~ Chapter 11 ~
1316 Words
Rose gave herself one final look in the mirror and then swiped at some of the extra eye shadow under her eye. She refused to say out loud why she too extra care with her makeup but her heart knew, and that was enough for her to not say anything. She smiled to herself and then left the bathroom and out the door, right as he pulled up to her house.
“You look nice for the fellas at the dinner.”
“Thank you, you know those travelers down the highway that stop need something pretty to look at.” He nodded as he backed out and started down the street.
“That is a good thought. But they day I came into town, why didn’t you have any on?” She wanted to smack him for calling her out like that but she really didn’t have the heart to.
“So, maybe I did a little more today, nothing wrong with that.” Five minutes later he pulled up to the diner and then gave her a wink.
“I think it’s quite nice that you got yourself all dolled up for little ‘ol me.” This time, she did smack him then she got out of the truck and clocked in.
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“Table for one.” Rose looked up and smiled at Jimmy.
“What brings you to this side of town? You do work on the opposite side.”
“You. Is it your lunch time?” Rose checked the time and nodded.
“Go ahead and have a seat and I’ll join you. Want some tea?” At this, he nodded and she went to make it, letting the boss know she was going to lunch.
A minute later, she had the glasses in hand and walked over to his table, setting the glass before him. He smiled and took a long drink, smacking his lips.
“You sure know how to make some damn good sweet tea.”
“Thank you. I learned the secret a long time ago.” Jimmy nodded and then tilted his head to the side, looking at her. “What?”
“Jeff.” Rose sighed and took another sip of her tea.
“You know this feesl like the old days when he would f**k up and because he wasn’t sure how to voice certain things, he would send you in to talk to me,” she muttered.
“You mean like that time he went out with a group of people to a show in a different city and got stuck there?”
“Hey, I had every right to be upset!”
“You did.” Rose crossed her arms and looked at him…
... “Why are you here Jimmy?”
“He didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what? That the concert was in a town that was three hours away? That the car they were all in was a little too full and that some dumb b***h was going to have to be seating on his lap the whole time?”
“Yes to that last part.” Rose threw up her hands and let out a loud groan.
“Don’t you get it?”
“I do Rose, but you know Jeff. Look, he knew there was a bunch of girls going…”
“That he failed to tell me,” Rose quickly cut into his little speech, “and most of those chicks are the hoes on the cheerleading squad and all want to f**k him. So, forgive me if I happen to be a little pissed off. And it’s only growing because you are here, doing his dirty work because he doesn’t have the shitty ass balls to talk to me himself.”
“Would you even talk to him right now?” That was a damn good question. He had called her but she ignored him, too hurt and too upset to deal with him. And she knew that if she probably did talk, she would say something she’d regret, like she wanted to break up, and sad to say that the thought had rolled through her mind.
“Fine, probably not.”
“So, he sends me in. Rose, you know you will only ever be the one woman for him. Jeff has loved you from the first day he saw you. And you know that his eyes don’t stray. Trust me when he says that you are all the woman he can handle.
“This trip, he didn’t know it was going to be like that. And he really wanted to stay with you and take care of you while you were sick. But you kept pushing him and then he really wanted to get you something from the show. So, can you really stay mad at him?”
“Yes, but I will talk to him.” And just like that, Jimmy had smoothed the raging storm and she was ready to talk to Jeff…
…Rose took another sip of her tea as she watched Jimmy and then rested her arms on the table. “Are you going to share why you are here?”
“Jeff looked at the car; it’s just your battery so he went and got you another. He should be dropping the car off before you’re done.”
“You didn’t come this far out of your way to tell me that.” Jimmy held up the glass and Rose laughed. “Nor did you come this way for a glass of tea. So, what’s up?”
“You left early last night.”
“I did, I had to work.”
“That’s lame and you know that. You left because of Jeff.”
“And so what if I did, Jimmy? You know that our feelings for each other have always been intense and strong. And no matter what happens, we can’t seem to keep our hands off of each other. I still fail to see what that has to do with anything.”
“It has to do with everything but like always, your stubborn ass refuses to see anything because you rather stay mad and hurt then let something good happen.”
“There you go, taking his side again!” Jimmy just glared at her. There was nothing he could say, she felt, that would make her think anything else at this point. Maybe he hadn’t confided everything to Jeff, but he still talked to him and she highly doubted the topic of Jeff and Rose had not come up.
“Are you always going to think that?”
“Jimmy, in all the fights we had and you came in to soothe the ruffled feathers, did you believe me or ever side with me? Did you ever tell Jeff once ‘hey man, you f****d up, Rose is right’?”
“A few times. Look Rose, Jeff was in the wrong for leaving, he knows that, but maybe you should hear him out before you keep on turning him down, huh? Maybe you might find out something.” Rose nodded, knowing she was about to share something he didn’t know. He sighed when she didn’t speak and moved to get out of the chair, but paused when she spoke.
“I went to Austin.” He looked at her, a brow lifted.
“You did? When?”
“About six months after he left. I missed him and wanted to be with my husband.” She paused, looked at him and stood as her eyes flashed. “What I found when I went after him, was him wrapped up in another woman’s arms, so please excuse the hell out of me if I don’t want to give him a second chance to betray me.”
- Writer
