Loyalty

Chapter 13: Ride.

Jessica's POV

After seeing Brian arrive at my door, I felt so many emotions at once. Initially, I was shocked to see him show up at my door, considering I was so harshly pushed away only a few days earlier. But I was glad that I finally got to see him again.

He looked different. He looked...good. Really good, actually. Way too good for someone who I thought was still going through a major illness. Maybe I just pictured the worst. But I expected him to look.... Well, sick. Instead, he looked healthy, and like he had lost a bit of weight. That might sound like a good thing, but it threw me off a little bit. It made me wonder if Brian was never really that sick; and if he was, it certainly seemed like he was dragging it out.

I wanted to be angry when I saw Brian. I thought I would've immediately gone off on him after he ignored me completely and pushed me away for no reason. But when I saw him standing at my door, I caved. I had been trying for so long to see him, so when he finally arrived, I couldn't be mad. I was so desperate to have any interaction with him because I just wanted to see him. I missed my best friend. When he wrapped his arms around me, he made me believe that everything was going to be okay.

I wasn't totally convinced about Brian's excuse for ignoring me. To be honest, it sounded like some bullshit, made up excuse. But I didn't want to confront him too much or push too hard about it. I just had him come back into my life, and I worried that upsetting him too much might cause him to go away again. I just accepted the excuse he gave me and went along with it. I didn't know the real reason he pushed me away, but I suspected that it had something to do with the new woman in his life...

Brian had tried to convince me that I didn't see the real Lexi. He claimed that she was a nice person, but she was simply thrown off by me. He insisted that I got the wrong impression, so he begged me to give her another try. He said that if I met her again, I would feel better about her.

I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of having to see Lexi again. I immediately got a bad vibe from her. Based on my gut feeling, and everything Sal told me, I doubted my opinion on her would change much.

I offered to have this little meeting at my house, over dinner. To be honest, I wanted to be as in control of the situation as possible. I also suggested that we invite Sal too. I figured he would make things less awkward because I would feel like less of a third wheel. He would also be there as a mediator just in case things got out of hand. This was starting to feel like a Real Housewives sit down. Actually, considering this is Staten Island, it might be more like the Mob Wives. Maybe I was just being paranoid.

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Sal arrived first. We chatted a bit about the show, and how busy they've been getting since their show and tour has been blowing up. It was nice to talk to Sal for a little Brian and Lexi arrived. A bit of calm before the storm.

"How do you think this is going to go?"

"Honestly? Not well. I don't think I'm going to like her. But I'm willing to put up with it for Brian," I told him.

"I feel the same way," Sal admitted.

"Do you think now is a good time to start taking up drinking?" I joked with him.

He laughed and said, "That's not your worst idea."

"Maybe we should give her another chance. If we just start fresh, maybe she won't seem so bad?" I said, trying to convince myself more than Sal.

"Maybe," I said, but neither of us seemed too confident that our opinion of Lexi would change.

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Not long after, Brian and Lexi arrived together.

Lexi shot me this fake, cheesy grin. As if smiling would suddenly make me like her. It was difficult, but I was really trying not to hate her.