Another short love story:
Jesse
By: Christian Gucayane
Intro: Backstory.
Howdy there, the name's Jesse Whitlock. Just kidding. I don't have an accent. I just like talking like that. Umm, let's see here. This is already off to a bad start. Okay... introduce yourself and backstory... very very specific, Jamie... Okay, whatever. My name is Jesse Whitlock and I live in SoCal. I have a loving boyfriend named Jamie Hale. I am currently using a speech-to-text to write this out. I lived in Henderson, Nevada. My school district was Clark County School District. I grew up in a white and Mexican family. This is definitely going to be longer than Jamie's story. Ummm... Why are the notes so vague... I'm gonna write this like Jamie's. I'm 24 years old as of 2023. I am 6' tall and I live in a small but cozy apartment in Malibu. I graduated with a master's degree in English. Also... this is after Jamie's dream of me. (He knows he liked it.)
Please... shut up. I gave you notes. Stick to them.
I used to have a rich family. But when they decided it was time for me to leave, they kicked me out. They left me with not a lot of money. I used that money to move in with Jamie. I didn't pay rent because I came from a family that didn't even let me think about taxes. After Jamie knocked some sense into my empty brain, I learned human values and I also learned a very important skill called love. Anywaysies, after Jamie's breakdown, I felt bad for him. I sat next to him on the couch and I got... close enough to the "romantic range" with him. For no reason. When that happened, I learned I am capable of loving. At this point in our relationship, we are comfortable holding hands. (And kissing) SO yeah. MY LIFE IS... word for 'amazing'... not fabu-... SPLENDIFEROUS. Yeah... MY LIFE IS SPLENDIFEROUS. (Oh yeah, Coronavirus still exists, by the way.)
Part 1: Halloween.
It was Halloween and Jamie was in the bathroom getting ready for the costume contest. When he got out of the bathroom, he looked embarrassed.
"Why did I order this costume? I even got the wrong size. It's oversized." He said through his mask.
"What's wrong with it? I think you look cute. This one's too small." He was a cowboy from the future or something like that. It was some video game costume. "If you're gonna complain, look at me first. I look like a white-washed Japanese archer."
"Hey, that chest area looks tight." That was true. It basically pressed against my heart.
"Wanna switch costumes?" We switched costumes and within an instant, I became... Jesse. (Though I was weirder.) We somewhat resembled the characters our costumes were based on. (Though Jamie looked more Cauc-Asian than East Asian.) "Me gusto mucho." He started laughing thinking I was joking but once he realized I wasn't, he started blushing.
"I'm sorry... I don't speak Spanish. I'm gonna live with 'You just said chili con queso.'" His face was already red. He turned around to hide his face from me. I chuckled at him.
"Jamie, Lighten up a little. You look tense." I hugged him from behind, wrapping my arms around his waist. I felt his shoulders tense up. I was softly but noticeably laughing the whole time. I decided he was stressed enough so I stopped. At this point, I was laughing in a loud, boisterous manner while he was, what would be considered, hyperventilating.
"Jesse, I will kill you." We walked out of the door but as soon as he walked out, I wrapped my arms around his waist again. "JESSE. WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?"
"I liked it." We were like that for a good 20 seconds.
"O-Okay, we have to go now."
"Fine. Can I do this when I get back?" He "lovingly" rolled his eyes.
"Fine! Let's just go!" We ran down the hallway, went down the elevator and past the entrance, and sprinted all the way to the park. When we got to the park, we were exhausted. I was even more tired because I was wearing a cape and wearing heavy armor. "I'm tired." He huffed "Catch me." He jumped almost ½ his height. In other words, he jumped right into my arms.
"HEY LOVERBOY, I'M NOT THAT STRONG RIGHT NOW." This was in fact true. He may be shorter than me, but he is in fact a tad bit stronger than me. (Along with the fact that I ran at least ¼ of a mile with a cape, a hat, and heavy armor-looking things.) I put him down and we walked over to the registration stand. When we got there, we encountered a chatty register who looked about 50 years of age.
"Hi! My name is Mark. I like your costumes!"
"Oh. Umm... thanks!" I hesitantly replied
"No need to be shy, butterfly." Jamie awkwardly stared from the sidelines. "I know you came here to be registered for the costume contest." We both awkwardly laughed and looked at each other with unsure faces. I signed us up for the contest and we got out of line.
"Hey hubby, I need to hit the bathroom real quick. See ya in a quick sec." He kissed me and ran off. I watched lovestruck as he ran off.
"Hey... excuse me." I knew who it was and I dreaded turning around just to see who it was.
"Heeeeey Mark." I forced all of the words out of my mouth.
"Please don't ever do that again." He said. The way Mark said it sounded kind of harsh.
"I'm sorry but, do what?" I was slightly annoyed at Mark.
"Kiss your temporary lover. There are kids around here."
"Okay, and?" Mark was really starting to get under my skin
"Hey, hubby! I'm back!" Jamie came in at the wrong time.
"Ahh. Look! It's temporary." Mark said with audible hostility.
"Did he just call me temporary?" Jamie loudly whispered. "Did he just call me temporary?" He looked frustrated. His face was turning red but he caught himself and started to slowly breathe.
"Come here, Jamie." He walked closer to me. We looked at each other, I tipped him over, caught him, leaned over him, and without hesitating, we kissed. This was more than enough to get Mark to call the event manager. The manager walked over and asked what the problem was.
"CAN'T YOU SEE IT? RIGHT THERE!" Mark was directly pointing to us and the event manager was confused. I opened my eyes, stared Mark right in the eye, and repeatedly raised one eyebrow, angering him further. The park manager realized exactly what was going on. We stopped kissing and the park manager immediately introduced herself.
"Hi, My name is Lori." She was a nice woman with short shorts, a crop-top, and long, brown hair, kind of like Lara Croft. "I understand you two are together?"
"Yes. We are in fact DATING." Jamie said, enunciating his words.
"That's some costume you got there, cowboy." My costume had glowy circles.
"Oh! Thanks! Can I call you Lori Croft?"
"I've been called that multiple times tonight so... Sure!" Mark rolled his eyes at how well we were getting along."Mark?" He walked away and swore something under his breath. "Nice meeting you two!" She walked off and Jamie looked at me. He looked like he realized what he did before he left to go to the bathroom and what I had done when Mark called Lori.
"Hey... Sorry... I didn't mean to do that. I usually kiss my mom before I go somewhere. It was just out of impulse."
