Bound by Christmas

Chapter Six: Outlandish

I stared at the quinoa salad on my plate, unable to overcome my loss of appetite so I could actually eat it. My thoughts were preoccupied with Sebastián and his non-answers. Why was he being so dodgy? What was he trying to hide?

"Earth to Jenna," Sara huffed, waving her hand in my face.

"Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought," I said sheepishly.

"Well, obviously. I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes."

"What were you saying?"

"I was just asking if you're going to see your mom for the holidays."

"Probably not. I think she's in Arizona with her new boyfriend. I'm not too sure. I haven't spoken to her in months."

My mom switched boyfriends almost every year, and she always followed them wherever they went. Then, when she got bored, she'd ditch them and find herself a new fling. Interestingly, she also changed her style to match her new man. She was currently dating a biker from Arizona and fully embracing the lifestyle.

I was a product of a one-night stand and she did the best she could with raising a child as a single mother, but she had never intended to be a parent. She was too much of a 'free-spirit' to be tied down and the responsibility of being a mother felt like a burden to her. So, once I was an adult and living on my own, I tried to give her space and would only contact her for special occasions. Most likely I would send her a Merry Christmas text and would receive a funny GIF in response.

A few years ago, my mom had given me the name of my biological father. After contemplating it for weeks, I found him on social media and sent him a message. I received a one word response back saying 'cool.' And that was the first and last interaction I ever had with him.

When I first met Sebastián, I had so much hope that I would finally have someone to share the holidays with. But, as the months flew by and our relationship did not progress, I knew I would be alone for another year.

"Jenna, why don't you come home with me?" Sara suggested.

"To Vegas?"

"Yeah, why not? It'll be fun. We can share my room."

I took a minute to consider it but decided against it. I had never met Sara's parents and would not want to impose, especially during their family time.

I shook my head. "Thank you for the offer, Sara. But I just want to stay home. I'm not really in the mood for celebrating."

"Because of Sebastián?"

"A little," I admitted.

"Has he tried to contact you again?"

"Not after my neighbor, Mr. Rogers, kicked him out of our building last night."

"I still can't believe he told him to leave that nice girl alone," Sara chuckled.

"I swear I thought he was going to beat him with his cane."

"What I wouldn't give to see that."

I was trying not to imagine the scene, since I didn't want to burst into laughter in the middle of the campus, when I saw a familiar figure walking toward our table outside the library. What was he doing here?

"Good afternoon, Ms. Holladay," Felix greeted as he approached us and tried to hand me a bouquet of roses.

"Why are you here, Felix?" I asked him, ignoring the flowers.

"Mr. Islas asked me to deliver these to you," he answered, gesturing toward the bouquet. "He would like to arrange a time to meet with you."

"No, thank you. I'm not interested in the flowers or the meeting."

Felix stepped closer to the table and lowered his voice. "Please, Ms. Holladay. I feel like this is all my fault."

"No Felix," I shook my head. "It's not your fault he decided to date someone else. Sooner or later, I was going to find out about it."

"Ms. Holladay, please let him explain the situation," Felix begged. "I'm sure Mr. Islas did not mean to offend you by taking a date to the event."

"Felix, I'm just not interested in his explanation," I huffed with annoyance. "He had time to tell me about it before I accidentally discovered it from you. If he wanted an open relationship, he could have just said something. It's not like we were in a proper relationship anyway."

"Ms. Holladay..."

"No Felix," I interrupted. "Thank you for stopping by but I think you should leave."

Felix gave me a small nod and turned to walk away.

"Oh Felix," Sara called out, causing him to turn back and face us again. "When is this event Mr. Islas will be attending?"

Felix looked at her with a confused expression. "This weekend...why?"

"That's wonderful. Would you be able to get an invitation for Jenna?"

"Of course," he nodded. "But, I'm not sure Mr. Islas..."

"Oh, Mr. Islas doesn't have to know," she interjected. "It'll be a nice surprise."

Felix looked hesitant, and I knew he was considering all the things that could go wrong.

I leaned in toward Sara and squeezed her knee. "What are you doing?" I whispered.

She waved me off and smiled at Felix. "Come on Felix," she coaxed. "It'll be the perfect way to right a wrong. If Sebastián has nothing to hide, Jenna will see it in person."

"Very well," Felix cleared his throat. "I'll text you the details, Ms. Holladay." He carefully placed the roses on the table and hurried away, probably fearing we would ask him for something even more extreme.

When he was out of earshot, I faced Sara. "What did you do? Are you crazy?"

"Of course I'm not crazy," she scoffed. "I know you, Jenna. This is going to bother you for a long time. You're going to wonder who this woman is, how she caught his eye, and why he chose to be with her. At least if you attend this event, you can see what's actually going on with your own eyes and —maybe— you can move on."

"Sara, can you imagine how ridiculous I'll look if I show up all alone to this party just to see who Sebastián is with?"

"Who said you were going to go alone?"

"Oh no," I groaned. "What are you planning?"

Seeing Sara's smile, I knew I was in trouble. But, did I want to listen to her outlandish ideas? Did I really want to go to this event and see Sebastián with his date?