“I’m not ready to start dating again.”
“Dating? I thought we’d just eat at my dining hall. I wasn’t asking you out. I just didn’t want you sitting alone at dinner. That’s all.”
“Oh.” I stop in front of my building. “Well, I usually eat dinner with Harper.”
“Then maybe some other night. See ya, Jade.” He turns and walks off to his dorm.
Despite what he said, his invitation seemed like a date. An innocent meal in the dining hall would lead to a meal at a restaurant and then a movie and soon we’d be dating, at least in Carson’s eyes.
I hadn’t considered all the ramifications of not dating Garret. I’m single again, which means guys might ask me out.
This fake break-up is getting even more complicated.
21
The next few days I try to occupy every minute so my mind doesn’t drift to Garret. I haven’t seen him on campus or in the dining hall. He’s changed the route he takes to class and his eating schedule to avoid running into me. And thank goodness he did because I’m so Garret-deprived right now I’d probably jump him in the cafeteria if I saw him there. I’m so worried about that actually happening—well, not about jumping him, but more like kissing him with maybe a little groping—that I’ve actually been practicing how I’ll react when I finally do run into him.
On Thursday I go to morning classes, then drive to a restaurant in town to meet Arlin and Grace for lunch. I’m really nervous. Although Arlin is nice, I have no idea what his wife is like. If she’s like Royce’s wife, the only other Mrs. Sinclair I’ve met, I’m in trouble. I didn’t like that woman at all. When she met me, she immediately asked for my last name so she could assess how much money I was worth. And when she didn’t recognize the name as being anything of value, she looked at me like I was just that—of no value, completely worthless. If she only knew I was her husband’s daughter.
I’m meeting Arlin and Grace at a small cafe that’s in an old house. Not a run-down old house, but a historic house that’s been turned into a restaurant. I’ve been there one time with Garret. The food is good but it’s expensive. The chef makes up the menu each day and there are only four or five items to choose from. The last time I was here it was filled with people around Arlin’s age and today is the same.
I tell the hostess I’m meeting Arlin Sinclair and her face suddenly perks up and a huge smile appears. “Yes, right this way.” She leads me to their table.
“Mr. Sinclair, Mrs. Sinclair. Your guest has arrived.” She quickly walks away, almost like she’s nervous. I’m guessing she knows that Grace and Arlin are billionaires and it has her on edge. She probably wishes she was the waitress getting a tip from these people. I wonder who she thinks I am. She must assume I’m important if I’m eating lunch with these two. That would explain the overly enthusiastic greeting she gave me at the hostess stand.
Arlin stands up along with his wife. She’s very small, not more than 5’2, with delicate features. Her straight, chestnut-brown hair hits just below her chin, styled in a clean-cut bob just like she had in the photo Arlin showed me. She has on a plum-colored, short-sleeved dress with a patterned scarf draped across the neckline.
“Jade, good to see you again,” Arlin says. “This is my wife, Grace.”
She extends her hand and smiles. “Hello, Jade. I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
I can already tell she’s not like the other Mrs. Sinclair. I can hear the sincerity in her voice and see it in her eyes. She really is happy to meet me.
Arlin motions for us to sit down. We’re at a small round table that barely fits four people. One of the chairs has been removed, so I center myself in the space that’s left so that Arlin and Grace are across from me.
The table is silent. This is awkward. For all of us.
“Should we go ahead and order?” Arlin asks, breaking the silence.
We all look down at the small paper menu that lists today’s entrees. Everything here is gourmet, so even if it sounds normal it will have some special sauce or strange ingredient that turns it into something you’re not expecting. The waitress arrives and I order a sandwich, Arlin orders the salmon, and Grace gets a salad.
Then we sit there again in silence. Grace keeps staring at me. She’s probably noticing the similarity of our eye color. Our eyes are the exact same shade of green. My mom didn’t have green eyes and neither did Royce, so it must only show up when two recessive genes come together.