"It's fine. I liked it." I smiled as I ruffled his hair and we headed out to the dance floor. Jamie and I were doing the tango and Lori and her boyfriend did some sort of waltz. I saw Mark walk by so I spun Jamie and flipped him upside down. We looked at him and we smirked. One smirk was upside down.
"All costume contendants, please make your way to the stage!" I flipped him back to the right side up and we headed over to the stage. We made it past recognizable, most accurate, cutest couples (By a hair), and the hottest costumes. (Thanks Jamie), and it all came down to fan favorites. Who was the other couple contesting with us on fan favorites? None other than Lori and her boyfriend Mike.
"Oh my gosh hi! What a contest huh?" I was stunned. We both congratulated them and waited for the votes to finish coming.
"AND THE WINNER IS... LAURA CROFT AND TERRY SHERIDAN!" We shook their hands and we got off of the stage to receive our second-place trophy and our medium-sized sack of candy. (Which was large for a medium size.)
"You are like this trophy," Jamie explained with a stifled laugh.
"Precious?" I said with hope in my voice.
"No. Second place." Jamie burst out in laughter. I got my hopes up too high. I laughed at his dorky joke. We said bye to Lori and Mike and walked home. "What a night, huh?" He said, sighing. I nodded exhaustedly. "You need sleep."
"What? No, I don't. Being a boyfriend/apartment mate/cleaner is great." It was great. Even though it was very exhausting, I wanted to take care of Jamie.
"You did everything to set up yesterday's party."
"I only did it because I had nothing to do." He laughed at me.
"Sure you did, love." As soon as we unlocked the door, I collapsed on the couch in the living room and didn't even bother to change. Jamie walked into the living room and sat on the couch.
"You aren't gonna change?" He was surprised I was too lazy to change considering I haven't done this in a few years.
"No." I was too tired to answer in a full sentence so I pulled my hat over my face
"Y'know, I've always wanted to sleep next to a cowboy." I uncovered my face from the hat. I covered our faces with the hat and softly kissed. Within 3 seconds of that, our friend, Sarah from room 109 waltzed right into the room. Sarah was like... The real-life equivalent of Phoebe Buffet.
"Howdy there, cowboy, sorry if I'm interrupting something, which I probably am, but your parents are here." I uncovered our faces and to Sarah's surprise, our costumes were switched. "Oh my god! You guys switched costumes! Looks good on you guys."
"MY PARENTS ARE HERE?!" I was a tad bit shocked Jamie wasn't happy his parents were here. "Ugh. I forgot they visit weekly. They've never been here!"
"Aww, babe, what's wrong with your parents? They're great!"
"They don't know we're dating!" I could hear Jamie's heart beating. It was basically beating out of his chest.
"It's okay Japanese Jamie, just pretend you guys aren't dating."
"And, they don't even know I'm gay. They frown upon it! I told them I wasn't anymore about 5 years ago"
"Now that one is a tough challenge since you nailed a pride flag to your wall." We both stared at each other. We looked unsure about this. "And as for you cowboy Jesse, your mom is coming on Monday."
"You mean tomorrow?"
"Silly, today is Saturday- Oh yeah it's Sunday, huh. Tomorrow, I guess." My heart was beating out of my chest. Both Jamie and I were hyperventilating. "Okie Dokie! Buh-bye!" She ran out of the door and did a cartwheel across the hallway (Which looked more like an unnatural vertical rolling on the hands and feet motion). We walked down the lobby and there they were. Jamie's Parents. Honestly, I wish this was just a bad dream.
Part 2: Parents.
"Jamie-bear!" His mom yelled from across the lobby. Both of us were noticeably terrified.
"Come here, son!" I looked again and this time, he looked more embarrassed than nervous. "Who's this, your boyfriend?" his parents laughed together. I gave a deadpan stare but they didn't seem to notice me.
"Would you care to see our apartment, sir?" I was trying to be as polite as I can towards them.
"Sir? You can call me Jack." I smiled and guided them to our apartment. "Wow! Your place is pretty cozy." I was in a terrified state again.
"Say, Jamie, what's that nailed to your wall?" His mom asked. We looked at the flag.
"It's the flag of..." Jamie was stuttering.
"The- uh- Italian flag." Totally saved it. His mom already walked away as soon as I started to answer. I forgot she isn't too fond of me. She didn't know I changed my act. "Let me prepare dinner for you guys. Jamie and I already had dinner together." I ran off into the kitchen doing my best to avoid his parents. Jamie was finishing up giving his parents a tour but upon showing them the kitchen, I burst out of the kitchen. "Dinner is served!" I put out plates on the dining room table with chopsticks. "Today, I made a California roll." Jamie's dad looked skeptical about the chopsticks.
"Do you guys have forks? I usually eat sushi with a fork." He must be secretly shunned.
"Of course!" I went over to the kitchen to get forks but I remembered I hadn't done the dishes from yesterday's party. "Excuse me, Jack, it might take time to get your fork. I need to do the dishes."
"Oh! Thanks, Jesse, but, let me do the dishes." Jamie got up and kissed me on the cheek before walking into the kitchen. His parents watched in shock as it happened. The mom looked at me furiously and the dad had a disappointed look on his face. I watched in terror as Jamie was sprinting back from the kitchen with a fork.
"Hey Dad, I got your fork! Jesse, you didn't look hard enough!"
"No wait don't go to the dining room!" I yelled softly. He saw the look on his parents' faces, then he saw the look on my face.
"Oh no. What did I do?" His mom slammed her hands on the table. She got up, walked out the door, and slammed it. His dad just sat there quietly. After a while, he just shook his head and walked out of the door. "WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING?!"
"It might be because you kissed me on the cheek before you went to go wash your dad's fork." I saw Jamie freeze up. "How do we get out of this?" He took some time to decide.
"The thing is... we can't get out of this one. We have to tell them the truth." I wasn't thrilled about this "coming out". My parents were easy. They loved me no matter what. (They loved me to where they kicked me out of the house when I moved.) Jamie's parents aren't so open to the idea of us dating. Jamie's parents were always hoping he would meet the perfect girl and they would meet her and they would all have a bonding moment. They can still do that. With another boy. We got off of the elevator and we saw them in the lobby sitting on the bench. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry I've never told you before. I wanted to tell you eventually."
"Don't even start with me. You know we never liked the idea of you dating a boy. You said you were over it 5 years ago! I can't believe you!" I could see Jamie trying to hold back his tears. "You said you had a girlfriend! We met her! If that wasn't your girlfriend, who was that? I bet you paid her!" This was all too much for Jamie. I could see tears slowly rolling down his face and he slowly walked back to me. Even though there was no one in the lobby, I felt like I was being stared at by a million judging eyes. "And YOU." She pointed directly at me with her shaky hand. "Are you trying to steal my precious son from all of the girls that might want him? How old are you, 40?"
