Chapter 19: Good And Bad

“What exactly are we doing here?” I asked Tim while glaring at him pointedly.

He placed a finger in front of his mouth and said, “Shhh! Quiet down, or she might hear you.”

“How can she hear me when we’re in a crowded mall, and she’s several feet away from us? Be realistic!” Despite my protest, I still spoke in a low voice. Patty stared in our direction, and Tim pushed my head down.

If you’re wondering about what we were doing, we were currently in the mall, trailing behind our best friend, Patty. Today was the day that she was supposed to meet her mystery woman, and Tim had talked me into following her so we’d see what her email buddy looked like. He didn’t have to convince me much since I was curious as well.

Also, I didn’t like the idea of Patty meeting a total stranger in the mall alone. For all we knew, the person could be a pedophile. So I just had to agree when Tim said to follow her. Call us nosy all you want, but we wanted to protect our best friend. You couldn’t have the three musketeers without the third member.

Tim glanced at his watch. “Tsk! Patty’s mystery woman is late. We’ve been standing here forever. Maybe she won’t show up.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Dude, we’ve only been here for 5 minutes. Chill, okay?”

“Someone’s patient,” he said while elbowing me softly. Before I could elbow him back, we saw Patty check her phone for text messages and walk away. Tim and I scurried a few feet behind her. We took care to blend in with the crowd so she wouldn’t notice us. If she did, we were dead.

Patty went inside a fancy-schmancy resto. It was a good place to talk, though, so I understood why her date wanted to meet her there instead. “What are we going to do?” I asked Tim.

“What else? We’re going to infiltrate the restaurant and blend in. Once Jane Doe arrives, we’re going to corner her and question her.”

“This is not CSI or Criminal Minds, Tim,” I said impatiently. “This is real life, and if Patty sees us, we’re never going to hear the end of it. Remember in 6th grade when she refused to speak to us for eating her apple?”

Tim shuddered. “How can I forget? She liked those freaking apples. She’s an apple hoarder!” Tim hugged himself and pretended to go crazy. “Apple hoarder, apple hoarder,” he mumbled.

“Quit it,” I said and looked inside the resto. “There’s a free spot right next to Patty’s table. It’s covered by this big plant, so we can sit there. I think she won’t notice us.” I stared at Tim. “What do you say?”

“If this is your twisted way of asking me out for a date, I’m so going to slap your face right now,” he said with a smirk.

I playfully swatted his arm. “You’re delusional, Tim. I only go for girls. And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m very much taken. So, no, I’m not asking you out for a date.”

“Just making that clear,” he said with a smile. “I don’t want you turning straight on me. Maybe my handsome face got to you.”

“No, thank you. I like girl boobs, not male boobs. That’s ewww.” I stared pointedly at his chest, which he puffed up to annoy me.

When we got into the resto, the maitre d’ approached us with a smile. “Sir, madame,” he greeted.

“We want to sit at that table,” Tim said while pointing at the area we had talked about. Patty had her back to us and didn’t have the slightest clue that we were there. The maitre d’ ushered us to the place and handed us a menu once we were seated. We just ordered an appetizer and patiently waited for Patty’s date to arrive.

A few minutes later, I was surprised to see Eris walk in. She was wearing huge sunglasses, but I could still recognize her. That walk she did made me feel like I was watching a fashion runway show. What was she doing here?

The maitre d’ approached her, but she turned him away with a smirk. My eyes followed her as she walked closer. I wasn’t the only one who was looking. Lots of gentlemen turned her way, but she ignored them.

She stunned me even more by walking past our table and straight to Patty’s. Thank God she didn’t notice me. But what the heck? Did they know each other? As if to answer my question, Eris tapped Patty’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, are you Patty?” she asked nervously.

“What the fudge, Dulce!” Tim said in a whisper while leaning toward me. “That’s the mystery woman? She’s hot! Patty is so going to fall for her.”

“Shut up,” I said and watched closely as Patty turned and made eye contact with Eris.