“So Jade, how is school?” Grace asks. She’s still smiling and it’s a very real smile, unlike the fake one I got from the other Mrs. Sinclair.
“School is great. I like all my classes. My professors are really good.”
“And what are you studying?” She unfolds her napkin and places it on her lap, so I do the same.
“Just general studies for now.”
“What classes are you taking this semester?”
“Chemistry, microbiology, physics, sociology, and European history.”
“That sounds like quite a workload.”
“It’s not too bad.”
The waitress brings a basket of rolls and I take one, then realize they’re probably meant to go with Arlin’s salmon and Grace’s salad, not my sandwich. Oh well, they don’t seem to care.
“You’re taking a lot of science courses. Are you planning on pursuing a career in science?”
Grace asks this just as I’m taking a bite of the roll. I finish chewing then say, “Yes, I’m thinking of going to med school.”
Arlin and Grace smile even wider, looking at each other then back at me.
“Jade, that’s wonderful,” Arlin says.
“Yes. You’re clearly a very bright young woman,” Grace says. “I barely passed chemistry when I was in college.”
I ask her where she went to college, which keeps the conversation going for a good 10 minutes. Then Arlin tells me about his college days just as our meals arrive.
Now that we’re all talking I’m feeling more relaxed. As we eat I tell them about Frank and Ryan and growing up in Des Moines. I don’t mention my mom and they don’t mention Royce. Those are off-limit topics, at least for now while we’re getting to know each other.
When the waitress clears our plates, Arlin insists we get dessert. I was planning to leave so I could look over my notes for a quiz I have later. But I can tell Grace wants me to stay longer, so I order the chocolate torte. During dessert I ask Grace what she does when she’s in Florida and she tells me all about her flower gardens. She says she’s a Master Gardener, whatever that is.
“If you’d ever like to come visit we’d love to have you,” Grace says, sipping her cappuccino.
“Yes, anytime, Jade,” Arlin says. “You can take our private plane.”
“I’ll think about it. I’m pretty busy with school right now so I don’t know.” Although they both seem really nice, I’m not sure if I’m ready to go to their house for a visit. “I should really be getting back to campus. I have chem lab at 1.”
Grace quickly sets her cup down and pats her lips with her napkin. “Yes, of course. We didn’t mean to keep you.”
“It’s okay.” I get up and put my jacket on. Arlin and Grace push their chairs out and come around the table to stand in front of me. “Thank you for lunch.” I smile awkwardly, not sure how to end this.
Arlin puts his hand out. “Maybe we could do this again sometime.”
“Sure.” I shake his hand and look over at Grace. “Next time you’re up here just let me know.”
“Would next week be too soon?” she asks cautiously.
She wants to fly up here again just for lunch? I guess she likes me.
“Um, no, that’s not too soon.”
Her eyes light up and she hugs me, which I was not at all prepared for. I loosely hug her back and she backs away, realizing it might too early for that.
“Let’s say a week from today,” Arlin says in a take-charge tone. “Same time. Same place. Unless you’d like to go somewh
ere else.”
“No, this place is fine. I’ll see you next week.”
As I start to leave, I hear Arlin behind me. “Jade.” He comes over with his wallet in his hand and takes out a $100 bill. “I almost forgot to give you this.”
I feel like he’s paying me for showing up for lunch and it makes me tense up. “No, I don’t need it.”
Actually, I do need it because I have no money, not even a quarter, and I don’t want to have to ask Ryan for money.
Arlin senses my hesitation and steps closer, lowering his voice. “It’s from Pearce. To reimburse you for the cab ride last week.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay. Thanks.” I take the bill and put it in my purse.
“Goodbye, Jade,” Arlin says, smiling. “We’ll see you soon.”
As I walk to the car, I have to remind myself that those two people were my grandparents. My real grandparents. It doesn’t even seem possible. The journey to get to this place was completely insane. Their son destroyed my mom. Destroyed my childhood. Tried to kill me. And I just had lunch with his parents. Very weird.
