“So…we’ve been thinking,” Nicole spoke hesitantly.
The words cut through Jade’s concentration on the nothingness of the pale walls. Slowly lifting her eyes to Nicole keeping her body as still as possible. It was a bad joke waiting to happen.
Nicole was sitting in the corner of the oversized love seat with her too-thin legs tucked under her. Her red hair fell into what she would call the perfect image. Her makeup was done up as if to go out with the plan to simply stay in and do nothing. She was glancing for reassurance at Seth, her ‘knight’, though Jade couldn’t understand why.
Seth was standing at the end of the love seat leaning on the door frame. His black t shirt revealed parts of his tattoos, with his thinning blonde hair slicked back. Jade had always seen him as the guy she wouldn’t notice if he wasn’t with her best friend. There was nothing that stood out about him.
“About. What?” Jade had to break the silence. It was more than uncomfortable; it was like them holding back a secret, though a part of her knew this wasn’t going to be a secret she would care for.
Taking a deep breath Nicole turned back to Jade, “You need to go to Europe before you can be in a relationship.”
The matter-of-fact tone that was used had Jade processing the statement repeatedly. Yes it was true she hadn’t been in a relationship for, well, years now. Nicole knew the final straw having been the one Jade turned to during all the issues with her now thankfully ex.
Jade had taken the time to find herself. What she wanted, what she wouldn’t put up with, finding who she was. For there to be a contingency for her to have a relationship all of a sudden after she had found herself in the place she was happy with was more than confusing, irritating.
When the blinking had subsided, she was able to speak, “What?”
“We’ve been talking, you need to get Europe out of your system before you’ll be able to have a relationship.” Seth chimed. Again with the matter-of-fact tone.
Nicole nodded and turned back to her fill-ins.
Jade felt her mouth fall open. Looking between the two parts of the couple, finding words was nearly impossible. This couple standing in front of her was not the picture perfect image, though they may believe it. To each their own in a way, but this couple that lived in a world where everything was done together, when one drank the other drank, when one stopped the other stopped. Seth didn’t like Jade for a while because she was single and that would mean she would be trying to get Nicole to hang out with single guys who have no respect for another man’s woman.
Really it sounded chauvinistic, but what did Jade know? In their minds she was the crazy one.
“How…what…huh?”
“You need to get Europe out of your system before you can have a relationship.”
“He’s right you know” Nicole chimed in looking up from the fill-ins briefly.
“And why exactly do I have to go to Europe before I can have a relationship?” Jade found herself building with defensiveness.
“Because he obviously won’t let you once you’re in a relationship.” Seth stated and Nicole nodded.
“LET me?”
They had to be speaking another language.
“Yeah, he isn’t going to let you go to Europe if you’re in a relationship.”
“Who the hell is he and what the hell makes you think he has any control over LETTING me do ANYTHING?”
“The guy you end up in a relationship with. He isn’t going to let you go.” Nicole spoke, smiled at Seth and returned to her puzzles.
“Once you’re in a relationship he isn’t going to…”
“What the hell are you talking about? If I want to go to Europe I’m going to go.” Jade was still trying to make sense as to where the Europe thing came from. They had been talking about getting dinner when this conversation arose. Made her wonder why she came for a visit.
A loud exhale came from the corner as Nicole put her puzzle down as if this was common knowledge and Jade was disabled.
“What if he doesn’t want you to?” Nicole was obviously annoyed.
“Oh well?”
“So you wouldn’t consider his feelings as to not wanting you to go?” Seth spoke in turn but his body language was becoming defensive like she had just insulted him personally.
“Fine. We’ll play this game,” there was no escaping this messed up conversation, “What is his reason for not wanting me to go?”
“You’ll be away from him.” Nicole’s focus was on Jade now.
Jade chewed on her lips trying not to laugh and come up with the words that wouldn’t erupt the topic, no luck. “So?”
“You won’t be WITH HIM for two weeks!”
“Again…so?”
“Two weeks! All the moments!”
Jade’s hand went to her forehead like trying to ward off an ice cream head ache. “What moments?”
“The moments! You’ll miss two weeks of moments with him!” Nicole’s demeanor seemed like a life or death situation.
“He can’t live two weeks without me? That’s a problem.”
“You wouldn’t let him come with you?” Seth jumped in.
“Of course I would. I would rather go to Europe with a guy I was in a relationship with, but that isn’t going to determine if I go or not.”
“So you’d let him come with you?” Seth asked.
“Yes?” There had to be a right and wrong answer at this point.
“What if he’s afraid of flying?”
“I’ll see him in two weeks?”
“You wouldn’t even consider his feelings and take the time to try to help him over his fear? I mean I’m afraid to fly but if she wanted to go to England
Jade just blinked. Didn’t he just argue against his own argument? “Yes? I’d help him get over his fear I guess but that isn’t going to determine me going or not.”
“What if he didn’t want to go?” Nicole crossed her arms.
It seemed, to Nicole and Seth, this was a real situation and Jade was really doing someone wrong. No idea who that is but someone…apparently.
“Then he doesn’t have to.” Jade was getting more and more confused as the conversation went on.
“What if he is afraid you’ll find someone else over there? He knows how much you like Irish men.”
