Toto and the Boys II: George

Chapter 27

George went home that weekend as if nothing happened, as if the next week would not be the last week she would have to spend with Jordan.

She was no longer excited about what they had to do for their last week. She had let herself believe that it would be like any other normal week she had spent with him.

And there was the matter with Dannie whom they had to deal with. Her friend had no one to turn to. No family to go to since it was her family that was her problem. It was her family that Dannie feared.

“What do you think she will do?” Jackie asked her that Saturday night in a whisper.

George looked over at Dannie in the living room talking with Dean.

“I don’t know. She seems normal. She’s acting as if she’s not bothered about it. That’s what worries me the most,” she answered Jackie.

Her friend sighed. “Same here. And I am afraid to ask her. It might trigger something and I don’t want to deal with that either.”

“She’ll talk to us when she’s ready, or if she wants to. She always does.”

“Well, I hope she does soon because I am jumpy as hell. You don’t know if that woman will show up at our doorsteps. If that happens, I wouldn’t want to know what to do, George.”

George just clenched her jaws. “Let’s just make sure that Dannie won’t be bothered by that woman. We’ll pack our bags and find a new apartment if we have to.”

When Sunday came, she tried not to think about Jordan or his trip to Manila. She went to church with Dannie and waited outside with Jackie while Dannie spent a few more minutes with the nuns and the children she worked with.

“So, what are you and Jordan planning to do?” Jackie casually asked. They were sitting on a bench under a tree, watching Toto at the parking lot.

She frowned. “Why do you ask?”

She saw Jackie blink and look away from her. “Nothing. I am just curious. Your families want you two to get married. What are your plans? I am sure that you have spent a lot of time with your mother to convince her to persuade your father not to go through with it, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so. They actually had a fight about it.”

“You saw them at that party. What do you think are they going to do?”

“I don’t know. They look okay together. But then, they can act like they are okay in public. It had happened before. She had not called me yet and she wouldn’t take my calls. I wanted to drop by but she wouldn’t let me. So, I guess I will just have to make a good case next weekend. Jordan and I have to show them why we can’t be together.”

Jackie tilted her head to the side and peered at her. “Why can’t you be together?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why can’t you be together? What are you reasons?”

She was struck dumb for a moment. Yeah, what were the reasons why she shouldn’t be with Jordan? “A lot,” she lied. “We don’t have the same lives. That’s one big difference we can’t both live with.”

“You’ve lived with it for almost twelve weeks now, right?”

“It is still different if it’s the real thing. Why are you asking a lot of questions?”

Again, Jackie blinked and looked away. “Nothing.”

“There’s something you are not telling me, Jackie. What is it?”