Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Zoe
I barely make it through my day. As soon as it’s okay to leave, I grab my stuff and walk out the door, needing a drink almost as much as I need air right now.
It takes me a while to get to Joey’s bar, and thankfully, by the time I arrive, everyone is already there. Macy has my drink ready for me, which I grab before I even have a chance to sit down.
“Whoa, that serious, huh?” Macy asks as she watches me down the liquid thought minimizer in one go.
I place it on the table and motion to Joey that I need another, then finally sit down. All three of my friends stare at me, waiting for me to spill the tea. Everything I’ve been through today boils over the edge, and instead of blurting out my news, I drop my head to my arms and start to cry.
“Zoe!” Macy wraps her arm around my back.
“What happened?” I hear Candace ask.
I give my body the release it desperately needs and am thankful that my friends support me in doing so, no matter how ridiculous I must look to all of them right now.
“Hey now. What’s going on?” Joey asks in a concerned tone, setting my drink down in front of me.
I lift my head and reach for the glass, but Macy stops me.
“How about we talk this one out first?”
She hands me a napkin, so I grab it from her and wipe my eyes, then look up to the ceiling, willing the tears to stop.
“David is David.” My voice cracks as I admit what I’ve been trying to wrap my head around all day.
“David is David?” Chasity asks. Then it hits her, and she gasps, covering her mouth in shock.
Macy speaks up. “Online David is Work David?”
I nod, making more tears fall down my face.
“Oh, girl.” She pushes my drink toward me. “Drink up all you want.”
A laugh escapes my lips, but it’s short-lived. I don’t grab my drink. Instead, I let out a breath, sagging my shoulders and slumping in my chair, feeling absolutely defeated.
“How did you figure it out?” Candace asks.
“It’s day seven!” Joey says, sounding like he’s happy the app worked, but then he remembers the situation, quickly tamping down his excitement to act as normal as possible.
I raise my eyebrows and nod slowly. “Yep, it’s day seven.”
I was so excited about today. I wanted to know who he was so bad! I dreamed of finally getting to see what he looked like, finally meeting the man of my dreams, and of us finally getting to talk in person, only to find out he’s the person I hate more than anything.
“What did he say when you guys found out?” Candace asks.
“He doesn’t know yet.” I turn to Joey, pointing my finger at him. “And don’t tell him!”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “I don’t even know the guy!” He places one hand on my back, rubbing it softly. “I’m sorry you’re going through this though. I feel responsible in a way.”
“You’re not. The app worked. You guys did a good job. I was genuinely thinking he could be someone for me.” More tears fall down my cheeks.
“But, wait, if he doesn’t know, how do you know?” Joey asks.
I drop my head back and take in a deep inhale. “I was able to put two and two together after our horrendous meeting this morning.” I take my phone from my purse and show everyone. “And he messaged me about the encounter, only he had no clue he was sending it to me.”
“No. Way,” Chasity says in disbelief as Joey is called back to the bar.
He gives me a sad expression before turning and leaving.
“I get how you didn’t put it together with so many Davids in the world, but, Zoe … you don’t think he has a little clue?” Chasity asks.
“That’s another problem I have to face. He thinks my name is Jenelle. Remember, I didn’t put my real name.”
Everyone’s expression reveals what I’m thinking inside.
“What are you going to do?” Macy asks.
I pick up my glass. “Right now, I’m going to drink and try to forget that I was falling for someone I hate.”
“Maybe you don’t hate him like you think,” Candace says, all sweet and innocent.
I eye her, lift my glass in cheers, and take another sip, knowing that’s the exact problem I’m facing, but what if he finds out who I am and that’s a deal-breaker?
David
I enter my apartment and toss my stuff on my couch, needing a beer after the day I had. I know Zoe and I are always at each other’s throat, but doing what I did today was different. It really wasn’t done maliciously, but I don’t think she’ll ever see that.
I open my fridge, grab a beer, and take a sip, replaying every moment in my head. I knew I was doing the right thing, but if someone had done that to me, I would have flipped my lid too. Now I have to go on a trip with this girl who most likely hates me more than anything.
Needing to get my mind off my day, I reach for my phone and check my app to see if Jenelle replied to me from earlier today.
To my surprise, there’s still no response from her. I decide to send another text, just in case she missed the notification from earlier.
Thank God my shitty day is over. Could use a friend to talk to. You around?
Zoe
My app ding sounds, and my stomach instantly drops.
I swipe open the screen to show Macy, and her shoulders sag with my same emotions.
We only stayed at the bar for another hour.
If I stayed any longer, I wouldn’t be able to make it to work tomorrow due to being a hungover mess.
