Jay
Nev suddenly sat down at the table with Max and I. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck.
"You know with everything that just went on, Trinity needs time to figure things out, and so, we're just going to go," he said.
I wasn't really surprised.
"Yeah, that's fine," I said quietly.
We all stood up from the metal table.
"Thanks for showing up and giving us your time. I know you didn't really vision today to be like this.." Max said.
I shook my head. "No, not at all, but it's understandable."
"Well, maybe we can meet up tomorrow, when everything is cooled down, if that's okay with you. Maybe we can get your side of the story tomorrow as well," Nev said.
I nodded. "Okay."
"Thank you both for reaching back out to Trinity and setting all of this up. I don't know if I could've ever brought myself to do all of this, but I'm glad I did. And you know-I-please just...just tell her that I'm sorry."
Max and Nev smiled small while nodding.
"See you later," Nev said.
I nodded, and they walked off, followed by the camera crew.
As soon as they were out of sight, I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed in frustration.
Trinity
Nev and Max opened the car doors and climbed inside. They closed it behind them.
"Ready to go?" Nev asked me.
I nodded and put on my seatbelt.
Nev abruptly started the engine, and we drove out of the park. During the car ride back, the guys talked a couple of times, but none of them said anything to me.
We reached the hotel and got out of the car. We went to our floor, and Nev gently patted my shoulder, before we went inside of our hotel rooms.
I shut the door behind me, took off my sneakers, and I crawled onto the soft bed. I slowly rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling.
This wasn't supposed to happen to me... none of this.
He was supposed to be Jay, the guy who didn't lie to me, who respected me, who loved me...just as I did with him.
I have never experienced so much insecurity until today. I wondered what the girl had that I didn't. Even if he were to explain his reason for cheating, I don't think I would ever understand why he did it. I was a good girlfriend, right?
I shook my head and closed my eyes, preventing some tears from falling.
It was time to sleep. Sleep was the answer to everything. Hopefully, after the nap, I'd feel better.
++
I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I sat up and looked around for it. Since I couldn't find it on time, it stopped ringing. Part of me was relieved that I didn't have to get up from this bed, but I also wondered who called me.
A couple of seconds later, it rang again. I sighed deeply and climbed off of bed. I looked down at the floor and saw my purse. I unzipped it and grabbed my phone out of it.
Mom 💖
I hesitated before I slid my finger across the screen. I held the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Trinny? Honey?" her soft voice came through the phone.
I cleared my throat.
"Hey, Mom," I said.
"Hey. How are you? I got your text earlier about how you were on your way to meet Jay. You seemed excited, with all of the exclamation points you sent me."
"Yes..I know.." I simply said.
"Well? Was he real??"
I nodded, but then I realized she couldn't see me. "Yes."
I heard her cheer and clap.
"Aww, I'm glad to hear that. Congratulations, Trin!"
"Thanks, Mom," I said.
"Trin..are you okay?"
"Yes, Mom. Why wouldn't I be?" I chuckled softly.
"You sound upset. What happened?"
"Nothing happened. I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Mhm."
"Well, why don't you tell me how today went, when you met him? I'm sure you both talked."
"We went to a nice park and sat down at a table. A guy approached us at first, and we thought that he was Jay, but the guy only wanted to buy a drink from the machine behind us.."
"Ha! That's embarrassing!" she giggled.
Wasn't the only thing that was embarrassing...
"Yeah. Then, Jay eventually showed up, and I was...happy and umm, we discussed."
"That's all? Where is he now?"
"Back at his apartment, I'm guessing. I'm back at the hotel."
"Trinity, why do you sound like this? It's bothering me."
"Sound like what? I sound completely normal, Mom."
"No, you don't. You just met your boyfriend after 3 years! You should be happy, but you don't sound it. Please, tell me what's wrong."
I couldn't keep this from her. Knowing her, she would keep asking me until I spilled.
I took a deep breath.
"He cheated on me..." I admitted quietly.
I heard a gasp over the phone.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but...I'm okay now...I guess."
"You're a wonderful girl, and you don't deserve that. He's not very wise to do that to you."
I smiled small.
"Would you consider forgiving him?"
I rolled my tongue against my cheek.
"I don't know yet. I don't really know what happened."
"Just remember the situation with God and Peter. He denied him thr-"
"Yes, Mom. I remember, but I need time to think to myself."
"Well, that's reasonable. Oh yeah, honey, I have to go pick up your sister from practice. I just called quickly to see how your day went, and I was expecting a better response, but then I heard what happened and..." She sighed. "I'll leave you to rest and relax your mind."
