40. Ben
BEN
Something’s up with Jolie.
I can’t pinpoint what it is. She’s just kind of quiet and distracted tonight.
I nudge the bowl of fries toward her. “Want any more?”
“No.” She shakes her head.
“You’ve hardly eaten anything. Are you okay?”
Her nose wrinkles and she tips her head. It’s like she wants to tell me something but doesn’t want to say it.
Covering her hand with mine, I rub my thumb over her skin. “Baby, what is it? What’s wrong?”
Her eyes dart around us, and now I’m really getting worried.
What the fuck is going on?
Leaning back, I study her expression and the way she can’t seem to sit still.
“I…,” she eventually starts, then quickly stops and rubs her forehead.
“I want to tell you, but I also don’t, and I’m not sure if I should, and my head is spinning with this, and I don’t know why I’m obsessing over it.
Well, I do, because it’s awful.” She bulges her eyes like I know what she’s talking about.
I reply with a mystified frown that she doesn’t even notice.
“It’s just horrible, you know? And I don’t know what to do about it or if I should even do anything about it because it’s really not my story and—”
“Jolie,” I gently interrupt her before she completely spirals.
She stops talking, her eyes bugging out.
I give her a gentle smile and softly suggest, “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Okay.” Her squeak is kind of adorable, and I stand up, threading my fingers between hers and walking to the counter to pay before heading out into the cold early-November air.
It’s not quite beanie weather yet, but we’ll be there soon enough, and I wrap my arm around her as we stroll past my car and head for the campus.
There’s a nice park in the middle with these meandering walkways that will be empty at this time.
The lamplight guides us, and I wait until we’re completely alone before asking, “Tell me what’s up. Something must have happened today to make you this jittery.”
“Yeah.” She sighs, huffing out a breath. “It’s more that I’m not sure what to do about it.”
“Well, tell me what it is first. I know you said it’s not your story to tell, but can you at least imply something, pull me out of the dark a little?”
“Okay.” She starts bobbing her head. “Okay. So… okay. Well…” She licks her lips as I fight my grin. She’s so funny when she gets all tongue-tied like this, and I’m just waiting for the avalanche of words. “So, I heard these two girls talking today.”
And here they come.
As we stroll through the park, she tells me all about these girls from her morning lecture, saying how this guy recorded a friend of theirs having sex.
That sick fuck!
I frown, listening to her explanation and forcing myself not to interrupt and tell her what I think of scumbags like that.
“Anyway, she won’t say who it is, and it’s not like I can go and question her, even though I really want to go and question her, because this guy should not be allowed to do that kind of thing.
And it might not even be true. She just thought she saw a camera, and then he got all defensive and denied it.
But I’m sure any guy would get defensive if they were accused of recording someone doing that when she didn’t want them to, but what if he did do it and we’re all just sitting around letting him get away with it, you know?
It’s not right! And I can’t stop thinking about it.
” Her voice crescendos for a dramatic finish, and then she pulls me to a stop and looks up at me with her silent question: “What should I do?”
I wish I had a good answer for her, but as I scrub my brain for what to say, all I can come up with is…
“You’re hearing this thirdhand. Stories change and grow every time they get retold.
They get twisted out of shape and develop into something else, and you can’t know what’s actual truth and what’s not.
” Her eyebrows pucker, and I gently take her arms. “Jo, it might just be a rumor to discredit this guy.”
“But what if it’s not?”
“Then maybe you can tell that girl in your class to tell her friend that she needs to talk to someone in authority about it. Maybe she can start with a student advisor or counselor, someone she feels safe sharing it with.”
“But if he finds out she’s sniffing around or gossiping about him, he might post her video online.” Her lips part. “That would be so horrific, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, that would be awful.” I nod, wishing I had something better to say, desperate to make her feel better. How do I say “Please don’t make this your problem” without sounding like an asshole?
But I hate the way it’s eating at her, and I don’t want her to put herself in harm’s way trying to help someone she doesn’t even know.
Especially when it’s all speculation and not firsthand information.
A friend of a friend?
That’s weak, at best. You certainly couldn’t form any kind of decent prosecution on something like that.
You have to get to the source.
But I don’t want her going after the source. I don’t want her near any kind of fuckwit who secretly records women in his bed, then threatens to use it against them if they fall out of line. I mean, sure, that might just be a rumor, but what if it’s not?
“Jolie, I…” Expelling a soft breath, I smile at her, then pull her into a hug, deciding the rumor theory is way less stressful and to go with that in order to make her feel better.
“I wish I had the right answers for you. And I love that you care so much about people. I’m sorry it’s bugging you, but it sounds like lots of hype and rumors to me.
You know what gossip can be like. People crave conflict, and the juicier the story, the more the rumors spread.
” Rubbing her back, I wait for her arms to wrap around me before starting to relax.
I just want to calm her fears and make her feel better.
And I just hope this isn’t as awful as it all seems.
If some guy did that to her, I’d want to end him.