-Genny’s POV-
The next day was Anthony and Kalel’s anniversary. It was a day of torture for me, because Kalel kept to her word, and she literally updated me on what was happening every fucking minute. Tagging me to every message and picture:
“@smoshanthony’s and my three year anniversary today! @GennyFoster”
"@smoshanthony made me breakfast in bed @GennyFoster”
"@smoshanthony’s taking me out to a fancy restaurant @GennyFoster”
"@smoshanthony got me a bouquet of fifty red roses @GennyFoster”
I was about to throw my phone at a wall with all of the notifications I was getting. But around eleven at night, she sent me this private message:
"I think Anthony forgot about giving me the ring. He just went to bed..."
I smirked and was about to reply when I thought I’d better not.
So, the next day, Anthony called me at eight in the morning to ask me to meet him for lunch.
"Okay, where would you want us to meet up?" I questioned.
"I don't know...why don't you pick the place?"
Wow. He calls me and asked me to meet up with him somewhere for lunch, and then he asks me to pick to the place. Just…wow. "Well, it depends. I mean, I kind of have to bring Ash along; I don’t have anyone to watch him. Is that okay with you if he’s there?"
"Yeah! Totally!" Anthony exclaimed, "I would love to see the little guy!"
I laughed, “Awesome. How about McDonald's? I just went grocery shopping and almost bought out the entire store, so I'm kind of money tight right now."
"Hey, that’s totally fine with me,” There was a slight pause before he continued, “Hey, umm, Ian wants to know if he can come too. Melanie's out and he's kind of been tagging along with me everywhere today. And it's Thursday, and that’s the day we film Lunchtime with Smosh, so…I hope you don’t mind being on camera."
"Yeah, he can come. And the being on camera thing is cool too."
"Great! See you soon, Genny!” I was about to hang up when he added last minute, “Noon's a good time, right?"
"Yeah, perfect actually.”
“Cool, see you then!”
“Bye!”
I hung up the phone and sighed. I looked over at Ash, who was trying to climb up onto the couch. I ran over to him and swept him off of the floor. "Hey, guess what, buddy? We're going to see Anthony and Ian!"
"Daddy!" Ash shouted happily.
My smile straightened, “Yeah. Let’s just call him Anthony, okay?”
*****
I met up with Ian and Anthony at the McDonalds down the street from my apartment building. They were in line and let me join them. We got our food and sat down at a booth. I sat with Anthony on one side and Ian sat by himself on the other. Ian pulled out a camcorder and asked, "Hey, it's okay if we video tape this for Smosh, right?"
I looked up from sitting Ash on my lap. "Yeah. I already told Anthony it was fine."
He smiled before turning the camcorder on and pointing it at himself. "Hey guys! Welcome to another episode of Lunchtime with Smosh. Today we have two special guests..." He turned the camera to face me, "…our friend, Genny, and her son, Ash! Say hi Genny!" I waved my hand and smiled. Ash said hi too. He turned the camera back to him. "Did you know her name isn't spelled with a J, but with a G? Sort of like the beer. I think that's firetrucking awesome."
I rolled my eyes and began to feed Ash his kid’s meal.
"Hey Anthony, what did we get today?" Ian asked.
Anthony looked up and smiled. "Today we're having...McDonalds!" He held up the burger. "First bite!" He said in a funny voice before biting into his burger and smiling with the food in his mouth. I looked over at him and laughed.
Ian put the camcorder down and began to eat his lunch.
"Hey, want a fry?" Anthony said, waving a fry in front of Ash's face. Ash raised his chubby little arms, grabbed the fry, and looked up to Anthony with a big smile. He laughed, "I think he likes me!"
I smiled and ate some of Ash's burger, since he wasn't really in the mood for anything. I saw Ian constantly averting his eyes towards Ash and then Anthony.
"You guys would look cute as a couple," Ian stated.
I looked up from cleaning Ash's face off and laughed nervously, "Ha ha, very funny, Ian."
"I'm serious!"
"Dude, I have a girlfriend, Kalel. Remember?" Anthony said sternly, "And I'm sure Genny's got a boyfriend too. You know…someone to help you take care of Ash?" He looked over at me.
I shook my head, "No. I’m currently single, taking care of Ash on my own."
"Oh..." Anthony's cheeks blushed in embarrassment, "That’s a shame; you're a really pretty girl with a nice personality."
Ian smirked, "You like her," He teased.
"No I don't!" Anthony was quick to defend himself, "I think of Genny just as a friend..."