"How old are you, 90?" She gasped in offense. Jamie couldn't help chuckling. (A stifled one but a chuckle nonetheless.) "Ma'am, did you know that you deciding what your son wants is stopping your son from having a peaceful life? Sometimes, I can hear him walking around the apartment. AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING. When I ask him what's wrong, he replies, 'It's nothing. Just something I said to my parents.' or something along the lines of, 'Something I said haunts me. I know it's a lie. They believe it though.'." She still looked mad at me.
"Come on Jesse, let's go back." We walked back to the elevator as I carried him on my shoulders.
"Break up with him! Do it for me." His dad yelled across the lobby. We gave them a hard stare as the elevator closed. While we were in the elevator, I heard him snoring and it took me 5 seconds to realize he fell asleep. (Crying makes everyone tired.) I carried Jamie back home. I put him on the couch and I got a blanket, laid it down, and slept there. I thought about what he said and I laid him down right next to me. After I put him down, he woke up.
"What? Oh. It's just you." I woke him up when I put him down, and he didn't sleep for the rest of the night. "Sorry my parents were like that. They don't like the idea of me dating you or any other guy."
"It's fine." We stayed up for the rest of the night watching Friendly. (Our favorite is Raquel Greene.) We stayed up fueled on candy, popcorn bags, soda, and soda water.
Part 3: Work.
After the last episode, Jamie and I both realized it was 5:00.
"Alright hubby, I gotta get ready for work."
"No. Don't go." He gave me one last hug and he got in his work uniform. While still half asleep, I took out some fish to defrost for dinner tonight. He didn't leave until I was dressed for the day. "You waited for me?"
"Yeah, you're off today, right?" I nodded with a confused face. "Then you're coming with me." That was enough to wake me up. I got up, put on my shoes, and we walked out the door.
"After you, good sir." He smiled as he walked out.
"Why thank you, my gentleman." We smiled as we walked out. We weren't tired at all. We were up and ready to go. (Most of the energy we got was from the candy and soda.) The walk to his work was cold. He looked like was used to it.
"Is this how you can sleep without a blanket?" I said trying to say without sounding like I was in a shaky massage chair.
"Nah, I just like the cold. Watch." He gave his jacket to me and ran across the sidewalk and back. I watched in amazement as he ran with his shorts and t-shirt across the sidewalk with the cold ocean air hitting his skin.
"See, no problem."
"Toughy." I ruffled his hair a little bit and he laughed. After walking a little more, we arrived at Don's. (The coffee shop he works at.) He walked behind the counter and I sat on the couch parallel to the counter.
"'Ey Jaime, who's that? I saw someone walk in but I didn't see who." I heard a thick British accent from behind the counter. "Jesse?"
"Akito? You work here?" We chatted for a few minutes before I saw Sarah walk into the door.
"Hey cowboy, hey Jamie from Japan."
"SARAH? YOU WORK HERE TOO?" She nodded confused.
"That's how Jamie knows me."
"I thought he knew you because we're neighbors." Jamie walked in with a slice of leftover barmbrack from Halloween with butter.
"I know how you know Sarah, but how do you know Akito?"
"We were dorm-mates in College. Since I graduated college last year, I haven't seen you in half a year."
"After college, was I knackered." We all talked until 6:30. "Start working!" I walked out of their workspace and sat on the couch. I gave Jamie one last kiss and just did some work on my computer. After 30 minutes of doing nothing but continuous work, I got up and went to the cashier stand.
"Hey, can I get a café mocha and hotteok?"
"Sure thing, cariño." I looked up from my phone and I saw Jamie working the cashier stand. "Anything else, mi amor?"
"That's all, stud."
"Then that'll be $8.50." I paid him, got my hotteok, and waited for my coffee.
"Café mocha for Jesse," Akito yelled my order while looking in my direction. I jumped startled. I grabbed my coffee and sat back down with my pancake. As I sat down, I opened my emails and closed all the spam emails. After 5 hours of playing computer games, I decided to walk around the beach,
"Hey Jamie, I'm gonna walk around the beach. Be right back"
"Okie-Dokie! See ya later!" I slowly walked away from the stand and walked out the door. Didn't Sarah say something when I walked outside?
Oh yeah. She said, and I quote,
"I know you two are dating and he's gay but... I have a squish on him." They all looked at Sarah. I was the only one not confused about what she just said (Crush. She meant crush).
She's a very... interesting person. Anyways, I walked to the beach and sat on the sand doing nothing. I applied sunscreen to avoid getting burnt. After some time, I laid down. I lay there in my shorts and jacket. Not attracting any attention to myself. I took a nap for 3 hours. When I woke up, I remembered Jamie was at work. I got my backpack and left. I walked up the stairs and headed to the coffee shop. As I was walking down to the coffee shop, I headed to a local flower stand to get some flowers for Jamie because I felt bad after last night's incident. I picked up some peonies and left for the coffee shop. When I got to the coffee shop, I saw Jamie walk out with everyone with him.
"Jamie, I'm sorry about last night. I didn't want it to happen. I should've been more careful. I'm also sorry about how I used to treat you. I don't ever want to do that again. Here." I handed him the flowers and everyone "ooh"ed at me
"Aww! Thanks, Jesse. I have something for you too, though it isn't as good." Jamie handed me a personal-sized cake.
"I'm sorry but, did you say it isn't that good? Because that's a total lie." He blushed and Akito had something to say about that.
"I made the cake." I jokingly gave Akito a noticeably dry smile.
"Jamie, hold my backpack right quick." He put on my backpack and I carried him on my back. "Onward, ho!" Jamie waved bye to his co-workers. I carried him to the beach and we changed into swimming clothes. We swam around and played water games for a couple of hours until we had to head home. We changed and I carried him while We walked home. Halfway through I remembered that my parents were coming over. "SHOOT!" I almost dropped Jamie. "My mom is coming over!"
"Relax. They can't be as bad as my parents." she isn't.
"I know. She's just a neat freak. Emphasis on neat and freak together. And our house is messy." We got to the lobby of the apartment and I put him down. Right as I did, someone walked in behind us.
Part 4: The One With More Parents.
"Mijo!"
"Mama!" We hugged and immediately, she said to Jamie,
"Does he pay on you guys' dates?" Jamie looked shocked when she asked that.
