Part 2! (A Little Short)
Brian placed the napkin on his lap, clearing his throat. I really wanted to hear what he had to say about how we met. I imagined him making it sound magical, even though to me it was. "Well. It started off the summer of 1999. She had came to Huntington Beach for vacation. Her cousin is my band mate."
"Oh you're in a band?" Nelly asked, taking a sip of her water.
He nodded, "Avenged Sevenfold. Anyways, she came and stole my heart at first sight. I was really shy when it came to talking to her, but our friend who just recently passed made me talk to her. I don't regret it. Since then, she's pretty much had me."
I smiled, letting a pink shade take over my cheeks, "And you've pretty much had me too."
"So when do you plan on popping the question?" Andrew asked as the waiter placed our food infront of us. The smell of smoked steak filled my nostrils making my mouth water. I love meat.
"I barely got her back. That's like baking a cake then eating it as soon as it came out of the oven. I don't think we're quite ready for that." Brian replied, taking his fork and stabbing the New York strip steak infront of him. I agreed. We were far from that. I couldn't have said it better myself.
"Barely got her back? What happened? I thought you two were together for years already." Andrew sarcastically spat. "You two seem so happy together."
"Give it a break." I said, feeling a little fed up. Nelly, Andrew and Brian looked at me. I continued to direct my attention to Andrew, "You knew I was engaged to Jesse. You can't act like you didn't have a clue."
He chewed a piece of his golden brown salmon, "Wow. Apparently you can't take a joke."
"Honey, it's not the time to joke around like this." Nelly told him. "Let's have a nice dinner. No fighting or bickering." I looked down at my plate and popped a fry into my mouth, although it was burning hot, I chewed it with care. "So if you two have been in love for I'd say eleven years, how come you two never got together?"
I swallowed hard just as Brian spoke for me, "Life and fate had different things in store for us. In the end, we found each other. It was the plan all along to end up together." The smile on his face told me that he really wanted this just as bad as I did. But of course, the moment had to be killed. Andrew chuckled beneath a breath. "What?" Brian asked.
"Nothing. It's nothing. You two make it seem like you are completely in love when I bet you two haven't even thought about how it's going to work out when he goes on tour." He spoke to my directly. "I me-"
"Hey." Brian said getting worked up. "I love her and I'm not about to cheat on her with some cheap piece of ass. She's the only piece of ass that I'm willing to make love to. I've waited for her this long. Two months isn't anything."
Andrew swallowed hard and picked up his glass of what I assume to be gin, "Yes okay. But if you were with another woman while you and Jacqueline didn't speak, what makes you think you'll be faithful to her once you and your band begin to tour?"
Shit, I thought to myself, I knew this was a bad idea. "Okay, can we stop fighting?" Brian lowered his head, not speaking another word. He was thinking and it began to frighten me. Something told me something was terribly wrong with him.
"I think I just lost my appetite. Jackie, I'll wait for you in the car." He stood up, throwing his napkin on the plate. "It was nice meeting you Penelope."
"Brian!" I shouted, still seated. I hesitated to run after him. I didn't want to be rude to my boss and his wife. "Uh..."
"You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you Andrew? You have to speak up all the time. This is their relationship! Whatever happens between them is their business." She placed her hand on top of mine which was on the table, "I'm so sorry. Is he going to be alright?"
"He'll be fine Nelly. He'll just smoke and drink and he'll be better." Andrew's direct sarcasm to Brian's weaknesses, hit me hard. It was as if he was insulting me because I considered Brian to be a big part of who I was and who I will always be.
She moved the glass out of his hands and put it on her side of the table, "That's enough of this and that's enough of that... I'm so sorry Jackie."
"It's fine. I have to go." I pulled out my wallet, "I'll just leave you this." I said setting fourty dollars on the table. "It was nice to meet you Nelly. Goodbye Andrew."
I pushed myself out of my seat and walked quickly to the parking lot. I arrived at the truck to see Brian sitting down in the drivers seat, looking out into the distance. I only wondered what was going through his mind.
I knocked lightly on the passanger side door, waiting for him to open it. The locks clicked up and I pulled the handle out. I slid into the car, only to find that awkward silence between us.
"Are you okay?" I asked, turning to him. He just nodded and started the truck, "I'm not mad at you. You did have every right to walk out. What he was saying in there was completely-"
"True." He finished it off. I felt slightly confused. "Jackie, let's be realistic here. You don't trust me because of what I did to Michelle."
I had no idea where that was coming out from but I wanted it to stop. "No, Brian. I do trust you. You've proved it to me. I know you wouldn't cheat on me."
"But I told Michelle I wouldn't cheat on her either and look what happened..." He drove out of the parking lot, "I cheat on her with you. I-"
"Are you saying you're going to cheat on me when you go on tour?" I asked, not sure what he was trying to get to.
He shook his head vigorously, "Of course not but what he was saying back there made me think that you would think that I would cheat on you. I did do it with-"
"Brian." I said, firmly, feeling anger build up inside of me, "Just drive. I don't even want to start this conversation right now."
"We need to have it babe. I am going on tour and I don't know if you trust me enough to even let me go." I really felt the anger in my body, heating up with every single word he said.
"Let you go? Since when do I own you? You're old enough to go on your own with out anyone's permission. Specially mine. Stop making it sound like I'd get mad if you do something." I said, raising my voice a bit.
The look on his face clearly stated that he didn't want to go through this conversation either. "I'm sorry... I just want you to-"
"Fuck can you stop, already!? I trust you okay? I do!!! The past is the, the fucken past and let it stay there! Stop bringing it back!" I shouted with the anger that was being held captive in my body, "Just stop already!"
"I'm trying to fucking save our relationship Jacqueline! It wouldn't be so fucked up if it wasn't for you almost marrying that asshole. It wouldn't be so fucked up if it wasn't for that God damned man back there!" He referred to Andrew, keeping his eyes on the road but shouting loud enough to make my ear drums vibrate.
"My fault? Wow. Thanks for making me feel like a load of shit! You're the fucking best Brian."
"God, would you stop with that fucking sarcasm?! It's annoying. Just like you're fucking annoying me saying you fucking trust me when I know you don't!" He spat, slamming his fist on the steering wheel. "Why can't you just admit it that we don't trust each other when it comes to our work or other people?"
My heart began to break. I hadn't felt this way since that one night at the bar when we went at it. Hearing him say that he doesn't trust me, made me so... so destroyed. "You don't trust me?" I asked.
He cooled down a tad bit, "Baby, I ughh. Fuck. No I didn't... I do trust you. It's just not when it comes to Andrew. He fucking likes you. He wants you. Even though he makes his relationship with Penelope seem like perfect, he wants you and I can see it by the way he looks at you. It's the way I look at you. With lust and love."
Luckily, we'd just pulled into the hotel parking lot. I unbuckled myself and got out once he parked. I heard him calling my name from behind but I chose to ignore him. I walked into the elevator and pressed our floor before he had a chance to get in.
I went all the way to the corner since it was empty. I let all these crazy thoughts run through my head. I knew something was going to go wrong tonight, I just didn't know it was between Brian and I.
The doors opened as I reached the floor. I dug through my bag and pulled out the key-card. I slid it through the swipe pad, pushing the door open as I entered. Brian still hadn't arrive so I placed my bag on the seat beside the door and went straight for the bed. I laid down, expecting him any second.
While he still wasn't there, I thought about what had to be done. Knowing he doesn't trust me, makes me feel like maybe this wasn't a good time to be in a relationship. Maybe we needed to sort our issues out before we could actually commit to a real relationship.