Thankfully, she decided to join me at my place for takeout and an obscene sulking session.
“How do I not reply?” I ask, my head falling to my chest.
“But if you reply, it will instantly send him your number. Are you sure you want him to know who you are, especially after what he did today?”
“No.” I tear up, not sure what to think anymore.
I was really falling for him. I kept trying to talk myself out of it, just in case what we had wasn’t real or I was really not attracted to him or if he was catfishing me somehow, but in all the scenarios I was working through in my head, not once did I think I might know him already—or rather, hate him already.
Macy puts her drink on the coffee table and sits up more to face me. “Let’s go over the pluses and minuses of the situation, ’kay?” Macy asks, and I nod. “You really liked him when you were messaging, right?”
“Yeah …”
“So, why does that change now that you know who he is?”
“Because he has made my life hell for the last year.”
“Have you ever wondered why he does that?” She raises her eyebrows in question.
I point at her. “Don’t you dare say he’s liked me from the start and that’s why he was constantly at my throat. Believe me, it was not like that.”
She bobs her head to either side, like she’s weighing the thought. “Okay, let’s just say we don’t know why you two have always been more enemies than coworkers. How much of what you’re feeling right now has to do with what actually happened today?”
“What he did was completely fucked up!”
“Yes,” she says slowly. “But …”
I sit up quickly, spilling a few drops of my wine. “There’s no but!”
She drops her hands to her lap, letting out a deep breath. “There’s always a but …”
I roll my eyes, sit back, and allow her to continue.
“Let’s think about the message he sent you on Sunday. Did you or did you not say he should do exactly what he did?”
I look anywhere but at her, playing over ways in my mind that I can counter what she’s trying to say. When nothing comes out, I slap my hand on the couch. “But I didn’t know he was going to do it to me!”
“And that makes it different?” She laughs.
I point at her. “You know it does!”
She laughs more, which makes my lips crack in a smile, but I hold it back, trying to stay stoic.
“It really doesn’t. You gave him the approval to do this. You can’t be mad at him. He was trying to make sure the client was happy, which she was.”
I wave my hand, dismissing her words. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Don’t yeah, yeah, yeah me. It’s fact. If he hadn’t done what he did and also taken full responsibility for steering you wrong and made sure they knew it was originally your idea, you wouldn’t still be on the account, and you wouldn’t—”
“Have to travel to Montana with him!” I interrupt, standing to pace the room, knowing I can’t sit here any longer.
She turns on the couch to face me. “So, you have two questions to ask yourself. One, do you tell him who you are and then figure all of this out on your trip?” She makes googly eyes and shimmies her shoulders at me suggestively.
“Or do you not respond and make him think this Jenelle chick ghosted him on day seven with zero explanation? That might absolutely break his heart because he was really starting to think that she might be the one, and he has true feelings for her, and he was just dying to meet the beauty behind the—”
“You can stop now.”
She shrugs with a smug expression. “I’m just stating facts.
It’s not my problem you don’t like said facts.
Doesn’t mean you don’t need to hear them.
” She reaches for my phone, enters my passcode to swipe it on, and shows me his message.
“This text right here is as genuine as they come. He’s being vulnerable to you.
You should reciprocate because just last night, you felt the exact same way. ”
“You’re forgetting one possibility.” I pause, waiting for her to finish my sentence, but when she doesn’t, I continue, “I can respond, giving him my number, and when he clicks it to call, he’ll realize it’s already in his phone as me, not Jenelle.
Then he’ll remember he hates me, which, in turn, will make this trip we have to take extremely awkward. ”
Just thinking about that makes my stomach ache and my chest tighten. I wave my hands in front of my face decisively. “Nope. No way. He can’t know. I can’t put myself through that on this trip.”
“So, you’re not going to tell him?”
“Nope.” I sit back down on my couch, pick up my food, and take a bite, feeling better about the entire situation now that I’ve made up my mind.
She stares at me in shock. “You’re just going to let him think Jenelle ghosted him?”
“Yep.”
“Zoe …” she deadpans, leveling her eyes at me.
“Macy …” I repeat her tone. “I know it sucks, but of all the scenarios, this is the best for right now. He’ll have no clue it was me, and we can go on about our lives, hating each other.”
“You do realize that just because he doesn’t know who you are, you know who he is. Those feelings you were feeling aren’t just going to go away.”
“Yes, they will. Watch me.” I take another bite with a smile on my face.
“If you say so …” She sits back on the couch, shaking her head.
I know she doesn’t agree with me, but I will make this work. I have no other choice.