Mr. Badass ✔

24 The Friendship of laborers

Gemma's POV.

Men always seem to recover from breakups faster than women.

While I'm still feeling down, Luke's life is already moving forward at full speed. One weekday morning, a beautiful woman wearing sunglasses shows up at the car dealership. She's dressed in a brown trench coat, a mini skirt, and high boots, with long, wavy hair cascading over her shoulders.

I recognize her face. She's Luke's previous blind date.

But she doesn't recognize me. When she sees me in uniform, she stops me and smiles politely, "Hey, is your boss here? I have an appointment with him."

I point her in the direction of the office and then return to selling cars to customers.

But today's customers are especially difficult. One has test-driven five times and still haven't made a decision. The other keep pushing for a discount. And the last one is in a rush, wanting to pick up his car tomorrow, as if cars could be manufactured, shipped, and delivered overnight.

After work, I'm exhausted and head to the café next door to buy a dessert to boost my energy.

I sit by the window, trying to find some happiness in a junk food, when suddenly a shadow falls over me.

I look up and see Jacob sitting across from me.

He's off work, his cap removed, revealing a head full of wild curls. He's wearing a black T-shirt with some exaggerated graffiti on the front.

"Hey, I saw your boyfriend with another woman here today having coffee."

I nod emotionlessly, "I know."

He raises an eyebrow and leans in closer, his eyes gleaming with gossip. "What's going on? You guys broke up?"

"Uh-huh."

Hearing that we've broken up, he chuckles, "Weren't you acting all smug before? How come you got dumped so fast?"

I swallow the dessert in my mouth. "If my misfortune makes you a little happier, then in some way, that's a good thing."

Jacob grins even wider, "If I were your boyfriend, I'd dump you too."

He eyes me critically, "You eat so messy."

"Uh-huh." I keep eating.

"And you have a bad temper. Always giving people bad reviews. Are you that free?"

I'm surprised he remembers something from so long ago, but I don't feel like arguing, so I nod, "Uh-huh."

"You're also petty. You even went through the trouble of getting a few dollars back for a teddy bear."

"Uh-huh." I nod again and keep eating, stuffing large bites into my mouth.

But as I eat—

"Hey! Are you crying?!" Jacob suddenly stands up, his chair scraping the floor with an ear-piercing screech.

He looks around and then lowers his voice, leaning toward me. "You're not trying to get me in trouble with the manager again, are you?"

I don't want to cry, but the tears fall on their own, landing in my dessert, creating little craters in the cream.

Jacob sits back down and hands me a tissue. "Could you stop crying? I'm terrified of women crying."

"Or is it that you just can't handle the truth? Did I hurt your pride?"

I take the tissue and keep crying. The more I cry, the more tears fall. Soon, even my dessert tastes salty.

Jacob lets out a long sigh. "I really can't deal with you."