"Uh.. yeah, he does," Jamie said, confused. "...How did you know we were dating?"
"Mama always knows," she said lovingly. "And I was you two on a date at Pollo. I tried waving to you but I think you two were staring into each other's eyes. Like right now." We noticed she was watching us and we looked back at her in a snap. "And I have a good, what you kids would call, 'gaydar.'"
"How about we show you our house?"
"Oh! Good Idea! Lemme go up and clean right quick." Jamie ran to the elevator and he waved to us and we waved back. We sat in silence for a good 2 minutes.
"How does he treat you?" It took me a few seconds to answer.
"He always treated me well," I said with a little bit of sorrow in my voice. "I kinda use to treat him like a servant." I was getting emotional because I realized how he treated me compared to how I treated him. "I don't like to think about it." My mom looked at me sadly.
"Awww. Mijo, it's fine. As long as you two are happy now and as long as you apologized to him." She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I hugged her back and we saw Jamie running out of the elevator.
"Alright! Y'wanna come up to our house?" She gasped excitedly and we walked into the elevator.
"You two better not kiss in here." She said jokingly
"Mama! Honestly." She laughed it off and we got to the 3rd floor. "Our room is room 312." We unlocked the door and she was amazed. Jamie looked like he did a really deep cleaning.
"Does your house always look like this?" She looked around in amazement at how clean it was.
"How'd you do this?" I whispered to Jamie.
"Never underestimate my cleaning skills. Especially last-minute ones."
"You didn't just hide everything, right?"
"Oh of course not." I sighed in relief. I didn't doubt Jamie one bit. Convincing.
"Let me prepare some dinner." I ran into the kitchen and immediately started to prepare beer-battered Fish and Chips. (It's easy to make seafood since we live near the ocean.) I made the batter and dredged the fish in cornstarch and dipped the fish in the batter. I fried the fish and the chips for a good 4 minutes until crisp. I drained them and put them on plates. "Dinner is served." She looked impressed by the presentation and we all sat down to eat. I served it with ketchup and malt vinegar.
"How long have you guys been dating?" she asked out of nowhere. I was trying to count but Jamie immediately answered.
"21 months and a couple of days." I looked at Jamie amazed at how fast he was able to do that. "I keep count."
"21 months and a day and I've never seen that skill," I said with shock in my voice. "You're full of surprises. That's one reason I love you." I laughed as I nuzzled him on the cheek. We had a peaceful dinner with no parents wanting to disown their son.
"Hey, I never asked but, where's your dad?" Mom and I looked at each other awkwardly. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry I asked."
"It's fine, you didn't know." mom said calmly with a bit of sadness. "I'm glad he's gone." I watched everything slightly start to go downhill.
"Seeing as how everyone is in such a trashed mood, how about dessert? I have some already prepped Conchas!"
"Thank you, son. You know that's my favorite dessert."
"Thanks, hubby." I quickly walked to the kitchen and microwaved the conchas. I gave them the microwaved conchas. "Wow. 21 months and a day and I didn't know you could make this." I blankly stared at him and his joke. He smirked at me. I ate mine and we all sat on the couch.
"So mom, what do you wanna watch?" I gave her the remote not realizing the mistake I had made.
"You know what I want to watch..." she said with a sure voice. "Friendly!" I was fine with the thought of watching Friendly the whole time. After 30 minutes of watching a sitcom, we were all watching it with deep interest. After a good 2 hours of watching, my mom jumped up from the couch. "¡Ay dispara! I need to get home!" We walked her to her car and she drove off to her home. We waved bye to her until she was out of our eye line. We walked back to the elevator and we got into our apartment. We sat back on the couch and we continued to watch Friendly. We finished at least 3 seasons. After Season 4 Episode 1, "The One With The Peanut Butter and Jellyfish", we decided to get to bed. We brushed our teeth, showered, and changed into sleeping clothes. We headed off to our rooms and said good night to each other. As I got into my room, I turned on my ceiling fan. I always had a pull-out bed under mine just in case Jamie was having trouble with something. And today was one of those days.
"Hey, Jesse. Would you mind if I slept here? I'm just feeling a tad lonely." I pulled out the pull-out bed and got on it. Jamie got on my bed.
"Jamie, wanna come to my work tomorrow?" He nodded and we slept peacefully with no one snoring.
Part 5: (My) Work.
I woke up at 8:00 to another cool November morning and got ready for the day. I evicted Jamie from my room and he got ready for his day off. We got our masks on and we got in our car and drove to the Southfield mall. (I promised him he could go to where I worked.) We got to Forever 22 and I walked behind the counter the secret way.
"Hey, I gotta get to work. You gonna walk around the empty and closed mall?"
"Nah. Just gonna stay here and look at some stuff." He kissed me on the cheek before going to the men's section on the next floor.
"Ooh! Someone's got a boyfriend for sure!" I turned around and saw Flora looking over my shoulder. I jumped up and screamed in shock she was there. "Mmm yes, that was a manly scream for sure."
"Creep." Jamie was the only one in the store so I decided to get a little bit of water on my hands and splash her on the face. We laughed about my "manly" scream for 5 minutes. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in your office?"
"Manager offices are boring with no Karens around."
"I guess that's true." We sat at the counter for 10 minutes until the mall was officially opened. 5 minutes before the mall opened, Jamie walked up to the counter with a jacket.
"I would like to purchase this please." I scanned the barcode on the jacket.
"This jacket is off 20% today."
"Oh really?" Jamie said with inquisitive eyes.
"No. Just for you." I sneakily winked. He paid me and I gave him his change. The mall opened and Jamie decided to walk around. "Bye!" He waved back with a wide smile on his face. (From what I could tell) Flora walked off to her office and my friend, Kathrine, walked behind the counter.
"How are you today, brother gay?" I burst out laughing loudly. Both out of surprise and because I had never heard her say that.
"How long did it take you to make that rhyme?"
"3 WHOLE DAYS." She said in a jokingly distressed voice. "How long did it take you to get a boyfriend?"
"Hmm... about 4 YEARS," I said in the same tone. "How's your girlfriend?"
"She's good. She's exhausted from work." Her girlfriend works as a construction worker. After checking out 5 customers, a remarkable customer walked into the store. The kind that refuses to wear a mask. The kind with a short, blonde bob. That kind.
"Excuse me, ma'am, you need to wear a mask. Please read the sign on the door." She scoffed and walked over to us. Katherine and I were prepared.
