Page 3 of Played By the Fool

“John is always so rude. I’m Kali, John’s fiancée.”

I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. Fiancée? What the fuck kind of twilight zone did I fall into? Maybe I’m dreaming? Yeah, that has to be it. I’m dreaming and I need to wake up.

Wake up, Emilia.

Wake the fuck up.

Nope, not dreaming. He’s still in front of me with his fiancée, Kali. And I’m staring at them like an idiot. I’m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open. I slowly close my mouth.

“Nice to meet you, Kali. I’m Emilia.”

“Oh! You’re the friend that John talks about! I’m so happy to meet you! And you’re as cute as he said you were!”

I’m so fucking confused right now. And hurt. I need to get back inside Pi and finish getting ready to open.

“Hey Mia, are you done setting up?” Frank, our cook pokes his head out to ask me.

“I’m almost done. I’ll be right in.”

I turn to look at Frank and he’s glaring at John. Who hasn’t said a word since that first sentence.

“It was nice meeting you, but I have to get back in,” I say to them.

“Maybe we’ll come in for lunch. I’d love to hang out while I’m here,” Kali says smiling.

The worst part about this is she seems genuinely nice.

“Sure. How long are you here for?”

“At least a week or two. Maybe three.” She laughs.

“Cool, well I’ll see you soon,” I say as I turn and head inside Pi.

I want to hide in the bathroom and cry. But I can’t. I have to do my job. Being a grownup sucks.

The morning goes by fast which is good for me because it doesn’t really give me time to think about what happened. But the lull between breakfast and lunch is where I start to feel all the feelings. How could he do this to me? How did I not see any of it? I mean I did bring up living together about six months ago and he said his lease wasn’t up yet. And when I suggested I could move in and help with rent he kept changing the subject. But I just thought that he wasn’t ready. And that was okay too. I never saw any signs that he was with anyone else. We’ve never hidden our relationship here. So why would he bring her to Starlight Bay? This is my town. My home. I just don’t understand.

The worst part about all of this is that I love him. Or loved. I don’t even know how that works. I can’t just shut off my feelings. Even after what happened.

“I’m gonna take my break,” I say to Frank. “I’ll just be outside, so if you need me come get me.”

“Okay. Are you okay, Mia? I don’t exactly know what happened this morning. But I know it’s John’s fault. Do you need me to ‘talk’ to him?”

I smile and hug Frank.

“I’ll be okay. I just need to process some stuff. But I know where to find you if I change my mind.”

“If he hurt you, we’re going to have problems.”

“Thank you.”

I head out back and call my sister. As much as I don’t want to say this out loud to anyone, I have to.

“Hey, Mia,” Court answers.

“Hey…”

“What’s wrong?”

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