The Restaurant

Chapter 26 - Jimmy

"Any word from your parents?" I asked as I fixed dinner.

"They still aren't talking to me," Kat said as she set the table.

"How's that make you feel?" Christy asked.

"Honestly, I'm ok with it. If they don't like my choices, they don't have to be a part of my life."

I smiled, tasting the sauce. The tomato, onion, and Italian sausage danced on my tongue as the garlic and parmesan fluttered into my nostrils. I took a spoonful of horseradish and dropped it in. After stirring it in, I took a spoonful and let the girls taste. A few "Mmms," later, I checked on the noodles. As I was draining the noodles, my phone began ringing.

Christy picked it up, "Hi Steven, Jimmy's hands are full." I couldn't hear over the water and noodles pouring into the strainer. "Yeah, I'll tell him," she hung up. "Steven said to call him back when you're done cooking."

'Must be something to do with Tammy,' I thought. "Alright, I'll call him when I get you girls situated." The oven beeped that it was done preheating, so I put in the garlic cheese bread and set a timer for 8 minutes. Enough time to send a text to Steven.

Me: Hey, what's going on?

Steven: I got accepted!

Me: That's great! Where at?

Steven: That's what I need to talk to you about...

'That doesn't sound good,' I thought. The timer went off and I pulled out the bread from the oven, plated the pasta and put extra sauce in a bowl. Right after I put the plates on the table, I rushed to call Steven.

"Hey, what do you need to talk about?" I asked.

"I um...I-" He was stuttering, not good.

"Take a deep breath, talk to me, buddy."

I heard him breath hard into the phone, "The school is up north."

"That's alright, you'll be good out there. They'll have dorms or you can find a place close to the campus and get a job to pay for it."

"Jimmy, that's not what I wanted to talk about."

"What's up, Steven."

"How am I going to tell Jesse?"

'This may be a problem,' I thought. After that night when we all went out celebrating, Jesse and Steven got very close. Jesse always was a confident girl, but when it came to Steven, she just melted for him. Likewise, Steven was reserved and quiet, but for Jesse, he was confident and could do anything. They complemented each other in such a great way. If they separated, they'd be losing their other half. I thought of Tina and how she did the same thing for me and how I was feeling at that moment. I missed my Tina, and I was struggling without her.

"Steven, you're going to have to talk to Jesse."

"I don't want to lose her."

"I know. But if you aren't honest with her, you will lose her."

"I'm scared, Jim."

"I know. But it's going to be alright, you guys will figure it out. Look at me and Tina."

"Yeah, your ex came out from nowhere and two different guys tried to kiss Tina."

"What?"

"She didn't tell you? I'm so sorry, I thought she had told you."

'We hadn't talked since the Brittney incident,' I didn't say anything. I wanted to call her and ask what was going on, to hear it from her instead of someone else. But I also didn't want to call and demand answers when I knew exactly how things got blown out of proportion. I trusted her, the same way she trusted me.