"Why do you care? Your masks work right?" I tried my hardest not to laugh, scoff, and kick her out. "I'm poor. I don't own a mask and I have a low pay job."
"Ma'am, with all due respect, if you're poor and have a low pay job, shouldn't you be saving up instead of frivolously shopping? And if you have enough money to buy clothes, you should also buy a mask." She slammed the mask on the counter and begrudgingly paid.
"Your customer service has been terrible today. I'd like to report you to your manager." She smirked in, what I would call, an evil manner. We led her to Flora's office and she busted through the door and barely knocked. "Your employees have been rude today. They assaulted me and insulted my children by calling them ugly." Flora looked around the room.
"Madam, where are your children?" She scoffed.
"At home. Where else would they be?" Flora looked confused.
"Ma'am, where is your mask?" She showed her the mask she bought 1 minute ago. "You know not wearing a mask can be dangerous to your children, right?"
"You know Coronavirus isn't real right?" Kathy, Flora, and I all looked at each other confused. "It's a conspiracy theory created so supply and demand will go up." We all burst out laughing. "Look, ma'am, if you can't wear a mask, you can't be in the store or even this mall. Sorry, madam, but that's the policy." She stormed off and Jamie walked into the room, replacing her spot.
"Karen?" Jamie questioned. We all nodded and Kathy and I walked back to the counter. "When will you be done with work?" Jamie asked.
"I still have 6 hours left. I wish I could get out early."
"Fine." He lovingly whined.
"You can have $100."
"I can't compare that to the price you." I looked at him smiling. "It's much more than you." He smirked at me, hugged me, and ran off with my 100. "Just kidding!" Kathy and I got back to work and encountered no more Karens. After my shift was over, I got my backpack and said bye to the Longing Lesbian. After walking around the mall, I bumped into Akito and Jamie. "Hey look! I found Akito!" We did our secret handshake from college and I kissed Jamie through my mask.
"What were you two doing to bump into each other like this?" Jamie looked embarrassed and took a deep breath.
"It's kind of a weird story... I was walking around Luscious looking for... umm... NOT bath bombs and I bumped into Akito." I gave Jamie a totally loving punch. All three of us got a table at the food court. We all got Suborrow Pizza and talked about our lives. "So Akito, how's your girlfriend?" His smile disappeared and we all stopped talking.
"She's in the hospital." Jamie and I both awkwardly sat there while we could see Akito staring at the table. "She has cancer." We got up and patted his back and we sat back down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put you guys in a bad mood." He got out some Uncle Testu (Japanese cheesecake) and we all ate a slice. We said our goodbyes, and Jamie and I got in our car.
"We need to give something to Akito as a 'we're sorry about what's happening.'" Jamie exclaimed. I nodded and we walked back into the mall. "You were his roommate in college. What was he interested in?"
"You're his co-worker. What's he interested in now?" Jamie took some time to think.
"I think he's really into cooking," he said unsurely. "That might be why he applied as a cook at Don's." I halted.
"If he's into cooking, shouldn't we go to Tegrat?" We walked back to the car and we drove to the nearest Tegrat. "What are you doing?"
"Just questioning Akito for something he's wanted for the longest time." I sat in silence waiting for Jamie to finish texting. "The thing he's wanted most was... a wife."
"The one thing only he can get himself. Unless..." I cracked a devious smile. "Do you know how long he and his girlfriend have been dating?"
"About 3 years-ish." All according to plan, so far. "Why?"
"Tell him to meet us at Zals. We're going ring shopping." We drove back to the mall and met Akito at Zals.
"OH MY GOSH JAMIE. That jacket is POSH"
"Oh, why thank you."
"So why'd you guys bring me here? You need help getting Jamie a ring?" Jamie's face flushed. "Relax, Jamie. I'm kidding. This bloke ain't ready for it yet." Akito punched me gently. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Actually, we're here so you can get a ring for her. You don't have to do it yet, but you can save it for any time." Akito rolled his eyes back and he unenthusiastically walked in with us. After 20 minutes of looking for the perfect ring, he settled on the one we suggested. It had a reasonably sized diamond and we paid the $1,100 and left. "So when are you planning on proposing?" He took some time to answer.
"Since I just bought this, I would say in a month." We all walked to the exit and said our goodbyes. (Again.)
"So when are you gonna propose?" Jamie asked in a curious voice.
"You can just wait for it loverboy." we got in the car and drove back home. We collapsed on the couch and took a good nap.
Part 6: Beach.
The next day was a normal day. Jamie and I both went to work, we hung out with our friends, and got some good (Microwave) lunch. (Un)fortunately, while I was doing some grocery shopping, I ran into an old ex-boyfriend of mine. His name was Taylor Ashford. He's a, what have you, loud, gentle, albeit respectful himbo. The reason I left him was because one time... he was drunk at a party, cheating on me with multiple people.
"Hey, is that you, Jesse?" I scoffed and walked right past him. "Wait up! I just wanna talk to you." I stopped power walking and swiftly turned around.
"What do you want?"
"I just wanted to say hi to you. I kinda missed you." I stared at him harshly for a good 20 seconds.
"You missed me? That's a surprise. I thought I was a drunken mistake!" I yelled at him. "I thought our whole relationship was a drunken mistake! Isn't that what you told Brody about us?" I swiftly walked away. I saw people staring at us and some even recording.
"Jesse, I'm sorry it happened. I got caught up in the moment. I still love you." I stopped walking. I slowly walked back to him. In my peripheral vision, I could swear I saw my parents staring at me in disapproval. I kept on walking to him and I stared him right in the eye.
"Taylor, I'm sorry but, I have a boyfriend already. We've been dating for a couple of years now."
"Then we can be friends." I hesitated.
"I'll give it some time." He walked away.
"I would like that." We exchanged numbers and we went on our way. "See ya, friend." He waved back and winked at me. I paid for all of my stuff and headed back to our apartment. I saw Jamie laying on the couch napping already dressed for the beach. I quietly put down the groceries and got ready for the beach. I texted everyone I knew and I sat on the couch and watched some Friendly until Jamie woke up.
"Oh hey, you ready?" I nodded and he got up as we walked to the beach. "What took you so long at the grocery store?"
"I just ran into Taylor."
"Amana?"
"Nah. Ashford." We walked to the sand and we laid down our blanket where we sat. "Are ya still tired?"
