Stuck on You, 15: Stranger.
Jenny Shay.
Okay, something weird happened today. Something that’s just… weird. I mean, God. Okay what am I saying?
Okay, I should stop talking, right? Alright. So, this is what happened.
***
That night after Andrew sent me home, and of course I thought I was alone. Since well, I always was.
Well, I was wrong.
When I entered inside the apartment, I heard dad’s voice. Which was quite queer to me, since he’s never, ever home that early. Not ever since mom died.
And of course, I got suspicious. I followed where my dad’s voice was coming from. It lead to my study/trophy room. Before I entered the room, I heard a woman’s voice. She wasn’t talking, she was laughing. Another odd thing to happen in the apartment.
The door wasn’t completely closed, so I peeked through it before knocking.
“Dad?” I called out.
What I saw was… the most unbelievable thing that has ever happened to me ever since mom died.
There was a woman, probably in her 30s, I could tell, but she looked younger. She had strawberry blonde hair that stopped until her shoulders, her lips were like Angelina Jolie’s. I could tell that her eyes were dark; although I’m not sure whether it was dark brown, black, dark green.
She was wearing a rather garish looking suit, her bag was Gucci which so doesn’t go with the garish looking outfit she was wearing.
Boy, a voice in my head was saying, this woman seriously needs fashion tips.
When she saw me, she gave me what looked as if it were a forced smile. She stood up and hugged me as if we’ve known each other since forever.
I quickly and awkwardly pulled away. God, what the hell? I don’t even know this woman and she’s already hugging me as if I was her best friend.
“Hi!” she quickly said once I shrugged her off.
“Um, hi?” I replied then looked at my dad, “Dad?”
He looked at me then smiled, a smile that I was dreading and hoping to see since Mom died. He came to me and hugged me, “Hiyya, kiddo.”
“Hi… Um, what’s going on?” I demanded, my voice sharp. I didn’t know why I was angry, maybe it’s because Dad brought a woman, a stranger, to be exact, home, to my house. Our house.
“This is Jessica.” He told me and then looked at Jessica.
“Oh please, call me Jess.” She smiled. “And you must be Jennifer.”
“Just Jenny, thanks.” I forced a smile.
“Jess is just somebody who comes by the workshop often. Her car’s always breaking down and I’m always the one to fix it.”
“Your dad’s a pro.” She giggled.
I forced a smile. Ew, okaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
She smiled back and then looked at her watch, “Well, would you look at that? Is that the time already? I should go.” she said as she hugged(what the snowballs in hell?) my dad. “See you soon, Robert.”
“Goodbye, Jess.”
She smiled again, looked at me and said, “It was good to finally meet you, Jennifer.”
“Jenny.” I corrected her.
“Sure.” she said and gave me a I-don’t-really-care face, “Have a goodnight.” she added before leaving the room.
When he front door closed, I turned to my dad, arms crossed. “Who was that?”
“Jessica?” He said.
“No, I mean, I know her name’s Jessica, but… who the heck is she?”
“Watch the tone, Jen.” My dad said, I gasped. “She’s just a regular customer down at the workshop.”
I scoffed, “Right.” Then I remembered that he was supposed to be at the workshop, and that’s the reason why I had to come home with Andrew.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at the workshop?” I asked, “I mean, that’s the reason why you couldn’t pick me up. If you weren’t at the workshop, you’d be able to pick me up, you know.” I blabbed.
Dad looked at me then sighed, “I was supposed to be at the workshop, but I had to get a few stuff from the apartment. It was pretty bad thing to just walk in the rain, and mind you, it is pretty bad, sweetheart, and the traffic’s bad, too. So, just when I decided to walk home, Jess was near by and she wanted to pick a few things down at Go Kleen—” It’s a laundry store, by the way, which is just about a 5 minutes walk from the apartment. “—And when she saw me, she asked if I wanted to go anywhere, and I said yes, and she was kind enough to make a stop by at the apartment. That’s it.”
“Wow, pretty long story.” I said in a bored tone.
“It’s not that long, sweetheart.”
Instead, I changed the subject, “But she went inside.” I pointed out. “You said no strangers are allowed inside the apartment, Dad.”
He shrugged, “I couldn’t just leave her outside.”
I shook my head and said, “Uh, yeah you could.”
“Jenny.” My dad’s voice warned.
“What?” I said, spreading my arms out, “Seriously. What’s the big deal, anyway? You could’ve just left her, I mean, you did say that you wanted to get a few, mind you, a few stuff.”
“And, she was in my trophy/study room!” I exclaimed, “What the hell was she doing inside there? I don’t remember giving her permission to.”
“Jeniffer Joanne Shay.” Oh shit, I’ve never heard my dad say my full name since forever, he usually does that when he’s— “Enough. You don’t know how upset I am with you right now. There’s nothing going on between me and Jessica. Is that understood?”
No, I don’t. “And you guys were laughing! I mean, come on, daddy, that’s supposed to be my job! To make you laugh!” I pouted.
Finally, my dad giggled, then smiled, “Jen, just get over it. Okay?”
“But—” I started to protest but he cut me off.
“No buts, sweetheart. End of conversation.” He said making his way out to the front door, “Now, I gotta go back to work, you’ll be okay being home alone, right?”
I know he wasn’t really expecting an answer, I mean, I’m always home alone, anyway, “Duh, I’m always home alone.” I mumbled to myself, then I replied a bit loudly, “Yeah.”
“That’s my girl.” He said, “I’ll call you later. See you at dinner.” He kissed my head and then he was gone.
I sighed and made way into my room. Instead of doing what I usually do every night; instead of cleaning up the kitchen or watching TV or doing my homework or revise what I’ve learned everyday at school, I lied down on bed and closed my eyes.
It was still 8pm, but I was already in dreamland.