The girl blushed like a newborn baby and gasped. “I know you,” she said. “You’re that beautiful girl Dulce was talking to at school. You’re Violet?”

Eris smiled nervously and sat in front of Patty. “Yes. I uhhh… I’m a… I’m her,” she mumbled. Oh God, it was priceless. If only I had a camcorder with me right now. I would have recorded the whole thing.

“I know that you have a beautiful inside, but I didn’t know you’d be beautiful on the outside too,” Patty gushed.

I wanted to laugh right then. Beautiful inside? Was she really talking about Eris? I placed my palm on the table and stood up. “Where are you going?” Tim asked.

“I know that person, and she’s just going to play with Patty’s heart,” I said. “Patty is our sister. I won’t allow that to happen.”

Tim grabbed my hand quickly before I made a move. “Calm down, cutie,” he said lowly. “Patty is a good judge of character. You know that, Dulce. If you ruin this for her, she’ll be heartbroken. She did say that she loves that woman, right?”

“Yeah,” I grumbled and sat down. “But I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Let’s give the chick a chance.”

We both turned our attention back to the two. Eris asked the waiter for water, and she was now playing with the ice using her straw. She looked at the table while she did that and didn’t speak to Patty. It was evident that she felt nervous about the whole thing.

“Why won’t you talk to me?” Patty asked gently.

Eris didn’t answer for a while, but when she did, she took a deep breath first. “I really like you, Patty,” she said with a sincere expression on her face. “But I don’t want to screw things up.” Eris looked Patty in the eyes. “We’ve been talking for months now, and I feel like I know you on a very deep level. But I wasn’t always the good girl that you think I am.”

“Then start changing by telling me everything,” Patty said.

Eris hesitated. “I… I was a huge party girl before. I broke a lot of women’s hearts, and my lifestyle was not something I could be proud of. I had a threesome with other girls. They were models, and I was young back then. I didn’t know any better.”

I heard Patty take a deep breath. “But that’s in the past, right? You said you love me, Violet. You’re not going to do those things anymore, right?”

Eris quickly touched Patty’s hands from across the table. “Yes, Patty,” she said with teary eyes. “My partying and cheating days are over. They’re done. Past tense,” she said. “And I love you, present tense. Please accept me for what I am.”

My heart melted for Patty. I didn’t know Eris could be a hopeless romantic, too. I always thought she was an animal that was too wild. But my best friend was able to tame her. Way to go, Patty, I cheered in my head.

“I accept you,” Patty said. “And please accept that I do drugs, too.” Eris, Tim, and I mirrored each other’s shocked expressions. “Just kidding,” Patty continued. “Now, please don’t be nervous. I want you as bad as you want me. You got me ever since I read the first chapter in your book.”

At Patty’s confession, Tim and I stared at each other. It seemed that we were not needed anymore. We had a feeling that everything would be okay for those two.

After paying for our appetizers, we went outside the resto and grinned widely. Patty and Eris would be a good match. It was clear that they were meant for each other. The lioness and the tamer couldn’t have been better matched.

Speaking of a good match, it was my turn to meet someone new. Mom had invited her date over for the weekend. We were going to have a family dinner and were waiting for the guy to arrive. Glace would also be there. Since her opinion counted, it was important that she was present when the guy was introduced.

“So, what’s his name?” Glace asked Mom while helping me set the table that night.

I glanced at Mom. She was wearing a black strapless dress for the occasion. It looked good on her. “His name is Rick,” she said with a smile.

“And what does Rick do exactly, Mom?” I asked while positioning the fork and knife neatly beside the plate. I wanted everything to be perfect for her. She had supported me with Glace, and now, I was going to support her with Rick.

“He’s a talent scout,” she said. “We met because of work.”

Glace turned to Mom with a look of surprise on her face. “Andrea,” she said. “Is this talent scout famous? I happen to know one.”

Mom waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said. “We only talk about us when we see each other.”

