What You Don't Know, Can't Hurt You

I walked into her apartment and stood there awkwardly. By this time her friend was sitting on the couch and she was in the kitchen.

“You know you can come in and sit down… Unless you’re going to attack me,” she said very sarcastically.

I took my shoes off and headed towards an empty chair in her living area. Her friend was the first one to speak. “I’m Chelsea,” she said bitterly.

“My name is Zoe. I would say it’s nice to meet you, but given the circumstances…” I let that sentence trail off.

“Do you guys want anything to drink? Water, vodka, rum or anything?” she asked from the kitchen.

Once again Chelsea was the first one to speak. “Oh fuck yeah. I’m going to need a stiff drink if I’m going to sit through this conversation.”

She brought us all drinks and sat down on the couch next to Chelsea. “I’m Jory by the way.”

“Zoe,” was all I said.

We sat in awkward silence for quite a long time before Jory spoke.

“Well, first of all, how did you ever find out where I live? No offence but that is really creepy.”

“Hacked Brayden’s GPS,” I said bluntly.

“He has my address in his GPS?” she questioned. “I mean he’s visited enough that he should know…” she trailed off. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s no big deal. I know he had an affair with you. Just be honest with me, okay? I want some answers. And to answer your question, yes he had it in his GPS. If you never noticed, Brayden is actually very stupid, and probably couldn’t remember how to get to his own house.”

We both laughed because we knew it was true and Chelsea let out a little giggle but it was obvious that she wasn’t following the conversation. She got up off the couch. “I’m going to go home, call me if you need me Jor.”

“I will. Love you!” was all she said.

Shit, I thought to myself. James was still waiting downstairs for me. I pulled out my phone and began to type to him.
“Go home, she’s cool; I’ll be here for a while.”

He answered instantly, “Okay, call me when you are done I will pick you up.”

I just smiled as I read the text because I honestly loved him in every way possible.

“So how long have you been seeing Brayden?” I asked quickly, feeling bad after for putting her on the spot so fast.

“4 months. We met at a bar on my 21st birthday.”

“NO FUCKING WAY!” I said as I cut her off. She just nodded her head, confused. “That’s so fucking like him. HE MET ME AT MY 21st BIRTHDAY PARTY.”

She just sat there with a shocked look on her face. “How did you ever get into the VIP part? I mean you’re pretty and that could work in your favor but they don’t let just anyone in there. You need some kind of connection…” she questioned. Obviously she didn’t get the hint last night that I was best friends with James.

“James fucking van Riemsdyk is my best friend. Always has been always will be.”

She just nodded her head and stared at the ground for a few minutes. “Listen, Zoe right? I just want to tell you seriously how sorry I am. I really didn’t know about you at all. I’ve been cheated on, okay? I know exactly how you feel right now and it makes me feel like shit that I caused that. I am so so sorry.”

I shook my head at her. “I don’t blame you. I really don’t. There was no way for you to know about me. Brayden made the decisions he did. You trusted him – just like I did. And now we’re both left looking like idiots.”

Just then my phone buzzed, and Jory’s did almost simultaneously.

I glanced down and saw that it was from Brayden.

I read it to myself and laughed. I decided to read it out loud. “I’m so sorry babe. Can I please come see you later?”

“Oh my god! He sent me the exact same thing! We should reply to him saying the same thing, something clever.” We both were upset but it seemed like a legit plan until I got thinking.

“Wait, it’s Brayden we’re talking about. He probably won’t understand that we are together,” I said as we both burst out laughing.

We decided to send him the, ‘I’m with Jory/Zoe right now. Go fuck yourself,’ text.

We sat in her apartment for hours, not hearing another word from Brayden. Obviously he was what our conversation revolved around. Neither of us could believe that we were that oblivious and didn’t realized that there was another girl in his life. It was decided that we were both starving so we were going to head down the street a bit to a Subway.

Just then my cell phone rang.

“Hello,” I answered without even looking.

“Zoe, I’m almost there to pick you up. Something big happened!” It was James and he seemed quite upset.

He hung up the phone before I could say another word. I had a panicked look on my face. Something big has happened? That could be anything and there were so many possibilities that were running through my mind.

“Something is going on with James and I guess he is on his way to come pick me up. Here’s my number, though. Text me right now so I have yours. Let me know if you need anything or if Brayden is harassing you. I will be in touch,” I said as I closed the door behind me, running down the hall and down the stairs.

Sure enough James was sitting in his car outside waiting for me. I could tell that he had been crying but yet he had a huge smile on his face.

“What the fuck James?” I questioned. “Is Mona back? Did something happen to Brayden?”

“Zoe I have some news. I just got traded to Toronto.”

My heart fell to my stomach. I didn’t know how to react, what to say or even bring myself to look at him.

“Zoe this is awesome! We both can get out of this city and get a fresh start!” he said excitedly.

Once I thought about it a little I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to get away from here. It was also pretty nice to hear that I was still included in his plans, even if they required moving back to Canada.

My phone buzzed. It was Jory already.

“Just got wind that your boy is headed to Toronto in exchange for brother Luke. He better not be anything like Brayden!”

I laughed because I could just imagine her saying that out loud. I quickly typed back. “No! He’s a sweetheart! Met him many times. I will def introduce you to him!”