Chapter 07.05

“Paul,” she said suspiciously, “why do you look so tense?” She paused. “Is something wrong?”

“We need to talk, just the five of us,” Paul said.

“About what?” Jenny asked. “Is something wrong?” She sat down on the couch between the girls.

“We want you to start dating again,” Brian said. Jenny let out an exasperated sigh.

“What?” she asked. “Why? I’m not in my forties yet, and I don’t have a cat.”

“We think it would be good for you,” Mayoko said. “I heard about your divorce settlement with Jay,” she added. “If I ever get married, I’d like you to be there without any tension between you and him.”

“I want that too,” Susy added.

“And I assume your solution to that is for me to start dating, because Jay is definitely not staying single,” Jenny said matter-of-factly, sighing.

Mayoko nodded.

She stood up, grabbed one of Susy’s pastries, and looked at the others.

“Dating isn’t for me,” she said, switching to a high-pitched, mocking tone. “Oh, you look so pretty! How many siblings do you have? I ordered duck for you! Do you want to come over to my place? When I finish my studies, I’ll be a manager at my father’s company!” She paused to take a breath, then returned to her normal voice. “That’s not me. You all know that. Jay never asked me out on a date either.” She sighed and sat on the armrest of the couch, her back to me. “I promise I’ll be open to possibilities, I won’t shut myself off, but don’t ask me to force myself into dating.”

Mayoko stood up from the couch and gestured behind her for me to step forward. Brian moved to the side and pulled out his phone. I stepped out and stopped just behind Jenny.

“We’re not asking,” Paul said. “But if, say, we wanted you to meet someone, would you be open to that?”

“Well,” Jenny sighed, “you’ve never asked me that before.” She laughed. “So… fine.”

“Great,” Paul said with a smile, taking a slice of Susy’s pastry and placing it on a plate. “Because we’d like you to go on a date with someone.” He handed the plate to Jenny.

Jenny took a bite of the pastry, clearly fed up with the topic. It wasn’t a big slice—only a bite remained in her hand. Paul took the plate from her.

“So that’s why you gave me the pastry,” she laughed. “To bribe me.”

“Or because he knows you and figured you’d be nervous,” I said from behind her.

Jenny’s hand jerked, and the last bite of pastry slipped from her fingers—but Paul caught it before it hit the floor. She turned around, visibly blushing and flustered.

“J-Jay,” she stammered, and at this point, everyone in the room could follow her rapid-fire speech if they paid attention. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Do your parents know you’re here? You didn’t do anything stupid, did you?” she asked, barely pausing for breath.

I stepped closer to her, stopping right in front of her. She searched my face but didn’t say a word. I wanted to kiss her, but I held back. That would be just between us.

“Will you honor me with a date?” I took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. It had been ages since I had touched her like this, and a shiver ran through me.

Jenny just stared at me, curiosity flickering in her eyes—and something else. Something I hadn’t seen in over a year when she looked at me. Joy.

“Will you honor me with a date?” I repeated with a smile.

“Uh… yes,” she said. “We agreed in the summer. What are you doing here?” She pulled her hand away and stepped back.

“I’ll tell you on our date,” I smiled.

I stepped back, and Jenny immediately went to the table and poured herself a drink.

“I’ll take a look at the book, Susy,” she said, sitting down on the couch and picking up the small booklet.

I just admired her as she tried to hide her embarrassment. Paul went to the bathroom, the girls chatted, and Brian watched Jenny thoughtfully. A few seconds later, he gestured for me to look at her.

Almost simultaneously, we spoke.

“You’re the reading girl,” we said.