Chapter Fifty-Seven

**

“You gonna stick by me?”

“Maybe….”

**

“Oh my God,” Mia squealed as we drove by Jerry’s. “Look! There he is!”

“Who?” Jamie asked, looking around.

“Wes,” I explained. “There…see him? Over by that table?”

“No…” she said slowly.

“You’ll see him when we get inside,” Amber said, laughing.

“I’m so going to marry him…” Mia sighed as she parked the car.

“Yeah…he just doesn’t know it yet, right?” I laughed.

“Exactly!”

“So do you guys come here a lot?” Jamie asked as we walked in.

Kelly, the hostess, came up before any of us could answer. “Hey girls!” she said, giving Mia a hug. “Four tonight, huh?”

“Yeah,” Amber said. “Jamie’s new in town, so we had to corrupt her, you know.”

“Of course!” Kelly laughed. “Here, I’ve been saving a table for you…follow me.”

“So I guess that answered my question,” Jamie laughed as she sat down next to me in the booth, facing the door.

“Huh?” I asked, looking over at her.

“You know…I asked if you guys came here a lot…” she explained.

“Oh, absolutely,” Mia answered. “We’ve been coming here just about every week, since I got my license. It’s my favorite restaurant. My dad used to know the owner…worked on his cars and stuff.”

“Oh that’s cool,” Jamie said.

“Yeah,” I went on. “Mia comes here to drool over guys, and Amber and I come for the food.”

“You don’t like checking out the guys?” Jamie asked, looking around the restaurant. “Aren’t you single?”

“Well…yeah…” I answered slowly. I kinda felt bad about lying to her, but there wasn’t really anything else I could do. “I don’t know, I’m just not really into the whole guy thing. Taking a break from it all, you know?”

“Ah,” Jamie nodded.

“Oooh, look at him!” Mia said just then, interrupting us.

“Who?” Jamie asked, turning around and trying to figure out who Mia was talking about.

“That guy…sitting at the table right over there…with the dark blond hair and the beige jacket with the wool cuffs…”

“Can’t see him,” Amber said. “There’s all these people in the way. Is he cuter than Wes?”

“Hello, ladies!” Wes said as he walked up to our table.

Amber grimaced, and I could tell Mia had kicked her under the table or something to get her to shut up.

“Hey Wes,” I said, since Mia didn’t look like she was gonna be talking anytime soon. “How you livin’?”

“Eh, pretty good,” he answered. “Better now that you girls are here! So, your usual drinks?”

“Yep,” Amber nodded.

“And…what about you?” Wes asked, turning to Jamie.

“Uhm…a Diet Coke,” Jamie said. “And can I get a slice of lemon with that?”

“Sure,” Wes said. “So,” he went on, looking back over at Amber and Mia, “you managed to drag someone else along with you this week?”

“Yeah,” Mia answered, blushing a little. “Jamie’s new in town.”

“So, you know, make sure you keep an eye out for famous people so we can convince her this place is worth driving to West Hollywood for,” Amber grinned.

“Of course!” Wes laughed. “’ll go ask around and see if there’ve been any sightings yet tonight…and I‘ll be back with your drinks in just a minute.”

“He seems nice,” Jamie said after Wes had walked away.

“Yeah,” Amber agreed. “He’s a pretty cool guy.”

“And don’t forget about how adorable he is!” Mia added.

“Now, just remember, Mia,” I said, grinning, “you’re not allowed to play with the napkin holder, the salt and pepper shakers, or anything else that might be on the table… And you have to actually talk to him!”

“Mia gets nervous,” Amber explained.

“Really?” Jamie asked.

“Yeah…” Mia said, blushing even more.

“I’d never guess it…” Jamie said slowly. “You seem so confident, I mean…”

“Yeah, well it’s easy to talk about guys…” Mia started. “But when it comes to actually talking to them…and then knowing that anyone I date is gonna have to survive the third degree not only from Dom but from Leon and Vince too…”

“Ah…I see…” Jamie said.