Back on campus I race up to the second floor to tell Garret about the lunch, but then turn and go back down to my room, realizing I’m not supposed to be up there. I hate not being able to go up to his room. I desperately want to talk to him and I can’t and it’s driving me crazy.
I check my phone just in case he slipped up and accidentally called or texted me. But he didn’t.
My phone rings as I’m checking it. “Hi, Harper.”
“Hey, I was calling to see if you want to come over to Sean’s place with me this weekend. We’ll just get some movies and hang out at his apartment.”
“That’s okay. I know you guys want to be alone.”
“Jade, I just spent an entire week with the guy. I want to hang out with you. So what do you say? Sean will do all the cooking.”
“Okay, that sounds fun.”
“Great! I have to run to class, so we’ll talk later.”
That takes care of one weekend. Now what do I do with the rest of them? I can’t spend every weekend with Sean and Harper.
Around 6, Harper and I have dinner like we normally do. The dining hall is packed but there’s no sign of Garret. How is it possible I never see him here? Does he not eat anymore?
“Stop looking for him,” Harper says as she sees my eyes darting around the room. She just finished another one of her monstrous green salads and is eating a cup of yogurt for dessert. I, on the other hand, had a bowl of sugary, rainbow-colored cereal for dinner and am now enjoying a bowl of chocolate pudding. Not the most nutritious meal, I know, but I heard people crave carbs after a break-up, so I’m actually making the break-up seem more real.
“I wasn’t looking for him,” I say, but it’s a total lie.
She stands up. “I’m going to get some fruit. I’ll be right back.”
While she’s gone I finish my pudding, then push my tray aside.
“Hey, Jade.” I hear a guy’s voice behind me. As I turn to look back, he takes the seat next to me. “How’s it going?”
It’s a guy from my history class. What’s his name? I can’t remember. I’m so bad with names. There are only 20 people in the class. I should know his name.
“Hi. Did you want this table?” I glance around noticing the lack of open tables.
“No, I’m sitting over there.” He points to a table a couple over from mine. It’s full of guys, some of whom live on Garret’s floor. “I just came over to see if you were doing anything tomorrow night?”
It takes my mind a moment to process what he said. Doing anything tomorrow night. What’s tomorrow night? Friday? What am I missing here? Do we have something due for history? Wait! Friday night is date night. Is he asking me out?
I’m taking far too long to answer and he’s giving me a strange look. “Jade? Did you hear me? It’s kind of loud in here.”
“Um, yeah. Something about tomorrow night?” I’m trying to buy time to find a way to turn him down. I’m supposed to be single now, so technically I could date him, but of course I wouldn’t because I’m secretly still dating Garret.
The guy smiles at me. He’s very cute, whatever his name is—wavy black hair, olive skin, dark brown eyes. He’s thin but has decent arm muscles. On the first day of class when we had to introduce ourselves, I remember him saying his parents are from Greece and that he spends every summer there.
“I wanted to try this new Thai restaurant,” he says, angling his body toward me. “I was wondering if you’d like to go with me. Do you like Thai food?”
“I do, but I’m busy tomorrow night.”
“How about Saturday?”
“Some friends invited me to spend the weekend with them, so I won’t be around.”
“Okay, so maybe next weekend?”
Obviously I need to be more direct. I used to be really good at turning guys down, but after dating Garret for so long I’m out of practice. I scan the crowd for Harper but can’t find her. Instead I spot Garret walking toward the table where what’s-his-name was sitting before he came over here to ask me out. Garret stops when he sees me with what’s-his-name, whose close proximity to me clearly indicates he’s interested. Garret sets his tray on the table and slowly sits down, keeping his eyes on us.
“I really can’t.” I pause, wishing I could think of this guy’s name. “I’m kind of taking a break from dating right now.”
“Yeah, okay. I understand.” He stands up.
“Hey, Nic.” Harper appears, carrying a small bowl of blueberries.
