Chapter Sixteen Kenny
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KENNY
H an and I were bombarded with congratulations the second we left the stage. I recognized some people from Leti’s other shows, but the vast majority didn’t ring much of a bell. I wasn’t really a faces person, or a names person for that matter. I just wasn’t a “remembering people” type of person.
So when two guys around our age came rushing toward me and Han with tight hugs and cheek kisses, I figured they were overly enthusiastic acquaintances I was failing to remember.
“Oh my God, how many years has it been? I can’t believe we ran into you here! Congratulations!” the taller one exclaimed, practically squealing with excitement. On second thought, they seemed like more than acquaintances, but most people didn’t take kindly to being forgotten, so I opted not to ask who they were.
The other half of the couple looked at us pridefully, like we were his children gone off to college. “I can’t believe you’re getting married, too! We got engaged recently ourselves. You’re both obviously invited to the wedding!”
He immediately produced a save-the-date card from his bag and handed it to Han.
“Congrats to y’all, too, then,” Han said, scanning the invitation while I scanned him, hoping for some kind of hint about who these guys were and why we were close enough to be invited to their wedding. A glance down at the invitation revealed it was only weeks away, so I had to assume they were either desperately trying to get the venue filled, or they’d been saving these invites specifically for us all this time. “We’ll be there for sure” was all Han said before pocketing the invite.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I added with a smile, hoping they didn’t realize they’d been completely deleted from my brain’s memory files. Luckily, Leti walked up just then, giving me the perfect stealthy way to investigate. “You have to meet Leti, emcee slash drag queen extraordinaire, also Han’s cousin.”
“It’s an absolute honor!” the taller guy said as he reached out his hand. “Blaine.”
“Zane,” the other guy said.
“Smith,” they both said at the same time. “No relation.” Again in unison.
“What an introduction!” Leti waved Blaine’s hand away to hug them both before getting swept off into another conversation.
“See you at the wedding!” Zane said as he and Blaine gave Han and me quick hugs before heading off.
“That was sweet,” I said, and Han nodded.
“You wanna go?” Han asked.
“Oh, definitely!” Even if I didn’t remember those guys, a gay wedding would be the perfect way to test out our new fake-relationship skills. Plus, seeing a wedding in action would surely give us some much-needed inspiration. It was actually pretty perfect.
Whenever Han and I shared a shift, we usually stalled in the parking lot before work. Han liked to shoot the shit to get his pre-work jitters out of the way, but today he was unusually quiet. He just stared at WhatsApp without typing or reading anything.
“Everything okay?” I asked. We’d been sitting silently for way too long.
“Yeah,” Han said, but I wasn’t convinced.
I didn’t say anything. With Han, the best way to get him to talk was through silence. Eventually he went on.
“I haven’t told my parents yet. Still haven’t even called my mom back.”
“Are you nervous?” Han wasn’t extremely close with his parents, but I would have thought he’d tell them about getting married.
“It’s… complicated.” Han ran a hand through his hair.
“It’ll be okay. Everyone’s buying it. Your parents will, too.”
“I’m not worried about them buying it. I’m worried about… I mean, I don’t need their blessing like you did with your parents, but it’d be nice. I just don’t know how they feel about… you know, gay shit.”
“Want me to be there when you tell them?”
“Nah, I think I want to do it on my own. Thanks, though.”
Han’s alarm went off, which meant it was time to get out of the car to start our shift. We did so hand in hand, our icebreaker to the fake relationship now that we were engaged. Tatiana and Julia, one of the older servers here, rushed over and hugged us both. Julia squeezed so hard, I thought my arm might bruise in her grip.
“Congratulations!” Tatiana said, not looking even a little jealous. I wondered if that bothered Han, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I knew Jackie was onto something about you two.” She tapped her nose like she had us all figured out.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were getting married ?” Julia squealed. Then she pulled out her phone and showed us a video from Instagram of our engagement. Someone apparently filmed it, and it was getting around.
“Han surprised me,” I said, batting my eyelashes at Han. He looked like he was trying to hold back a smile.
“When’s the wedding?” Julia asked.
“We just got engaged.” Han laughed. “Still have to plan it.” I realized then we’d actually have to plan the wedding. I’d been so focused on the immigration side, the USCIS interview and green card application, I didn’t know the first thing about wedding planning.
“Well, we’re celebrating after work. There’s a cake in the freezer, and Daniel said we could have some ice cream for the special occasion!” She gestured to Daniel, who gave a thumbs-up from his open-door office.
The first few hours of my shift went by in a breeze. Some of my favorite customers were in, and they tipped generously. It slowed down after the lunch rush, but a couple of hours before the end of the day, she showed up.
With Bryan.
I rushed into the kitchen so they wouldn’t see me, then peeked out from the corner, making sure to stay hidden. The two of them got seated just like any other customers. Jackie laughed at something Bryan said, then brushed a piece of his shaggy blond hair behind his ear. A pang of jealousy tugged at my gut.
