Stained Recovery

Don't even think about it || Chapter 2

"Girl, I swear — her voice was soo, ugh!" Courtney fanned herself as she raved about Cleo with Liz.

We're currently having brunch at the Olive Garden with Alexa, Jasmine, and Elizabeth. After last Cleo left last night, we popped a few more bottles and eventually passed out on Jasmine's couch.

I've been so tired because of the tour — this short break was all I needed to revitalize myself and spend time with my friends and family. It's been pretty hectic and I feel like I'm being drained.

After Malcolm's death and me almost getting married — it's been such a hurricane. I need a little pause. When I decided to buy a new home in LA, I didn't expect to meet Dalton.

It was this goofy, energetic, Lightbringer attitude that perked my interest. Plus, he's easy on the eyes. The moment we talked, we kind of hit off and decided to see where it'll go.

We're still getting to know each other, and — I don't want to rush anything at the moment, given my track record of relationships. I want to be sure before going public and making it official.

"Court, please — for the love of God. Stop talking about my best friend that way. It creeps me out — she's basically my sister so, it's profoundly disturbing for me to hear girls talk about her that way." Jasmine fake-gagged and I just giggled at her.

I find their relationship cute and entertaining. Cleo seems to be super serious but her witty comebacks proved me wrong — maybe there's something about her that's hiding inside, you just gotta dig deeper.

"Come on, Jas! Don't tell me you never thought about getting together with her. She's like, super sexy with the mysterious vibe and shy demeanor." Courtney returned with a raised eyebrow.

Jasmine looked at her with a "are you serious" look and answered straight. "Uh, One -- nope -- that's exactly the opposite. She's like my big sister ya know? And two -- like, she was in a super long relationship -- she's one for the commitment, which I'm not, so it wouldn't work even if we're attracted to each other."

I digested her words as she sipped through her second margarita of the day. Now she got me more curious about Cleo. She's the long-term relationship type, huh?

"So she's practically married right now?" I tried to control my voice to make it seem uninterested, hopefully, these girls bought it.

Jasmine looked at me with her perfectly sculpted eyebrows quirked. A smirk played on her lips before answering. "Hmm... almost -- the girl broke up with her. She was engaged for a couple of years until her fiance decided to leave her ass." said with mirth in her voice.

I've known Jasmine for a couple of years now and when you get on her bad side, it's either you did something really bad or she just doesn't feel you from the get-go.

"Not that it's any of our business, but what dumb fuck would leave that hot human being?! Jesus, that girl must've bumped her head. She may be kinda weird but she looks like she's a good person." Alexa voiced out my thoughts, not that I would openly suggest that I think that Cleo's one of the hottest and most attractive persons I've ever met.

Jasmine sighed and wiped the napkin around her lips. "Right — so as you know, Cleo travels a lot. Like, on a monthly and weekly basis. She's going back and forth to her mom and dad — her parents are not separated, just to be clear. But they live on different sides of the world. The reason we became friends was that me being obnoxiously annoying. She doesn't talk much if you noticed."

She continued, after eating a bite of her salad. "She was home schooled, raised by her very, very conservative Grandmother and mother. She has a rare condition, that's why she was pretty much shielded from the world ya know. So we were at a party which her parents attended, then I annoyed her with my questions. Next thing I know, we're best friends and she was allowed to go to my school." Jasmine got a smile while reminiscing about their friendship. They must be super close based on her reaction.