Nic! I knew it was a one-syllable name. Nic. I’ve now stamped it in my brain, not that I’ll need it again. This is probably the last time the guy will ever talk to me.
“Hi, Harper. I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you guys later.” Nic leaves and goes back to his seat, which is right next to where Garret is now sitting. Nic seems nervous seeing Garret there. He quickly grabs his tray and takes it to the conveyor belt.
“What was that about?” Harper asks.
“Nic just asked me out.” My eyes are glued on Garret who is now the center of attention at his table. He’s apparently become quite popular with the other guys after his wild weekend in Bermuda.
“He asked you out?” Harper drops the blueberries she was spooning into her yogurt and they go rolling down the table. “What did you say to him?”
“I told him I was busy this weekend.”
My eyes are still on Garret, who looks so damn good it’s not even fair. His dark hair is sexy messy, he’s got stubble on his face to fit his bad-boy image, and he’s wearing one of the fitted black t-shirts that I love on him. It clings to his shoulders and fits snug on his chest. I just want to run my hands under it and feel his skin, his muscles, his—”
“Jade.” Harper kicks my foot under the table. “Stop staring,” she scolds, glancing back at Garret.
“What? I can’t look at my ex?”
“Not that way. You look like you want to rip his clothes off.”
“Because I do.”
She kicks me again. “Come on. You need to get out of here.”
As I get up from the table I see Garret lift his eyes slightly, watching me. It sends a rush of fiery heat through my core. I swear this no-contact thing makes me want him even more than when we were together, which doesn’t seem possible.
Harper practically has to pull me back to her room. “You need to get it together, Jade.” She plops down on her bed, leaning against the wall. I do the same.
“I haven’t seen Garret since Sunday. I couldn’t help but look at him. And I’m sure nobody even noticed.”
“You were gawking, not looking.” She lets out a deep sigh.
“What? What are you thinking, Harper?”
“I think you should go out with Nic.”
22
“What? No way! I’m not going out with Nic.”
“You want this to look real, right? In the real world, you’d start dating again.”
“T
hat’s not gonna happen, Harper. First of all, I don’t want to date anyone, even if it’s fake dating. Second, Garret would be pissed. And third, it wouldn’t be fair to use Nic like that.”
She considers it. “Yeah. I guess. But I wasn’t saying you had to date him for weeks or months. Just one date. It would show people that you’re moving on.”
“Nic’s a nice guy. I don’t want to lead him on like that.”
“Well, you have to do something so people believe this break-up is real.”
“I’ll mope around my room. Pretend I’m depressed.”
“You’re the one who dumped Garret. So you’re the one who’s supposed to be moving on. Dating again. Garret’s supposed to be the depressed one. And instead he was in Bermuda last week with other girls.”
“Fine. I’ll think about it.”
She reaches over to the table by her bed and picks up the TV remote. “Are you watching the last episode?”
I check the clock and see that it’s time for the final episode of The Prep School Girls’ Reunion show. “Might as well.”
She turns the TV on and clicks through to the right channel. The show is just starting with the cheesy music and quick shots of the stars flashing on the screen. The first scene shows one of the girls fighting with her ex-boyfriend and then getting back together with him. How convenient. A happy ending for the last show. It’s so staged.
Scenes with two other girls follow after that. The final scene is with Ava and fake Garret and I start to get nervous. If they waited till the very end, there must be something big planned.
The scene is at Ava’s apartment, in her bedroom of course. The fake Garret has his shirtless back to the camera and they’re sitting on her bed. She’s facing him so the camera can catch her over-the-top, ridiculous expressions.
They flirt with each other, then kiss a little until the actor pushes her away.
“I have to tell you something,” fake Garret says.
Ava sits back, wide-eyed and tilting her head. “What is it?”
“I got drunk last night and slept with another girl.”
Cue Ava acting shocked and hurt. She covers her face and pretends to cry. She’s such a horrible actress.
Promising You (The Jade Series #4) Page 22
