If you haven’t already, you might want to check out Parts I, II, and III of this series before continuing.
Jason’s party wasn’t going as well as he had hoped it would, so he perked up when he saw Mandy walk in the door, knowing she would help liven things up.
He deflated just as quickly when he saw Evelyn walk in behind her. He knew he had told Mandy it was OK to invite Evelyn, but he had secretly been hoping Evelyn would have other plans. Or maybe she would just sense his hostility from across town and know she wasn’t really welcome.
“Hey, there you are!” Jason plastered on the biggest fake grin he could manage as he greeted his newest guests with arms wide open. He gave Mandy a big hug and didn’t let his grin waver as he turned to her new friend.
“Evelyn, I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Thanks for inviting me,” said Evelyn. “We brought wine and a cheese platter.”
“Perfect! Let me find a place for all that deliciousness.” He headed towards the kitchen and Evelyn followed him as Mandy got swept up by a group of friends who were going over Jason’s music collection.
The party wasn’t in full swing yet and most of the guests were still in Jason’s living area. Just one of his friends was in the kitchen getting a beer when Jason and Evelyn walked in, but he quickly left to rejoin the rest of the party, leaving Jason to curse his luck and fake smile his way through his time alone with Evelyn.
But she wouldn’t have any of it.
“Listen, Jason. I’m really glad you invited me, but I get the sense you did it more for Mandy’s sake than for mine.”
“What? No! I love having you here.” Jason said it with so much enthusiasm he sounded fake even to himself.
“I think Mandy’s really cool and I want to keep hanging out with her, but I don’t want to force myself on you. You two seem like you have a really great friendship and I don’t want to cause any friction between you two.”
“Of course not. I’m totally cool with it.”
“Jason.”
The way she spoke his name with her voice perfectly calm and level made Jason deflate. He leaned on the counter with both hands as he said, “Look. I’m friends with Pam Prembly.”
“So that means you can’t be friends with me?”
“That means I know how you unfriended her. More than that, you blocked her.”
“And did she tell you what she did?”
“She told me she apologized. Or tried to.”
“Did she tell you about the follow-up message she sent where she took it all back?”
Jason looked up at her.
“I had already told her what was up with me. I explained why I had done what I did and apologized. Then she apologized and I thought maybe we could really get past it all. Then, just a couple days later, she sent another message saying she wasn’t really sorry and that it was all my fault. Since I had already acknowledged what I had done wrong, her last message just made it a big Blame Evelyn Fest and I’m not really into those. If she couldn’t even own up to her mistakes like a big girl I just … I just couldn’t do it anymore, Jason,” she said softly. “I had held out hope for our friendship for so long, but I just got so tired of always being there for her, but when I needed her, she was nowhere to be found. I hope Mandy turns out to be different.”
“She is.”
“Good. I could use a little stability in my life.”
“What about Jem and Maria?”
“What about them?”
“I heard you used to be close to them, but I haven’t heard you mention them once, other than as former clients. What happened there?”
“You’ll have to ask them. All of the sudden, I just stopped hearing from them. I emailed them asking when we could hang out again and I got the super non-committal ‘Seriously been way too long. We have to make it happen soon for sure.’ That was three months ago.”
Jason chuckled.
“I’m glad someone finds it amusing.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just,” he trailed off as he grew serious. “I’m really sorry, Evelyn. I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you should ask before making people’s names into verbs.”
Jason winced. “Mandy told you about that, huh?”
“In her defense, I don’t think she meant to. It just kind of slipped out.”
“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think you’d ever find out, but I still shouldn’t have said it.”
“What can I say? I have a way of getting people to tell me things.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that. Who do you work for again? I have a bet going with some friends that you’re a CIA operative.”
Evelyn smirked. “I could tell you. But then I’d have to kill you.”
Jason was pretty sure she was kidding, but he still couldn’t suppress a slight shudder as he followed her back out to the party.
The end.