Jennie
I twirled a forkful of noodles on my plate and put it in my mouth, occasionally looking up at the movie playing in front of us. Monsters Inc was one of my favourite movies as a kid mostly because of how funny some monsters looked and how colourful Sully was. But it stayed on my favourite list for the scene coming up. I put down my food and watched the scene unfold. Boo walked through the door to her bedroom holding Sully's hand.
I tried swallowing the lump in my throat as the scene played out, the look on Sully's face as Boo ran around excitedly. It was a sense of joy that I resonated with deeply and too often lately.
Lisa sniffled beside me, "I forgot how sad this movie was." she wiped her nose with a tissue. "She's become his little monster even though she's human." she dabbed her eyes with the tissue, "And she loves him so much, even though she can't form coherent sentences yet."
I shifted uncomfortably from where I sat, this movie and her words hitting a little close to home. I cleared my throat, "You're such a sap."
She looked at me and wiped her eyes again, "How are your eyes dry? This is the saddest thing that I've seen since Fox and the Hound."
I tried laughing lightly, normally I would've been bawling along with her but knowing that our situation was similar and my mind was preoccupied. I stared at her longingly, then put my plate of food down next to me and crawled to her.
The surprised look on her face when I pecked her on the lips made me smile. "You're such a sap." I repeated, "I can't believe the same girl who beat up my crazy stalker is tearing up at a Pixar movie."
She leaned in and kissed me, "I'm a tough girl, not a monster." She sat back on her elbows, "Oh right, I stopped by the bar after work and they want us to drop by the bar over this weekend to celebrate me getting a new job." She chuckled, "It was supposed to be a surprise but Teddy let it slip out."
My eyebrows came together, "Oh, I was kind of hoping that we could go to Irene's party this weekend." I sat up, "I'm sorry. I've kind of lost track of the days because of work and I kept forgetting to bring it up to you."
"I'm sure Irene wouldn't mind if we missed it." Lisa shrugged as she kept eating her food, "Not like we're missing much, just a bunch of stuck up people who are shitting themselves trying to one-up another person's success."
It was true. Irene said it wasn't a big deal if we didn't show up, but that wasn't the point. I understood that her plans were important but why did she think that mine weren't just as important? I've already sacrificed so many dinner parties and charity events to network, so that I could spend time with her. But the bigger problem was what she said after that.
"So, does that mean you aren't going to come with me to Irene's party?" I asked feeling defensive.
Lisa put down the fork that was halfway to her mouth and frowned, "Wait, are you not coming to the bar?"
"Well, I would've gone with you to the bar but then you went ahead and made decisions without asking me." All my reasoning went out the window now that I was annoyed. I knew that I was being a hypocrite, but I at least told Irene that I'd double-check with Lisa before giving her an answer. Lisa's facial expression was matching my own, she put her food down, "Why are you being so difficult about this?"
"I'm not being difficult about anything." I crossed my arms, "And just because I don't agree with you, I'm difficult?"
Lisa frowned, "Why are you trying to pick a fight?"
"I'm not." I replied standing up, "And I get it, being in a room full of pretentious people isn't an ideal Saturday night, but those are the people that I have to impress." I started walking to the kitchen with the containers of leftover food, "And it hurts knowing that it is what you think of me."
I could hear Lisa's quick footsteps behind me, "You're different, Jennie."
"That's the thing, Lisa. I'm not!" I snapped, "I work in the same industry as those 'stuck up people' so why would I be different!?" I slammed the dishes in the sink, wondering how they didn't break with the amount of force I had just used.
"You know what!" Lisa put her hands up in defeat, "When you're done having your little bitch fit, come find me!" She stormed off with a huff and it just made me even angrier.
I finished washing the dishes and walked past the blanket fort to turn off the television that now showed the main menu. How did a romantic evening turn into us having a fight? I didn't want to go to the dinner party either and the industry was full of narcissists but I was hoping that Lisa could brave the party with me, but I guess not.
I opened the door to my bedroom expecting Lisa to be sulking in bed, but instead, I found it empty. It clued in that she was probably going to sleep in the other room tonight. I rolled my eyes as I got ready for bed, so I guess she was the petty type to not sleep in the same bed as her partner and go to sleep angry.
I thought back to the fight Alison and I had earlier that day. I decided to turn down another dinner party because I wanted to get home quickly to set up the blanket fort. She said that I wasn't thinking about the future and started asking questions like 'what happens if this movie doesn't do well?' and 'what are you going to do without networking with other actors, producers, and directors?'
Little did she know that I was thinking about the future, but nothing work-related. I got really close to telling her why I was blowing off the party but there was just too much to unpack and I was already in too deep. I fell into bed feeling defeated, I felt like my life was a catch-22 right now, it was a lose-lose situation for me. I closed my eyes and fell into a fitful sleep, all alone.