"That night a year ago said other wise..." Ian reminded Anthony of the Fourth of July.
"You know what?" Anthony stood up, throwing his crumpled up napkin on the table, "I'm going to leave if you don't stop accusing me of things that aren't true," He threatened.
"Admit it! You're acting this way because you really like Genny!" Ian said crossing his arms, "There's no need to hide your feelings and lie, Anthony."
"Goodbye, Ian," Anthony stormed out.
"You didn't have to be so harsh, Ian," I murmured under my breath after Anthony was out of sight.
"He’ll get over it by tomorrow. And anyways, he and I have been talking…especially after his anniversary with Kalel."
"Why?"
He sighed and placed his hands on the table, "Promise not to tell him I said any of this?" I shook my head in agreement. "Okay, so last night, after he 'went to bed,' Anthony called me. He said that Kalel was acting strange all day, like she was waiting for something to happen. He treated her right and gave her a bunch of shit, like roses and..."
"I know, Ian," I cut him off, "Trust me, Kalel kept me updated over Facebook."
"Oh, well anyways, I told him that maybe she's wanting him to propose, you know, 'cause they've been dating for three years with only a few times of short separation. But he said that he wasn't ready for it...that he was having mixed feelings for another girl."
“Who?”
“You.”
"Me?"
"No, some girl named You. Of course I’m talking about you, Genny! He said that after the Fourth of July, he really wanted to see you again. But you 'fell of the grid' until a few weeks ago, when he saw a post you put up with..." He nodded his head to Ash, "...him.” My eyes widened, “He doesn't know about him yet, but I do."
I swallowed hard, "You can't tell him, Ian. Please."
"I won't. But he's having suspicions. So all I’m saying is to be prepared, Genny."
"What else did you guys talk about?" I attempted to change the subject, to maybe even something about Kalel.
"Well, after that, we went on to talking about you. Not in a bad way though. He said something about Ash and how adorable he was. When he described him to me, I thought he was describing himself," He chuckled at what he said. I was straight-faced and beginning to bounce Ash on my leg, "Anyways, I asked how old Ash was. He told me from the picture that he looked about four months old. I did some mental math and…the dates add up.”
"Ian! He can't find out!" I cried under my breath.
"Why can’t he? You know he would be more than ready to step up to the plate and help you out!"
"I...I just don't want to ruin his life. He's got the girlfriend, the money, everything. And look what I have: a kid, a job that keeps me up all night, just enough money to live, and almost no family." He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow. I sighed, "Just don't tell him. I don't fucking care if he'll help or not." I picked up two fries, dipped them in ketchup, and shoved them in my mouth. "He's not going to find out."
"Genny..."
"No, Ian. He's not going to," I told him in a very serious tone.
He exhaled loudly and held up the camcorder to me, "Will you hold this and record me doing Twitter questions?"
"Sure," I replied as I wiped my hands on my jeans and grabbed the camera.
"Hey guys! Okay, Anthony had to leave, so it's just me and Genny. Whoop whoop!" I smirked, "And it's finding Twitter question time!” He tried to do Anthony’s song, but it just turned into an epic fail, making me laugh. “Alright, first question..." And he read the person and the question. He answered the question and went on to the next. After a few questions, he exclaimed, "I think that's enough Twitter questions. What do you think Ash?” He took the camera and focused on my boy who was falling asleep in my lap.
I smirked, “I think that means that’s enough.”
“You heard her! Now, Genny, what would you rate this meal?"
"Uh...I'd say...nine out of ten.”
“Nine out of ten what?”
I looked at him confused, “Nine out of ten happy Ashes?"
He spun the camera back to him, "Sounds legit. See you next week when Anthony stops being an ass. Buh-bye! Bitch!" And with that, he closed the camcorder. We gathered our garbage and started making our way out of the fast-food restaurant.
"It was nice seeing you again, Genny." Ian remarked as he threw out his and Anthony's garbage as I threw mine out with Ash in my other arm.
"It was nice seeing you too, Ian." The two of us walked out of the McDonald's and stood on the sidewalk. "Oh, and tell Anthony I said the same. Okay?"
“Sure.”
“Alright, see you later!”
"See you later!” We started making our way to our cars when he shouted over to me, “We should do this again some time! How about a bar next time?”
"Sounds good!" I yelled back, looking down at Ash to make sure he hadn’t woken up. Luckily he was sound asleep. I smirked and waved goodbye to Ian before putting Ash in his car seat.