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Trina came through the door with a bag of groceries, surprising Joss. Since when did either of them cook? Yes, she made grilled cheese once, with Dex...but that had been it! Joss didn’t get Trina’s purpose, even when her friend began to ramble about them both cooking dinner together. Then she knew what this was. Trina trying to distract her from spending Valentine's Day without Dex and even possibly distracting herself from memories of Spencer. It was a sweet notion. One that she really appreciated, but one she had to refuse because she had plans to find proof that Cyrus Renault had killed Dex...plans that could not include Trina, because her friend had been through enough because of that psycho. She won’t put her through anymore.
“Trina, stop. Look, I appreciate your goal here. I really do. But cooking together will not take my mind off Dex...in fact, it’ll only remind me of him. Besides, I have a feeling that you’re trying to avoid something...or someone...on today of all days,” Joss stopped Trina from rambling as she took out the garlic bread.
“I don’t know what you mean by that Joss. Who would I be trying to avoid and why? Look, we both have lost someone and even though I only have one memory of Valentine's Day with Spencer...it has to be hard on you about Dex. We can get through this together!”
“I know, I know we can. But the thing is...I have studying to do to distract me. I’m fine. What you have is a very cute guy that’s been wanting to spend time with you and you’ve spent all day avoiding him, judging from the number of calls I’ve gotten enquiring about your whereabouts. What I want to know is why. Why have you been avoiding Kai Taylor like he has the plague when just a few weeks ago, you couldn’t stay away from his hospital room?”
“I’ve just been busy is all. I mean...I’ve been doing great, right? I’ve picked up my life. Began working at the gallery again, returned to school...even made new friends with Gio and even Emma, who I still don’t know what to think about her. Anyway...I’m moving on with my life and that’s good. Right?”
“Of course.”
“I’m moving away from what happened in Paris...Esme and her crap is far behind me…”
“Right.”
“But just because I’m moving on does not mean that I want to move on from...Spencer...and that’s what it feels like every time I’m with Kai. That I’m moving on from Spencer...that I’m...forgetting about him and...I don’t want to forget about, him. Joss. I don’t. Valentine's Day...it was the day we had our first kiss...how can I even think of even talking to another guy, much less Kai, on the day when Spencer and I finally shared our first kiss?”
“Oh, Trina. I didn’t think about that…”
“No one does. No one thinks about Spencer but me, these days.”
“Now, I know that’s not true, ok? It may feel that way, but we all miss him. Even me.”
“I just feel like I’d be betraying him if I saw Kai today.”
“But you’re not betraying him, Trina! Spencer gave his life so you’d live a full happy life! Even if that meant you finding love again! You’re not betraying or forgetting him! You’re honoring him! You’re living the life he gave you. To stay in one place like this? It’s not honoring his sacrifice, Trina. Not at all. He’d want you to be happy. Especially on today of all days.”
“Kai doesn’t even know about Spencer…”
“Why not?”
Trina shrugged, feeling guilty. “I don’t know. It’s hard to talk about him sometimes, especially with someone who never knew him.”
“Well...maybe you should tell him. Because...Spencer is a part of who you are now, Trina. To know you, he’s going to have to know about Spencer.”
“You’re right.”
“And what better way to do that than to stop ignoring his texts and calls and actually talk to him?”
Trina opened her mouth to say something, but a knock at the door interrupted her.
“Hold that thought,” Joss said as she went to open the door to the boy in question. Kai Taylor, who was dressed in a suit and tie and held a bouquet of roses in his hand. “Kai?”
“Hey, is Trina here? I know it’s last minute, but I can’t seem to get a hold of her any other way and I was hoping that maybe I can talk her into joining me tonight?”
Joss smiled and stepped inside, inviting him in. “Well, you’ve arrived right on time. She just got home. Trina, you have company!”
Trina blinked in surprise as Kai entered. “Kai? What are you doing here? And with roses?”
