Hoedown

“I'm fine”

I shot a look at, who I was assuming was, Joshua's girlfriend. A sudden burst of confidence came over me when I realized I was freshly dolled up and looked nothing like the piece of trash she did. I glaced over at Joshua, who was still dumbfounded, and walked into the store.

Fuck! Why did I have to bump into him when I was alone? Where was Kadie when I needed her? I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.

911! Ran into Josh and his new skank friend at Rusty's!

Kadie almost immediately responded.

Shit! Are you still there? Is he still there? What happened?!

As I finished reading her text I looked up to see Joshua coming back into the store, alone.

I'm still here, he's coming back towards me! SEND FOR HELP!

I looked up again to see Joshua peeking through the aisles. We caught each others glances. His face light up as if he found what he was looking for. I quickly walked into an aisle trying to ignore him. As I turned the corner I looked down at the new message from Kadie.

If you die before I get there, can I have your Tory Burch boots?

I'll admit it made me laugh, but she didn't need to know that

KADIE!

Just as Joshua walked into the aisle I saw  Kadie's  last message

I'm coming! I'm coming!

“Lynn Lee!” He called out. I picked up a box of hair dye and pretended like I was interested in it. “Lynn Lee!” He kept calling out until he was close enough to have a conversation. “Are you ignoring me?”

Yes, you fucking idiot, I am. “Oh!” I jumped back acting as if I were startled. “I didn't see you there.”

He laughed as if he didn't believe me and then continued, “How have you been?”

“I'm fantastic” My eyes were still skimming through the directions on the dye box. Joshua stood there silently waiting for me to ask him the same. 5 Mississippi's later he broke the silence.

“You didn't tell me you were coming back.” He slipped his hands into his pocket as he spoke.

I turned towards Joshua and examined him. He looked weak and skinny compared to his normal fit physique. There was no longer muscle definition in his arms or chest. It almost made me sad to see. I looked up at his face and realized his usually tanned skin was now pale. I couldn't help but think if all of this was because of me.

“Joshua, I haven't talked to you since I left. Why would I tell you if I was planning on coming back?” I furrowed my brows and crossed my arms.

I could tell my attitude sparked a sudden rage in Joshua. He squinted his eyes at me to let me know he was holding it back. “I forgot, you don't know anything about decency.”

I gasped out loud at Joshua's words. “Decency? You want to talk about decency? You mean how you were using me to get what you wanted? That you were planning on divorcing me before you even proposed? Yeah, you're right Joshua, I'm the one who doesn't know about decency.”

“I guess the city did enhance some of your qualities.” Joshua smirked as he turned his body. He added, just before walking away, “You're an even bigger bitch than before.”

Oh, hail naw!

Something came over me. Something I'm not proud of, but in that moment felt right. I took the box of hair dye, that was in my hand, and chucked it at Joshua's head. Just as the box landed on the floor Kadie walked into the aisle. Joshua's hand cradled his new injury.

“Oh my God.” She sounded confused by what had just happened. My chest rose and fell with every angry breath. Kadie grabbed Joshua's arm, “You really need to get out of here unless you want a matching bruise” She pulled him through the aisle. He eventually shook free of her grip and stormed off.

Kadie picked up the box of hair dye from the floor and walked back towards me. “So, something tells me that didn't go well?” My eyes were still fixed on the spot where Joshua had been standing. I felt a burning sensation until Kadie came and put her hand on my shoulders. She gently shook me back to consciousness. “Lynn?” She moved her face into my field of vision. “What happened?”

I cleared my throat “Nothing.”

Kadie made a face before she continued “That didn't look like nothing to me”

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and relived the last few minutes of my life as I told Kadie what had happened. “You can't do things like that, Lynn. He's trying to egg you on. By retaliating, you're just letting him know you haven't moved on.”

I looked down at my phone. “I gotta go. Jaime's flight is about to land.” I grabbed what I needed and left. I thanked Kadie for being there and gave her a hug before we split off to our cars.

I kept batting my lashes the entire car ride to stop myself from welling up with tears. I felt stupid for falling into Joshua's trap of angering me. I was unprepared to handle the situation which only made me more upset to think about. I pulled up to the curb outside of the airport. A few minutes later Jaime walked outside. I jumped out the car to wave him down. As he came closer he slowed down his pace. “Oh, please don't tell me I missed something!”

“You missed an epic one” I rolled my eyes. “I threw a box of hair dye at his head.”

“Oh, God!” Jaime cringed. “Why do I always miss the good stuff?” I slightly curled my lip up into a smile. Jaime's dramatic personality always did the trick.

I filled him in on everything as we drove back to my house. Jaime didn't know where to put his attention. His eyes kept shooting between me and the scenery outside. He “ooh-ed” and “ahh-ed” all the way home.

My parents were pleasantly surprised to see Jaime. He'd met them a few times when both our parents were in New York for the doctor's convention. My dad whisked him away as if he were an old friend. I took his luggage upstairs to the guest bedroom. It was across the hall from mine. I walked out and shut the door behind me. I was startled to see my mom standing in the hall.

“Jaime, huh?” She stood with a smirk on her face and her arms crossed. “I knew it would work out between you two!”

“Ew, mom, no!” I walked past her into my room. She followed after me. “We're just friends.”

