HEART FOR HIRE ✓

Nineteen

The night fades into a beautiful morning. Flowers blooming, butterflies flying around in the air, birds chirping.
It's a promising good day when I have to go downtown for the theater supplies.

Nothing, and I repeat, nothing in my life could have prepared me for the scene that welcomes me when I enter the first store.

Standing there in all his glory, his arm draped over a pregnant woman who looks like she is going to give birth any minute is none other than Jeanette's boyfriend.
You read that right. Brandon-whatever-his-other-name-is.
The woman is laughing about something the cashier said and Brandon is looking at her like her smile costs a hundred million dollars.

My first instinct is to run up to him and give him shit. But then I remember that he and I have never met. He probably doesn't know or care about my existence.
Whenever Jeanette suggested that he should meet with Alex and I, he always turned her down.

Now I know why. He was somewhere nursing someone else's pregnancy. All those months when Jeanette couldn't see him, he was laying in someone's arms, having the best time of his life.

This poor excuse of a man!

Maybe I am assuming, she is probably his sister. Or a friend, a friend of a friend or an associate. A relative. Anyone. I don't want to think the worst because God knows that I can't keep a secret to save my life.
If Jeanette finds out about this, she will amputate their limbs, slit their noses and if possible, murder them.

I sure hope that Brandon has a good reason for being with that woman.

"We are looking for paint," the pregnant woman smiles at the cashier. "Do you have any recommendations? We don't want overly shiny or dark colors."

We? As in the two of them or am I missing something? Or someone?

"Which gender are you expecting?" the cashier asks the woman.

She turns to Brandon with her sickeningly good smile, who in turn removes his hand from the shoulder to her bulging stomach.
"We want it to be a surprise. Don't we honey?" Brandon nods in agreement.

They are expecting together. Does that make Jeanette a homewrecker?

"We want a gender neutral color. This man," the woman points at Brandon with her index finger, "this man is useless when it comes to colors. He is so obsessed with getting a son that he painted the house blue without asking for my opinion."

I don't wait for any more bombshells to drop because I've seen enough.
Brandon is a cheater, a liar, a cruel man whom I expected better from.

He was very sweet at first. He and Jeanette have matching attire. They have a joint savings account to buy a house together. Jeanette already introduced him to her brother and sister. But he went ahead and cheated anyway.

What do men really want? I can't seem to understand what exactly their type is. Or what they expect of us.

**

When I return from the store, I go straight to the theater. On one hand, I can't wait to tell Jeanette. I'm not the kind of friend that hides secrets from my friends until it's too late. Besides, I know that I would hate it too if someone kept secrets from me.
On the other hand, Jeanette acts on impulse. She can get violent and that's not healthy for the baby.

Damn you conflicting loyalties! What do I do?

I'm so deep in thought that I don't notice the person sitting on the metallic benches outside the theater. It's until they call my name that I finally become aware of my surroundings.

"Mrs. Thompson," my eyes widen, "what are you doing here?"

I run to her in panic. What in the world could have possessed her to come here? Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect her to show up here. But I guess the rich have their own ways of finding people if they really want to.

"My son wouldn't answer my calls, so, I had to look for you," she smiles and just like last time, she invites me to sit next to her. "You didn't leave me with your contact information. How am I supposed to reach you, sill girl?!"

"You didn't have to come here," I look around to see if anyone is watching us. I badly wanted to find a hole and hide. It seems like no matter what I do, no matter how much I try, I am already entangled in Zion's messy game. To top it off, his mother still thinks that I am his girlfriend! "Do you want to come inside the theater? Did you wait for long?"

"No need for that," she waves me off. Then, she reaches for her handbag from which she retrieves a wrapped gift. "I came to give you this."

I don't reach for the gift at first. Why would she come all the way to give me a gift?
"What is that?"

"Don't you remember? I told you that I would have a Samsung phone imported for you from China. Here it is."

"Mrs- Marble! It must have cost a fortune!"

"My bank account is not even scratched, money is not a problem," she laughs it off and stands up. "I'm leaving now because I have somewhere to be. Next time, I can have a meal with you. If you are free, give me a call, my number is already saved in that phone."

"Marble-"

"Oh, so many people want to meet the woman who can tolerate my hot-headed son. Please fix some time to have dinner with us, okay?"

"But -"

"Take care of my son and if he gives you any hard time, call me and I will help you pump sense into him," she waves me goodbye but before she takes a step forward, a loud explosion sounds from the neighborhood.

It all happens at once. One minute, Marble is smiling and waving goodbye. The next minute, she clutches her chest, her face scrunching in pain.
I throw the phone down and run to her, only for her to collapse into my arms.

Btw, some men are trash..not just GenZ.
Thank you for reading
Tash.