45
"He kissed you?!!!" I shriek out.
"It's not the first time he did that, but yeah," she says a little louder.
Not the first…
"I'm sorry, what?!! Okay, clearly there is a lot of stuff you haven't told me! When did he kiss you… why was that not the… how many times…" I pinch my nose.
What has actually been going on between these two? I knew something was going on between them but not like that!
How could King do something like that!?
"Is this an interrogation?" Erica laughs.
"No, I'm just so confused. Because King is, like… super disciplined."
"Well I guess everybody breaks sometime," she quips.
"Did you break him? Cuz I know you were trying to, like, tease him and stuff but did you tempt him or something?"
"I did that time. All the times he made a move I didn't do shit to him."
"Yeah but you made him want to do those things," I tell her loudly with my mouth open and a laugh.
"I made him want to do those things? So I control him now?" she scoffs at me.
"I mean Erica you are…" Then I remember the comment that King made yesterday about Erica being a good distraction. "You tend to distract people and flirt with people a lot."
"Thank you I guess," she says with a nervous laugh, her eyebrows crinkling as if I'm crazy.
"So wait what was the first time he kissed you?" I ask, leaning in and resting my chin on my interlaced fingers propped up by my elbows on the table.
Erica thinks for a moment.
"Before you answer how many times did you guys kiss?" I cut in.
She blows out a steady stream of air before folding her lips.
Wow. Is she serious? How did I miss all of this?
"Well the first one I think would be last year… December. It was before Christmas when we were at the um… A Christian retreat thing."
As she is still thinking I look at her astonished. "You… and King…" My head tilts to the right, my eyes still on her in shock. "Kissed… while you were at the Christian field trip?"
My voice sounds as shocked as I feel.
"Yeah I was feeling kind of… just sad and I was crying. King was there, we were in the maze."
"Were you alone?"
"Yeah we were alone. And it's crazy because I remember that Shawn Mendes song was playing. It was like super romantic honestly and… I didn't even know that was going to happen, Zosha," she shrugs. "We were looking at each other and he was hugging me…"
"He was hugging you?" I try to confirm.
"Yeah because I was crying. And the sweetest thing is he was like… 'I don't like it when you cry cuz it breaks my heart'."
She shakes her head, closing her eyes and smiling as if she's back there in that memory. I want to slap her to get her out of it. A nervous laughter escapes me mostly to hide how jealous I feel.
"And… he was looking at me like he wanted to kiss me but I'm the one who started it. I like tippy toed to try and kiss him…"
Of course she did.
"…And he kissed me back like barely though. It was very short like it barely lasted a second I think before he pulled back and he was like no ."
"So that wasn't a real kiss," I say, happy at the news that King turned her down.
"Yeah that I didn't count that one but that was technically the first time we kissed. Well, then again… wait. When we’re were stranded in the Hollow.
I tried to kiss him. He rejected me then.
I thought we were going to die. So, actually that is the first time my lips were on his," she smiles a little bit like she's blushing.
"Okay, and then the retreat. When was the next time," I hurry her along, wanting her to get on with it.
"The next time what? With kissing?"
What the hell is she talking about? What else did they do???
"I… I'm assuming that… you only… did you do anything else with him?" I breathe out, barely keeping it together.
She just stares at me and then releases a puff of air in the form of timid laughter. Can she see me glaring at her?
"Erica," a woman's voice shouts out.
We both look away from the table and see Madysen from the Youth Camp.
"Oh. Hey," Erica says slowly like she's not happy to see this woman.
I can't blame her. I know they don't like each other and after how Madysen treated her I wouldn't blame Erica for never wanting to speak to her again.
"How are things? Hi Zosha!" Madysen says, reaching forward and hugging me which catches me off guard.
This woman has never hugged me.
"I didn't know you guys were into bowling."
"Not usually, but we just wanted to do something a little different," Erica says, and I can tell from the look on her face, the way her eyes are squinting, that she doesn't want Madysen here.
