Gilded

Chapter 5

Saturday night and I was home alone. My younger brother was out with his friends. Even my parents had plans. I had a boyfriend and I was still home on a Saturday night. Feeling sorry for myself, I sighed and rummaged through the pantry for chips. The big question tonight would be the choice of ketchup or all dressed flavoured. I sighed. I popped open the bag of all dressed and settled down on the sofa, scrolling through Instagram half-heartedly on my iPad.

A familiar face caught my eye. Aaron. It wasn't his post but his friend Raf's, posted a mere eight minutes ago. They were both standing on either side of a waitress at the sports bar, a beautiful twenty something with wavy brown hair, blue eyes, in a cropped tank top that barely covered her big chest, her arms thrown around the guys. She was sexiness personified.

I continued to scroll. Looked like Raf was busy posting instead of watching the fight. The next one pictured one of their friend's stuffing his face with chicken wings. But that wasn't what caught my eye. In the background, someone was kissing Aaron.

My heart stopped and then accelerated. She was kissing him on the cheek, but still...he had a girlfriend! Me! I was his girlfriend! He told me he was just going out with the guys. I looked more closely at the photo. She looked familiar...she was in our art history class! What was her name? Jen? Jane?

I tossed my bag of chips aside. What did this mean? Was he cheating on me? Even if he wasn't officially cheating on me, did he always flirt with girls when I wasn't around? Should I text him or call him? But first I decided to take a screenshot of the picture, I didn't know why, but I felt like I needed proof and that this picture could just disappear when I needed it.

I picked up my phone and decided to send a text. Light hearted or accusatory?

Having fun? I texted. I wasn't really expecting a reply, but a couple of minutes later I got a ping.

Yeah it was a good match. The place is packed, Aaron texted back.

Who are you hanging out with? I inquired innocently.

Just the guys, he replied back a few minutes later.

Hmm. I didn't know what to think. I mean, a girl kissed him (on the cheek!), but he was replying back pretty much right away.

Should I keep checking Instagram? Maybe I should check Snapchat or Tiktok. I couldn't do this. I took a deep breath and decided I needed something to take my mind off this. I went on Netflix and watched an episode of Jeopardy to try and distract myself.

"What is Bridget Jones' Diary?" I said, getting the answer for the final Jeopardy, but that didn't even take my mind off of what Aaron might be doing right now. And who he might be doing it with.

I debated calling Nicole or Amelia. I knew they would be there for me, but I didn't want them judging Aaron or our relationship. I even picked up my phone and began to draft a text, but I changed my mind and erased it. What could I say? I saw a hot girl kissing Aaron, but it was just on the cheek. Could be innocent right? Maybe she did it and then he told her to get lost.

I went back to Raf's posts. The one with Aaron and Jen/Jane was gone.

~~~~

I didn't see Aaron the following day since we were both working. I worked at least one day on most weekends at my aunt's greenhouse that was just outside of the city, and today, I got the 'behind the scenes' duties, which consisted of doing inventory, unpacking shipments, and getting plants ready to go out in the sales tents. A part of me was glad that I wouldn't have to deal with customers today, but another part, as I was finding out, might have welcomed that distraction. It was mostly me and my own thoughts, and as I was unpacking garden décor from their shipment boxes, my thoughts were spinning out of control.