"What do you mean your ex-boyfriend is coming to visit?" he seems shocked. As he should be.
"As in, my mom invited him to visit," I try to explain. "I talked to him last night too, and he confirmed it."
We both go silent for a little while until he breaks the silence.
"Okay, well, we can deal with this after the movie right?" he asks.
I nod almost instantly. He gives me a gentle smile before saying, "We'll figure this out."
----
If there's one thing I can't handle, it's when I don't have money. When we left the house I double-checked if my purse was with me, making sure to put in a good $20 before I went out with Jeremy.
Unfortunately, here I stand in the midst of people filled with money to the brim of their pockets, and me with nothing. I'm in the middle of the line and it's almost our turn to pay for our movie. Being who I am, I insist on paying for the movie, but I can't seem to find my wallet.
At this point, I'm freaking out, and Jeremy can tell. He takes one good look at me and says, "I can pay you to know."
I look up at him. "I don't want you to pay for me. I don't need any of your money."
Shrugging his shoulders, he gives a simple "Okay," and nudges me on the shoulder.
Looking up again, his eyes are on something other than me or my savaging for my wallet.
"There she is," he says and I instantly understand. I follow his eyes to where he is looking and see her in all her deceptive glory. Mia.
I look back at Jeremy. "There she is," I repeat his words. "What do you need me to do?"
He looks back at me. And me to him.
"Easy," he says. "Just act like you're my girlfriend."
I saw this outing leading to something, but never in my wildest thoughts did I think that it would lead to an unimaginable, fake relationship.
I look at him in shock, but he doesn't seem surprised. "What?"
"We've known each other for some time by now, so this shouldn't be hard for you," he says matter-of-factly.
I pretend to forget what he just said and bury my face back into my purse.
"Look," Jeremy says. "I can pay for the movie. If you really don't want me to, just pay me back later."
I take one long look at him, but his eyes are fixed on Mia. "Okay," I say. "Deal."
He looks back at me, bewildered. "Me paying for the movie or being my girlfriend?"
"Fake," I correct him almost immediately. "And both. Since it means so much to you."
He gives me a toothy grin and I roll my eyes.
"Don't get so comfortable," I warn. "This relationship is just fake." Within me, I feel like I am really just saying this to calm myself down.
He goes on smiling like a fool.
Maybe this will be good for me too. I mean, what will happen when I see Jaime for the first time in our year apart? How will I react when I see his gorgeous self? His emerald green eyes? His soft hair?
Maybe I do need a support system when I see this man again and Jeremy's plan is just it. We can both be each other's support system. Me for him and him for me, so that when things go downhill, we don't have to be alone when facing it.
I look up at Jeremy. His blue eyes are fixed on Mia. They're piercing even with the brightness of the sun behind us. They're so deep that I know that if she looks at him she won't be able to stand his presence. I feel weird just standing next to the man, but here I am giving us a shot at this bullshit.
We look nice-- standing together like this. We are called to buy our tickets, so that's exactly what we do. We purchase them, then go into the theatre. We find our seats and take them. Jeremy goes to buy the popcorn, while I sit and watch the advertisements for upcoming movies.
This is fun. I'm having fun.
"Excuse me?" I hear a female voice call out.
I look up to see the infamous Mia standing at the side of my seat.
"Can you please move your legs?" she asks quite politely. "My seat is right next to yours here."
My mouth hangs agape.
What.
The.
Fuck.
That bastard had us sit next to his fucking girlfriend.
This is hysterical.
I give the girl a curt smile and move so that she can squeeze into her seat. She smiles back and once taken her seat, she greets me, formally.
"Hi, I'm Mia," she says with a smile. She holds out her hand and I take it.
"I'm Stella-Rose," I greet back. "Nice to formally meet you."
She laughs. "Are you new around here?"
"Somewhat," I say back, not wanting to get into my whole life story for a stranger again.
She nods.
"You?" I ask to keep the conversation flowing.
"No. But I do have quite a reputation," she says. "Watch out for me." She gives me a wink before we both begin to giggle at our little conversation.
"Hey, so I got just the regular popcorn since all the other ones ran out. You like butter right? I got that on here too. And a soda, to suit your sweet tooth of tastebuds," Jeremy comes back saying with a soft chuckle.
"Thanks," I say and take the popcorn from him.
"Jeremy?" Mia asks, with uncertainty.
Jeremy looks down to meet her eyes. "Hey."
I feel awkward as if I was stuck in between something. Quite frankly this relationship.
"What are you doing here?" she asks.
His eyes shift over to glance at me as if to ask for my permission--my final decision. I nod and he says, "I'm here with my girlfriend. On a date."
"Girlfriend?"
She looks from him to me, diverting her glace back to him. Her eyes light up, as it seems she has put two and two together. "Oh!" she says. "That's great!"
"What?" Jeremy looks confused.
"Look, I'm sorry about the stuff that went down between me and Dylan. That's why I left."
Jeremy looks uncomfortable at this moment, so I take this opportunity to reach my hand atop his.
Mia continues. "Every day, I mistook our relationship for granted and I regret that. I do, but I wanted you to get better from it. I did. I'm glad you're dating again. You deserve true happiness. Really."
Jeremy's eyes look glossy.
He couldn't cry.
He shouldn't.
He wouldn't.
He wouldn't dare.
He takes what she says and runs with it. Literally. He's out of the theatre in seconds and me after him. I hand over the popcorn to Mia and run after him.
Fuck. She had him whipped.