Harper
“You know you didn’t have to get your own apartment, girl. You could’ve always crashed here with me.”
Jade sits outside on my tiny little deck overlooking the Seattle street below, sipping a glass of chilled wine. I nibble on a piece of Tillamook cheese, my bare feet propped up on the wrought iron balcony railing, tossing a leftover piece in her lap.
“I figured if I was going to be living in Seattle permanently, I should act like an adult and get my own apartment. No more couch surfing for me. Plus, with the steady stream of guys you date, it’d be a revolving door and I’d never get any sleep. And then there’s Tubby...”
“Hey, that’s not fair and totally inaccurate,” she whines, returning the cheese by tossing it at my face, but missing when I dodge it. I stick out my tongue at her, but then another comes whipping at the side of my head. She cackles with glee. “At least about the revolving door…I only go out one night a week, if you must know.”
I hum. “Oh, well then, forgive my ignorance. Who was it last night?”
Jade shrugs a toned shoulder. “Just a guy I met online who looked really pretty, like younger Jason Momoa, but he lied about his height.”
She uses her flattened palm as a measurement, holding it out to her shoulders.
“I specifically stated in my dating profile I am looking for a tall man. No one under six foot. And I swear, Harp, this dude was maybe five-six, if that. You can imagine the height disparity between us because I broke out my stilettos for him.”
I nearly spit out my wine at the image. Jade is a very tall woman. I’m five-eight and a half and she is six feet tall. The longest legs you’ve ever seen. Back in college, she only dated athletes because they had the height and build she was looking for. There was never any shortage of jocks on her dating roster. But now she steers clear of them for reasons unbeknownst to me.
I don’t pry, but I have asked her before. If she’d stopped dating altogether, I may have gotten worried, but she still fills her calendar regularly. I’ve also gently prodded her to share with me why she doesn’t try dating guys from her gym. She’s just given me that disgusted eye roll that saysdon’t be a dumbassand says, “You don’t shit where you eat.”
There’s a lot to be said for that advice. Maybe I should’ve considered taking a heaping spoonful of that myself because, over the past week, I’ve wondered if I ever should have let myself get involved with Marek in the first place.
Things have been strained since we returned from Spokane. He seemed fine up to the point my sister and the girls arrived and then after that, although he still spoke and we had conversations, it wasn’t terribly engaging. Or flirtatious. It was all business about the move. Where does this go? Do you want this packed? Questions like that.
The drive back was a little better. Since he got the U-Haul van with a trailer attached, he thought it would be better to tow my car instead of me driving it separately. I scoffed at his fatherly concern when he said, “That piece of shit won’t make it to Ellensburg, much less over the Snoqualmie Pass.”
Although I pretended to be offended by his overly cautious remark, inside I felt his alpha-protectiveness was very sweet.
And it got me hot and bothered. I wanted that same voice commanding me to do other things. Like…take me in your mouth.
So, I tried my hand at the art of seduction with some fun in the front seat in the form of a blowjob.
“Harper, not now. I’m driving a twenty-foot truck with a trailer hitch and vehicle tow equipment. I need to focus on the road.”
I knew in my heart he was trying to protect us both and, if it wasn’t for him, I’d have been doing this all on my own. But the rejection didn’t hurt any less or feel any less judgey. His very practical comment made me feel like I was a child and too immature to understand the mental focus and responsibility required to drive safely. Being rebuffed stung.
So, I shut down the remainder of the ride, leaving the music on a level that didn’t allow for much chit-chat. Marek didn’t seem to mind, avoiding any attempt to talk anyhow.
I’ve spent the last week getting unpacked, settling in, and starting my new job, so I haven’t been overly concerned that Marek hasn’t reached out after helping me unload that night.
But adding an additional brick to the already-formed layers of rejection in my heart, Marek begged off that night when I asked him to come in and stay the night with me. He told me he was tired and had a trip that week, so he’d call me later.
I even tried making a funny joke about it when he said he was exhausted and wanted to go home and get to bed early that night. The joke landed on the floor with a splat.
“Are you telling me Big Man has suddenly turned into theoldman?” I tease, poking him in the ribs. His only response was to turn away with a short snicker and his regretful agreement.
“Ifeelold right now.” He ducks his head and places a chaste—and fatherly—kiss on the top of my head. “I should take off and leave you to get some rest too. It was a long weekend for you. And you have a big week ahead.”
That was last Sunday and tonight is Friday. We’ve texted a few times through the course of the week, but we haven’t found a time to get together. I wouldn’t say he’s ghosting me, but he sure isn’t working very hard to make time for me or make our relationship a priority.
“Hey, earth to Harper!” Jade waves her hand in front of my face, returning my attention back to the present.
“Sorry. What were you saying about the short guy?”
Jade makes a scoffing noise and tops off her wine glass, setting the bottle back down on the small café table I found at a thrift store on Wednesday. “Girl, I was long past talking about him. I was discussing the space for lease across the street from my gym. I’ve heard rumors that some investor is going to come in and build their own gym. What the hell is that all about?”
I twist my lips into a pinched frown. “That’s weird. Do you know who it is? And why would the city planning commission allow for that?”
Jade takes a long gulp of her wine and smacks her lips. Lips that are normally painted a bright, bold color are today au natural. I’ve always been a tad jealous of her natural beauty. Jade is just downright gorgeous. She’s a knockout with an incredible brain for business.
“Right? So, I called my friend Mialani in the records department, and she said there wasn’t much she could tell me and even the investors’ names were confidential.” She flips her palm up in frustration. “I thought that was weird, right? I mean, that’s the point of a commission—it’s supposed to be public record.”
“Hmm…well, guess you’ll have to attend the city planning meeting next month and raise the question. Do some sniffing around to see if you can learn who it is.”
Jade makes a gagging noise. “Oh, Jesus. Those meetings are so fucking boring. I would rather pluck my own eyebrows out one by one than sit through one of those.”
I give her thigh a shove with my toe. “Not everything in life is fun. We might both have our dream jobs, but they still call it work for a reason. And work can suck at times.”
She raises her glass in a toast. “I’ll drink to that.”