I quickly jogged over to the armory, hoping I had enough of a window to find him. Luckily, the ammunition team was loading up the trucks just outside the building. As soon as I spotted him I called out, "Hey, Gary!" He noticed me and hopped out of the truck to approach me. He was a surprisingly attractive guy for someone with the name Gary. He had short black hair and he wore a Gi-Joe outfit that complimented his body type well. We looked about the same age and let's just say that I was glad Molly wasn't dating him instead of James. "What's up, Kane?" He said as he hung a shotgun over his shoulders.
"Come out here so we have some space to talk." I led him out to the street where I had expected Molly and James to be coming from any second. Once we reached the spot that I calculated would be the best, I turned to Gary, hoping that I wouldn't screw this up. "Hey, so, what do you think about Vanessa?" A little cringe made its way onto his face from my question. "Look, I know I make it clear that I'm in the market for a girlfriend, but even I don't want a girl who is... you know... fake? Immature? I don't know what word is the least hurtful. Anyway, why do you ask?"
I smiled as I heard footsteps coming from the alley next to us. "It just so happens that she did a little growing up today." Before he could respond, he saw Vanessa come out from the alley and his mouth dropped. Her curly Latina hair fell long over the shoulders of her jacket, and for once, her shirt left things to the imagination. Her black skirt reached her knees, and instead of the neon stripper heels everyone usually saw her wear, she wore combat boots. She topped off her new look with some mascara and lip gloss, instead of a mask she could hide behind.
She walked over to us and gave Gary a nervous wave. It was now time to get the fuck out of here before Molly saw me. "Okay, you two catch up, I got to do something else over there." I quickly zipped away and went to the top of the building where I couldn't be easily seen. I used the height to see whether James and Molly were on their way yet and my heart raced when I saw them begin to head down the street. I had timed it and we now only had three minutes for my plan to work or else it would go down the crapper. I watched below me at the match I had made and eavesdropped on their conversation.
"Vanessa? Is that you?" Gary asked. Vanessa laughed a little. "Probably. I'm still trying to figure that out right now." He marveled at how different she seemed. "I love your voice. I mean-! I like it! It's uh, different than it was before." She smiled up at him. "Thank you." Gary put down the shotgun and blushed as he said what he did next. "So, did you want to, um, hang out with me sometime? It doesn't have to be just me, my friends are-" Vanessa then stopped him in his tracks by grabbing his collar and pulling him in to kiss her. After a lingering kiss, she pulled away with a smile. "I'd be happy to." He then kissed her back and she pushed him against the wall into a full-on make-out.
I immediately fist-pumped and turned my attention to Molly and James approaching. Once James noticed the couple kissing in the street he became confused. "Vanessa?" He seemed shocked by her new look as well. Vanessa then pulled away and turned to him, cockily. "Fuck you, James! I deserve better than a booty call! We are so over!" She then turned away, with Gary's arm on her shoulder, and the happy new couple made their way out of view. My plan had worked out so much better than I had expected, but I did feel bad as I saw the betrayal on Molly's face.
James tried to scramble a sentence together for his defense but failed miserably. "Yeah. So are we," Molly said as she turned away. James followed after her, trying to explain himself. "Molly, wait! I'm sorry, It just happened, okay?! I've been living in guilt ever since! You have to believe me! The last thing I want is to hurt you!" I followed their fight and jumped between rooftops, trying to catch every last juicy detail. Molly's hands were clenched into fists as she stormed away and James blubbered behind her. I could tell that she was about to explode and only wished I had some popcorn as I watched.
James pulled every cheating excuse in the book from, "I have needs," to "I was weak." When Molly finally had enough, she turned around so suddenly that James nearly tripped over his own feet while trying to stop. "You know what the sad part is? How long it took me to find out. I stayed by you for so long, telling myself that my doubts were nonsense because you saved my life. I only went out with you because I felt like I was indebted to you, and now look where I am. Four years later, in love with the man I pitied. Cheated on, and unsatisfied. And it's all my own damn fault! Stay the fuck away from me, alright?! I'm going to try and get some of the time back that I wasted on you."
She was about to turn away when James grabbed her arm and turned her back to face him. "Hey! Don't think I didn't waste any time on you either! I did everything to be romantic and a good boyfriend! I did everything from getting you flowers to opening the door for you, and yet you didn't fucking care! I was so good to you, and you didn't even notice!" She yelled back, "And you never listened! If you had listened, you would've known that I didn't like it when you did those things, and you would've known what I wanted you to do instead!" James sighed, angrily. "Can we just forget this ever happened? I said I'm sorry. I won't do it again. That should be enough. I don't want to lose you."
She glared at him fiercely. "Why? You just said that I never appreciated you." His grip on her arms tightened. "How many times do I have to say I love you before you believe it?" Pain started to make its way onto her face from his grip on her. "Maybe when you start telling the truth." He began to yell again from her comment. "You want the truth?! I'll tell you the truth! You're an unemotional bitch that I got stuck having feelings for! But Hank is like a father to you so at least I get status through you! You're a fucking prude but at least when we do fuck it's the best I've ever had! And you may be detached and underappreciative, but at least you're the prettiest girl in the settlement. If you leave me, then that asshole Kane is going to take all of that away from me. I will not allow that."