Page 38 of It's Only Make Believe

“Don’t be silly,” I say. “We can stay a while.”

Like I’m leaving her alone with someone who has already made it clear he wants her back and now he’s doing the whole sad puppy thing to get her attention. As much as I don’t really want to spend any more time with this loser, I will sit here and pretend to be all sympathetic and that will hopefully be the last of Justin I have to see.

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

TIA

Am I supposed to be pissed off with Luke, because he made it clear he wants to leave, but then he also made it clear he’s not comfortable to leave me alone with Justin? I’m meant to be annoyed with him, yes. But confession time. I’m not. I actually think it’s kind of hot that he’s a bit jealous about me. I’m not going to play on that or anything – I’m not one of those toxic girls who flirt with other guys to try to make their man jealous – but it’s still nice when it happens naturally.

“I’ll go get us some drinks,” Luke says. “Gin and tonic, Louisa?” I nod. “Justin? What are you drinking?”

“Jack Daniels and coke please,” he says.

Luke gets up and leaves the table.

“Give her time to calm down and then call her and apologize,” I say to Justin. “She’ll come round and see it’s not that big of a deal.”

“That’s it though, isn’t it? It’s not a big deal and I don’t think I’ve done anything I need to apologize for. She says I’ve lied toher, but I haven’t. If she had asked me if we had dated, I would have said yes. She never asked and I just didn’t think to mention it,” he says.

“You could try explaining that to her, but if you really like her and want her back, trust me, the apology is the quickest way to do it,” I say.

Luke arrives back at the table before Justin can say anymore. He’s empty handed, and he doesn’t sit down.

“I’ve taken care of the bill and ordered our drinks to drink in the bar area. I thought it might be better than staying in the dining area and taking up a table,” he says.

“You didn’t have to pay the bill,” Justin says. “I can afford a meal out you know.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Luke says. “But never the less, it’s covered. Let’s go.”

“I prefer it here,” Justin says.

Both of them look at me. Oh great. Just what I need. I don’t want to have to take sides between my friend and my man and I decide instead to choose where I would rather be. I stand up.

“Come on Justin,” I say. “The wait staff needs to turn tables over to make their wages, you know that.”

Justin waited tables in college, and I know he knows this, and once I remind him of it, he nods sheepishly and gets up and the three of us move through to the bar. The bar area is much more intimate than the restaurant with booths with red velvet seating and the majority of the light coming from candles on the tables. It’s much more relaxing and the seating is every bit as comfortable as it looks.

I slip in on one side of the booth and Justin goes to get in beside me, but Luke subtly blocks his path, and Justin ends up sitting opposite me. Luke gives the bartender a wave and sits down beside me.

The bartender brings the drinks over and telling him who has what drink is the first words any of us have spoken since we sat down. I don’t like the atmosphere brewing between Justin and Luke and so I search my mind for something I know they both like and the answer is immediately obvious – animals. Luke donates to several animal conservation charities and Justin volunteers at a local shelter. Surely that’s some common ground.

“Luke is quite involved in animal conservation,” I say to Justin and then to Luke, “Justin volunteers at a local shelter.”

It seems to do the trick as the two men look at each other in a new light and then they start asking each other questions about what exactly they do, and they discuss how sad yet rewarding the shelter is. The conversation flows easily now, although for the most part, I’m not involved. I like animals and of course I don’t want to see them hurt, but I don’t really know enough about what they’re talking about to bring anything to the conversation and so I don’t try to. To be honest, I’m content to sip my drink and listen to them talking. I love it when Luke talks about something he’s passionate about; he really comes to life.

“Any new projects on the horizon?” Justin asks Luke.

“There’s a seal been brought to the nearby animal hospital. It looks like it’s been attacked by a shark apparently. One of its flippers has been bitten almost all of the way off. It can still swim, but not fast enough to avoid predators or catch food. If it was released, it would die. They were going to euthanize it, but the Shedd agreed that he would be welcome to live with their other seals and he wouldn’t be in danger and could live perfectly happily. Because it could never be rehabilitated to the wild, the animal hospital didn’t feel like it could spend resources on it, so I paid for its care,” Luke says. “I wish I could do more than just throw money at situations, but I genuinely don’t have the time to volunteer in person. I wish I did. People like you are the ones who make the most difference.”

Justin shakes his head.

“Not at all,” he says. “I love volunteering and spending time with the animals, but without benefactors such as you, the shelter wouldn’t even exist.”

They go back and forth with this and suddenly they aren’t competing to see who is the most alpha, they are each trying to say the other person does something better than they do. In the end, I can’t stand it anymore and I speak up.

“Can we just agree what you both do is important and on behalf of creatures everywhere, I thank you,” I say.

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