Chapter Nine::The Weird Thing With Blake.
When I woke up, Blair was sitting across from me on my bed, a sheepish smile on her face.
“You slept all day yesterday,” she mumbled and I nodded.
“Yeah, well I was insanely hungover so…yeah.”
We both sat there in silence until Blair finally sighed and reached to the floor where she had been hiding a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich dusted with pesto. She handed it to me.
“It’s a peace offering. I’m sorry about what I said.”
I sat up and accepted the sandwich.
While I did not inherit the cooking gene in our family, Blair did.
I nodded at my twin sister.
“It’s fine. I’m sorry too.”
“I was just looking out for you.”
“I know. I was too.”
“I love you.”
I smiled.
“And I love you too.”
“…So, do you wanna like, share some of that sandwich with me? I’m starving.”
And just like that, we were good again.
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“I am so sorry I cancelled our lunch date, yesterday,” I moaned to Lilly after our orders had been taken.
She smiled and tucked a piece of light brown hair behind her ears.
“It’s no problem. You didn’t sound too good on the phone.”
I scoffed.
“Trust me, I wasn’t feeling too good.” I woke up, realized I’d rather be dead, threw up, turned on my phone to reschedule my lunch date with Lilly, turned off my phone, and slept for the rest of the day.
Classy, I know.
“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t feeling so well either. I don’t know why they call it morning sickness if it can last the whole day,” she sighed softly and I smiled at her.
“How far along are you?” I looked down towards the slight bulge of her belly, but the table blocked it from my view.
She grinned and placed a hand on her tummy.
“Three months! They’re due in July.”
My eyes widened slightly.
“They?”
Lilly nodded shyly.
“Yeah…I’m having twins,” she giggled.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
“Wow…oh wow. I can’t even imagine…you’re my age. You’re only twenty-two and you’re married and have twins on the way. Who are you?” I joked, by my astonishment was real.
I can’t even get a real boyfriend and she has the whole package.
Lilly blushed and shook her head.
“No, I mean…it’s kind of hard for me to imagine too! I mean, Nate and I only met last December.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that he played with Pent Up at a local bar?”
Lilly nodded and as I sipped on my water, I envied the blissful smile that took over her face.
“Yeah…he was such a dufus,” I chortled into my glass at her word choice. “I bet he didn’t mention that I actually worked at the bar? Yep, we met because he would always come up to me after his band finished their set and ask me for the most vulgar sounding drink on the menu that night…but then he would say he wanted the virgin version of it. Then, on a night when I wasn’t working, I went to the bar and saw that he was drinking straight shots…so the next time I was working and he asked me for a specialty drink without the alcohol, I asked him why. Clearly he didn’t have an aversion to alcohol when I wasn’t around, you know? And he said, ‘Well, I needed a reason to talk to you, but I also wanted to be completely coherent for the moment when I finally got the nerve to ask you out on a date.’ And so, yeah. We’ve been together ever since.”
Shoot me.
Just kidding, that’s the jealousy talking.
“Well, that’s beyond adorable. I can’t even. You’re so lucky! I can’t even tell you what I’d give to have a guy want me as much as I want him,” I grumbled, looking up as our food finally arrived.
Lilly frowned and began to cut into her eggplant parmesan.
“Oh, you’ve got to be joking, Aubrey.” Her voice was kind but confused. “I mean, I haven’t known you that long, but even I can tell that you’re just lovely to be around. And on top of that, you’re gorgeous and have a great future –I’ve been a loyal subscriber of Luxuria Magazine since I was a senior in high school! You can’t be serious by claiming that you actually have boy issues,” she deadpanned.
I felt my face redden but shrugged.
“Well…it’s the sad and embarrassing truth. I’m starting to think my red hair might be a turnoff,” I joked half-heartedly.
Lilly quirked her head to the side and shrugged.
“Well, think what you wish, but I personally think you and your red hair are stunning.”
This time, I couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at my corners.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had a female friend –Piper and Blair not included- actually compliment me.
I had forgotten how good it actually felt.
I felt my back straighten and my head rise so I sat a little taller…I honestly just felt good allover.
“So, tell me what it’s like to have a twin sister,” Lilly asked, her voice bubbling with excitement. “I was an only child growing up and didn’t have many cousins so I’ve always been obsessed with larger families…”
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From the smile on my face and the way I was bopping my head to the music, anyone who glanced into my car as I drove home from lunch would be able to tell that I was in a good mood.
Sure it was freezing cold in the dead of winter and I was forced to relive the last year of my life because I unknowingly messed with Gypsy Magic. And yeah, I was sleeping with a guy who was sleeping with everyone while my best friend dated the guy I used to be in love with.
But I also finally had a normal friend again. A friend who was sweet and fun and wasn’t caught up in being a blonde haired, blue-eyed sex-bomb socialite.
I pulled into the parking lot for my apartment and dug into my purse when I heard my phone go off.
I wearily observed the unknown number, already feeling my good mood falter, before I hesitantly answered.
