saturday rolls around and it's just relaxing. braxton and lawrence decided that today had the best weather for paint balling and doing 'manly' things. everyday it's this sunny and hot out.
i called up alessia and clara to hit up the mall. after parking my car in an empty spot, i exit my audi and head toward the mall. alessia had told me that they were shopping for lingerie for clara in victoria's secret.
that's where i'm headed to. i locate the store quickly and find them lurking around near the silky and lace materials. an anonymous face is with them. i've been getting introduced to so many new people lately.
"octavia!" clara shrieks. "just the girl i needed in this situation. which one?" she questions, holding up two sets of lingerie.
i point at the blood red colored one over the nude one. the nude one would just make her look naked. she compliments me on my outfit and i thank her, smiling at her niceness and compliment her back.
alessia speaks up, introducing me to the new girl that stands attached to her bright, rose gold iphone. i thought i could get by, not noticing her.
"octavia, this is valerie." she smiles. "and old friend of mine from new york. she's staying with me for the rest of the month."
"don't worry. i just met her today too and she's a mute female with a resting bitch face." clara whispers into my ear, causing me to laugh a little.
"is there a certain reason why you wanted to visit california?" i ask valerie.
i didn't realize how rude i sounded until it actually left me mouth. she perks up at my question to her.
"yes, i came here to see a man i'm talking to." she winks, causing clara to howl.
"really?" alessia questions, completely oblivious and just finding out about this information.
"who's the man?" clara asks.
"yes." valerie nods, followed by a smile. "he's well known, actually. his name is jack gilinsky. i've been talking to him a lot recently and he's super sweet. not an asshole like the tabloids make him out to be." she replies.
i freeze in my place and tense up as clara's eyes widen, looking back and forth from me and valerie. jesus christ, jack. how many mistresses does he have at one time? better question: how the hell did they meet when she lives across the country.
"you can't be talking to him." clara tells her, making alessia gasp.
"why is that?" valerie replies snobbishly, smacking her gum and crossing her arms over her chest.
it's like she's asking to have a fist fight dead center in victoria's secret.
"girl code." clara snaps in defense and finality. "he's octavia's ex."
"ex boyfriend, who cares. friends date their friends ex boyfriends all of the time." she flicks her wrist like it's no big deal; as if. "he's single now, isn't he?" she raises an overdrawn eyebrow.
i hate to be the one to judge looks, but... yikes.
"no, ex husband." clara clarifies, emphasizing the word 'husband'.
her eyes widen, looking taken aback. alessia just watches us, not knowing whose side to be on.
"clearly, someone didn't get deep enough in conversation or do their research." i mutter under my breath, slightly offended.
he should at least have the decency to inform his new mistresses that he's been married before. valerie frowns and angrily smacks her overlong acrylic nails on her glass phone screen. how is it not breaking from the force she's applying?
clara turns her attention back to the undergarments, trying to brush off valerie's presence. i whistle through my teeth, looking at other things. like a little something for braxton that i feel he deserves. i mean, he has put up with me for so many years.
"do you think braxton would like this?" i inquire toward clara, running my fingertips on the black and flimsy lace material.
my phones begin to ring, cutting clara's response short. i apologize, frowning at the unknown number. though it's idiotic and unsafe, i answer anyway.
"what the hell?" a low and raspy voice booms through my phone, making me cringe and hold it a distance away.
"oh, hello, jack. how do you have my number?" i ask, recognizing the voice immediately.
the name catches all of their attentions and valerie presses her lips together in a scowl. i roll my eyes, knowing that she's behind this. snitches get stitches.
"what the hell were you thinking saying those words to valerie?" he asks and i haven't heard him this angry since our divorce conversation.
she can't mean that much to him for him to get this mad at me. he's stepping up for her because she can't do it herself. she has a lot of nerve ranting to him instead of talking to me herself.
"oh, right." i sardonically laugh. "the woman that flew across the country to see you. she's nice, isn't she?" i say, fully aware that she's listening to me talk about her.
he makes a grunting noise from frustration, "stop being rude."
"that's rich coming from you."
"i'm trying to move on, doesn't that make you happy?" he growls loudly through the phone and it's starting to hurt my ears.
my amused smile falters and my chest begins to constrict. what is going on?
"y-yes." i find myself stupidly stuttering.
"i can't hear you."
"yes, jack." i bite out, angrily hanging up the call.
when a saturday can go from being so good to absolutely horrible. he went from going on a date with that young girl, to confessing his feelings for me, to flying out a woman he met over the internet, in hopes to move on, all in on week.
for some odd reason, the thought of him being with either of those two girls doesn't sit well with me. i'm definitely not comfortable with one of my friends friend dating my ex husband.
"you alright?" clara asks me, nudging me a little.
"i'm fine." i mumble. "just need to get away from valerie." i truthfully confess with a defeated sigh.
i sound so hungover with my ex, but i'm just fed up. i met a new girl and got yelled at in such a short amount of time. this is a lot to digest. she sets her lingerie on a display case and grabs my arm, pulling me out of the store.
we storm pass valerie and alessia without saying a word. poor alessia, this isn't her fault. i should at least apologize to her for making such a scene.
"i'll buy that later. my friends wellbeing is more important. we're going to starbucks to talk." clara answers my unasked question about where we're going.
i sigh again, "i said, i'm fine."
"i'm a female too. so, that doesn't fool me." she grins to lighten up the mood.
she drags me into the starbucks cafe and orders me a java chip frappucino before finding a table to sit at.
"i could've paid for that." i inform her.
"nonsense." she tells me, shaking her head. "now let's talk."
"what is there to talk about?"
"jack yelling through the phone." her facial expressions softens. "i understand it might not be easy seeing him move on. it probably was just as hard for him to see you move on with braxton."
i bite my bottom lip and furrow my eyebrows, "what are you trying to get on?"
"no one else we know is here-"
"okay, and?" i ask. "jack's moving on. unfortunately, with a bitch that lives all the way in new york." i grumble.
"tell me honestly, do you still have feelings for jack?" she asks.
i gasp, incredulous, "no, clara! how could i? after what he did to me." my eyes are wide as i interrogate.
"you can't hold a grudge on him forever. as much as i want you to, you know that you can't."
the barista calls out our names and clara leaves for a moment to grab our beverages. is she crazy? thinking that i might still have feelings for jack. i'm not in denial.
"what do you feel when people mention jack?" she asks, sliding my drink to me.
"great. my best friends a love therapist and philanthropist."
"octavia." she warns.
"i feel murderous, happy?" i flash her a fake smile, crossing my arms over my chest.
why the sudden surge of attitude? before meeting valerie, i could've sworn i was fine.
"where is braxton?" she asks and i sag in relief.
now she's changing the topic, making me feel thankful.
"he's with my brother. they're paint balling."
"ouch." she scrunches up her nose. "he's going to be occupied for a few hours, right?"
yes..." i drag out, not entirely following what she's on about.
"great. we're going to pay jack a visit. since i feel like you're not telling me the truth, i'm going to watch you tell him that you don't love him anymore."
"what?!" i freak, causing her to click her tongue. "are you crazy?"
i've told jack- to his face- that i've hated him a countless amount of times. i don't want to see him, especially not right now when he's in his raged hulk stage.
"not crazy, just bold." clara responds, whisking me out of starbucks.
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