8.102 On the Rebound

Three days went by, and Julian neither heard from nor saw Jeannette. She was serious about being done with him until he figured out what he wanted. He wanted to call her so many times, but he couldn’t. He knew what she wanted, but he hadn’t decided if he could give it to her. For three days, he moped around the house missing her terribly. By day four, he had enough and needed to get out the house to get his mind off her. He called up Anthony because it had been far too long since they connected. They met up at the Magnolia Promenade.

“Ant! It’s so good to see you, cousin!”

“It’s good to be seen! So…what’s this I hear about you and a girl? Will I finally get to attend the wedding of the year? My brother’s wedding was pretty slick, and their story is awesome, but nothing beats an epic Pruett heir wedding party. It’s like…witnessing family history!”

“Oh no. NO! I didn’t come here to talk about her! I came here to not think about her! AND NO WEDDING!! Freezer bunnies, people! Stop the madness!”

“Ok, ok. I suppose things aren’t going well then?”

“There are no ‘things’ to go anywhere! How is Aunt Alayna,” Julian asked to quickly change the subject.

“She’s doing better every day. I can tell she’s still pretty upset, but at least she gets out of bed now, know what I mean?”

“Yeah. Well…I hope wherever they went they’re ok. Man…you could be an uncle already and you would never know!”

“Hmmm, I guess you’re right.”

“Hey…how come you haven’t found anyone and got married?”

“I don’t know. I just haven’t. I don’t leave the house much, and I don’t have a job, so…the opportunities to meet people aren’t there,” Anthony said realizing how sad his life sounded.

“Don’t you want to,” Julian asked.

“I wouldn’t mind, but if I don’t, it would be ok. I didn’t grow up dreaming about getting married. It’s not a requirement for me.”

“Oh. I see. Even if I wasn’t the heir of this family, I’d still want to get married.”

“You’re a hopeless romantic, Julian!”

“Hey, you see that building over there,” Julian asked pointing behind Anthony.

Anthony looked behind him and saw a gray and white edifice.

“Yeah. What about it?”

“That’s new, right?”

“Yeah, I guess it is. It looks like a house, actually.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. Who would want to live over here with all this traffic and people around all the time?”

“Probably some chick who wants to live near the shopping to spend her daddy’s money,” Anthony said in disgust.

“Ha! Yeah, some rich, spoiled brat. Let’s go check it out.”

They got up and walked over to the building and went around to the front. It indeed was a house. As soon as they got there, Anthony’s phone buzzed. It was Alayna.

“Oh, I have to go, Julian. Mom needs me.”

“Awww, do you have to go right now?”

Julian wasn’t ready to be alone quite yet. He still wanted the company.

“I don’t know what she wants, but I’d better get back. She’s not used to being home alone.”

“Ok,” Julian said unenthusiastically. “Well, I’ll see you another time then.”

“Later, cuz.”

They went their separate ways in opposite directions. No sooner than Anthony disappeared, thoughts of Jeannette came flooding back. However, just around the corner, he saw Josiah Taylor walking up the street, and he flagged him down.

“Jo Jo! Jo Jo!”

Josiah waved and started walking his way.

“What’s happenin,’ man? I haven’t seen you in forever,” Julian said.

“Aww man, yeah! Look at you all grown! And been working out too I see! I bet you have like 15 girlfriends.”

“Heh, you know, I’m tryna stay at arm candy status,” Julian as he flexed.

“You’re there, boy! You’re there,” Josiah joked.

“How have you been?”

“Man…I’ve been crazy! I’m expecting a baby! And Christina too! She got married.”

“Whaaaaat? That’s wild! Congratulations, pops!”

“Thanks. It was totally a surprise. I met this girl a little while ago, and we were kickin’ it, right? I liked her a lot and thought she had potential, so I asked her to move in. A few days later, Christina eloped, and all four of us are living together now.”

“Whooooa. You have two pregnant women in your house?”

“Ain’t that crazy? So yeah, Christina came back from the honeymoon pregnant, and then my girl tells me she’s pregnant too! It’s been bananas, lil’ cuz. I think I love her, and I was probably gonna marry her eventually, but I may as well go ahead and ask her so the three of us can be an official family. So…take it from me, little cuzzo…you know what they say about buying the freezer bunny….Ice is not free! Eventually you will pay for it one way or another. Don’t get crazy tryna be everybody’s arm candy!”

“Noted.”

“Well, it was nice seeing you, Julian. I need to get home. These babies are due any time now. I just came out to get some last minute stuff for the nursery.”

“Ok. Well, take care of your family, and good luck with everything!”

“Thanks. Tell your parents I said hello!”

“I will! Bye!”

Once again, Julian was left alone.

Suddenly, the door to the house he had been standing in front of opened, and a young lady came out and began walking toward him.

Julian saw her out of the corner of his eye. All he saw was yellow, and he had to look at what was stealing his attention. When he saw her, he thought she was breathtaking. She was like a bright, golden ray of sunshine with her blonde hair, yellow dress, and fair skin. When she was close enough to see the details on her face, he could see her eyes were as green as emeralds. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and felt his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. When she reached him, she just stood there looking at him.

“Hello,” Julian said more like a question.

“You’ve been standing in front of my house all afternoon,” she said like it was an indictment.

“Well…you kinda live in a very public place.”

“I know, right? I’m just joshing ya!”

“Oh! Ok…you got me! I’m Julian,” he said extending his hand to her.

“Rose. I’ve been watching you from my window. I think you’re cute. And, you seem like a nice enough guy, so I thought I’d come out and introduce myself. I could use nice friends here.”

“Just moving in?”

“Yep! I’m here for the shopping…and the art!”

Heh, see! We called it! A rich brat!

“Well, Rose, you’re in luck! I’m an excellent person to be friends with,” he flirted.

“I hope so,” she said. “Here’s my number. Call me! Maybe you can show me around this ‘burb.”

“I will give you the most epic time of your life!”

“I’m holding you to that! Have a good evening!”

Wow! She was amazing!!