Someone's Getting Jealous

Last night, Ben was being extremely insufferable on two fronts: James, and my short story.

“So does this James guy have the hots for you?”

“I might have to have a little chat with your writing boyfriend about the two of you going out drinking after class all the time.”

“Am I taller than James?”

And on and on. I guess Ben’s feeling a little jealous and/or threatened, which truth be told, I’m kind of okay with. Keep him on his toes! But still: annoying.

Less annoying and more worrying is his sudden interest in reading my short story/novel-in-progress. At first, I was bothered that he didn’t ask to read it, but now that he wants to, I’m afraid he’s going to read it and have the same curiosity that James, aka my “writing boyfriend”, did. And in case any of you have forgotten, I am the worst liar on Earth. There are a lot of stories in there that Ben will recognize as being loosely—and not so loosely—based on the truth. My character’s cheating (or not cheating, depending on how you felt during the Brandon/Derrick debacle), for example. And there’s a camping trip featuring tent sex and being discovered by another couple in the woods. And several other things that are likely to make him wonder if I haven’t written all this before, somewhere else. If he asks, I’m not so sure I’ll to be able to convince him that I don’t have a blog, or that I even want to try.

“It’s not ready for primetime yet,” I protested.

“Oh, but James gets to read it.”

“Is that what this is about? You want to read it because you’re jealous that another guy gets to? Also, are you going to act like a freak at the party tomorrow, or are you going to be normal?”

Ben assured me that he was going to be normal, if by “normal,” I meant “quietly menacing” and “vaguely threatening.”

I’m pretty sure I hit the nail on the head. That Ben only wants to read my story now because of James. Hopefully, once he meets him and gets more comfortable with the whole thing, he’ll give it up. Especially because I’m expanding it into novel form. What guy wants to read a whole chick lit novel?

All right, I have to go get ready for the party. God, I hope Ben acts like a sane, well-adjusted human being tonight. I’m having a hard time figuring out if he’s really that insecure about all this, or if he’s just doing it all for the lulz.

Posted at 8:32 PM

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Someone's Getting Jealous

Last night, Ben was being extremely insufferable on two fronts: James, and my short story.

“So does this James guy have the hots for you?”

“I might have to have a little chat with your writing boyfriend about the two of you going out drinking after class all the time.”

“Am I taller than James?”

And on and on. I guess Ben’s feeling a little jealous and/or threatened, which truth be told, I’m kind of okay with. Keep him on his toes! But still: annoying.

Less annoying and more worrying is his sudden interest in reading my short story/novel-in-progress. At first, I was bothered that he didn’t ask to read it, but now that he wants to, I’m afraid he’s going to read it and have the same curiosity that James, aka my “writing boyfriend”, did. And in case any of you have forgotten, I am the worst liar on Earth. There are a lot of stories in there that Ben will recognize as being loosely—and not so loosely—based on the truth. My character’s cheating (or not cheating, depending on how you felt during the Brandon/Derrick debacle), for example. And there’s a camping trip featuring tent sex and being discovered by another couple in the woods. And several other things that are likely to make him wonder if I haven’t written all this before, somewhere else. If he asks, I’m not so sure I’ll to be able to convince him that I don’t have a blog, or that I even want to try.

“It’s not ready for primetime yet,” I protested.

“Oh, but James gets to read it.”

“Is that what this is about? You want to read it because you’re jealous that another guy gets to? Also, are you going to act like a freak at the party tomorrow, or are you going to be normal?”

Ben assured me that he was going to be normal, if by “normal,” I meant “quietly menacing” and “vaguely threatening.”

I’m pretty sure I hit the nail on the head. That Ben only wants to read my story now because of James. Hopefully, once he meets him and gets more comfortable with the whole thing, he’ll give it up. Especially because I’m expanding it into novel form. What guy wants to read a whole chick lit novel?

All right, I have to go get ready for the party. God, I hope Ben acts like a sane, well-adjusted human being tonight. I’m having a hard time figuring out if he’s really that insecure about all this, or if he’s just doing it all for the lulz.

Posted at 8:32 PM

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Someone's Gonna Be Pissed...

Last night, Amy called me to make shopping plans for Saturday. We went over our meeting time and place, and tossed around some brunch ideas. Once we had that squared away, I brought up something that had been nagging at me.

"Have you thought about inviting Lori to come with you?" I asked. The silence on the other end of the line told me my answer.

"I don't really think she'll come," I continued hurriedly. "I just think it might be a nice gesture."

Amy sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she admitted. "It's just hard to reach out to someone who so obviously hates your presence in her life. I mean, I get it. I really do. But she's just so… intimidating."

"She'll come around," I said, though I had no idea if what I was saying was the truth. "This might help."

Amy said she'd call Lori and get back to me. About an hour later, Ben called.

"I suggested that Amy invite Lori to go shopping with us Sunday," I said. "Good idea or bad idea?"

"Tough to say," Ben said. "It's so last-minute, she might feel like Amy invited her out of obligation, but asked her late hoping she wouldn't be able to make it. Either way, I appreciate you trying to help."

Ben had a good point, one I hadn't really considered.

"I was thinking that maybe we could invite Amy to dinner. Do you want to do that?"

"I really don't," he said, and then quickly continued. "It's not that I'm not planning to get to know her. I am. Just not… yet."

"Okay," I said. I understood where he was coming from, and I was also happy that he realized it would be a good idea to get to know her down the road. I'd told him my impression of Amy–that she was a sweet girl who seemed to be very much in love with his father. He was skeptical, but admitted it wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility.

When I got off the phone, I had a text from Amy, saying simply, "No Lori Saturday." I joined Brad in the living room. He had his laptop out, and was on his online dating site again.

"Question for you," he began. "Let's just say you met someone online, and accidentally lied about your name."

"Accidentally?"

"Yeah, because you were mean to her in high school, and made her cry once, and you didn't want to start things off on the wrong foot."

"Oh, Brad. Please tell me you didn't do that."

"I didn't mean to."

"Brad…"

"We were emailing, and she asked my name, and I panicked. She's really cute, K. And funny, and she never would have agreed to go out with me if she knew who I was."

"You're going out with her? When?"

"Saturday. Help."

"Absolutely not," I said. "You have to tell her the truth. There is no other option."

"I'll see how it goes Saturday and then decide."

"Brad!"

"We might not even like each other!"

I shook my head at him, and went into the kitchen to make myself a quesadilla. I swear, that boy is like a walking sitcom sometimes.

Posted at 8:11 AM

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