"Okay. Thanks for checking in, Mom."
"I'm sorry again, sweetie. Keep your beautiful head up."
"Thanks. Say hi to everyone for me."
"Will do. I love you," she said.
"I love you too. See you later."
"Okay, honey."
I removed the phone from my ear and hung up. A couple of minutes later, there was a gentle knock on my room door.
I walked over to it and opened it. Nev stood with a wide smile on his face. I tried to make my smile as big as his.
"How you holdin' up?" he asked.
"I'm alright."
"Hungry?"
"Yes, actually.."
"Max and I ordered pizza. Would you like some?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," I said.
"Come over when you're ready."
"I guess I'll come over now. Let me just grab the key."
I walked over to the nightstand next to the bed and took the room key. Nev and I exited the room and closed the door.
Nev opened his door with his key, and we walked into the hotel room.
"Heeyyyy!" Max exclaimed with a slice of pizza in his hand.
"Hey, Max."
"What's up? You okay?" he asked me.
I nodded and smiled. He smiled back at me.
"Good to hear. Just so you know, there's a camera recording us over there, so don't do anything embarrassing-like fall-because we may or may not show include it in the episode," he said and laughed.
My eyes darted to the two boxes of pizza. The smell filled my nostrils and my mouth watered. I was hungrier than I thought.
"Don't be shy." Nev handed me a paper plate.
I chuckled and slowly opened a box of pizza. Hawaiian.
My face scrunched up. "Ehh.." I said as I closed it.
I got my hopes up.
"What's wrong?" Nev asked.
"I hate Hawaiian pizza.." I stated.
"The door," Max said, pointing.
I chuckled.
"Are pineapples even good on pizza?" I asked.
"You can only find out if you try one," Nev said.
"No, thanks. I'm not risking it."
They laughed, as I opened the second box.
"Ooh, sausage and pepperoni. I dig it," I said with a nod.
"Uhh. We're older than you, and we don't even say 'I dig it'." Max said.
"How much do I take?" I asked.
"As much as you want."
I nodded and took two slices of pepperoni and sausage.
"Thank you. Do you guys mind if I hang out here?" I asked.
I didn't want to sulk and be lonely in my room.
"Of course not. The more the merrier," Max said.
++
"Hey, Trinity?" I heard. I turned and saw Nev looking at me.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Would you like to meet up with Jay tomorrow?" he asked.
Great. Just when I thought his name wouldn't come up again.
"Again?" I asked.
"Yes. Earlier today, things just took a turn. I mean, you didn't really give him a chance to talk, you know?"
I did just storm off, but in the moment, I couldn't stand to listen to his voice any longer.
'Just a month..'
My stomach twisted.
"Am I able to think about it?" I asked him.
"Of course. You can tell us what you wanna do in the morning."
I nodded and looked at the time. It was 10:05 P.M. That meant I've been in here for almost two hours.
"I should head on back to my room. It's getting pretty late," I said.
"Totally. Get some rest," Max said.
"You too." I stood up from the chair and began walking towards the door.
"Goodnight, guys. Again, thanks for the pizza," I said as I opened it.
"Goodnight!"
"You're welcome!"
I walked out the door, and it shut behind me.
Jay
"I told you.." Khalil said and shook his head. He looked at Xavier and Cameron. "Didn't I tell his ass?"
"You told him." Xavier agreed while he nodded his head.
I slid my hand down my face.
"Listen, I know I messed up, but please don't," I pleaded with my three best friends.
"Yovanna, really?" Cameron asked, completely ignoring what I just said.
"It was a mistake," I said my words slowly.
I told all them what happened today, hours ago, and now they wanted to give me life lessons.
"A mistake that cost you the best person in your life....well...other than us three, of course," Khalil said.
"Ooh shit...I just thought about something...What if Trinity pulled up to Yovanna's house and beat her ass?" Cameron asked and laughed.
My eyebrows wrinkled.
"No, why would she?" I asked.
I could never see her in a fight. She was so humble...until, earlier today.
"Right. Only silly girls do that fighting mess over a guy. If anything, Trinity should fight Jay's ass, instead of the girl he cheated on her with. Yovanna didn't know JB had a girl," Xavier said.
"True, true," Cameron said.
"This is why I can't tell y'all anything," I mumbled.
"Why'd you cheat on her?" Xavier asked.
"I was completely out of my mind back then. I wanted to get out of the relationship with Yovanna, but I felt bad for her," I confessed.
"But you didn't feel bad for your true girlfriend? Where's the logic?" Khalil asked.