"Oh wow. Is brother King with you guys?" she asks.
Erica puts her tongue at the corner of her mouth and then looks away from Madysen and at me with a knowing look.
"Uh… no. Is everything okay?" I ask.
"No I thought you guys were all friends so… but it's good seeing you," she says, smiling at the both of us.
"You too," I tell her.
"Oh by the way," she says, turning back to address me. "Zosha, would you be able to bake some of those cute jelly donuts that you did at the Youth Camp? I'm having a family get-together and it would be nice to have some of your stuff because people really love them."
"How many would you need?" I ask.
"Probably like three trays, nothing much. You can pass them off to me at the youth camp on Monday."
"Yeah of course," I say.
After Madysen leaves, Erica rolls her eyes.
Okay. I let out a laugh as I look at Erica. "You still mad at her, aren't you?" I ask Erica.
Erica scoffs. "Of course, I'm still mad at her. I can't stand that bitch. Let's get out of here. I don't want to be here if she's gonna be here. Because I promise she's gonna find a way to come over here. You still don't believe me that she wants to fuck King?" she asks me.
"Erica? Shush," I tell her, not wanting anyone to hear her cursing.
We get up and head for our cars parked outside. Honestly, I want to know more about King and Erica. This news that she told me, and knowing that probably way more happened between the two of them, is honestly startling to me. But King told me he didn't have feelings for her like that.
So was he lying?
Or maybe he's keeping this part of his life private as well, because he doesn't want anyone to know that he's doing these things with Erica.
But the fact that the two of them almost had sex with each other tells me that he's probably way over his head, and he is falling into a trap that most women like Erica set for men.
It's honestly really sad, and I don't want to see King fall into that trap. But at the same time, if I were to tempt him would he give in?
We stand out by our cars, just enjoying the cool breeze.
It is not too hot today. Not too chilly.
It is actually nice. A few cars pass by on the street, some slowing down at the light while others keep going at a steady speed.
I look back at Erica, who is getting ready to go into her deep blue sedan.
"Look, when it comes to your building and stuff, the honest truth is, I would probably flip it if you're gonna go ahead and buy it," Erica states.
"Really? Why?" I ask.
"To be honest, Zoe, the place where it is, the reason why it probably went out of business in the first place is because it's remote.
I can go by and look at it if you want, but I'm not saying you shouldn't, but I wouldn't. I would flip it, or at most, rent it out or something.
At least you can let your money work for you. "
"I would still have to fix up in both those cases," I say.
"Yeah, you would, but at least you wouldn't have the ongoing accruing of expenses and the headache that comes with it," she tells me.
"That's part of the headache with running a little restaurant shop," I reply.
"Yeah, but is that really your dream, or was that just your father's?
Are you trying to keep it alive for him, or is it something you truly want?
If it's something you truly want, then go for it, but just understand that you weren't taking care of all the intricate parts that your mom and dad were, and it was a headache for them.
And if your mom isn't even doing it, you know, it's probably for a reason.
“It does take a lot of money, and you're still gonna have to put yourself in debt to do it. Now, there might be a return, but honestly, I would go for something that is in a more populated area.
“Because you have the other businesses there, where the person bought out Unicorn Cafe, and they're probably gonna make it into apartments, and then you have that other cafe place that's very close by. That's basically gonna be in direct competition with you. This place is too close.
“Unless you're doing something drastically different.
My guess is you're gonna be opening up, doing the same things you were doing at Unicorn Cafe while you guys were losing business.
I just don't think it's a good financial decision right now.
But that's just me, and I don't want to kill your dream or anything, but just make sure it's your dream. "
I think for a while. "I appreciate that. You can come look at it."
We drive to the place, and Erica takes a look inside. We talk back and forth while she walks around.
"Thank you for the advice," I tell her as I hug her.
"Anytime, and if you need a little help or a little extra hands with things, I'll be willing to help you," she replies. "But King was right. This place looks like shit."
I laugh, and then she adds, her voice soft and encouraging, "But it has promise."