“Hello?”
“Aubrey. This is Jake.”
Oh, damn it.
I turned off my phone yesterday, but was not surprised by the numerous voicemails Jake and Blake had both left for me.
I had yet to listen to them.
“Hi, Jake…yeah, sorry I missed your calls.”
“Right. About those. I would have come over in person, but I’m in London on business so phone calls will have to suffice. We need to talk about what happened the other day.”
My face reddened.
“Ummm…no we don’t. I was drunk, Jake. I’m sorry about that.”
“Well, it seemed like more than that. You were drunk but you were also upset. You made a few points about me sleeping around with everyone and not being able to move past the whole thing with Sophia. By the way, I plan on calling Evelyn later today to find out what the hell she was thinking when she told you everything. That wasn’t her business to tell.”
I cringed.
“No…please don’t call her. I shouldn’t have...I’m sorry for what I said.”
“…Well, did you mean it?” His voice was stern.
I cringed again but didn’t respond.
He sighed.
“Aubrey, listen…I feel like…was I not clear about my intentions when we first got together?” His voice was soft and kind, but it still did something to make my stomach flip unpleasantly. “I…I hope I never led you on because I thought that it was clear from the start that I wasn’t…that I couldn’t do a serious relationship.”
I sighed and rested my head on the sidecar window.
“Yeah…I mean, I wouldn’t necessarily say you led me on, but…I mean, we do more than just sleep together. I’ve met your son, and we go on dates, and you send me funny emails…and maybe that’s stuff you do with all the girls-”
“It’s not.”
“-But it still means something to me. And when we do stuff like that, is it really surprising that I maybe like you a little more than I’m supposed to?”
“Aubrey…” He sighed. “Well, maybe it’s not surprising, and I’m sorry…because I…” He voice was strained. “Because it can’t happen.”
I was an agreeable person.
I didn’t relish in conflict and when people were happy, I was happy, which is why I think the next words out of my mouth surprised me just as much as they surprised Jake.
“Bullshit.” I flushed red. “I mean why can’t it happen?”
“I’m sorry, Aubrey. I care about you, I really do. But I’m sorry.”
Silence.
Then, I took a deep breath.
“Can I just ask you a question? After the past eight or nine months…however long we’ve been sleeping together…do you want to date me? Like, exclusively date me? Just me?”
“…Aubrey, I don’t want to date anybody.”
“I’m not anybody, Jake,” my voice was quiet. “I’m me. And I want to know how you feel about me. Do you care at all?”
My voice caught in my throat.
“Of course I care about you. You can’t even fathom how prominent a part of my life you’ve become but, Aubrey, it’s just that…look, the thing with Sophia was really draining. We went back and forth for years because she couldn’t ever figure out how she really felt about that Matt kid, and I don’t want to get into the same situation again. Especially since you have that weird thing with Blake going on.”
I frowned.
“What weird thing with Blake? I don’t have a weird thing with Blake going on. He’s just my best friend.”
Jake sighed.
“Listen, Aub. All Evelyn ever does at family functions is complain about the ‘weird thing’ you have going on with Blake. As a matter of fact, whenever Blake is at a family function with her, they never fail to have at least one public argument about you.”
My eyes widened.
“What? They do?”
This was news to me.
“Without fail. And even I’m aware that you never fail to bend over backwards for Blake, no matter how he treats you.”
“He’s my best friend, Jake. I don’t have feelings for him.”
My voice was flat. Borderline cold.
“Aubrey, I’m not trying to be mean or overbearing. I’m just trying to explain where I’m coming from. You’ve always had a weird thing going on with him, and I can’t say that I find it appealing to get involved. Hell, sometimes I wonder if the only reason Evelyn introduced us was because she was hoping that we’d get together and, as a result, you and Blake would drift apart.”
I bit my lip and shook my head: I did not want to turn this conversation into one about Evelyn. This was about me and Jake.
“No, Jake, I don’t like Blake. I really don’t. And if you can’t see that then…I don’t think I can be with you anymore.”
“Aubrey-”
“I just…I think I really like you, Jake. And it’s not fair for me to do this to myself. Not again. We can still be friends and I would love to see Leo whenever he’s with you, but I don’t think I can keep sleeping with you and doing whatever we do.”
“Aubrey, I-”
“I’m really sorry, Jake, but I’ve got to go.”
And then, I hung up on him.
I immediately felt a bit guilty but pushed past my feelings as I stepped from the car.
My lighthearted its-a-brand-new-day attitude had disappeared in a matter of minutes, ironically thanks to the only man who usually never failed in making me smile.
As I trudged up the stairs and into my apartment, I was sure that nothing, and I meant nothing, could make me feel lower than I already did…
…but that was until I saw the crystal ball resting on the center table in my living room.
“Aubrey?” I turned my head and saw Blair and a plainly dressed woman walking towards me. “This is Emile. She’s a gypsy and she’s going to help us get our lives back.”
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