CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
The video ended on Wes reaching toward the phone. Bee looked at the frozen frame, then at him. “Don't change anything.”
“You're sure?” Wes asked.
“I'm sure,” she replied.
He handed the phone to her. “You should post it.”
Bee looked at the caption box, left it empty, and tapped the button herself. The video appeared on her account a few seconds later. Wes moved back to the couch while she sat beside him and refreshed the screen.
The first notification arrived before Grandma carried three mugs into the living room. A second appeared while she set the tea on the coffee table. By the time Bee opened the video, the comment count had already begun climbing.
“That was fast,” Bee said.
Wes reached for one of the mugs. “How bad is it?”
“Give them a minute,” Grandma advised as she settled into her chair. “People need time to decide whether they're offended.”
Bee laughed and opened the first comment. The username was one she remembered from the snack video and from Wes's response. She read the message twice before turning the screen toward him.
@jennamarie22: I called Bee spoiled, then went to Wes's video and called the same thing sweet. Seeing him explain it like this made me realize how unfair that was. I'm sorry, Bee.
“She apologized,” Bee said.
Wes read the comment. “Good.”
Bee tapped the heart beside it before another comment took its place near the top. This one already had a thread of replies beneath it. She opened the thread and began reading.
@maddie.rae: This is exactly the double standard. Bee asked for snacks, so people called her demanding. Wes chose to get them, so people called him husband material. It was one story.
@cassidy.r14: I still wouldn't ask somebody to leave the house that late, but Bee didn't deserve to be bullied over it. Having a different opinion doesn't excuse being cruel.
Bee nodded as she finished the second comment. “I appreciate that one.”
“She disagreed without insulting you,” Wes said. “That's all I was asking.”
More notifications slid across the top of the screen. The serious discussion soon gave way to people describing what would happen if they requested snacks after midnight. Bee read the next three comments aloud while Wes drank his tea.
@jessica.marie: If my boyfriend wants to bring me snacks at midnight, I'm letting him. ??
@amberlynn26: Mine would bring them, but I'd hear about the gas money for a week.
@taylorm88: Mine would tell me there are crackers in the cabinet. ??
Bee laughed hard enough to lower the phone. “The crackers sound the most realistic.”
“I'd still get you the snacks,” Wes said.
She looked at him over the screen. “I know.”
The next notification carried a username Bee could recognize without reading twice. Her smile faded as she opened it. Sara had found the video quickly.
@saralee: She's still spoiled. Making a whole video won't change my mind.
Bee stared at the words. Sara had approached them in person, insulted her, and still returned to her comment section as though the sidewalk conversation had never happened. Her thumb hovered over the reply button.
“Don't answer her,” Wes said.
Bee looked at him. “I wasn't going to.”
He glanced at her thumb. “You were thinking about it.”
“Maybe for a second,” she admitted.
Wes set his mug on the table. “She already heard me in person. Another answer won't make her listen.”
Bee moved her thumb away from the reply button. “You make ignoring people sound easy.”
“It isn't,” he said. “You still don't owe her another explanation.”
She scrolled past Sara's comment. Several replies had already appeared beneath it, but Bee left the thread closed. The next apology came from another account she remembered from the morning.
@marissa.kay: I said Bee shouldn't have asked because Wes had work. Then I called him the kind of man every woman deserves. Reading those comments side by side is embarrassing. I'm sorry, Bee.
Bee let out a slow breath and liked the comment. The apology did not erase what Marissa had written before, but it mattered that she had recognized the contradiction. Bee moved to the next comment with less tension in her hand.
@jaydenw24: Wes really got on Bee's account to say leave his girl alone. I respect it. ??
Heat rushed into Bee's cheeks. She turned the phone so Wes could read the comment, then watched his face for a reaction. His mouth curved into a small smile.
“His girl?” Bee asked.
Wes looked at her. “What about it?”
“They called me your girl,” she said.
“You are,” Wes replied.
Bee stared at him. “You can't just say things like that.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because you already surprised me with the whole ‘I'm your man’ speech,” Bee said.
Wes reached for his tea again. “I thought they matched.”
Grandma made a quiet sound from her chair. Bee looked across the room and found her hiding a smile behind her mug. Grandma lowered it without any sign of embarrassment.
“What are they saying now?” Grandma asked.
“Some people are apologizing,” Bee told her.
Grandma nodded. “Good.”
“Sara is still being rude,” Bee added.
Grandma's expression changed. “How rude?”
Bee locked her phone. “You don't need to know.”
“I asked a question,” Grandma said.
Wes glanced toward her. “Bee doesn't want you getting involved.”
Grandma looked directly at him. “I wasn't planning to get involved.”
Bee waited. Grandma lifted her tea and took a slow drink.
“Yet,” Grandma added.
“Grandma,” Bee groaned.
“If she's local, I know her grandmother,” Grandma said.
Bee sat up straighter. “You are not going to somebody's grandmother over a TikTok comment.”
Grandma shrugged. “Then people should stop putting their real names on the internet.”
Wes looked down at his mug, but his shoulders shook with a laugh. Bee pointed at him from the couch.
“Don't encourage her,” Bee warned.
“I'm not,” Wes said.