"I did feel bad for what I was doing, and that's- You know what? I don't even have to explain myself. How dare you reprimand me, when you have no clue about my situation and what's going through my mind right now. With all of you telling me, every 5 seconds, how I fucked up, isn't helping me feel better."
I was getting frustrated just sitting here.
"Reprimand," Cameron mocked me.
"Fuck this," I mumbled.
Before I could stand up from the couch, Cameron said, "I was just joking, dude, chill."
"I'm tired as shit, I have a fucking headache, my girlfriend fucking dumped me on national television-I don't have time for these corny as jokes, dude."
"My bad," Cameron said quietly.
"Chill, JB." Xavier chuckled and sat down next to me.
"Look man, we're not tryna to make you feel bad, or make fun of you, we're just tryna look out..." Cameron said.
"We may not be in your particular situation, but that doesn't mean we don't know what's right and what's wrong. Cheating sucks. No one wants to get cheated on, especially if you thought that person respected you," Xavier added.
"But I do respect her," I said.
"You think she still believes that? The trust and respect that was in the relationship is completely gone now, and if you plan on getting back with her, you have to gain the trust back. Listen, I've been cheated on, and-"
"Oh yeah—that girl, Natasha," Cameron said.
Xavier shot a glare towards him.
"Aye, I thought we agreed to never say her name?" he asked. "Anyways, she did cheat, and that shit actually hurt like...I was such a loyal ass nigga."
"Same. I got cheated on too," Khalil added.
"See! We've all been cheated on! Well...maybe expect for Cam. He's barely in relationships that actually last. He's kinda a hoe," Xavier said.
Cameron huffed.
"What he's really trying to say is..We never expected you to be the cheater. You're... Jay. We've known you since freshman year, and you don't make girls cry. You're nice—way too nice, which is why you got into this cheating mess, anyways. You didn't know how to say no to Yovanna," Cameron said.
"Exactly. Trinity is a great girl. Girls like her come once in a lifetime, man. I've heard some of y'all's phone conversations, when you put your phone on speaker. Y'all are perfect for each other, like for real. She really cares about you," Khalil said.
They were right. I was really lucky to have Trinity in my life for so long.
"Basically, to end this whole 'intervention', you just need to accept what you did was wrong. Don't try to justify your actions. Tomorrow, apologize to her, be as honest as you could be...but...I don't think she's getting back together with you," Xavier spoke.
"Yeah, I wasn't thinking that either," I said.
"It's not the end of the world. Move on," Cameron said.
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"It's not that easy," I stated. "I know so much about her—her favorite phrase, the side she likes to sleep on, how her mom's side of the family acts...I can't just 'move on'," I said with air quotations.
"Just keep your head up, Jay."
"Thanks...I'll try.."
I sighed as I stood up from the couch.
"Well, I'm going to my room. Thanks for the advice guys," I said.
"No problem, Bieber," Xavier said.
the next day, 11:37 AM
Trinity
I ate the last of my scrambled eggs and set my fork down on the paper plate.
"Ready?" I was asked.
"Yeah," I said.
I dusted off my jeans and stood up from the chair.
"Thanks for the breakfast again, Max. Aside from a filmmaker, you should also be a professional chef," I said.
He smiled.
"Thank you. I try," he replied.
We left the hotel room, followed by the camera crew, and took the elevator down to the lobby. We went to the parking lot and got into the SUV.
"How do you think today would be? Better than yesterday?" Nev asked me, as we put on our seat belts.
"I'm not sure, to be honest," I responded.
I agreed to meet up with Jay again today because I realized I didn't listen to what he had to say. I knew he cheated, but it would be wrong to go back to Atlanta, without knowing the whole truth.
Nev texted Jay, and he said we could meet at his apartment. He lived with Xavier, Cameron, and Khalil, and hopefully they weren't there when we were. It's not like I didn't like them—I talked to them over the phone once—but them being there will be a bit awkward.
We drove and drove, until Nev turned right into a large apartment complex. He parked near the entrance.
Nev shut the engine off and unbuckled his seatbelt.
I was nervous. I hoped that I wouldn't hear anything so upsetting to the point where I cry again. I felt vulnerable whenever I did, and I didn't want to be seen as that by Nev, Max or on TV.
"Wanna take a deep breath?" Max asked me.
I inhaled and exhaled through my nose twice, closing my eyes the second time. I opened my eyes and nodded, feeling more prepared for the situation.
"Alright. Let's go," I said.
____________________
oh hey there. 👋🏾 it's been a while, hasn't it?