Jamie softly yawned. "Yeah. Just a little." He slept as he rested his head on my shoulder as we sat on the sand looking at the water. We sat there for a calm 30 minutes until Jamie woke up. "Wanna move on with the day?" I got up and held his hands
"Let's go." We rolled up our blankets and put them back in the car. We walked to the outdoor mall, got ice cream, and hung out there talking and laughing. "I'm not so good with words. And since you never notice the way that we belong, I'll say it in a love song"
"I swear, you have the soul of a poet." I shrugged.
"Honestly, I saw it somewhere on Tweeter."
"Well if it isn't white boy and temporary." We slowly turned around to find misery badly bottled up in a human.
"Here to ruin a perfect beach date, Mr. Misery-badly-bottled-up-in-a-human?"
"Just saw you two fa- I mean, 'guys'. Just headed down to the pier with my WIFE."
"That's a shame. I have a meet-up with some friends there," I checked my watch. "in a few minutes, to be exact." We shooed him away and continued our date. After I finished eating ice cream out of a cup and Jamie ate his cake cone, we headed to the other side of the island to check out the pier. (It was cleaner on this island.)
"Thanks for planning this date. It's not over the top and it's my type of date." He kissed me and we held hands as we walked to the pier. We stopped to quickly check out the boat dock and we continued to walk to the pier.
"BOATS." Jamie softly yelled in amazement. "One of these days, we should rent one." I looked at him. I was iffy about boats.
"Whatever." He stopped me as he looked at me with pleading eyes. "On your birthday." His sad face turned into a smile as we continued walking to the pier.
"How is there a big group of people at the pier? Why is Sarah in that group?" He looked closer at the group. "Looks like almost everyone I know. IT IS EVERYONE I KNOW. Jesse, why is everyone here?" he turned around. We locked eyes. I could recall the cool ocean air ruffling my hair and clothes as I got down on one knee and pulled out the box. Everything around me faded to black. The sun setting on the horizon over the Pacific Ocean, everyone on the pier, the street lights turning on. All noises were muted and Jamie was the only thing in my vision.
"Jamie, you are the most wonderful person in the world. I love you and I would love to live the rest of my life with you, through the highs and the lows. Jamie Hale, will you-"
"Yes!" I slowly got up and he kissed me. I heard everyone cheering as I put the ring on him. "So, are you ready to be stuck with me for the rest of your life?"
"Like I said, through your highs and the lows."
"Cursed with me, 'til death do us apart."
"So like... what's the first thing you guys are gonna do now that you're married." Sarah walked to us with teary eyes.
"Sarah, are you crying?" Jamie looked at her, also crying.
"You guys should hang a road sign above your couch that says 'MERGE'. Now that you're one step closer to being married, you guys are 'MERGE'd." Akito walked behind Sarah.
"The real question is... who's gonna be the little spoon?" Jamie and I looked at each other.
"Obviously Jamie," I responded. "Obviously."
"Jamie! High five!" Kyle yelled. Jamie smacked his hand. "Oh yeah! I felt that ring!" Kyle hollered. "Imagine fist bumps. Eesh."
"I guess I have two older brothers." His sister walked up to us. He hugged him.
"Thanks, Sofie." We all took a group picture before everyone left. After everyone else left, one person remained with us.
"Congrats, friend." Taylor patted me on the back. "I think it's gonna be a long time before I find the perfect girl. Or guy. It could honestly be any."
"You've dated so many guys, I actually forgot you were pan." He chuckled at my sudden remark.
"So, what's the first thing you guys are gonna do? Y'know, now that you're married." It took me some time to think.
"Collapse on the bed," Jamie answered for me. "This date has been exhausting. Emotionally and physically. I can barely move my legs." He sat down on the bench next to us. "But hey, at least we can collapse on the same bed."
"True."
"And we can get couples massages."
"Also true."
"We should collapse on the bed first." We said bye to Taylor and as we were walking back, our hands intertwined. We walked back to the car and drove back home.
"Flora? What are you doing here?" She swiftly turned around.
"I heard a rumor that someone got something permanent on them!" Jamie showed her the ring. "Oh. My. Gosh!" She let out machine-gun-fire-like laughter. "I didn't think it was true." She handed us a box and some flowers. "Congratulations. I'm actually proud of you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I was suspicious of what was just said. She hesitated.
"Nothing." I gave her a side-eye. "What are you gonna do now?" She said quietly.
"Sleeping." Jamie and I said at the same time. We all talked to each other for a while until Flora got a call.
"Okay guys, I gotta go. See ya!" We waved bye to her as we headed to the elevator. Jamie carried me the rest of the way to the apartment. As soon as we headed into the door, we went into the living room and crumbled onto the couch. We sighed exhaustedly and slept for the rest of the day.
Part 7: The One With Three Parts To The End: Part One.
What was the first thing I did the next day?
"Hey Flora, I'm gonna need the day off."
"Whatever. Just today."
"Hey Kyle, tell the manager I'm gonna need the day off."
"Yeah, sure."
"It's been forever since we slept in," Jamie said through a yawn. "I'll make breakfast." He got up and walked to the kitchen. I laid on the couch for a few minutes before getting up. I slowly crept towards the kitchen as Jamie was cooking. While he was faced the other way, I stood behind him, towering over him watching him while he, suspecting nothing, continued to cook. (He almost gave me a heart attack.) He turned around to get the eggs.
"Gahck- Jesse! You almost gave your fiancé a heart attack! Do you want me to die before our wedding and on our first day of engagement? " He let out the highest pitch scream I've ever heard. I dropped to the floor laughing. "Don't worry, it'll only be a matter of time before I get you back." He helped me back up and I helped him cook the rest of the Full Irish Breakfasts. As I helped him set the food down, I heard someone pound on the door. "I got it."
"What the hell?" His parents were at my door fuming. "We said for you to break up with him, not get engaged to him!" He slammed the door on them.
"Lemme guess. Parents." He nodded. His parents burst through the door.
"We. Aren't. Done!" His mom said with a red face. "How could you do this to us? I deliberately didn't like him! We wanted you two to break up!"
"Wait, wait... can me and my Jamie just eat breakfast first? We kinda missed dinner last night. You care about him, right?" We shooed them out of the house and locked the door to avoid them bursting through at any minute. "Ugh. We should've forwarded it to them instead of posting it on social media."
"I know, right." Jame paused for a quick second. "I have an idea." He formulated a plan in his head. "Let's stage an argument!" He slowly sipped his coffee while I considered the plan.
"Okay. But we need to keep this hush-hush. They might hear us planning outside. We ate the rest of our breakfast while planning the argument. "And after that, you wanna get the final blow and win the argument?"