“Hey, I was trying to call you but you didn’t answer and Joss didn’t seem to know where you had gotten off to...so I decided just to take a chance and hope for the best. I came by to ask you something.”
Trina stared at him, having a feeling of what he wanted to ask, but not sure what to feel about it. “What is it?”
“Well...I wanted to celebrate my release from the hospital and since it’s Valentine’s Day and I have reservations at the hottest club in town, I was hoping that maybe you’d want to join me. That is if you didn’t have any plans?”
“The hottest club in town?”
“The Savoy!” Kai grinned.
“Oh wow! Trina’s dad owns The Savoy! Did you know that?” Joss exclaimed, giving Trina a pointed look, telling her to accept the offer.
“No, I didn’t. Wow, what a coincidence! Your dad is definitely a cool dude. I have to thank him for his encouraging words the other day. He really made me think.”
“He did?” Trina blinked. This was the first she was hearing of this. She thought he had been pissed that she had asked Curtis to talk to him.
“He did. He helped me a lot. I’d like to thank him...but I think it may be a bit awkward to do so, just showing up there on my own,” Kai chuckled.
“You know, Trina can solve that for you by accompanying you tonight,” Joss happily grinned. “Trina, go. I’ll be fine staying here and studying. You go have a good time with Kai. You deserve it.”
“Joss…”
“Don’t worry about me. In fact, I’ll just stay out here and keep Kai company while you get ready to go. I don’t mind.”
“Well...alright. If you insist that you’ll be ok…”
“I insist.”
Trina felt herself give in. Perhaps Joss was right. This was just one more step in taking her life back, in honoring Spencer’s sacrifice. Living the life he gave for her to live. “Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
“Great!” Kai grinned, his relief evident.
“I’ll put these in some water,” Joss took the roses and took a vase off a bookshelf as Trina disappeared into her room. “So Kai, how are you healing? Trina said that you won’t be able to play anymore?”
“I’m doing ok. Just taking it one day at a time. I do have a second opinion set up though. Hopefully, I’ll have better news. I just wanted to take Trina out to thank her. She’s been a really good friend to me. I just hope she doesn’t think I’m being presumptuous, taking her out on Valentine's Day.”
“She is the best. We’ve been friends for years and I don’t know what I would do without her. Yeah...Valentine's Day is a big day for a first date. But may I make a suggestion?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t move too fast with Trina, alright? Follow her lead…”
Kai frowned, having a feeling that Joss was trying to get to something. “Sure. I mean...sure I kind of hoped that maybe something more could come out of tonight other than friendship because I really like Trina. She’s not only beautiful, she’s smart, kind...loyal, obviously. She’s willing to learn about football and got me to learn some about art…”
“I figured that you wanted more than friendship...and you came into her life probably at just the right time. But...Trina lost someone she loved very much last year. He died, saving her, so she’s still...tender over that. She’s just now getting her life back together again and this date...it’s her first big date since losing...him. I’m not going to go into detail, because that’s her story to tell. I just wanted to give you a heads-up to be gentle and patient with Trina. Again, follow her lead. If it’s meant to be for you two to be more than friends, it’ll happen.”
“Oh wow...I didn’t know any of that. Thank you, Joss. That’s a lot more than I knew originally. And here I am just springing this date on her...she must think I’m a jerk.”
“No, she doesn’t. She really likes you, I can tell. It’s just that, she’s just learning to move on with her life and this is another big step for her.”
“I understand. I’ll be gentle. I promise. I’ll follow her lead, like you said.”
“Good.”
Fifteen minutes later, Trina was dressed and ready to go. Joss happily watched as Kai gave a low whistle.
“Trina, you look amazing!” Kai got to his feet, taking her hand in his.
“Thank you. Joss, I’ll be back later. You might not want to wait up.”
“Oh, I won’t! You have fun you two!” Joss waved as her friend was led out of the apartment. Smiling in satisfaction, Joss turned to go into her own room to get ready for her own little adventure for the night. Finding proof of Dex’s murder and making Cyrus Renault pay.