruise on your cheek, and who is that guy?!”
Amber stares with her mouth wide open.
Jess touches her bruise. “Oh, I almost forgot about this. I got punched by a model named Misty.”
Amber and I both blow up. “What??!!”
“It’s a long story. Chris is someone I met just recently, but…” She looks off in his direction. “I have a feeling he’s going to be around for awhile. I’ll tell you all about it when we’re alone. But guys, something more important has happened. Well, I don’t know about more important… but it’s pretty freakin’ huge. I’ve decided what I want to do with my life!”
We both gasp.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’ve been flailing about for awhile.”
“We noticed.”
Jess laughs because we said that together. “Yeah, well… you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”
I lean back and scoff, waving my hand like she’s being ridiculous. “Who said we were worried?”
Amber blurts out, “We were very worried.”