Page 34 of See You at the Sunset

“Jia says Henry irritates her,” Mimi said.

The women all nodded in unison.

“So, how is he in the sack?” Gladys asked.

“Gladys!” Jia was shocked at the forwardness of these women. “I cannot disclose that information,” she said.

All eyes widened in shock. Jia slapped her hand over her mouth. “I mean, not that I’ve slept with him or anything. But if I had, a lady never sleeps and tells. At least not to her grandmother and her friends. Oh god.”

The women all nodded at Jia with knowing smiles.

“It was just a matter of time, honey. You’re the only two young ones here. You’re both lookers. And he makes you feisty. That’s the spark,” Mimi explained.

“Well, just to clarify, it happened before either of us got here,” Jia admitted.

“Well, all right then. Tell us everything, hon. Was it mind-blowing? Did he give you the big O? Did you have a crush on him? Or was it a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of night just to get it out of your system? You don’t have to love him to have sex with him. We all know that’s how it works these days,” Betty said.

Jia’s mouth dropped open, and her cheeks warmed to a cherry pink. How did Betty understand her sex life better than Jia herself?

“You ladies are a lot looser than I realized,” Jia joked.

“Please, have you seen him jogging in the morning? I went out to my driveway to get the morning paper just to watch him go by in his flimsy shorts with his shirt off. And I don’t actually even get the paper delivered anymore,” Mildred admitted.

“It is definitely a sight,” Jia had to agree. “I don’t have to like the man to admire what he’s got.”

“He’s blessed in all the ways.”

The ladies all giggled.

Jia wasn’t sure how she felt having this conversation with her grandmother and her friends. But just thinking of how Henry would likely be mortified by it brought her a little bit of joy.

“You ladies are wonderful, and I love you all. Thank you for the advice. But there really isn’t a problem. It’s more of an inconvenience. A coincidence. An annoyance.”

“That’s a lot of -nces,” Betty said. “In my experience, the more a woman protests with big vocabulary, the more likely it is she’s trying to convince herself she’s not interested.”

Jia needed to get the women up to speed before they started planning some rendezvous between her and Henry. “Okay. Soremember how I got fired from my job and escaped the city to come hang with Mimi to figure my life out?”

They all nodded. It was well-known around The Sunset that Jia was in hiding from her reality and they were to handle her with the softest gloves possible. Maybe that was why they all showed up to the stuff she planned for them and were so effusive and complimentary to her about her organizational skills. Jia liked to believe it was more than that, though. She hoped it was because they were all enjoying themselves as much as she was.

“Well, he was the one who fired me from my job back in New York. Technically, I guess, Genevieve in HR fired me. But Henry’s name was the signature that sealed the deal.”

Silence.

Jia would let that soak in. She’d let them realize that she and Henry were fated to be against each other. And maybe that made it okay for him to be mad at her. And for her to be mad at him back... a little. She’d give them a sec to change their tune.

“Well, praise be,” Mimi said.

“Good boy,” Betty chimed in.

“He’s good-lookingandhas sense?” Gladys added.

“I bet his handwriting is all stern and hot and demanding,” Mildred said.

What did demanding handwriting even look like?

“Hey, wait a minute. You’re all supposed to be on my side.” Jia pouted, feelings hurt.

“We are. And this guy saved you from a miserable job that you hated and that didn’t treat you right,” Mimi said, rubbing Jia’s back from her chair.