Page 40 of It's Only Make Believe

I put my cell phone away and again, I can’t help but wonder what Justin is up to here. I’m sure it’s the brownie points with Louisa thing, but I can’t help but think there is more to it than that and I don’t know why I feel this way or what it might be. I’m not particularly nervous. Justin doesn’t scare me, and I know if it came to it, I could take him in a fight, but I am intrigued.

Not long after the text exchange, Louisa appears in my office with a message from Karl about what the app the team is working on. I give her a reply for Karl, and she thanks me and goes to leave.

“Before you go,” I say, and she turns back to face me. “Justin texted me earlier to ask me to have a drink with him tonight.”

“Did you say yes?” she asks, and I nod.

“Good,” she says. “I’d really like you two to be friends.”

Don’t push it, I think to myself.

“Me too,” I say out loud.

It’s a lie, but it’s a harmless enough lie and I don’t feel bad telling it, because I’m willing to see Justin socially if it makes Louisa happy.

I arrive at the pub Justin named, and I go inside. It’s pretty quiet and I look around and I don’t see Justin. Couples occupy a few of the booths and a few small groups sit around some of the tables. The jukebox is playing something I vaguely recognize but couldn’t name.

I head to the bar and order a bottle of Coors. It comes ice cold and refreshing and I pay for the drink and take a table where I can see the door and Justin will be able to see me when he comes in. He’s late, but only a minute or two and I decide to let it go, even when he sits down without an apology for being late.

“How are you?” I ask, determined to be polite to him.

“Pretty good,” he says. “You?”

“Yeah, I’m ok,” I say. “Did you manage to sort things out with Emily?”

Justin shakes his head.

“To be honest, despite what I said to Louisa, I didn’t feel comfortable apologizing to Emily when I hadn’t actually done anything wrong. It felt like I was setting myself up to fail, you know what I mean?” he says.

I nod. I don’t particularly want to agree with him over Louisa, but I do get what he’s saying, and I don’t really think anyone should apologize just because they think it’s what the other person wants to hear. It has to be from a genuine place. And also, I think he’s right about not apologizing if the person doesn’t think they are in the wrong, because then, if Emily is a bit of a bitch, she will expect Justin to back down and apologize to her for nothing every time they have an argument.

We talk about Emily a bit more and then we move on to last night’s game. It’s a safe topic, but I can feel myself warming slightly to Justin. He seems like an ok guy really, and I can’t exactly blame him for being pissed off at losing Louisa – I would be too. He doesn’t seem to have an ulterior motive for inviting me out for a drink and as the night goes on, we talk about allkinds of things from work to politics to travelling and everything in between.

It’s getting towards the end of the night, and I feel a bit tipsy and judging by the slight slur in Justin’s words, I think he likely feels the same way.

“You know, you’re actually a good guy,” Justin says. High praise indeed. “In other circumstances, I really think we could be friends, don’t you?”

“What do you mean, in other circumstances?” I ask him.

“Well, you’re not going to want to be friends with me once I take Louisa back away from you, are you?” he says.

I shrug my shoulders.

“I have no idea because it’s not going to happen. I probably don’t want to be friends with someone who would even try such a thing though, so I guess you’re right,” I say.

“I don’t understand you man,” Justin says.

I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of asking him why, but I am curious and although I feel like I should just leave, something keeps me sitting here.

“Why not?” I ask.

“Well, you know Louisa was with me first. And you know I am going to get her back. Why are you standing in the way of this? Why don’t you just be a real man and step aside and let us be happy?” Justin says.

I realize in that moment that Justin is ever so slightly unhinged. He genuinely seems to believe that him and Louisa are the end game and that I’m just a bump in the road to their happily ever after. I don’t have the want or the energy to argue with someone who thinks the way Justin does, and so I pick my bottle up, drain my drink and stand up.

“Stay away from Louisa,” I say.

I head for the door, and I hear scuffling behind me as Justin gets up and follows me out of the pub. I’m getting angry now andhe’s going to be sorry if he pushes me too far here. I was planning to call a cab and wait here for it to come, but I really don’t want to wait with Justin, and I hope if I walk away, he will go his own way.

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