TWENTY-ONE
Jade
After Cooper left, I grabbed my phone and sent Laura a text message, telling her to come over for drinks. She agreed immediately. I went to my bedroom and got dressed while waiting for her.
What the hell was Cooper’s problem? I had gone out with Max one time, but we hadn’t done anything. And even if we had, it was none of his damn business. It wasn’t like I was playing both men.
I became angrier about the situation the more I thought about it. By the time Laura arrived half-an-hour later, I had myself worked up. She came in and closed the door behind her.
“Where’s the wine?”
“In here,” I said, walking toward the kitchen.
She followed me as I retrieved a bottle of wine and opened it on the counter.
“Grab some glasses?” I asked.
“You’re not with Cooper tonight?”
“Ugh. Don’t get me started.”
“What did he do?” she asked, opening a cupboard to get the glasses.
“I don’t even know to be honest. He came over demanding to the know the truth, but he didn’t come out and accuse me of anything.”
“Did he find out about that Max guy?”
“I don’t know how he would. Unless Max is talking to him again?”
“If that was the case, I’d think Cooper would have said something.”
“Right?”
I poured us each a full glass of the mid-range quality red wine.
“Here’s to a girls’ night out,” she said, lifting hers.
“Or one staying in.”
We both smiled and clinked the glasses together.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“Staying in to drink? Not at all. You have more wine, right?”
“I always have more wine.”
“They should let us drink more wine at work, like the French.”
“Um, I don’t think the French go to work drunk.”
“I read about it online,” she said.
“Ooh. Speaking of online, you want to check out Max?”
“Yeah,” she said.
I headed into the living room with her following close behind. After grabbing my laptop, I joined her on the couch. She had poured herself another glass.
“Okay,” I said, sitting down next to her. “Let’s do some Facebook stalking.”
After a few minutes, I had signed in and located his profile page.
“Wow,” she said. “He’s buff. Are you sure you want to pass him to me?”
“He’s definitely not bad to look at, but he’s not for me.”
“Really? Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
“It has something to do with Cooper, doesn’t it?”
I took a drink of wine, ignoring her question.
“Anyway, I’m sure he’s fine,” she said, scrolling through his photos. “Aw, he has one of you and him in Afghanistan.”
“What?” I leaned forward, peering at the screen. “I don’t remember that being taken.”
“You had a lot on your mind at that time.”
“Yeah, I guess…”
I sat back as she browsed through his other photos.
“Well?” I asked.
“I’d go on a date with him,” she said.
“Yeah?”
“Hell yeah.”
“I’ll give you his number right now,” I said. “Maybe it will get him off my back.”
“As long as he gets me on my back,” she said.
I laughed, pushing her gently before sitting up and grabbing my phone.
“Here you go…”
As I read off the digits of his phone number, she put them in her phone.
“Put it on speakerphone,” I said as she dialed the number.
“Hold on…”
The phone rang. I felt like a girl in middle school making a prank call for the first time.
“Hello, is Max there?” Laura asked.
“This is me. Who is this?”
“Laura.”
“Well, hello, Laura.”
“I got your number from Jade.”
“Oh, you did, did you?”
“Yeah. I told her you were hot.”
“Did you, now?”
“I did,” she said then turned to look at me.
“What can I do you for?”
“I thought we could go out or something.”
“Sure,” he said. “You doing anything tonight?”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, tonight.”
“Well…”
“Let’s go grab a drink and see where it goes from there.”
She looked at me for affirmation. I nodded my head. The sooner he moves on the better. I was ready for a little less complicated.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Great, Laura. You want me to pick you up?”
I shook my head violently.
“No, we can meet somewhere,” she said.
“Alright. I’ll text you an address.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll be the one with all the muscles.”
Laura giggled like a schoolgirl.
“Yeah, I’ve seen your photos online.”
“Oh, you have, have you?”
“Yeah. They were nice.”
“Just nice, huh? You’ll change your tone when you see them in person.”
“I bet I will,” she said.
“Talk to you soon, Laura.”
“Yeah…”
She ended the call then twisted to face me.
“Well?” she asked.
“Well what?”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“Why would I give you the number if I minded?”
“I don’t know. You can be… too nice sometimes.”
“That’s my problem, is it?”
“I need to go get ready,” she said, standing up. “It’s okay if I leave already?”
“It’s okay, I promise,” I said, nodding toward the bottle. “More wine for me.”
“Thank you for this. I need to find a good man so bad.”
“I hope he works out for you.”
She waved and walked toward the door.
“Call and let me know how it goes,” I said.
“You know it.”
After she left, closing the front door behind her, I sat back and took another drink of wine. My eyes moved to the laptop screen where I saw a large photo of Max without a shirt.
I thought about Cooper and Max both for the next few minutes. Did I even like either of the men? No, I told myself. You’re fine being alone for now. Concentrate on your career.
As the night wore on, I found myself becoming more than a bit jealous of Laura going on a date with Max. Why had I set up my best friend with him?
With each passing minute, I became a bit more upset with Cooper and the games he was playing too. Why should I tell him everything if he wasn’t telling me everything?
The night stretched on forever with no call from him.
I eventually went to bed, feeling more alone than ever before.