Page 145 of Finding Us

“It was fine. Are you still at the bookstore?”

“Yeah, I’m still here.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” I hang up and change back into my clothes.

Jade’s shopping for a laptop. There aren’t a lot of stores in this town so she’s hoping she’ll find a laptop she likes at the campus bookstore. They have a good selection and they give students a discount.

I see her when I walk in. She looks totally confused as she tries to compare the spec sheets.

“Need some help?” I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her cheek.

“I don’t know which one to get.”

I lean over her shoulder and glance through the specs. “Get the more expensive one. It has more memory and it’s faster.”

“But it’s $300 more.”

“Jade, you have plenty of money. Just buy it.”

“Grace is making me charge it on that credit card she gave me. She reminded me last week. She said she already got Sadie and her sisters new computers.”

“Then get the more expensive one. Grace can definitely afford it.”

“I feel bad making her pay for it. It’s a lot of money.”

Jade still does not understand that a lot of money to her is not a lot of money to people like Grace. The laptop Jade wants is $2000. That’s nothing, but to Jade it’s like $200,000.

“Jade, I guarantee Sadie spent way more than that on whatever computer she bought. I also know that Sadie racks up thousands of dollars a month on her credit card buying clothes and shoes. I’m sure her sisters do, too. Besides, Grace doesn’t see the bills. They go to whoever manages her money for her.”

I reach around Jade and grab the sales slip for the laptop and head to the register.

“Where are you going?” She races up behind me.

“I’m buying your computer.” I hand the slip to the girl at the counter.

“I have to go to the back to get it,” the girl says.

I nod and she takes off to the back of the store.

“Garret, I’m not sure I’m getting that one.”

“You’ve been here for an hour and you narrowed it down to those two you were looking at. So do you like that one or not?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re getting it. Decision made. It’s a good laptop. You’ll love it.”

Even though she’s worth millions now, Jade has a hard time spending money, which makes every decision monumental. So I’ve found it’s easier to just intervene once I know what she wants. I can almost always tell when she wants something, but getting her to admit it is next to impossible. I’m working on it, but for now I just need to take charge or a decision would never be made.

The sales girl returns with the laptop. Jade swipes her credit card and we leave.

“That was easy.” I take Jade’s hand as we walk to the car. I’m in a much better mood than I was earlier, which is odd because I was just told I didn’t make the swim team. But I feel like Keith actually gave a damn and really wants me to get better so I can be on the team. And I like that. It’s refreshing to have a coach care about his team more than his wins.

“I didn’t think it was easy,” Jade says. “I found it kind of stressful.”

“Then it’s a good thing I stopped by. You would’ve been in there all day.” I open her door, then put the laptop in the trunk and get in on the other side. “I think we should get some sandwiches and take them to the park. What do you think?”

“That sounds fun. Where are we getting the sandwiches?”

---