It's All Relative(150)
Jessie blinked. Her date? Other than Kai, Jessie hadn’t been on anything that resembled a date in a very long time. “Uh…what are you talking about?”
Harmony giggled, and a warm smile escaped her. “Well, I guess you never really dated him. But he called for you all the time trying to get one with you.”
Still confused, Jessie shook her head. “Who are you…?” Suddenly remembering her grandmother’s attempt to set her up with her nurse’s son, Jessie’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Oh my God! Do you mean Simon?”
Harmony cheeks flushed with color. “Yeah…I hope you don’t mind.”
She really didn’t. Shaking her head, Jessie wondered how in the heck that had come about. Maybe seeing the question in her expression, Harmony gave her a shy smile. “You wouldn’t ever talk to him or call him back, so I just started talking to him for you.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, he was just really sweet on the phone and the more he called for you, the more we started talking.”
Jessie felt embarrassment and remorse heating her cheeks. She knew Simon had called her a couple times, and she felt bad that she hadn’t just admitted to him outright that she wasn’t interested. At the time though, Jessie had been a little…preoccupied.
Harmony glanced back at the hallway as the object of Jessie’s preoccupation returned. Kai grinned at seeing both of the girls watching him. Shrugging again, Harmony twisted back to Jessie. “The last time he called, he called to talk to me.” Her smile turned bright. “We had our first date last night…and it was great. He’s smart and funny and so nice, and he loves to ski as much as I do…and you’re not mad, are you?” She said all of that really fast, and her expression turned anxious, like she was sure she’d just done something really wrong.
Shaking her head, Jessie laughed and hugged her again. Kai came up to them and cocked a curious eyebrow. Jessie ignored him for a second and answered her friend. “Of course I’m not mad.” Giving Kai a pointed look over Harmony’s shoulder, she added, “I was never interested in dating Simon anyway.”
Kai smiled as he looked down at the floor. Harmony pulled back and squeezed her friend’s arms. “Good, because I really like him.”
As Harmony started giggling and going on about how great Simon was, April stepped into the room from the kitchen. Jessie waved at her and April’s face went ghostly pale. Quicker than Jessie would have thought possible, April ducked back into the kitchen. Jessie exchanged looks with Harmony then Kai. Both of them seemed puzzled and an odd tension began to build in Jessie’s belly. What the hell was that about? Maybe April had decided she couldn’t handle the strangeness of Jessie and Kai’s relationship. Maybe she couldn’t even stand to be around them now.
Feeling like her legs were suddenly made of lead, Jessie trudged to the kitchen. Kai and Harmony followed her. April was dressed to the nines and chugging back a glass of wine. She looked like she was about to head out for the evening, either on a date or searching for one.
After swallowing the last bit in her glass, she let out a nervous giggle and quickly spat out, “Oh, you’re back, great. I can’t wait to hear about your trip, but I have a date tonight with that guy from your work, Kai. Louis. Remember, I asked about him once? Well, yeah, he called, and he’s taking me to that four-star downtown, so I gotta go. Anything I should know about him, Kai? He’s not a psycho or anything, right? Well, I guess I can handle a little bit of craziness for Lobster Thermidor. Oh, look at the time…I should go. We’re meeting there, and I don’t want to be late on my first date with him…”
All of that was spat out rapid-fire in one breath. Jessie blinked several times as she absorbed the multitude of information. No one in the room answered any of April’s various questions as everyone gawked. Clearly, April was a nervous, babbling mess. Thinking maybe she was just anxious about her date, although, Jessie had never seen her anxious for a date in her life, she asked, “You okay, April?”
Her gorgeous friend closed her eyes and slumped against the counter; she suddenly looked exhausted. Peeking one eye open, she wrinkled her nose. “Don’t kill me.”
Sighing, Jessie crossed her arms over her chest. This wasn’t going to be good. Kai looked over at Jessie then back to April. “Hate you for what?” he asked.
April inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she flung her hands out to her sides, and she started babbling again. “Okay, see the thing is, I thought since the two of you had come out of the closet, or whatever, everyone knew about it. Especially since you were going to talk to Kai’s parents in Hawaii. I just sort of assumed that it was common knowledge that you two are bumping uglies now.”
“April!” Jessie exclaimed, trying to steer her friend back on track. “What happened?”
She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “Your dad called.”
The hair on the back of Jessie’s neck started to rise. She definitely didn’t like where this was going. “And?” Jessie felt Kai slip an arm around her waist, and it was only then that she realized her posture was rigid. Dropping her arms from her chest, she tried to relax.
April sighed, yet again. “He asked for you, and I told him you were on your way back from Hawaii. Then, he was naturally curious about what you were doing in Hawaii, and I didn’t think much about it, because again, I thought it was common knowledge, so…I told him you and your boyfriend were visiting his parents there.”