Lisa
When I finally get home, I sit in my truck at the driveway for a few minutes, trying to digest all that had just happened. I lay my forehead on the steering wheel, with my body finally relaxing after being tense all afternoon. I debate driving out to the field, but I'm honestly too exhausted.
A bark brings me out of my thoughts and I look up to see Love bolting out from the barn, happily wagging his tail.
"Hey, boy." I say softly, patting his head through the window when he jumps up onto my truck to greet me.
"Watch out." I carefully open the door, getting out of the car to properly greet him.
"Come on, Love." I instruct, leading him into the house where I find my mama in the kitchen baking something, with the sweet aroma of baked goods swirling around in the air.
"Hi, sweetheart." she greets me. "How was the photoshoot?"
"It was alright." I lie.
I know that if I tell her about Nini, she won't take it well. My mama viewed Nini as a daughter, a part of the family, and she always rooted for us. When I told her that I was proposing to Nini, she was ecstatic. She knew Nini was the love of my life, so when she broke my heart, my mama instantly harboured some ill feelings for her. My mum would never admit it, but I can tell deep down that she involuntarily resents Nini for it, for all the pain that she caused me, her only child. It's just her motherly instincts, but I figure what she doesn't know won't hurt her and it's for the best not to mention it to her.
"Just alright?" she teases, quirking a brow at my lack of information. I swear, that woman can read me like a book sometimes.
"Yup." I say, stuffing my hands in my pockets and leaning my hip against the counter. "It was just a shoot for a young couple around my age. They were nice."
"Oh, did you know them at all?" she asks.
"No." I lie. "They're from the other side of the city so it's not like I went to school with them or anything."
She nods, but the slight squint in her eye tells me that she's suspicious, that she knows something's up.
"Is pop out in the barn?" I ask, wanting to change the subject.
"Yup, been out there all morning."
"Let me just go get changed and help him out." I thumb behind me towards the stairs, running up them shortly after.
I work out in the barn with my dad until dinner is ready, and as soon as I help my mum finish the dishes, I run up to my room and phone Bambam.
"Hey, man, how did the shoot g..."
"It's Nini." I blurt, cutting him off, unable to get that fact off my chest soon enough.
A long pause stretches between us.
"What?"
"It was fucking Nini, Bam!!" I say, a little more hysterically than I intended to. For some reason, saying it out loud to someone made it all that much more real.
Silence.
"Wait, like your Nini, Jennie Kim, that Nini?" he asks slowly, and cautiously.
"Yes." I groan. I rake my fingers through my hair, roughly scrubbing my hand down my face before dramatically flopping back on my bed.
"Shit." Bambam blows out a breath. I hear a creak in the background and I can only picture him leaning back in his desk chair, running a hand through his own hair. "I swear, Lisa, I didn't know."
"I know." I say. I know Bambam would never be that cruel. Only fate could be.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing." I admit. "I barely even talked to her. I just did my job and got out of there as fast as I could."
"So, she's actually getting married?" he asks curiously, like he can't believe it himself.
"Yeah to some fancy and rich doctor or something." I purge bitterly, rubbing my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "I can't shoot this wedding, Bam. If they call back to book me I..." I pause, swallowing thickly. "Just tell them that I already have another commitment."
It's unlikely that they'll end up booking me. I can only imagine the number of reasons that Nini will come up with that don't even involve the truth but like I've said, only fate can be so cruel.
"Alright. Yeah, I can do that." Bambam says softly, totally understanding the situation.
Bambam knows how bad Nini broke my heart. He knew just how much I loved her and how excited I was to marry her. Hell, I asked him to be my best man before I even popped the question to her, that's how confident I was of our love.
"Thanks, Bam. Appreciate it."