Jade bit her lips. “If I’m with him then it doesn’t matter how many Irish men are in Ireland
Seth began to get animated, “Well the Irish men don’t care if you have a man or not.”
Jade just stared. No clue what to say to that. So Seth continued. “If you don’t care if you’re man is worried about you hooking up with another guy. Especially since he knows you’re into Irish guys and he isn’t Irish.”
“WHAT!? Ok so now you’re saying to me, that I can’t go to Europe or IRELAND
“Yes.” Nicole and Seth spoke in unison.
“Well then I guess if was over before it started because what you’re telling me is he doesn’t trust me.”
“Well know he is afraid another guy is going to hit on you and it would be the type of guy you like.” Seth corrected.
“So you’re saying he doesn’t trust me to turn down another guy because I may be attracted to him.”
“Well yeah. But no. Guys. Don’t. Care. They wouldn’t care if you had a man.”
“But what you’re saying is the I don’t care that I’m in a relationship.”
“No. That’s not what I’m saying.” Seth was beginning to back track. “What if he thinks you cheated on him so he cheats on you?”
“Good thing I went to Europe cause now it’s over before it was too late.” Jade crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for their so-not-done conversation to go even more in her favor.
“No, that’s not the point.” Nicole said waving her hand like Jade missed the point entirely.
“Then what is?”
“How would you know he cheated on you?” Seth made a face like he was convinced he had her stuck.
“How’d you know?” Jade shot back.
“Well he told me.”
“Then if you were any level of a friend you’d tell me.”
“No I wouldn’t, I’d tell Nicole and it would be her responsibility to tell you.”
“Ok, that makes sense, we’re closer than you and me.” Jade agreed with the first logical statement since this conversation began. As fast as it occurred, it disappeared.
“Not just that, but because he would be my friend and you two would be friends.”
“Not just that, but because he would be my friend and you two would be friends.”
Jade thought for a moment. “What makes you think you and him would be friends?”
“Because when you’re a couple you have couple friends and that means the girl is friends with the girl and the guy is friends with the guy, and the girl and guy are never friends.” Seth sat down next to Nicole who smiled like a deer in head lights and curled up next to him. “It’s a respect thing.” He finished.
“I…what…” Jade took a breath. “What the hell?”
“Out of respect so the guy knows the other guy isn’t trying to get with his girl he is only friends with the other guy.”
“So…” Jade nodded to herself. She really wished she had another person there to tell her if her head was exploding in it’s own right. “a guy can never be friends with a girl, meaning you and I can’t be friends?”
“No we can be because you don’t have a boyfriend. But once you have a boyfriend we can’t be friends anymore.”
“So it doesn’t matter…the whole respect thing…for Nicole because….why?”
“Because there isn’t another guy involved.”
“Right…well I can tell you straight out, nothing will ever happen between me and you Seth so THAT is the reason Nicole doesn’t have to worry, not because there isn’t another guy involved.”
“It’s a respect thing you don’t understand.” Seth shook his head and leaned back in the love seat.
“Ok, let’s use Mike as an example.” Nicole sat up and settled in to make her point.
“Ok, what about Mike?” Mike was a guy with a lot of history with Jade and friends with Nicole. Nothing had ever come of it, and Jade was fine with that after everything he had pulled.
“Say you and Mike are in a relationship.” Nicole began. Jade nodded for her to continue. “Say he doesn’t let you go to Europe .” Jade crossed her arms and nodded, letting Nicole paint the whole picture before she responded. “Now you’re married with kids.”
“And now I resent him and now we’re divorced.”
“WHY!”
“Because he didn’t LET me go to Europe !”
“You don’t get it.”
“You’re right I don’t get it.”
“Does his happiness mean nothing to you?” Seth jumped back in. “It will never last if his happiness isn’t everything to you.”
“What about my happiness?”
“It doesn’t matter as much” Seth shook his head and began stroking Nicole’s leg.
“If my happiness doesn’t matter to him, why do I change myself to make him happy?”
“That’s not…”
“Because, it is what you are supposed to do!” Nicole was intense, clawing at the air.
“So my happiness…”
“Is solely based on his!” Nicole’s stare was intense, but Jade’s stomach wasn’t turning out of anxiety knowing she was wrong, but that this is evidently what Nicole truly believed.
“Sorry, that isn’t me.”
“And that’s why you’re single.” Nicole began searching for her fill-ins again. “You are willing to give up moments to be selfish.”
“What moments?”
“Every moment. You should be experiencing every moment with him. That’s what a real relationship is.”
“What about me time?”
“There is no ‘me’ time it is only ‘we’ time.”
Jade just shook her head.
“You spend every moment together.”
“I’d get sick of him.”
“Then you aren’t meant to be together.”
“You’re making it sound like I can’t think for myself. Can’t do something I enjoy just because he doesn’t want to do it. When do I hang out with me friends?”
“You hang out with you’re couple friends. You do what you all want to do not just what you want to, that’s just selfish.”
“I’m not saying all the time.”
“Why do you think we come together? We don’t hang out apart, we hang out together.”
“I know you two are a package deal. Can’t buy underwear with my friend, has to be my friend AND her boyfriend.”
“Yup…Moments.”
“I don’t know what my underwear has to do with your moments, but sure.”
