Page 54 of Saved
She wrinkled her nose. “Not really. I almost didn’t report what happened to me but only a couple of days went by. But ohhh. Val went through that.”
The bell on the door jingled as it opened. Before we bothered to look up, we heard the familiar voice. “Val went through what?”
I turned in the chair to see the Brazilian beauty walking toward us. Val took a seat next to Lucy.
“Am I imposing? I had a meeting with Lucy in an hour, but traffic was light. I parked just over there and saw you. I heard my name?”
“Oh no, please join us.” Lucy locked eyes with me and nodded. I cleared my throat. “I asked Luce if she ever kept a secret so long that it felt like you’d never tell.”
Val perked up and sighed. “I only came out recently. It was very difficult.”
“Do you regret it?” I asked as I mindlessly poked at my ice cream.
She smiled and shook her head, her silky black hair slinging side to side. “No. I finally feel free. It was very scary at the time, and I did worrythen. Things with my father are sometimes still…odd. But I kept it from them for so long, I understand the need for an adjustment period.”
“Can I ask, were they upset with you? Not for being a lesbian, but for not telling them,” I continued for clarification.
She nodded. “For my mother, that was the hardest part, I think. It felt like a betrayal to her. She thought I told her everything. I thought I was protecting them somehow. Or at least protecting their idea of me.” She stood. “If I must sit here much longer, I need ice cream. Excuse me.”
Lucy picked at the edge of one of the magazines as she took another bite. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what was it? The secret?”
I looked around the shop. Only two other people besides the employee were inside and sat on the other wall away from us. They also appeared to be high school students. I turned; Val was getting her ice cream. If I was going to spill the tea, I only wanted to do it once.
After Val came to sit again, I took a huge bite of my banana split before finally going into the story, once the brain freeze subsided. “Well, synopsis of what happened was this…”
I gave them the abridged version as I poked at my ice cream.
“...Eventually I just figured he was the one that got away and wouldn't see him again.” Looking down, my ice cream was a messy melted blob.
I looked up to see both of them staring at me with their jaws hanging open. Lucy, cleared her throat then said, “And then he showed up here out of the blue.”
“Eight years later.”
Val’s brows pinched together, and she leaned in. “I apologize. But why is this relevant?”
“I told him last night.”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “Did he blow up?”
Shaking my head, I answered, “That’s the thing. Not really. He sort of yelled, shouted–no, not even that. Just raised his voice a couple of times but he didn’t explode. I’ve seen Jason get more pissed about a late liquor delivery.”
Lucy laughed. “Well, Jason has a temper. Mike seems pretty chill most of the time. Maybe thatwashim exploding?”
“He was more hurt than mad.”
Val scooped up her strawberry ice cream but spoke before taking the bite. “Is that not good? You want him to be mad?” Her brow furrowed.
I sighed. “I’m not sure. I guess I feel like I deserved to be yelled at. Him being so,notangry, made me feel worse, I think.”
“So, you are worried about your emotions?” Val asked.
“No. I just expected a different reaction, I suppose.”
“You are upset he didn’t react how you wanted? Did you want him to break up with you? Is that why you told him?” Her crystal blue eyes peered at me. Val always spoke very matter of factly and didn’t mean harm, but way to drive the spear in.
“I don’t want him to break up with me. I don’t know why I’m feeling this way.”
Lucy tilted her head. “Jaz, do you need someone to like, confirm you did something wrong? Did you want him to punish you or something?”