Was Jackie really petty enough to bring the guy she cheated on me with to my place of work? I got her message loud and clear. If I was going to hurt her, she was going to hurt me right back. It was working.
Then again, maybe it had nothing to do with me. Maybe she’d moved on, and she was with Bryan now. Either way, I wasn’t exactly prepared to face Jackie. Instead of going out to greet them, I stopped Tatiana as she brushed past me.
“Trade tables with me?” I tilted my head in Jackie’s direction.
“Oh, shit…” She looked like she was holding her tongue. “Yeah, I got you.”
“I owe you one,” I said. There was no way I was giving Jackie the satisfaction of waiting on her. Unfortunately, I still had to wait on all the tables next to her. Which meant I needed to become an expert in avoiding eye contact, even though I could feel her glares whenever I passed by.
I put all my nervous energy into performing the relationship with Han to its fullest. Two could play at her game. I slipped Han goo-goo eyes every time I went to the kitchen to get a plate. Soon enough, I forgot all about Jackie and just focused on Han.
When I took a plate from him, I let my fingers linger on his gloved hand for a moment longer than necessary. Han bit back a grin, like he was trying not to laugh.
“Get a room,” Tatiana joked as she grabbed a plate next to the one I was getting. Han retracted his hand.
“S-sorry… We were just—” He stumbled over his words.
“Just being in looove?” Julia said from behind my shoulder.
“I didn’t—we weren’t—” Han started, the sudden tension confusing me.
“Relax, babe… What’s wrong?” I said, hoping he wasn’t about to have a panic attack or something.
Then Daniel walked by, giving Han—but not me—a warning glance. And it hit me. Han was afraid of getting in trouble. So I kept my hands to myself and made it a point not to flirt when Daniel was around. When I went back out, Jackie was gone.
Before we celebrated at the end of the day, I made it a point to carefully count the money, letting out a sigh of relief when nothing was missing. With that settled, I could focus on cake. Now that we were off the clock, Han loosened up with the flirting. He even held my hand without being prompted.
Surprisingly, Daniel was one of the people who stayed for cake and ice cream, and he was weirdly supportive now that our shifts were over. He discreetly pulled me aside, wrapping a casual arm around my shoulder.
“You sure you’re up for this?” His tone was hushed.
“What do you mean?” I asked, taken aback.
“I’m just going to be blunt here…” he said with a sigh. “I think Alejandro might be using you. He’s sure got a lot to gain from marrying you, doesn’t he?”
“He’s not using me,” I said firmly.
“Just trying to look out for you, buddy. That’s all,” he said, then took his arm off my shoulder and went back to the group like nothing happened. If Daniel was suspicious already, we really needed to be careful.
“So, how long have you two been together?” Julia asked, pulling me back into the conversation.
“Officially, a couple of weeks, but it’s been a lifetime in the making. When we both finally realized we felt the same about each other, how could we wait?” I looked over to Han, who reached for my hand and smiled.
“We’ve done enough waiting, that’s for sure.” Han laughed. “We’ve known each other since we were six.”
“Talk about a slow burn,” Tatiana said.
Han’s hand trembled in mine, so I gave it a supportive squeeze. Why was he so nervous? We had already performed our relationship for both our families; I would have thought our co-workers would have been no big deal.
After a bit of celebrating, Daniel kicked everyone out to lock up. When Han and I left, I almost jumped out of my skin at who was waiting on the bench outside, eating frozen yogurt. Had Jackie been waiting for me? I accidentally made eye contact with her, and she pulled Bryan in for a kiss. She kept her eyes open, staring at me through the kiss.
“Play along,” I whispered, then pulled Han in for a kiss of our own. Han let out a soft noise of surprise when our lips met, then relaxed and sank into it, moving his mouth on his own. I appreciated how convincingly Han kissed me. Like we were really into each other. He even rested his hand behind my neck once the initial surprise wore off. I put my hands on his hips and pulled him in as close as our bodies could go. After I was confident Jackie had seen enough, I pulled away.
“Don’t look, but Jackie’s behind you.”
“Wah!” Han jumped and immediately looked behind him to see Jackie staring at us, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.
Her date looked over and said under his breath, but loud enough for us to hear, “Babe, isn’t that your ex?”
“Oh, I didn’t notice. He doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
Despite all logic, my heart sank. I didn’t matter to her, and I hated that I even cared. Han must have overheard, too, because he took my hand and led me to the car. Quick footsteps rushed closer.
“What are you doing?” Bryan called out.
“Fuck you!” Jackie shouted from right behind us. I flinched, then Han put a protective hand on my chest, like his arm was a seat belt protecting me from getting totaled.
“Don’t come near us again, or we’re getting a restraining order.” Han’s voice was icy and, I had to admit, a little hot. Even though it had to be an empty threat. Calling the cops wasn’t Han’s MO.
Before Jackie could answer, we got in the car and shut the doors.
“You can’t shut me out forever!” She banged on my window, suddenly dropping the “I’m in love with Bryan” act. I backed away and sped off, leaving an angry Jackie shouting in the parking lot, completely ignoring her poor date.