Bend Over Backwards

one

"So when am I going to meet her?" I asked.

"Right about now." Jade said quietly as she smiled at me.

"Hey." I heard behind me. I look over my shoulder to see a beautiful girl with long black hair, I was sorta stunned by her beauty for a minute and wondered why the fuck she wanted to meet up with me... unless Jade didn't show her my picture.

"Hey, Florence right?"

"Call me Flo." She smiled.

"Flo." I nodded. "My name is Jc." I smiled back at her nervously.

"It's good to finally meet you, Jade has talked about you so much that I feel like I already know you." She laughed lightly. She was definitely one of those girls who didn't know how beautiful she actually is.

"How do you know Jade?" I asked. Before she could reply Jade was back with three beers.

"Here you guys go." She passed one to each of us and keep one to herself. "So, Jc this is Flo."

"We've established that." Florence nodded and Jade rolled her eyes.

"Ok, fine then. So When's the wedding?" I felt my cheeks go red and I looked across at Flo who was taking a drink of her beer.

"You did not offer up this meeting as a married-at-first-sight thing." Flo said after swallowing her drink.

"Well you guys are both gay, both now live in new york, and you are both into reading-"

"You read?" I said and she nodded.

"Just finished book number three of the year."

"It's only the end of January," Jade said and we ignored her.

"Who do you like?" I asked.

"I'm a very chaotic reader. I usually only buy from secondhand stores, but I do have a few I tend to gravitate towards."

"Like?" I asked.

"John Grisham for one, Steven King obviously-" She paused and shrugged. "What do you read?" She asked.

"I'm at the end of the DaVinci code."

"Oh my god, I finished that on new years eve." She said happily.

"It's really good."

"I know, I really want to watch the movies."

"Same." I nodded.

"The movies suck." Jade butted in- again she was ignored. We talked for a while longer until Jade leaned on the table. "I guess I'll just go fuck myself."

"This is your fault." Florence said making me laugh.

"This is boring."

"This is the best convention I've had since I left Maine."

"What's Maine like?" I asked.

"Slow." She shrugged. "I had to get out of there." She shook her head.

"Understandably. I'd never live away from the city."

"Me either. I need busyness to thrive." She laughed and I nodded.

"Me too."

"I'll just be over there," Jade said locking eyes with someone and drifting away.

"We both dropped out of college the same day." Flo said. I stared at her for a second. "That's how I met her."

"Oh. What were you in school for?" I asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Cooking- but it just wasn't worth it."

"What do you do for a living?" I asked.

"Uh, nothing much." That answer made me panic. I'd heard that before. My stomach started to tense. Why would Jade do this to me...

"Sorry I'm asking so many questions..."

"No don't be." She smiled. "I cooked at a restaurant in Maine for years... since high school. I have money saved up right now that I'm living off."

"Are you looking to get into cooking here?" She paused and shrugged.

"If I end up going back to cooking I'll move back to Maine... what do you do?" She asked.

"Currently nothing... I'm living off my savings and trust fund. My mom died a couple of years ago and her estate just sold."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, please. I didn't even want the money but she had no one else to give it to."

"You weren't close?" She asked and I shook my head. "Changing subjects, how long have lived here?"

"Uh, like five years. Sorta. I moved to Chicago for a few months but then I moved in with Jade."

"Why Chicago?" She asked and I didn't want to talk about it.

"Uh... I was dumb and thought I was in love."

"Ah, the famous I moved for someone and got fucked in the wrong way." I laughed as she did.

"Yeah pretty much."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked.

"No."

"Someday?"

"Probably not." I looked away.