Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2)

by Guimond, Heather

  “You know I’m still not ready to get into anything serious at this point, Justin. I just want to make that clear since you’ve been more than transparent about what you want. I’m happy to spend time with you, you know that, but I don’t want to send the wrong message.”

  “Peaches, don’t overthink it. If you want to come out to lunch with me, just come out. I’m not going to read any secret messages into it,” he said.

  “Okay, then. As long as we each know where we stand, let’s get together tomorrow. Give me a call in the late morning, and we’ll figure out where and when.”

  Once we hung up, I dropped the phone to the bed beside me. I was relieved he hadn’t asked about my plans that night. I wasn’t going to hide my relationship with James, but I wasn’t exactly eager to discuss it with him either. It kind of made me a bit sad since being my best friend, Justin was just the person I’d like to talk about James with under other circumstances. Now, it was just inappropriate.

  After finishing the rest of my housekeeping tasks, I settled down with one of my textbooks and my trusty highlighter and began to read the assigned chapters again. I found my mind wandering after a few minutes, however, to the upcoming visit from James. I couldn’t imagine what he wanted to talk about. He’d been completely honest about his feelings the weekend before so what was left to say? He, too, suddenly wanted more than I could offer. I didn’t think it was fair to put restrictions on me by expecting me to be exclusive to him as if we were in a committed relationship while we were just getting to know each other. What was the point in that? I certainly didn’t want, nor expect, it from him. Tossing my textbook and notes aside, I looked at the time on my phone. It was just before seven o’clock so I decided to take a shower to kill time until James arrived.

  Just as I was finishing getting dressed, my doorbell rang. Barefoot and dressed casually in a pair of faded denim jeans and a plum-colored tank top, I hurried to the door.

  James was standing outside wearing his own pair of faded jeans and a U.S. Navy t-shirt. For once, he didn’t greet me with his mischievous smile. He just nodded and said a quick, “Hello, Mimi.”

  I opened the door wider and stood back to let him inside. “Hi, James. How was your day?”

  “It wasn’t bad. The usual stuff. Listen, can we sit down? I want to talk, and I don’t want to pussy-foot around.”

  I led him into the living room and despite his seeming sense of urgency, I offered him something to drink. I was surprised when he requested some water, thinking he would have waved my offer off in favor of getting down to whatever was on his mind. Nevertheless, I went to the kitchen and retrieved two bottles of water and returned to the living room handing him one. He sat in the large arm chair that Vance used to love so much while I took a seat in the corner of the sofa across from him and curled my legs beside me.

  “So, what’s on your mind?” I asked. “You were pretty clear the other night. I can’t imagine what else there is to say that would prompt you to drive all this way just for a discussion tonight.”

  He cleared his throat and took a sip of water. Putting the bottle down on the coffee table, he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs.

  “I did some thinking all the way home the other night and ever since. I don’t want to stop seeing you. I really like you, and I think we have a good shot together. I haven’t met a woman whose company I’ve enjoyed as much as I enjoy yours in a long time.

  “Yes, I’m a bit possessive. I don’t like to share, and I don’t like the feeling that I’m competing for attention. But, like I said, I don’t want to stop seeing you. I get that you’re just getting back into the swing of things so to speak. I respect what you’ve been through. I decided I’m not going to back away from you just because there’s another guy who realizes how wonderful you are and wants you for himself. I don’t know anything about this guy other than he’s been your friend for a while, but I’ll show you the man that I am and why I’m a better choice.”

  For a time, I didn’t know what to say. While I hadn’t known what to expect, it certainly wasn’t this. I also enjoyed James’ company immensely, but I didn’t realize just how much he did mine. I had been doing my best to follow the advice Vance had always given me: don’t overthink things.

  “I really like you too, James, but you know that.”

  He grinned for the first time that night. “Yes, I do.”

  “I am glad you’d like to keep seeing each other, but I can’t make you any promises. There’s no particular ‘end’ to this road, a date I can point to where I’ll make a decision between the two of you. Who knows, I might even meet someone else. Do you understand that, and for me this is not a competition between the two of you to see who is best for me? I don’t even know what that is yet. I’m happy to spend time with you, enjoying you,” it was my turn to grin, “all of you, but I don’t want to give you any false expectations. If we become exclusive, it’s going to happen by attrition. It will be because we find ourselves spending so much time together and are so full of each other that there’s just no longer room for anyone else. It’ll happen naturally or not at all.”

  “Not only do I understand that, I accept it. You’ll see, Mimi. I’m the guy for you.”

  “There’s that unwavering confidence again.”

  “I told you before, Mimi. I know what I want, and I know how to get it.”

  I just shook my head, smiling. His determination was amusing and flattering. I didn’t feel bullied in the slightest. He took it as fact that an exclusive relationship between us was an eventuality. To be honest, I admired his certainty when so much of me was uncertain at the time.

  “I can’t stress enough to you that I’m not in a position to choose, and I don’t see myself in an exclusive relationship anytime soon. I’m not a player; I’m not trying to deceive you. I just want whatever we have to be something honest.”

  “I’m good with things how they are right now, Mimi. As I said, I put a lot of thought into this. I want you, and if this is what it takes, then I’m in.”

