29 – Joey
Fifteen missed calls
Over fifty text messages.
A day.
Every day for the last week.
I rolled my eyes as my phone pinged again, with another text from Jake and I sent it to the same folder all the others were sitting in, unanswered. My phone had even started to flag Jake’s phone calls as spam and had stopped alerting me when they
caine in
Picking up my work bag. I walked out of the changing rooms and into the hallway. The hospital was thankfully quiet, otherwise I would have been asked to stay back, even though I had just completed an almost fourteen–hour shift. I was tired and needed to sleep.
“Hey, Joey, we’re heading out for drinks, do you want to come with us?” I looked over to the group of girls standing off to the side, as if waiting for me. As much as I should have headed home and gotten at least a couple hours of shut–eye. I wouldn’t pass up the chance to get to know the girls I worked with
Besides, wasn’t that the whole reason I’d left Miami? To make it on my own and find new people to hang out with?
I smiled and stepped closer, nodding. “Sure, that sounds like fun I could do with the break.”
I fell in beside one of the girls, Noami, who was closer to my age, and I chatted with her as we walked out of the hospital and toward the nightlife a couple streets over. It was easy to talk to the bubby young woman and we joked and talked about everything from our childhoods to our sex lives, or lack thereof.
Finding a nice little hole–in–the–wall club, we grabbed a decent–sized table and started ordering drinks, while still chatting amongst the group.
“So, Joey, you’ve been with us for what, just two weeks. Where are you from?” one of the girls, Heather, asked.
I picked up my gin and juice and sipped it before I replied. “Miami.”
“Oh wow, why come to Chicago?” Lucy asked, sipping at her bright pink cocktail. “Td rather stay in Miami.”
I looked at the group of women around me and wondered, did I really want to tell them what had happened? About Jake, or even as far as telling them about Alex? I mean, I was probably not going to be staying here, and I really did need to vent
about what had happened.
“Well, where do I start?”
“How about at the beginning of what made you come to Chicago.” Heather said and I pursed my lips, before spilling what had happened between Jake and me, leaving out Alex… for now.
By the end of it, the three girls I was with were gobsmacked.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Noami asked, staring at me. “He said that? At his wedding? Oh my god. I would have lost my
shir
“Yeah, so would I. Wow.” Lucy added, shaking her head. “He wouldn’t have been able to walk.”
Heather squinted at me. “Hang on. There’s more. Isn’t there?”
I giggled and picked up my drink and sipped it. “Maybe.”
“No, come on Spill.” Noami said, poking me in the ribs, “What else are you keeping from us?”
Shit..
I sipped my drink again, then put it down, before I finished my tale. “The Thursday before the wedding. I was dragged along to Phoebe’s hen’s night, and I sort of went off on my own with a really drop–dead gorgeous guy and we spent the night together. But the thing is.. when we were growing up, Jake had this older brother, who when we were twelve just up and disappeared. Moved away and we never saw him again. Until that night…
1 left the comment hanging in the air and Lascy was the first one to catch on.
“Hold up was this drop–dead gorgeous guy. Jake’s brother?”
The three women watched my reaction, and I couldn’t help it when my cheeks heated, giving it away instantly
“Oh my god.. you fucked Jake’s brother?”
“Shhh! I didn’t know who he was. We’d given each other different names, to make it anonymous. I didn’t find out it was him until I saw him at the wedding.” I was trying to justify what had happened and I was almost embarrassed until I noticed their faces. “What?”
“Girl, that is like the ultimate revenge. Are they close?” Lucy asked, looking at me, as if she was completely invested in the
story.
“Uh.. no, actually they don’t like each other. Don’t know why. They just don’t. Alex only came back, for the wedding. because his mom asked him to.”
“Wow.” Noami huffed. “So not only did you sleep with this Alex, but he’s also Jake’s brother, who he doesn’t like. Noard looked at me, her eyes going wide. “Does Jake know?”
I shook my head violently. “God no. I threatened Alex with violence if he told him. But after Jake said these things to me, Alex and I spent the night together again and I did really want to send Jake a photo of us together.”
“Wow, revenge sex.” Heather gushed. “The best kind…”
“No, actually, we didn’t have sex. He just held me, while I cried my heart out and fell asleep in his arms.
The trio all collectively “Awwwww–ed” and I laughed, picking up my juice and finished it off.
“So, how drop–dead gorgeous?” Lucy asked and 1 blinked.
“Huh?”
“Come on, tell us. Is he tall! Handsome? Blue eyes?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No, Jake and Alex are half–Japanese.”
“So, he’s exotic. Spill, I want to see him in my mind.” Lucy gushed, closing her eyes and smiling
I laughed and started to describe Alex as best I could. “So, Alex is taller than average. About six feet–one. He’s got these
sinful dark eyes, which seem to stare right into your soul. And he’s covered in tattoos. His whole chest, arms, back… oh, and he has the most gorgeous silky black hair, which hangs over his eyes, beautiful full lips and earrings in his left ear.”
“Oh wow. He sounds dreamy as fuck…” Lucy sighed. “And slightly made up.”
“Well, believe me, he’s not. Anyway, let’s change the subject. Wh- My gaze slipped past Noami, and I froze.
No.. it couldn’t be.
Wh–My
There, at the bar, with one of the biggest Asian guys I had ever seen in my life… was that…
His proportions were right… the side profile of his face was right…
Noami moved her head and looked at me. “Joey? Are you okay?”
Iblinked and looked past her again, tilting my head to look around her.
The tengu tattoo on the back of his forearm..
The girls turned their heads and looked to where I was staring and Lucy turned back to me, staring “Is that.”
“No. It’s not. Can’t be.” I shook my head, as Lucy turned again, looking to the bar. “He’s in New York.”
“I think it is..” Heather turned and looked at me, saw the way I was staring, and she turned back around and did something that made me feel instantly ill.
She called his name
“Hey, Alex!”
Time stood still as the guy next to the huge Asian stopped what he was doing and turned..
30 Alex