“Good friends?” her smile grew from ear to ear. She just wanted to hear that she'd been the one to “hook us up”.

“Great friends!” I smiled back. It quickly vanished as I continued, “But not in the way you're thinking.”

“Okay” She sang as she walked out of my room. “What ever you say”.

If only she knew.

I looked down at my nails realizing how dull they looked. I pulled out my box of nail polishes and rummaged through them for the perfect color. Once I picked out a navy blue, Jaime waltzed into my room.

“Anna gave me the weirdest look as I was coming up the stairs” Jaime whispered.

“Ignore my mom. She thinks we're together.” Jaime and I both laughed at the thought of it.

The rehearsal dinner was only a couple hours away. Jaime went into his room to clean up and get dressed. I finished putting on my nail polish and found some jewelry to throw on.

I called out for Jaime as it was getting closer to time. “I'm ready, I'm ready!” He walked out of his room. He was wearing gray slacks with a black Burberry button down shirt. His dark hair was made into a perfect mess. And his face was glowing after he'd shaved.

“Well, you cleaned up nicely” I stood in my door way as I examined him.

“Let's get this show on the road!” Jaime winked as he held out his arm for me to grab on to.

We picked Kadie and Adam up before we headed over to the dinner. It was a small restaurant just outside of town. We parked the car and made our way inside.

“Lynn? Kadie? Oh my God!!” I heard a shrieking call as we walked in. Lacey ran from across the room and gave us both a hug. Kadie and I both introduced Jaime and Adam to Mark and Lacey. They took us around to a private room filled with our old friends. As we walked in everyone stood up to hug us. We made our way around. I leaned over to Jaime's ear and pointed out Joshua. He was the only one sitting down, with his trailer trash girlfriend next to him. Jaime grabbed my hand and held it. I smiled back at him.

Of course, it was just my luck. The only four seats left were the ones across from Joshua. Kadie and Adam sat directly in front of him so I wouldn't have to. It worked out because it would gave Joshua the perfect view of Jaime and I every time he looked towards the front of the room. Jaime wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me close.

“So, Kadie, is this your new boyfriend?” Joshua's voice sounded rehearsed.

“Oh, yeah, this is Adam. Adam, this is Joshua.” Kadie said awkwardly as she introduced the two.

“And what about him?” Joshua pointed to Jaime.

Jaime and I both turned towards Joshua and gave him a look. Kadie, not knowing what to say, kept quiet.

“Start giggling” Jaime whispered in my ear. I looked over at Joshua and giggled while Jaime kept his mouth close to my ear. I watched as his eyes grew angry. Just then Lacey and Mark stood up to get everyone's attention. Saved by the bell.

After a couple of speeches, everyone stood up to mingle before dinner was served. I introduced Jaime to a few of my friends. Joshua walked over with his girlfriend once Jaime and I were alone.

“What is it, Josh?” I avoided looking at him.

“I just wanted to introduce you to my girlfriend, Francy.” She held out her hand. Jaime was in mid-sip of his wine when he snorted it back. I patted his back as we both laughed.

“What's wrong with them?” Francy loudly whispered to Joshua.

“Is that really your fucking name?” Jaime snorted again.

She didn't seem to understand Jaime's humor, “Yes, why would I make it up? It's short for Francesca.” She held out her hand again.

“Oh, honey, It's a shame either way.” Jaime shook her hand and mumbled under his breath, “I better not catch anything” I couldn't help but smile. “I'm Jaime” He said.

“Joshua” He responded in monotone.

“Ohh, what happened there? Looks like someone was trying to set you in place” Jaime pointed at Joshua's head. There was a lump that was starting to bruise just under his hairline behind his ear.

Joshua snared at Jaime.

“Come on, babe” Jaime laughed again as he held my hand and walked away.

“What the hell was that?” I whispered to Jaime once we were alone again. “Did you see how he was acting like nothing happened earlier today?”

“He's just trying to throw his new girl in front of you” Jaime whispered back “You obviously won though” He said while smiling and fixing his collar.

“Dinner is about to be served. Can everyone please take a seat?” Lacey announced to the room.

We all went back to our chairs. I always keep a mini bottle of anti-bacterial with me. But I'd forgotten to bring it tonight. I decided to go to the restroom to wash my hands before dinner. When I went inside I was startled by the sound of the door opening and closing behind me since it was a single room. I turned around to see Joshua standing behind me.

“What are you doing here” I said as I backed away from him.

“Look, Lynn, I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I'm sorry.” He hung his head as he spoke.

“Uh, okay. But what the hell are you doing here?”

He walked slowly towards me. The closer he got the more I could smell alcohol on his breath. I walked backwards until I was against the wall. He placed his hands on either side of the wall and held himself a few inches away from me. “I said I'm sorry.”

“Okay, Joshua, but I really need you to back the hell off of me.”

“Lynn Lee” He whispered as he brought his face to my ear. “Let's just forget about everything for tonight. You can come back with me.” His lips slowly traced down my neck.

I felt paralyzed. The smell and touch of Joshua made me fall into a state of nostalgia. I hadn't realized what was going on until Jaime barged into the bathroom.

I pushed Joshua off of me.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Jaime yelled as he grabbed Joshua.