  His words were an echo of Justin’s when we went to Catalina Island. I really didn’t understand how I’d suddenly become this hot property between the two of them, and they were both so sure of what they wanted. How could they want someone as unsure as me? It really wasn’t sitting well with me. I was being as honest as possible with the both of them, but I wasn’t the kind of girl who strung men along so I felt pressure to make a choice. My mind rebelled against that thought and momentarily I thought of giving them both the heave-ho. I immediately dismissed it, however. Justin was a permanent part of my life, and I really did want to keep spending time with James. Having come to think of myself as a selfish person in the not too distant past, this only made me feel like more of one. I recalled my dream about Vance and Grace’s advice, and decided to proceed cautiously.

  “Alright, James. As long as we’re both going into this with an open mind, I don’t see why we shouldn’t keep seeing each other.” I smiled.

  He leaned back into the chair and gave me a very self-satisfied smile. “You won’t regret it, Mimi. I’m going to fulfill all your dreams.”

  I closed my eyes and did my best to keep from laughing. I’d never met a guy as cocky as James. I wondered if he ever fell short of his own expectations. I asked him as much.

  “Never. Sometimes I just change my direction,” he said with a wink.

  “Oh, I see how you are. When you get tired of waiting, you’ll ‘just change your direction’.”

  “Not where you’re concerned. Don’t worry your pretty blonde head about that.” With that, he stood and smoothed down his jeans. “I don’t want to run out on you, but I have an early morning and need to get back on the road to base. It was just important to me to say what I had to say face-to-face.”

  “I’m really glad you made the trip. We could have discussed it on the phone, but it’s always good to see you.”

  “No, you had to see my sincerity. Now I’d really bett
er go before I start stripping you out of those jeans,” he said with that familiar glint returning to his eye.

  I laughed. “All right, wild man. Let me walk you to the door.” He grabbed my hand as we walked through the house. When we reached the door, he pulled me to him and gave me a long, slow kiss. He finished up with a small kiss on the tip of my nose.

  “We’re out all day tomorrow, so I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to call you. If not, I’ll call you Wednesday.” He leaned in and kissed me softly again and then went out the door.

  I went back to the living room and picked up our water bottles. After pouring them out and tossing them into the recycling bin, I turned out all the lights and headed back to my bedroom. It was only a little past nine. I thought about James driving home. He was crazy; it was nearly a four-hour drive. When he got home, that would mean he drove almost eight hours total to have a one-hour conversation with me. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.

  Though it was still relatively early, I decided to turn in for the night. It had been quite a day for me setting both Justin and James straight on where I was in my head about our respective relationships. Truth was, it was all making my head spin a little bit, and I was tired.

  I put on my most comfortable pajamas and climbed into bed. I turned on the television for a little background noise to distract me from any thoughts that may still be churning around in my head. I found a rerun of The Golden Girls and drifted off to sleep listening to the funny dialog of the ladies and wondering if that was how Grace, Jessica, Liz, and I would be in our old age.

  I slept late the next morning. With nowhere to go until lunch time and no urgent business pressing, I laid about like a lazy cat. Justin called around ten o’clock, and we agreed to meet at noon at Pink’s for hot dogs. It had been forever since I’d had a dog from the famous hot dog stand, and my mouth had started watering when Justin suggested it. There was sure to be a long line, there almost always was, but it was always worth it.

  As ever, I arrived about ten minutes late. Justin must have been early because not only had he ordered chili cheese dogs for both of us, but he had managed to snag one of the few tables they had for customers.

  “Late as usual,” Justin commented with a grin. “Of course, I anticipated that and ordered for you. I hope you didn’t have any other ideas about what you wanted.”

  “Of course not! Pink’s chili dogs are so good I’ve never bothered to try anything else!”

  “You know, I don’t think I ever have either. One of these days, we’re going to have to come here with no other mission than to try other things. We’ll create our own tasting menu.” We both laughed.

  “You’re on,” I told him. Just then I heard a female voice call my name. I turned to find Delia standing there with a tray of food. She had called my name, but her eyes were on Justin. I giggled to myself. The man was a looker, I’d give him that.

  “Hey Delia! What a surprise to run into you here. Are you with someone, or are you alone?” I asked, looking around.

  “I just stopped by to grab a quick bite on my way to visit my mom. I was going to eat in my car, but would you mind if I joined you two?”

  “No, by all means, please sit.” I said, with a glance at Justin. He had a resigned look on his face. I guessed he wasn’t too pleased by the idea of company.

  “Great!” Delia said. “I wasn’t looking forward to wolfing down my meal alone.”

  She placed her tray on the table and took the seat next to me. She reached out her hand to Justin and said, “Hi, I’m Delia.”

  “Delia and I are in the same class together at UCLA.” I told Justin. “She’s the one I told you about.”

  “Don’t believe a word she says.” Delia joked.

  “Hi Delia, I’m Justin. It’s very nice to meet you,” he said, shaking her hand over the table. Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to take a couple bites of my hot dog. I moaned in pleasure. Despite the triglycerides, there were few things in life as delicious. I looked at Delia’s tray and saw that she had a hamburger.

