Mark My Words

Chapter 16: Broken

I got to Starbucks at exactly 3:00, and sure enough Danielle was sitting at a table, staring down at her phone.

I walked over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. “Hi, Danielle, thank you so much for meeting up with me.”

“Aw, no problem!” She sprung up and gave me a hug. Oh my God, was she always this nice? “You look so pretty!” She complimented me.

I looked down at what I was wearing. I really wasn’t dressed to impress anyone. I was wearing jean shorts and a zebra print crop top. “Thank you,” I said. She was quite the flatterer.

“I asked Zayn what you like getting here, and since it’s too hot out, I ordered your favorite cold drink for you.” 

Just then, the barista called my name and I walked over to get my Iced Green Tea Lemonade. Long name, amazing taste. “You didn’t have to,” I said as I began to sip my drink. 

“It’s no big deal,” she said. “So what do you want to talk about?”

I was almost reluctant to bring up her pregnancy in the first place, but I had to know what was going on between her and Liam. “Well, it’s about you and Liam.” I said nervously, immediately biting my nails after.

“Oh,” was all I heard her say. I’m sure she went on in great detail about what happened, but I only caught the end. “So then I broke off the engagement. Liam was really disappointed in me, but I knew it was for the best. Then he told me about you two and how he wanted to be with you. I completely understand, and I’m not mad at all. Please go on without me, let it be.” She seemed really down afterwards.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry I even called you up. But I couldn’t continue my relationship with Liam if I knew you still wanted to be with him.” I took a long breath before asking her the ultimate question. “Do you love him?”

“What?”

“Do you love him? Do you still want to be with Liam? Do you want to be his wife?” I went to sip my drink so I didn’t have to look at her, but it was empty. The sound of my straw stirring up the ice covered up the horribly awkward silence.

“I’ll always love him, Jordin, but I don’t want to be his wife. I can’t. Not after what I’ve done,” she sighed. “He’s way too good for me. I don’t deserve him.” Her face got puffy and she began to cry. The defensive older sister in me walked right over to her side of the table and gave her a hug. I felt her cry into my shirt, as it slowly got wet from her salty tears. 

“You’re a great person, okay? Don’t ever think otherwise. Everyone has made mistakes before, it helps us learn. It doesn’t make you worth any less.” I squeezed her tight. This was not the image I had in my head at the beginning of this Starbucks meet up. When I let go, I heard her say something I’ll never forget.

“You have no idea.” She stood up to leave. “Jordin, I don’t plan on ever seeing you again, so I’ll have you know that I saw you kissing Liam and it wasn’t a big deal to me. You may think you’re bad, but I’m a hundred times worse. If you only knew…”

“What do you mean?” I asked, starting to stand up. If I had to chase Danielle all across England I would.

She rubbed her belly, winked, and walked out of the Starbucks. The next time I would see Danielle would be the very last, and it was about three months away.

I sat down in one of the big, comfortable Starbucks chairs and leaned back in it. I rubbed my forehead and tried to process what just happened. She said I might have been bad, but she was worse. I knew this had something to do with the baby, but what? I only really had one idea, and it seemed a little far-fetched.

What if I knew the father of the baby?

What if LIAM knew the father of the baby?

What if he was our friend?

What if he was in One Direction?