“Do you know what you want yet?” Amber asked Jamie just as Wes came back over with our drinks.

“Uhm… I don’t know,” Jamie said slowly. “There’s so many things…”

“Yeah,” Mia laughed. “We usually get the same every time…”

“Two orders of cheese sticks, two orders of fries, extra ranch dressing,” Wes chimed in, grinning.

“The cheese sticks here are amazing,” Amber said, looking over at Jamie. “You wanna just split with us?”

“Uhm…yeah, that sounds good,” Jamie said as she put down her menu. “And a garden salad too…ranch dressing,” she told Wes.

“Okay,” Wes said, writing her order down on his pad. “Anything else for the rest of you?”

“Either of you wanna split a grilled cheese with me?” Amber asked, looking back and forth between Mia and me.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” we both answered at the same time.

“Oh,” Mia said, laughing. “You go for it Letty. God knows I don‘t need it…”

“No,” I protested, shaking my head. “I’m not really that hungry…you and Amber should split it.”

“C’mon,” Amber said, “someone has to split it with me! I can’t eat the whole thing by myself!”

“How’s this,” Wes suggested. “I’ll get George to make an extra-big sandwich, and then split it in three for you. That work?”

I looked at Mia and Amber before turning to Wes. “Yeah, man, that’s good. Lucky we have you to look after us, huh?”

“Yeah,” Wes laughed. “Okay, I’ll be back with your stuff in a while.”

“He really is cute…” Mia said after a few minutes.

“Who…Wes?” I asked. “I thought we’d already agreed on that one…”

“No, not him,” Mia explained. “Even though he is cute. But I was talking about the guy in the jacket.”

“Oh, him!” Amber said. “Okay, I get you now.”

“Did you get a look at him yet?” Mia asked.

“Hmm?” Amber asked as she picked up her drink.

“You know…there were people in the way earlier…”

“Oh, yeah,” Amber said. “I did.”

“And?” Mia asked.

“Oh…I didn’t look at his face…” Amber said slowly. “I was looking at his jacket.”

I busted out laughing as Mia dropped her head onto the table, nearly knocking her drink over.

“God,” she moaned. “What did I do to deserve you people?”

“Oh, come on, you know you love us,” Amber laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Wes asked as he walked over with our food.

Amber and I just giggled… For some reason I couldn’t stop laughing. Every time I looked at Amber, it just set me off more. And since she was right across the table from me, it was kinda impossible not to look at her.

“Oh…uhm…” Jamie stammered, trying to cover for us.

“They’re totally laughing at me…” Mia said, blushing a little.

“What?” Wes asked, kneeling down to talk to her. “Why would they be doing that? They’re not laughing at you…”

“It was…” Amber choked out, “her head…and the table…and the glass… I can’t breathe!”

“Just ignore them,” Mia said, blushing a little. “They’re crazy.”

“Okay,” Wes laughed. “Well, here’s your food…I’m going on my break, but I’ll be around later to make sure you’re doing okay.”

“Thanks,” Jamie said as he walked away.

“God!” Mia exclaimed, smacking Amber’s arm after she was sure Wes couldn’t hear us anymore. “I cannot believe you guys!”

“That,” I said, trying to catch my breath, “was the funniest thing I’ve seen all month, I think.”

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Mia said, scooting her way out of the booth.

“’Kay,” Amber nodded as she dug into the fries.

“Oh my God, look at her pants!” I heard some girl say as Mia walked by their table.

I leaned back and looked at Mia, trying to remember what pants she was wearing. Black jeans that Amber’d cut the waist off of…I actually had a couple pairs like them myself.

“I can’t believe anyone would leave their house looking like that…” one of her friends chimed in. “You know…unless they wanted to look like a whore… Look, her underwear’s showing and everything… She might as well be wearing a sign advertising her prices.”

“You know,” I said, making sure I had their attention. “I can’t believe you’re talking all that shit with us sitting right here where we can hear you…”

“What’s up, Let?” Amber asked, turning to look over at the table where the girls were sitting.

“Oh,” I sneered, “these girls were just admiring the pants you altered for Mia.”

