Bittersweet Moments

32 | Apology Cupcake

32 | Apology Cupcake

"Hold on, can you repeat that?"

As I raised a hand to interrupt a talking Jessica, she stared at me, as if caught with a secret. I stopped spreading the icing to listen more intently at what she had to say. If my ears heard correctly, I heard her mentioning something about dating Lawrence.

"He's – uh – making advances at me, Ollie," but then Jessica cringed, as if chastising herself, "No, not that bad kind of advances. Just . . . moves, like holding my hand, 'accidentally' touching my arm or face and sometimes, he just stares at me. Does he do this often?"

I hummed, thinking about how I had talked to Lawrence yesterday. He hadn't brought that up, because the topic of our conversation had been me and Jackson.

We were in my house's kitchen, where I was making a personalized cupcake in peace. For once, I had to make it for myself because it was for Jackson. Lawrence made me see that if neither of us is going to do something about mending the relationship, I might as well go for it.

I was tired of waiting. I had to march to the Dales and apologize to him over and over again. And I won't even sneak a bite at the cupcake.

"He has a thing for you, obviously," I told Jess, "And you don't seem to be too happy about it. Is he making you uncomfortable?"

She was with me because she felt like she needed a girl to talk to. According to Jessica, her friends in college were both busy and not easy to converse with. She found me helpful, and she needed help with Lawrence. After all, I knew him best.

"Yes, he is. I'm his matchmaker, for God's sake, and he shouldn't act that way with me. I'm trying to get him a girlfriend, but none of my contacts are interested."

"Well . . ." It could be a strange idea to suggest, but I thought they needed it. I wasn't much of an expert with love, but I could tell that there was hope for both of them.

I carried on putting the icing, "It's Lawrence. You can just go talk to him about it if you don't like it. But in my opinion, he's trying to get you. Now, don't feel offended. It's just because he cares about you."

"But I don't like him that way," Jessica murmured. The thing about her was that she was always on edge, ready to topple down when attacked with problems. She was heavily guarded, and Lawrence was open.

"If you can't find him a girlfriend, then why not just take the job?" There. I said it.

Jessica was surprised, as if the idea never crossed her mind. "Me?" she said with incredulity, "Not me! I can never - ! When I agreed to be his matchmaker, I was not looking for a boyfriend. Just here for the car rides."

"It can't hurt Jess," I told her, "You know why?"

"No, why?"

"Because if you give it a shot, he won't let you down. Being with Lawrence Riley can be the best opportunity because he will always treat you like the queen you are. You don't have to be afraid of him."

Jessica seemed so disbelieving about the thought. "So I just date him like that? When I don't know him that well? We're not even spending that much time together!"

I laughed, partially in doubt that we had seen the same thing. She did spend time with Lawrence a lot, always over at his flat or the other way around. I even knew they studied together. They'd go visit the shop, he'd talk to her casually, and she's involuntarily laugh at his jokes.

And here was Jessica, insisting that they were just friends. Heads up, Lawrence wasn't letting you go that easily.

I smirked, hand on my hip, "Why? How long will it take before you let a man take you out?"