"Since it's my parents, sure." We chugged the last bits of our non-alcoholic Irish coffee. We walked outside to see his parents sitting on the bench talking to none other than Sarah.
"Oh, hey guys! Hey, Jamie who's that next to you?" He looked confused. "Oh wait! Must be our fiancé." She ran over to us and gave us a hug. "I'm so proud of you guys!" We gave her a card. "We're celebrating you! Not me." Jamie raised an eyebrow.
"We?"
"Did I say we? I meant we."
"I definitely believe you," Jamie said with slight sarcasm.
"See ya later!" She skipped off to her apartment. (5 rooms down.)
"Okay you two." his dad walked up to us. "We need to talk. A hallway is a perfect location."
"It is perfect... for public shaming," I muttered under my breath.
"You two can tell we don't like the sound of you together. I specifically don't like you with my perfect little son!" His mom groaned in a loud voice. "You don't deserve him! Can't you get that in your head? Are you dense?" Sarah heard this and she walked out of her apartment.
"Ma'am, I was just in my apartment and I couldn't help but overhear your shrieking. Are you unhappy with your son's accomplishment?" His mom turned around. "It's not everyday your son has someone engage him. You should be proud of this, of him." His mom scoffed.
"Who are you to tell me that I'm being a bad parent?" She said with anger in her voice. "I don't see a husband who worked as hard as the wife to raise perfect children who would have a loving wife in his future." Sarah had a look of shock in her face. She took a moment to answer.
"Maybe that's your problem," she said with confidence. "You tried too hard to make Jamie perfect in your own image. Just be happy with wherever he is right now. Instead of a loving wife, he has a loving husband who we all know won't abuse Jamie." She explained with a wide smile on her face and a smug look on her face. "My point being, just love him. It doesn't matter who he's in love with. He's your son for gosh golly goodness' sake! If you really love him, accept him for who he is!" His parents had a disgusted look on their face. They stormed off the third floor. Past the lobby. Past their car. Past the Eleven-Seven. To the beach.
"Thanks, Sarah," I said calmly. "And we didn't even need to use our fake fight." I was amazed she could think that up that quickly. The three of us just stood there looking at each other awkwardly.
"I think you guys should go console them. I may have gone too far." She smiled and walked off to her apartment. We walked off of the third floor. Past the lobby. Past our car. Past the Eleven-Seven. To the beach.
Part 7: The One With Three Parts To The End: Part 2.
As we walked down the grass path to the beach, I heard the distant crying of a middle-aged woman. Jamie slowly looked at me.
"You heard it too." He nodded. We slowly walked down to the beach and the first thing we saw was them sitting on their picnic blanket on the sand. "You should go talk to them. I would but... ninety nine point nine percent sure they would scream at me."
"Last point one percent?"
"They would scoff at me." He laughed as he nervously walked up to them. I hid behind a large bush, watching him nervously waddle.
"Hey, guys." His parent's quickly turned around. They let out a sigh of relief.
"I thought it was the boy thief." His dad said smugly. He feigned his laughter.
"Our voice sounds the same?"
"Almost." Jamie sighed. Our first day of engagement was off to a bad start.
"Mom, you guys said you would love me unconditionally." His voice was shaky as he spoke this. He wasn't speaking with confidence and his face was turning red. "But ever since you saw Jesse and I together, how you've been treating me has not been unconditional love."
"What are you talking about? Us trying to split you two apart? We're only doing that BECAUSE we love you." Jamie shook his head.
"Mom, that's not love. That's force. And if you can't live with the two of us being together, then I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about that." He slowly got up and walked away. As he walked back to me, I looked at them with a bitter leer. We walked back up the path. Out of the beach. Past the Eleven-Seven. Past our car. Past the lobby. Onto the third floor. "I would say that went entirely like crap." He put on his house slippers and collapsed on the couch while I went into the kitchen to prepare lunch.
"It's all good. You totally exuded with confidence." He gave me a gloomy look.
"Don't patronize me." I chuckled.
"What do you want for lunch?" He took a moment to answer.
"Chicken salad and beef kabobs?" I got to work with cutting the vegetables for the salad and got the beef kabobs prepped for grilling
"Do you want sumac on the salad?"
"Sure!" I got the sumac from the cupboard and put a good amount before serving. We ate salad with sumac and the Mediterranean Rice with the Beef. "Thanks, boo. That was a good lunch and a good day refresher."
"I heard everything that happened at the beach."
"I know. I wouldn't think it's too hard to hear from behind a bush."
"And it sucks."
"I know."
"And I'm sorry." We sat there in silence.
"You don't have to be." He said loudly. "You don't have to apologize for proposing to me. You don't have to be sorry for anything." We got up, cleared the table, and laid on the floor.
"Thanks for talking to your parents," I said as we laid down. "Maybe next time we see them, they would be more accepting."
"Maybe." He said quietly. "Just maybe." We laid there watching Friendly. This peace was interrupted by a neighbor.
"Guys! I need help with my luffa!" We jumped up.
"What the heck can happen to a luffa?" Jamie Jamie said exhaustedly. "Did someone splash it at the pool? You shouldn't've planted it there.
"It split in half when I harvested it." We looked at her confused. "Trust me. It happens." We walked to the elevator which, going down, was a considerable distance of 40 feet. "After you." She shoved us in. We went down to the ground floor and right as we got out of the elevator, we saw a trail of rose petals. "Some florist came with sick roses and he dropped some rose petals."
"Was the florist your boyfriend?" I asked smugly.
"...Maybe." We walked down to the pool to help her luffa. I looked out the window to see more rose petals. I grew suspicious but I continued to walk.
"Wait... you never told us who your boyfriend was." She stopped walking. Her face turned a bright red.
"My- my boyfriend is Jackson."
"Who wha-?" Jamie said with confusion in his voice.
"I said my boyfriend is Jackson!" I gasped.
"Oh so that's his mystery girlfriend," I said with absolutely no sarcasm. "My neighbor, when did you, and why would you, and my brother get together?"
"...last year. He's a nice guy." I gave her a surprised look.
"Well tell him 'good job' for finally finding the right someone." She smiled at me
"You think I'm the right someone?"
"Of course!" She gave me a hug. We continued to follow the path of rose petals. Out the door to the pool area, we found a banner reading "congratulations to the grooms-to-be" and a cake on a table.
"SURPRISE!" Everyone jumped up from behind whatever they were hiding behind. Jamie screamed a high pitched scream and jumped into my arms.
"Sarah, is that your boss?" Jackson walked up to her.
"I ran out of people to invite."
"Hey! Jesse!"
