The Heartbreaker's Game

22 - A New Friend

Jay’s POV

I don’t understand. What the hell is this feeling? Why does it feel as though I’m connected to her? Why, why, why?

She turned to me and smiled, putting an apron on to cover her clothes.

I forced a smile to her. Then I noticed we were almost finished with the dirty dishes for now. I should call Scott, ask him what this was all about. “I’ll be back,” I told her, taking my rubber gloves out. “I just need to make a quick phone call.”

She shrugged. “I won’t be going anywhere,” she said.

I stepped outside, in the back lane, and called Scott. He didn’t pick up. Damn, why? I tried to call over and over again. After, like, ten minutes, the call got through.

“Hello?” His face appeared on the once-blank screen.

“Scott, what the hell?” I asked angrily.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Scott asked calmly.

“You know what I mean,” I hissed at him.

“Ah . . .” He knew he couldn’t avoid me.  He sighed, rubbing his temple. “What do you want to know?”

There was so many questions I wanted to ask, so many things I want to know. I didn’t know how to say it to him but one thing for sure: I was not happy about this.

“You lied!”

“I did not lie,” he said, mollified.

“You told me that Darcy was the girl for me!” I growled. “So why do I feel as though that girl I just met, that Heather girl, is actually the right one?”

Scott shrugged but he looked just as annoyed as I was. “Well, that means Darcy was connected to her in some ways,” he explained.

“I figured that out, genius,” I snapped hotly. “The question is, why did you let me believe that I had found my girl?”

“I’m not allowed to give any information about the girl until you’ve found her,” he reminded me. “It’s one of the rules.”

God, I forgot he was a stickler for rules.

“Couldn’t you have bent it a little to give me hints? I mean, that’s why we have this stupid watch!” I cannot believe he was being so calm about this as if this was . . . not a big deal. “Do you want me to win or not?”

“Of course I want you to win, idiot!” he exclaimed exasperatedly. “But rules are rules! Even the slightest bent would mean disqualification. How do you think I felt when you told me you found her even though I knew she wasn’t the girl?”

“And how do you think I feel about this whole situation?” Scott flinched, having no means of denying this. “I worked so hard just to try to get Darcy, only to find out that she was never the girl I’m supposed to play with!” I fumed.

“All right, all right, keep your hairnet on,” my leader grumbled. “Look, just win her heart, okay? And do it fast.” Without another word, the screen blanked out.

I screamed in frustration, having an urge to tear my hair out. “Ugh! Fuck this!” I kicked a ball of newspaper around before turning back inside the kitchen. The chefs all shouted, while waiters and waitresses called orders or took orders. I returned to sink and my face fell.

We had a new hoard of dirty dishes to clean.

I walked back to her and put the gloves back on to help her wash the plates. “Sorry it took so long,” I apologized, sighing heavily.