“Oh yeah?” Amber smiled. “It’s really easy to fix the waist like that, I could totally show you how to do it,” she said to them. “And it’s like a miracle if you’re short waisted…makes you look so much taller…”

“Well,” I said, “apparently, only whores would wear pants like those.”

“What?” Amber asked, looking kinda shocked.

“Oh yeah,” I went on. “These girls think your next design should have a price listing right there on it. Maybe on the back pockets, what do you think? Hand jobs, fifty bucks…blow jobs, a hundred… Although, there’s not really all that much room on the pocket…maybe down one leg would be better…”

“They called Mia a whore?” Jamie asked slowly.

“Indeed,” I nodded.

“What?!?” Mia said… I hadn’t noticed her walking back from the bathroom. “Excuse me?”

I looked over at the table where the girls were sitting, but they didn’t say anything, didn’t even look over at us. Just sat there, playing with their food. I glared at them, waiting for one of them to say something, to give me any excuse to kick their asses. I was practically dying for a fight…I had all these frustrations building up and no outlet for any of it.

“Just drop it, Let…” Mia muttered, tugging on my arm.

“No, Mia,” I snapped. “I don’t want to just drop it. These bitches are talking shit about you for no reason other than their own stupid jealousy…’cause they know they all look like shit and so when they see some girl looking cute they have to cut her down to make themselves feel better…”

“Yeah, whatever…” one of the girls snarked.

“Brandy!” her friend hissed, smacking her arm.

“What!” the girl…Brandy, I guess, replied. “Leave me alone, Stacey.”

“Look,” the blonde girl - Stacey - said, looking over at our table. “I’m real sorry about them… They’ve had like, way too much to drink tonight…we just came over from the club next door to get some food before we head home. They don’t really mean anything by it… They won‘t even remember this tomorrow, I‘m sure.”

“Whatever,” I said, sneering. “Being drunk isn’t an excuse for being bitchy…” I started, but Mia cut me off, started talking over me.

“It’s fine,” she said, smiling at Stacey. “Don’t worry about it.”

“They really are cute pants…” Stacey said as she stood up and started pulling her friends towards the door.

“Oh, thanks!” Mia grinned.

I just glared at her. “Why do you have to be so fucking nice all the time, Mia?” I demanded.

“Well…” she started, but I wasn’t done yet.

“You act like that, people will just walk all over you! You can’t let anybody see you being weak…not ever. Not unless you want to live with people take advantage and talking shit about you for the rest of your life!”

Mia and Amber just stared at me for a few seconds…I could hear Jamie sucking on her soda next to me, like she was trying to pretend she wasn’t there or something.

“You think I’m weak?” Mia asked, slowly.

“I…” I started, “well…no! Of course not! Just…you can’t let people fuck you over like that all the time and not do anything about it! I mean…how many times can you forgive people, knowing they’re just gonna go on doing the same shit? You have to protect yourself.”

Jamie laughed, lowly. “You know, Letty…that’s such bullshit.”

“What?” I asked, kinda shocked that she’d said anything at all.

“It’s one thing not to let people take advantage of you…but you don’t have to be hostile all the time,” she explained. “You don’t have to totally shut yourself off from people. You live like that, all you’re gonna end up with is yourself. ‘Cause soon enough, you’ll piss everyone off so much that they won’t want to be around you…even the people who love you.”

I couldn’t really say anything back to that… We all just kinda sat there in silence for a few minutes.

“I still don’t think I can believe it,” Amber finally said.

“What?” Mia asked.

“Did I really just see sweet, innocent little Jamie get bad with Letty? And she’s still alive?” she asked, grinning at me.

I threw a fry across the table at her, grinning back. Maybe I was even blushing a little…

“Yeah,” Mia said, smiling, “I think you did. You know, Jamie, I think you’ll be really good for Vince. Better than we thought, even.”

“Yeah…” Jamie sighed. “Too bad nothing’s ever gonna come of that, though…”

“What?” Mia asked sharply. “What do you mean?”