If This Isn't Love

33: SEPTEMBER 2018 - Another Birthday

Another birthday.

Luisa put the finishing touches on her makeup. Megan and Selina were throwing her a birthday dinner and had invited all their friends. As the guest of honor, she wanted to arrive at the restaurant a few minutes early, before anyone else was there. After the last few months, Luisa was ready to relax. And ready to deal with the Seokjin issue once and for all.

She and Seokjin had been talking and texting regularly since her father's accident and hospitalization. Luisa liked to think that they had become comfortable with each other once again. He seemed attentive to her in ways that he hadn't been for a long time, and it made her heart flutter.

Her father's condition improved rapidly once he was out of danger. The truck he was driving had been hit by another truck and had slid into a guardrail. His chest had been crushed into the steering wheel, and his heart had stopped for a little while. The EMTs got his heart going again, but one of his lungs had been punctured by a broken rib. The damaged part of the lung had been removed, but the doctor told them that he would recover just fine. Luisa stayed with her parents until the end of July. She returned to Dallas for the start of the new school year.

She was extremely grateful to Seokjin for everything he had done for her and her family. Without his support, she would have been lost. Of course, Megan and Selina had also been very helpful, and both women had also traveled down to see her. Luisa felt so fortunate to have such good friends.

At one point, she began to wonder if she was reading Seokjin wrong. Maybe he was ready to move beyond friendship despite her earlier objections. Even though he'd started seeing someone else, it could be because she was the one who hit the brakes on anything between them. He didn't have to do all the things he did, and yet, he accompanied her to her parents' without hesitation. He got on famously with her parents while he was there. Debbie was over the moon for him, of course. And as much as she didn't want to admit it to herself, she'd never gotten over her feelings for him.

She had texted him her thanks yet again a few days before. He texted back that he looked forward to seeing her at her birthday dinner party and that he had something to tell her.

Her mind had not stopped turning over various scenarios since then. What did he want to tell her? Was it finally going to happen for them? After all this time--years, actually--should they try again?

With Seokjin on her mind, she looked at herself in her full-length mirror one last time. The dress was short and tight with a scalloped trim around the low plunge neckline. Megan had insisted that she buy it. Selina reminded her that while she was not getting any younger, she was getting better and she should flaunt it. The dress showed way more skin than she was used to, but her friends insisted that it was perfect for the occasion. Since Selina and Yoongi's wedding, they had been adamant in insisting that Seokjin had eyes only for her and that maybe it was time to do something about it. This little black dress represented the idea of striking while the iron was hot, they said.

Before grabbing her purse and stepping out of the apartment, she wondered what Seokjin would think of her appearance. She smiled to herself.

The apartments opened up to an outdoor hallway, and she took a step toward the railing to check the clouds for possible rain. As she turned back, she noticed a woman standing by a door about four apartments down.

Was it...? It was Lydia. She was standing outside Seokjin's door. Luisa wracked her brain, trying to remember when Hoseok or Megan or somebody had told her that Seokjin had broken up with Lydia. Maybe she misheard. She turned away, not wanting to get involved.

Luisa's curiosity got the better of her, and she turned her attention back to the woman. She hadn't seen that Lydia had also noticed her and had rapidly unbuttoned her shirt and messed up her hair.

"Lydia?" she called, walking toward the woman.

"Oh...oh, hi, Luisa," Lydia said breathlessly. "I didn't...I didn't know you lived here."

Luisa's eyes studied her for a moment. The top buttons of her blouse were undone, and her red hair was a little wild. She continued: "Yes, I do. How are you?"

"Oh," the redhead smiled coyly. "I was...just visiting Seokjin." She buttoned her shirt slowly. "I sort of needed a little time to, you know, recover."

Luisa nodded slowly. "I see." She didn't see or didn't want to see, but the woman was making it painfully obvious what happened. "Will you be...joining us today? My friends are throwing me a birthday dinner. I'm sure Seokjin told you."

Lydia ran a hand through her hair. "Yes, he did, but no. I won't be going. We're not together together. We just still, uh, hang out." She paused. "Maybe you heard that we broke up?"

"Something like that," Luisa replied.

The other woman giggled. "Yeah, well, we're keeping it quiet that we're still, you know, enjoying each other's company. I'm actually on my way to work. I just needed a little pick-me-up, and Seokjin sure knows how to make a girl feel good."

Luisa felt the weight of awkwardness on her shoulders. "W-Well, I-I hope you have a good day then. Bye."

"Yes," Lydia smiled wider. "I love your dress, by the way. Bye." She walked away swinging her hips.

Luisa's heart was beating rapidly. So, they were enjoying each other's company. They were still hanging out. With a painful swallow, she realized that Seokjin was still sleeping with Lydia. They might not be officially together, but they still had a relationship. The sexy dress she was wearing seemed pointless now.

Another birthday. Another letdown. She breathed in and out slowly, trying not to let the disappointment settle on her face. She was on her way to her birthday dinner, after all. It was the perfect day to start anew and leave the painful past behind. She wondered what Seokjin was going to tell her then berated herself for caring.