Ten days have passed since I met with Jay and to my relief, Brad and I have not talked about it again. I'm not proud of lying to him about the real reason Jay wanted to see me but I can't bring myself to tell him the truth, even though I truly want to because there's simply no right moment. And I've decided I'm not going to pretend to be Jay's fiancée at his brother's wedding anyway, so there's no reason Brad needs to know about it. Even if a part of me feels guilty for everything that happened between Jay and me, it's not enough of a reason to risk my relationship with Brad. I'm sitting on the couch in my shorts and tank top pyjamas, scrolling through job posts I could potentially be a good fit for when the doorbell rings, making me spill the boiling hot cup of tea l was holding in my hand all over my bare legs. I swear at myself as I quickly put it down on the coffee table and run to the kitchen to cool down the burn on my thigh. I grab a kitchen towel and run it under the tap with cold water before putting it on my now red and sensitive thigh. Another knock echoes in my apartment and I realize I forgot the very reason I spilled tea on myself in the first place. I know it's not Brad as he's at his place with Tristan for the day and he wouldn't bother to knock before entering anyways. I make my way to the door, still holding the kitchen towel on my burnt thigh, pain throbbing through it and open it to see Jay standing on my front step. My heart skips a beat at the sight of him as he's the last person I expected to see.
"Hey Em", he says, his eyes moving from mine to my thigh. "Are you okay?"
I quickly shake the surprised look off my face and remove the towel from my leg.
"Yeah, nothing too serious", I say as I look down at my burning thigh where small blisters have started to appear. "What are you doing here?"
"I...", he starts to say, clearly uncomfortable. "Mmh, do you mind if I come in?"
I blankly stare at him for a second, not sure whether or not letting him in is a good idea but eventually open the door completely for him to come in. I close it behind him and he makes his way to the living room where he sits down on the sofa next to my still open laptop.
"Looking for a job?", he asks, looking at my screen. I can't believe he's making himself at home as if we're friends and has the audacity to look at my laptop screen. What if I was watching porn?
"Hmm yeah", I answer as I grab my MacBook and close it before putting it down on the table. "Look, Jay, I don't think this is a good idea", I add as I stand next to him.
"What?", he asks as if what I'm referring to isn't obvious.
"You being here", I answer, the pain in my thigh making it hard for me to focus on my conversation with him. "We shouldn't see each other anymore"
"I don't see why we can't be friends", he answers, looking straight into my eyes. "Let me guess, Brad doesn't want me hanging around. Funny how he's giving you shit for seeing me when he doesn't seem to have a problem seeing his ex", he adds and I freeze. What is he talking about? There's no way Brad's seeing Ashley behind my back. No, whatever Jay's trying to do isn't going to work. I have a blind trust in Brad. He would never do that to me.
"What are you talking about?", I ask, feeling my heart race in my chest.
"Fuck, you didn't know...", Jay says in a sorry tone before standing up and coming closer to me. "You know what, forget it. I'm sure he has his reasons not to tell you. And it was probably just a friendly lunch, nothing else", he adds as tears start to blur up my vision. I feel nauseous at the thought of Brad and Ashley having lunch together but even more at the thought of Brad hiding it from me. But if it's true and they did meet, why didn't Brad tell me about it? I know I haven't been completely honest with him about what Jay wanted to talk to me about that day but I never hid the fact that Jay wanted to see me in the first place. Why hasn't he told me? And most importantly, who reached out to the other? Was meeting for lunch his idea or Ashley's? Is what Jay is saying even true?
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FRIENDS - BWS
Fanfiction"Don't even try to deny it", she spat at me. "I see the way you look at Brad, the way you talk to him as if you two are the only ones in the room. You're constantly around him, craving his attention. It's pathetic". "Wow, I'm pathetic? Yet I'm not t...
