THREE

The Man in Town

There was a short rap on the door, followed by Jarrod's voice.

"Babe? Come down for breakfast, please."

Lolita stirred. She stretched when she opened her eyes, realizing that she’d dozed off to sleep. This was not the right time to look at her boyfriend. She’d honestly prefer to be sleeping right now, but something else was important.

She opened the door and went down to the living room. There was a plate of pancakes and syrup. Lolita glanced briefly at it before turning to Jarrod.

“Who was that?” She asked.

He sighed. “Straight to the point, I see.”

“Who was that, babe, and why were you arguing with him?”

He sighed again and leaned back on the couch. “I think we should move into a better place, hmm? A bigger house, I might add.”

“What?”

“This place is kind of little, Lolita. I was thinking we need a bigger space where we’d have a dining room and all that.”

“When did you decide that?”

“Just this morning.”

She scoffed. “Your brother shows up and you suddenly want to relocate?”

Jarrod’s face became red. “He’s not my brother, Lolita. Don’t you dare refer to him as one.”

“You both resemble each other, and don’t even think of transferring that aggression to me!”

“Can you just calm down? You’re raising your voice!”

“I’m not! You’re the one who raised your voice at me just now.” She folded her arms on her stomach. “What’s the matter? Can you just tell me something for once and not keep me in the dark?”

Jarrod said nothing. His plate was on the space beside him. Lolita sat down on a comfortable sofa and took her plate from the table. It was banana pancakes. She hated banana; Jarrod knew that.

“So you’re not going to tell me about this guy who so obviously resembles you that there’s not a bit left?” She asked again.

“He’s nothing like me,” Jarrod grunted.

“That’s true,” she replied.

He raised his head to meet her eyes. When she looked into his blue eyes, only then did she realize that she was right. They were both so different, that anyone could easily tell. Or was it just her?

Jarrod was calm and effortless, while the other guy seemed dangerous and sensual. Was his presence that triggering that Jarrod forgot to collect his calm nature?

“Can you even tell me his name?” Lolita said.

Jarrod shook his head. “You can’t be serious.”

“You won’t tell me his name? You’re holding back on that too?”

“I told you it wasn’t important. He’s not important, okay? If you’re that interested in knowing him, why don’t you run after him?”

She set her plate aside and stood up. “Are we seriously arguing over your brother right now?”

“He’s not my brother.”

“What is he, then? Why won’t you tell me? Why don’t tell me anything?!”

Jarrod rolled his eyes and bit into his food. Lolita held the door to her temper firmly closed. She couldn’t for the life of her, understand why he was acting this way. She started to walk away.

“Are you angry with me?” Jarrod called.

She stopped and looked back at him. “Yes. You know I don’t eat banana and you had to whip it up with floor.”

“Shit, I forgot.”

“You always forget, Jarrod.”

She gave him a defeated look before heading to her room. Perhaps withholding information from her was a good cause. He would know better than she did; she’d only have to live with it.

*******

By noon, Lolita met with her friends at a local café. Her brain was functioning pretty quickly by then and she didn’t have to slug around or get angry with her boyfriend. The café was old, yet beautiful. It had just been newly renovated to transparent walls, which gave it a rich outlook.

“Sasha is getting married next week,” Samantha said. “Can you believe it?”

Tessa groaned. “My god, she’s as tacky as her name indicates. Who in the world would want to marry her?”

“I heard it’s a clueless boy from London,” Samantha replied.

“Ah yes, Londoners. Very unstable people, I heard.” Tessa then frowned. “Lolita, you’re playing around with your food. You know so many people would die to be where you are.”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “Not the speech, Tessa. No one cares about your theories.”

“It’s not a theory,” Tessa argued. “People are suffering in the world. Lolita, you have to eat and not waste a single food.”

Lolita laughed, brushing her hair away. “It’s just croissant.”

“So? Croissant is like luxury to some people.”

Samantha smacked her arm. “Girl, shut the fuck up.”

They started to argue. Lolita raised a mug of coffee to her lips and looked outside. She hated coffee; she’d never been able to comprehend why people drank it. It was tasteless with a bitter under taste. She just didn’t like it. She internally cringed before dropping the mug on the table.

“So, Sasha is getting married, huh?”

Her two friends looked at her when the question popped up. Samantha was tall and brilliant, with dark hair and green contact lens; while Tessa was blond, short and assertive. Lolita liked that she was just in the middle, neither short nor tall in between them.

“When are you getting married?” Tessa asked mockingly. “One would think that Jarrod would have popped the question by now.”

Samantha smacked Tessa’s arm. “You can’t ask her that; it’s a sensitive topic.”

“It’s not a sensitive topic,” Lolita immediately defended. ‘I just don’t think he’s ready.”

“You’ve been together for two years and you started living with him five months ago. Girl, he should be damn ready by now.”

“Yes, well, I know… but recently I just started to think… well not recently, like today…”

Samantha raised a hand in the air to stop her. “Don’t tell me you’re breaking up with him.”

“No!”

“No? But you’re thinking about it?”

“You didn’t even let me finish!”

“You started thinking of breaking up with him this morning?”

“Oh my god,” Tessa gasped, a delicate hand to her lips. “Oh my fucking god.”

The two other girls turned to her. Lolita thought Tessa was referring to her, but when they saw that her eyes were fixated on something else—something outside—they followed her line of sight. It was the man she’d seen earlier that day, with a girl roped around him.

Samantha gasped at the sight and then looked at Lolita. “Jarrod is cheating on you?”

“No, no that’s not him…” she started to say.

“What do you mean it’s not him?” Tessa asked. “It’s clearly him! My goodness, I didn’t think he had it in him to even cheat on you.”

Lolita looked up once more, to start a feeble explanation, but then her eyes met with the man. He was looking straight at her, his blue eyes seeming to sizzle between their two worlds. She never would have thought it, but Lolita could swear that everything else ceased to exist.

It was just the both of them in that moment.