"Little brother." He high-fived me. On the back. "Gahck!"
"Hey Sarah, what's this party for?" Her boss walked over, towering above everything and everyone else. She pointed to the balloons. "The grooms-to-be? Ooh! Where are they?" She pointed to us. "Joseph Beckett. Nice to meet you." He was a tall, buff, intimidating man. He looked perfect for bossing. I shook his hand firmly.
"Jesse Whitlock. Pleased to meet you."
"Jamie Hale. Nice to meet you." Joseph gave him a surprised look.
"Nice to meet you too!" They, spontaneously, had a full-on conversation in Japanese.
"Who proposed to who?" I turned around to see a beautiful, short Mexican woman with even shorter hair.
"Mama, you'd be proud to hear... I proposed to him." She threw her arms wide open and I gave her a hug.
"I'm so proud of you, Mijo." She ruffled my hair. We stood next to the pool as an incident unraveled. "Hey Joseph," He looked in our direction. "Now!"
"Be right back, Jamie." He ran over to us.
"What are you doing?" I screamed. He pushed me into the pool. He went back to Jamie and picked him up, carried him, and threw him into the pool with me. "Good one."
"Other than seeing you guys and eating cake, that's something we were looking forward to."
"Very funny, very funny." I was a little irritated. They had to let Joseph push us in.
"Sorry if I pushed you a little hard."
"It's fine." Jamie smiled at him. "As long as I'm alive and well, it's fine."
"Okay! Who's up for some cake?" Sarah hollered. "Because I know I am!" We all gathered around the table to see miniature figures of Jamie and I holding hands in wedding suits. Above it read a sign that said, "To the grooms-to-be."
"That... is so cute!" Jamie said out of shock. "How much did that cost?"
"This whole party was around $800," Sarah said gloomily. "I should know. I paid for over half of it."
"Well thank you anyways." they hugged each other next to the pool.
"I'd like to point out how you cannot push me because my phone is in my back pocket," Sarah yelled as I approached her.
"Dang."
"You can cut the cake though." Jamie shrugged as he walked over to the cake cutter.
"How many people are here..." she took a quick moment to count. "Seven. I counted to about seven." He managed to perfectly cut the cake into 7 different pieces. (From the first tier.)
"How?" I yelled under my breath.
"Who cares how. Aren't you eating it?" Jackson whispered in response.
"Fair point. Fair point" Jamie handed a slice of cake to everyone. One to Sofie, one to Joseph, one to my mom, one to Sarah, one to Jackson, and one for me and he. "Thanks, hon."
"You are welcome." We all ate the first tier of the cake. "Who planned all this?"
"I planned it but had help from Joseph."
"Basically, I either carried the stuff here or told Sarah to get off break." His voice boomed.
"Sounds about right, actually." She said, her mouth full of food
"Hey Sarah, was the whole luffa thing just to get us down here?" Jamie questioned suspiciously.
"Nope. I still have it in my pocket." She took out the luffa and it was in fact, split in half. "Before I was gonna get you guys, my original excuse was, 'Hey! You guys wanna go swimming with me?' but when I was gonna grab my luffa, it split when I tried to pull it."
"That checks out." We all just sat there eating our cake and talking to each other.
"Sarah! What time is this party supposed to end?" Joseph yelled to Sarah across the pool. She looked at her phone.
"It's supposed to end... 30 minutes ago."
"What time is it now?"
"6:00."
"If we're all just gonna stay here, I should order a pizza or something." He ordered 2 large pizzas and we all patiently waited.
"Upon waiting, I have decided to get my deejaying set." Exclaimed Jamie. He ran to our apartment and grabbed his turntables and his computer. He hooked up the computer to the turntables and set up the speakers. "What genres do you guys listen to?" Everyone took turns answering. He got 3 answers for house music (including himself), 1 answer for jazz, and 3 answers for rap.
"Wait... Jamie, since when were you a DJ?" Sofie interrupted.
"I was just a freelance DJ for some time."
"Oh. Okay, you may continue your DJ-ing set." He played two of his original songs. Sarah and Joseph were mainly the ones enjoying the music. He then proceeded to play jazz where I danced with my mom. After he finished his one jazz song, he played some (clean) rap music where Sofie, Jackson, and I were badly hip hop dancing. We heard the door open and every head turned.
"This is the right party, right?" It was a confused pizza man who looked fairly confused.
"Depends on who ordered the pizza," Joseph asked suspiciously. He looked at the order. "Yeah, that's ours. Thanks." He tipped him generously and the pizza boy left and was never to be seen again.
"Okay, Jamie, thanks for the DJ set, but it's time to eat."
"Let the grooms-to-be have the first slice." My mom hollered.
"Fair." Jamie and I grabbed the first slice and we let everyone grab their slice. We all had a great time and just listened to Jamie DJ-ing for the rest of the party. "You didn't even need to hire a DJ!"
"Well, we're gonna have to for our wedding."
"Their skills won't equal mine though."
"We'll let you guys hash it out in music after the wedding."
"You know who'll win." He said smugly. I chuckled. We all took a group picture and after that, we said our goodbyes to everyone as we headed back to our apartment to celebrate our first day of engagement with some Friendly.
Part 7: The One With Three Parts To The End: Part 3.
That's it. That's all that happened last year. This story just came to me because our wedding was last month. It took me time to remember parts of the story and I'm sure there's still parts of the story missing.
This story has it all... heartbreak, friends, binge-watching, and romance.
I had to narrate this all. Out loud. I don't know if the neighbors think I'm crazy or whatever.
Patricia said to, and I quote, "shut up with the idiotic gay love stuff. You can't say that around impressionable people."
Be right back... Patricia! Shut up! I don't know if the mic caught... whatever I said.
It did. It genuinely did. I'm either gonna edit this out or keep it for entertainment purposes.
Anyways, that's the end of this story. If you read this before Jamie's story, you have to read his first before you read this one. Anyways, this is what happened after the party...
"Which season did we end on?"
"I think we ended season 4. Heading on to season 5 then?" He switched on Friendly and put on season 5, episode 1. "Today was a good day," I said calmly. "Sure, it started out like trash... but we managed to salvage the day and enjoy it."
"Yeah. We did, didn't we?" Jamie grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around us. We cuddled as we watched Friendly to end the day. The open windows let in a breeze of cool, salty, ocean air. The sunbeams shone through the curtains and the ambience of the ocean was calming. "Today was a good day." He leaned on my shoulder while we sat by the window and watched the sunset while we drifted off to sleep.