DON'T BREAK THE RULES

Chapter 15 - Bridgette

Joe was confused.

Jamie behaved as if everything was normal around the appartement. They're dynamic was as usual; Jamie not speaking a word and being in his own little world as he hummed to himself. Joe simply eyed him from the living room, watching Jamie search through the fridge before removing all the food and cleaning because he found a leaking spot.

As if he had not caused a scandal hours earlier.

Joe's mind was racing ever since; Jamie had announced that they were dating and his ex-husband was standing not even three feet away. Connor had forsure heard the news and most likely talked about it with Chris when they left. Joe had not expected to see Connor that early after their divorce, and the way in which he had made his cheeks beam red, even more embarrassed. Even more embarrassing was the fact that Jamie announced them to be a couple, which meant Connor probably thought of him to be a joke since he was dating a kid.

"I'm going to the bar." These intrusive thoughts were harsher on him than he realized, ruining his mood to the point that he craved alcohol all of a sudden. "I'll be back soon."

"Everything okay?" Jamie noticed the gloom from Joe's eyes and stopped cleaning for a moment.

"Just need to drink."

Jamie's eyes diverted to the bottles of beer he had purchased for Joe, all squeezed against one another one the counter. He had removed them from the fridge during his cleaning "There's drinks here."

He was surprised since Jamie appeared worried. "The atmosphere is different at a bar though."

Although Jamie was not convinced, he shrugged his shoulders and returned his focus to his duty. "Call me when you get there."

"Will do," and he was out the door before Jamie could protest.

Joe could not stop thinking about the blank stare Connor had sent him when he heard of that. Even the way Chris' gaze had widened, as if in complete disbelief that Jamie had gotten himself a partner. Besides, the hostility between Jamie and Chris had not been normal; what had happened between them? The worse part was Chris never had troubles with anyone; he was easy to be around and was the clearest people pleaser anybody had met.

That made him realize that he really did know nothing of Jamie. Not only did Fred admit to having strange vibes from him, but Chris was the kindest person to ever walk on this earth and if he had a problem with Jamie, then there are deeper secrets Jamie had not been sharing.

There were no regulars at the bar and Joe sat at the counter, handing a twenty dollar bill at the bartender while requesting for a Long Island.

The bartender recognized him. "Aren't you Joe?"

Joe glanced upwards; he had seen the bartender frequently but never conversed with him. Never did he really talk to anybody hence his prudence with that inquiry. There were a few things he had done at this bar that he was sure some people remembered, such as not paying for his drinks or spilling way too many drinks on the floors and sprinting away before they could hassle him.

He lowered his eyes, staring at the counter while he muffled, "Depends who's asking?"

"Your Jamie's roommate, aren't you?"

That instantly caught his attention and he raised an eyebrow, "...still depends who's...asking...?"

"I'm Craig," he finally smiled, pushing a drink over to Joe. "I work with Jamie, obviously. I just never met you and Jamie never introduced you—he has mentioned you though."

Joe's muscles loosened, feeling a bite more warm than they did a second prior. To hear that Jamie had mentioned him was enough to send his heartbeat array. His quivering fingers reached for the drink his drink as he exhaled a nervous chuckle. "Nothing terrible, I hope."

"No, he just mentioned you left once and he felt lonely when you were gone," Craig admitted with a wink.

His heartbeat instantly quickened and he felt his palm build with sweat. "...Ha...you don't say..."

"Yea, he said you guys had a little argument, but I suppose you moved back in?"

He must be talking about the night I was drunk.

Joe nodded his head; he was eager to ask about what else Jamie had said about him, but being intrusive in that way was not in his best interest at the moment. With the whole situation involving Connor and Chris, he needed to focus on himself and this was only going to bother him even more if Jamie said anything negative.

"I did move back in," Joe's tone became quite dry.

And he was moments from standing from his seat to go elsewhere when Craig said, "Honestly, by the way he was talking about you, I'd assume you both are dating." Joe slowly nodded his head with a smile, but it vanished when Craig added, "Too bad he's not gay though. His girlfriend is smoking, so I don't blame him."

That cause Joe's heart to skip a beat. He swallowed hard and repeated, "Girlfriend?"

"Yea, Bridgette?" When Joe's face kept its confusion, Craig instantly understood where he went wrong and knew Jamie would be pissed the next time they saw each other. "I shouldn't have assumed he told you about her."

There was a pause that settled between the two, Craig attempting to pull away from the conversation but not being able to since there were no other customers at the bar. As for Joe, he was contemplating whether to ask more questions. Technically, it wasn't any of his business, but Jamie wasn't telling him anything. "How long have they been dating?" He couldn't even stare at Craig in the eyes when he asked.

Craig shrugged his shoulders, glancing towards the ceiling. "Three...three four years? It's been a while, she used to come here often until they moved away. I haven't seen her here ever since though."

"You know her?"

"Yes, Bridgette Hools, she's a babe." Craig felt into a trance, thinking about all her beautiful features and biting his bottom lip. He had had a crush on her for the longest time until Jamie swooped on and wooed her heart. "I could've had her back then, said no though."

Joe was not interested in that, rather wanted to know more about Jamie and Bridgette. But the more he knew, the darker became his gloom and his stomach twirled on itself even more, feeling as if he would vomit all the beers he had drank. Bridgette had the characteristics of a model, had been a student-athlete her entire life, achieved a scholarship to an Ivy League school, graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and was attempting to open her own business. She was much much better than him, and by the end of the night, Joe felt that he knew Bridgette more than he knew Jamie.

He left the bar drunk out of his mind wishing that he had listened to Jamie and never left the home. Talking to Craig made he feel worse than he originally did, and he had no desire to speak to Jamie at the moment. Hence, he left the bar and began walking carelessly down the streets slobbering his words and tilting from side to side from his drunkenness, attempting to ignore the stinging in his heart.