Julia's POV
As I was heading towards the table,I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I fished it out to see a new message from Tom. I smiled silly to myself. He clearly wasn't joking when he said he'd text me. I turned my head around to see him smiling sheepishly at me as I shook my head at him until his mother started talking to him which made him give his attention to her. She pointed to the menu,probably asking him what he wanted. Well,no,duh,Julia. Why else would she point at the menu? Captain Obvious,much?
I finally made it back to my table,completely forgetting that I had company. I looked back at my phone,reading the message over and over again.
"You look nice :)" was what he texted.
"Well,I didn't have time to change. You already told me that by the way." I texted back.
I smiled putting the phone down and continued eating my fried rice. I can barely chew properly.
"So,what's his mummy like?" Marie clasped her hands together after she was done talking with Brady.
"She's sweet." I smiled. I looked at Brady and remembered something. I bent over across the table and slapped his shoulder. He let out a soft groan while rubbing it,looking at me like I just murdered his kitty. "Why didn't you tell me you were a gardener?"
Marie widened her crystal clear blue eyes followed by a surprised laugh while covering her mouth. "You were a gardener?"
"Apparently he is." I said,lifting up a dumpling to my mouth with my chopsticks.
"Was." He said in a low voice. "Tom's mummy over there used to hire me to do gardening for her."
"So,you've known Tom this whole time?" Feeling betrayed but excited too.
"No. I've never seen him before. He was probably extremely busy at the time for me to even notice the lad. End of story." He told his short story.
"Interesting." I murmured. Though I wished he'd tell us more.
"Poppy's a lovely woman." Said Brady,sipping on his Chinese tea. I nodded slowly with a grin. Soon,a slight ding came from my phone and vibrated on the table. I swiftly picked it up and started texting back "So,has he texted you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said putting my phone down. Oh,what am I kidding? I've been busted. And I knew it.
"You have to tell him nonetheless, Jules." Both my friends said in unison.
"Yeah,I get it,okay?" I said. "It's just texting." I put my hands up showing that I surrendered.
"Don't get us wrong,Julia. It's not bad if you want to be with him. It's bad if you don't tell him." Marie said somewhat wisely.
"There's still two more dumplings. Who wants them?" I ignored her statement. Pushing around the bowl that was occupied with the dumplings.
"Fine,be that way. I have a box of chick flicks and ice cream stocked in the freezer if it happens." She rolled her eyes.
"Love you." I said with a sweet smile. Brady on the other hand was busy talking to someone on the phone with a low and harsh tone. He slammed the phone down on the table gently but it still showed anger. Marie and I looked at him with concern looks. "Was that Jane The Heartbreaker?" I rolled my eyes.
"How can you tell?" He gave me a frustrated look while running his hand through his hair.
"Don't do anything she said." I assumed she's making him do something.
"She just wanted to know if I wanted to go out with her."
"She's a bitch." I protested.
"Language,Julia. We do not encourage profanity." They said jokingly.
"Just don't...do it. She broke your heart,Brady. The second time,she broke it again. And she's probably going to do it again the third time."
"She sounded quite genuine." He started slowly.
"That's what you said the last time she called you." Marie pointed out. She grabbed her chopsticks and said, "You know what,I am going to have the last two dumplings."
"Whatever you wanna do. Just know that I have a freezer stocked with ice cream." She said again but to Brady of course. It's true. We do have a freezer filled with ice cream in many flavours.
"Don't worry,girls. I'm not going to fall for it again." He said sighing. "Can I still have some ice cream even if I'm not going out with her?"
"No. Those ice cream are specifically bought for moments of despair." Marie said seriously. It's true. So,if you're having a terrible day,feel free to stop by our place for ice cream.
Curious,I asked Brady,"Why aren't you hanging out with Nathan? Or Dean? Instead you're having dinner with us girls."
"Have you not noticed their disappearance?" My eyes widened in shock.
"Don't take it literally,Julia." Marie said. "He means that they've been with their girlfriends lately. But word on the streets says that Dean's been snogging with random girls behind a bar every night."
"What happened to him? He used to be fun." I said.
She continued,"And also I heard Nathan's been getting in trouble with the law. But,honestly I don't know. It could just be rumours. A hoax."
"We haven't communicated with each other lately." Brady said shrugging. "I'd rather be with you girls anyways. It's less drama,in a way." He added the last bit which made Marie roll her eyes.
••••••••••••••••••
We were done with dinner by 8 pm. I decided to go say farewell to Tom and his mother since I'd already met them earlier and it'd only be rude if I didn't. I told my friends to wait for me outside if they didn't want to follow me but they insisted since they too think it's polite to do so.
"Hey,um,we're about to head off. We just wanted to say goodbye." I started rather awkwardly rubbing my hands together.
"Oh,so soon? Alright,it was lovely to meet you,darling." Poppy squeezed my hand. She looked behind me and smiled. I moved to the side a bit to let Brady come through. "Brady,are you by any chance still gardening? The grass in my garden has been growing an awful lot."
"No,Poppy. I left that business a while ago. You could try Jim's Gardening. I heard they're really good." Brady smiled apologetically.
"Oh,that's too bad. You were lovely. Thank you again for your help. It's so nice to see you again,dear."
"Likewise,Poppy." He smiled.
Tom got up abruptly, nearly hitting his head on the light bulb that was hanging above the ceiling due to his height. He scooted out of the chair and came to me. He rubbed his neck.
"I'll see you soon? Maybe? " He said hopefully. I just smiled. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing that I'll later regret. Marie and Brady waved at me from the entrance, I was about to turn around my heels when I heard Tom say,"And I purposely extended our time today just so I could get to know you better." When I turned around,he winked. Making me blush like mad.
Why does he have to have that effect on me?
It's not fair.