“Okay,” Glace said.

After several minutes, the three of us heard the doorbell ring. By then, the meal was prepared at the table. “Just stay there and wait,” Mom instructed. “I’m going to let him in and introduce him over dinner.”

When Mom disappeared, I stared at Glace and smiled. “Come sit beside me, baby,” I said while taking her hand.

“Sure,” she replied and kissed my nose. Our table was a six-seater, and Glace and I sat side-by-side.

We glanced cheesily at each other while waiting for Mom and her date to go to the dining area. Once they did, Mom announced, “Dulce, Glace, I want you to meet Rick.”

I turned to Rick. “Hey,” I greeted. The man was wearing a navy blue dress shirt and jeans. He was about to reply when Glace choked on something and coughed loudly. “Are you okay, baby?” I asked while rubbing her back gently. Mom and Rick sat at the table across from us. Both of them stared weirdly at my girlfriend.

Glace stopped coughing and gaped at the guy with her mouth open. It looked like she had seen a ghost. “Is there something wrong, Glace?” Mom asked. She turned to Rick. “Do you know each other?”

“No,” Rick said quickly. “And who are these beautiful girls?”

“This is Dulce, my daughter,” Mom said while staring at me. She turned to Glace. “And this is Frio, her girlfriend.”

Rick glanced directly at Mom. “I didn’t know your daughter was lesbian.”

Mom laughed. “Well, now you know.”

It was a bit awkward after that. Glace simply refused to talk while Rick kept on mentioning stuff about lesbians. Mom didn’t seem to notice, though. She just served our dinner and laughed at every joke that the guy made.

Frankly, I was not having a good time at all. It was mainly because my girlfriend was like a statue beside me. She didn’t eat a lot, either. And believe me when I tell you that Glace had a huge appetite, especially when it came to my cooking.

I stared discreetly at Rick. He was a handsome man around the age of 40. He looked confident and successful, which was a deadly combination. Sometimes, guys like him tended to be too cocky. But since Mom thought he was good enough, I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Do you have children?” I asked him. I didn’t know why I did. I guess I was just curious. If my mom ever decided to marry him, I would have to deal with his children too, so I had to know as early as now.

He stared at Glace but told me, “No, Dulce, I don’t have any children.”

Mom touched Ricks’s arm. “He’s a divorced man,” she said. “He’s never dated other women aside from me.”

“You’re a lucky guy, Rick, because my mom never dated since my dad died, too. That means you have to be careful with her heart, buddy, or we’ll be enemies.” Mom stared incredulously at me, but I just smiled at her.

Rick placed down the fork he was using. “No worries, kiddo,” he said. “I have every intention of making your mom happy. I’m even thinking of marrying her.”

At his statement, Glace accidentally dropped the knife she was using, and it clattered noisily on the plate. The three of us looked at her, but she just glared angrily at Rick before standing up. “I think I need to go,” she said.

“But you barely touched dinner,” Mom said.

“I’m not really hungry,” Glace explained with a frown. “Thanks for the meal, Andrea.” She turned to me. “I really love your cooking, baby, but I have to go.”

She walked out of the dining area without any further explanation while I followed close on her heels. “Are you feeling okay, Glace? You’re acting weird.” I touched her shoulder, making her stop and look at me.

“I don’t feel well,” she replied. I took a good look at her face. She was paler than usual, and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. I gave her a hug. “Baby,” I whispered. “Would you like me to drive you home? You don’t look good.”

“No, Dulce. You need to stay here and finish your dinner date.” She pasted a smile on her face, but I saw that something was bothering her. “I’ll be okay. I just have to take care of some things.” She removed my arms from her. “See you in school, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said.

She opened the door and stepped out. Before she walked away, Glace turned back to me with a worried expression on her face. “I love you, Dulce. I will not lose you for anything.”

I watched her retreating back. I didn’t know what had happened to her, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Something was bothering Glace—something so worrisome that she was thinking I’d let her go.