  “How can you come to Pink’s and not get a hot dog?” I asked incredulously.

  “I’m not real crazy about hot dogs, but their hamburgers are very good,” she said.

  “I’m thinking there’s something wrong with you,” I teased.

  She gave me a slight frown, but turned to Justin who was looking on with a bemused expression on his face.

  “So, how do you know Mimi, Justin?” she asked. I looked at her sideways since I had explained my dilemma with Justin and James to her the night we went out. I had explained my history with Justin. Surely she remembered me mentioning him.

  Justin swallowed the bite of hot dog he had been chewing and answered. “We’ve known each other about five years now. Her late husband, Vance, was my best friend.”

  “You were married before, Mimi??” she exclaimed. “How did we not cover that the other night?”

  I was confused. I had explained the last four years of my life to her the night we went out. Moreover, in addition to her sudden amnesia, I found her statement odd on its own. It was almost as if she’d missed a tidbit of gossip rather than learning something intimate and frankly sad about my past.

  “I told you I had been,” I said simply. “He’s been gone almost three years.”

  “Wow, I had no idea,” she remarked, pretending she didn’t already know even though I’d just reminded her. She turned back to Justin. “Well, you must be a good friend to remain by Mimi’s side after your friend departed.”

  I think that time even Justin was struck kind of dumb by her strange reaction. “Mimi is a wonderful person. I can’t imagine life without her in it.”

  I smiled at him warmly. Delia, on the other hand, looked like she was thinking very hard. Once again, she brightened quickly. She had an unusual way about her where it seemed like someone suddenly switched a light on for her at times.

  “I am glad I met Mimi. I think school would be a lot harder without a partner in crime,” she said with a wink at me. “I mean, I’m such a bubbly person, it would be hard if I felt all alone. Thanks to her, I have someone I can share the experience with as well as learn something new.”

  I smiled back at her. “It will be even better when we can expand our study group,” I said. “We’ll be able to collaborate more and pick up on stuff we may have missed.”

  “Oh, Mimi. There you go again, always thinking about how to get a better grade.” She turned to Justin again. “I swear she’s an overachiever. I just want to make sure we have a good time while doing the school thing. It was hard enough to get through high school and undergrad for me. This time, I want to enjoy myself rather than knock myself out.” Before I could say anything in defense of myself, she changed the subject. “So what do you do Justin that you can be out in the middle of a work day chowing down on hot dogs?”

  “I’m self-employed as a graphic artist so I make my own hours,” he said.

  Delia looked deflated for a moment. “Oh that must be very hard. Like the starving artist thing,” she said sympathetically.

  “Oh no, not at all,” he said laughingly, then flexed his considerable muscles. “Do I look like I’m starving?”

  “You sure as hell do not,” she purred as she reached across the table and squeezed his bicep. I looked at Justin with my eyes bulging out of my head. He didn’t seem to notice or be uncomfortable. He just chuckled in response.

  I, on the other hand, didn’t know what to make of the situation. I didn’t know Delia well enough to know whether or not she was seriously flirting with Justin. Her behavior seemed inappropriate to me, particularly since she knew we were kind of seeing each other. I knew that Grace would behave in the same fashion; she often did in Justin’s presence and it didn’t bother me, but I also knew that for Grace there was an invisible line she wouldn’t cross. I hardly knew Delia so it just didn’t sit right with me.

  Justin popped the last bite of his chili dog in his mouth and wiped his fingers on
a napkin. After he finished chewing, he looked at me and noticed I still had half of a dog left on my tray. “You going to finish that, Peaches?”

  I shook my head and pushed it toward him. He just grinned and chomped into the remainder.

  “My, you do have an appetite, don’t you?” Delia said in awe. “I bet it takes a lot to satisfy you.”

  Okay, I thought. That was clearly an innuendo. I looked to Justin to see how he would respond. He just smiled through his chewing and winked at her. He was actually flirting back with her! Delia may or may not have been just an overly friendly person, but this was not Justin’s way. He was not a flirt, unless you were really in his inner circle. Even then, he was more on the serious side than playful. I was well and truly flabbergasted.

  I stood up brushing crumbs off my pants. “I’m going to get going now. I have some more studying to do before tonight, and a few things I need to pick up at the store before I go to class. Justin, thanks for the company and for lunch. Delia, I’ll see you in class tonight.”

  I turned to leave but Justin grabbed my hand. “Is everything okay, Mimi?” he asked.

  “Of course,” I said, but giving him a look that said anything but. “Enjoy the rest of your lunch you two.”

  As I walked away, it occurred to me that Delia had never once touched her food.

  When I arrived at class, Delia wasn’t there. In fact, she never showed up at all. I thought it was strange since she had obviously been fine that afternoon, and it was only our third class. I wouldn’t have wanted to start missing class so soon into the program. Well, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss any at all. Maybe I was an overachiever. Succeeding in the program meant a lot to me though. It didn’t seem to be anything but a way to kill time and widen her social circle to Delia. I chastised myself for my less than kind thoughts. For all I knew, she could have had car trouble or an emergency. I gave myself a mental face-slap and got down to business listening to the lecture.