Home For The Holidays

Sixteen

Thursday, December 31, 2020
The Rosebud
8:00 pm

Jay sat at the bar at the Rosebud downing alcoholic drink after drink, trying not to think about Beyoncé.

He had tried texting and calling her, but she wasn't responding, so he figured the next best thing he could do was to drink and drink until he couldn't remember who she was.

So far, it wasn't working.

"Hey," Odell said as he sat down next to Jay.

"Go fuck yourself Odell," Jay said.

"Nah, I'm good right here," Odell replied.

"You must have some kind of balls to be talking to me right now," Jay told him.

"Look man. I did you a favor," Odell replied.

"Oh, yeah, thank you for taking the only woman that's made me happy in a really long time," Jay told him.

"You really should be thanking me. Now, you can get back to doing what you love. Sleeping with a different woman every night," Odell said.

"I don't love it. I do it because they're there, and they're easy. I do it to fill a void that my parents' divorce created, but Bey is different. Finally, I thought I'd found someone who was more than enough, and I was willing to give up that lifestyle for her, but you didn't give me a chance to even try to do right by her. You just filled her head with lies, knowing that she'd believe you over me," Jay replied.

"Jay, you're lying to yourself. Remember Cassie?" Odell asked him.

"Don't bring up Cassie. I was eighteen years old," Jay told him.

"You said the same things about her. You said that she was the one. You were gonna change for her and do right by her. You were with her for three years, and then you slept with her best friend over and over again, until she caught you two in bed together, and it broke her heart," Odell said.

"I loved Cassie, alright? But my dad had just left, and I wasn't in the right headspace. I fucked up with her. You don't have to remind me. I got enough hell from her," Jay replied.

"And you've never been in a steady, healthy relationship since. You'll fuck up with Bey, and I'm gonna do what I have to do to protect my baby sister from you, so I'm not gonna give you a chance to fuck up with her and break her heart like you did with Cassie," Odell told him.

"That's just the thing. You don't know if I was gonna break her heart, and I was gonna do everything in my power not to, but I guess we'll never know because she broke up with me, so good job Odell. You got exactly what you wanted," Jay said.

"I'm sorry you're hurt man, but you and I both know that it won't last for long. You'll find another girl to sleep with, and you'll forget about Bey. I did what was best for the both of you," Odell told him.

"No, you did what was best for you. Just because you might've been a little weirded out by us dating," Jay told him.

"You'll see. It was for the best. That way I don't have to worry about you hurting her, and you don't have to worry about monogamy," Odell told him.