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“Bye, Terry! See you tomorrow!”
“Later, Ter-Bear!”
Jake and Gina waved goodbye to Terry as he left Shaw’s, the door accidentally slamming behind him, causing him to circle back and close it again gently, a sheepish expression on his face.
“Damn, I missed this,” Gina said, taking a sip of her second drink with too much alcohol that night.
“Missed Terry accidentally almost breaking the door at Shaw’s?” Jake asked, not-so-slyly stealing one of the many fruity beverages that Gina had ordered only to spit it back out a moment later. “Ew, this is disgustingly sweet. And I’m saying that.”
“It’s a refined taste. Also, I meant just being here at Shaw’s, in general. With all of y’all.”
“Mmm… pretty sure your math’s off on that one. It’s just me. And Terry, until a minute ago.”
“Shut up. You know what I mean, girl.”
“I thought I was the one who was bad at math… can you count the Jakes?” Jake held up his pointer finger and thumb patronisingly. “One Jake… One Gina…”
“Shut up, bitch.” Jake laughed as Gina stepped on his foot under the table. “God, I don’t remember you being this sassy.”
“That’s what happens when you ditch me for three months,” Jake said, shrugging. “I become the sass queen I could never be in your shadow.”
“The sass was inside you all along.”
“Yass.” Jake took another sip of his drink. “So! How did your fanbase take the news of you being stabbed?”
“Shh!” Gina hissed. “I’m not telling them yet.”
“Too much drama?”
“Never. It’s ‘cause I don’t want any of them trying to recreate my look. I know some of them would go all out, and I mean all. Out.”
Jake cringed. “Ouch.”
“Yeahhhh… It’s pretty cool having a fan following, actually.”
“More like a cult.”
“I take that as a compliment.”
“I think having a Gina cult was your childhood dream.”
“Aw, you know me so well.”
Jake grinned at Gina’s… Gina-ness.
He had missed this as well. Just the two of them, hanging out, like friends. He could almost pretend she wasn’t some famous internet celebrity with a huge fan following and she had just been a victim of attempted murder because of it.
Almost.
“OMG! Gina?!” Jake and Gina’s heads snapped toward the sound of Gina’s name, Jake because he was on high alert (she had almost been killed), and Gina because by the looks of it, this was a fan of G-Hive. “Is that you? Guys, I think it’s her!”
“Gina, I think they want a selfie or something,” Jake said, forcing a grin.
“Eh, screw them,” Gina replied, turning back to her drink. “This is our night out. The G-Hive can wait.” She looked over to where her fans were giggling and pointing at her excitedly, one of them preparing to come over and ask for an autograph. “Ya' hear me? Screw you! Bother me another time, bitches!”
“Damn, Gines,” Jake said as he watched her fans jump back in surprise and reluctantly walk away, secretly very pleased. “Harsh.”
“Don’t act like you’re not glad, you attention seeker,” Gina said.
“Hey! I think it’s fair that I just wanna spend time with you!”
“Okay, fair. I did ditch you for a while there, Jakester.”
“Gines, it’s fine. I’m never gonna be mad at you for following your dreams. It was for your career!” Jake grinned, meaning every word he said, because even if it had stung when she had ditched him- she had a reason.
“Now where have I heard that before?” Gina said, stroking her chin in mock pensiveness.
“Hm?” Jake asked in the middle of another sip of his drink. Swallowing the alcohol, he wiped his mouth and tilted his head at Gina. “Heard what before?”
“Please. I know you’ve gotta see the parallels, girl. I just want you to know- and I don’t throw this around lightly- that I am sorry I was acting like him, even if I had a reason.”
Jake smiled in confusion. “Acting like who?”
Gina paused, looking him directly in the eye and raising a brow. “Bitch- your dad! Roger? Remember him? I’m not sorry for wanting to build a career for myself, but I do know that I could've put a little more work into our friendship. I don’t just want you to forgive me like I’m him- I’ve seen the way you ignore what he does- you’ll say it’s fine even when it’s not.”
“I don’t- I’m doing better now!”
Gina plucked her maraschino cherry out of her drink and popped it into her mouth, swallowing before she continued. “Yeah, you are. I just- It does suck to be like your dad. Sorry not sorry, but he sucks.”
Jake laughed. He couldn’t help it. “Yeah, he does. But- You? Like my dad? Gines, you- what you did was nothing like what happened with him.”
“Mmh, you sure? Because I can see some similarities-”
“No. No, Gines, listen, my- Roger left when I was seven and my mom had to raise me alone- I was a kid, I would have had to take care of myself and my mom, and he still left.”
Gina smirked slightly at my friend’s tendency to overshare but said nothing.
“Sure, you kinda blew me off for a bit there,” Jake continued. “But I’m an adult. I have other friends and family, you had a good reason- instead of my dad’s, which was just that he ‘wasn’t ready for a kid’ and because he wanted to sleep with more people. Sure, maybe it sucked for a little bit because we didn’t get to hang out, but I am so proud of you for doing what you wanted to do with your career. You’re nothing like my dad.”
Jake reached over and put a hand on Gina’s wrist, smiling sweetly at her and getting a grin in return.
“No doubt,” Gina replied. “And, hey, dude, you’re pretty good at these inspirational speeches. Maybe you should guest speak on the G-Hive sometime.”
Jake laughed. “I’m good. I’d rather not get stabbed, thanks very much.”
“Fair. Hey, so tell me- Rosa’s not dating anyone right now, right?”
“What, wanna set her up with another one of your friends?”
“Yeah- her name’s Gina. She’s super cool, a total badass, very bisexual, is part of a cult, according to her friend-”
“She sounds awesome, but I’m pretty sure Rosa’s still with Jocelyn.”
“Damn it. Thanks anyways, Jakester.”
“No doubt. Hey, you free same time next week for drinks again?”
“You know it.”