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Honesty
I bit the inside of my cheek, pondering his proposition. It sounded dreamy to have a complete stranger appear and offer such a life changing help. If I agreed to this, by the end of the weekend not only would Margie and Matthew be officially hitched, but I might have a shot at that in the future with Scott.
John’s proposal coloured my mind with scenes of how my life would be if Scott became a true part of it. We’d get to know each other more, he’d eventually move in, I’d be able to cook Sunday waffles for someone other than myself, I’d—
“So?” John eyed me with patience nowhere near his eyes. “What do you say?”
“What’s in it for you?”
He pointed towards Scott’s direction, “Her.”
“You don’t even know her,” I said with furrowed eyebrows.
A smirk was stamped on his smug face. “But I will tonight.”
“Oh, so that’s your plan? Sleep with her?” I whispered in a temper.
“What did you expect? For you to hit that,” he lifted his lanky finger, directed at Scott, “we’ve got to get her out of the picture. And she’s hot. I wouldn’t want her to go to waste,” he spoke as if they were talking about bread about to expire on a kitchen counter.
I rolled my eyes in annoyance and something very close to disgust. And here I thought he was a nice guy. I opened my mouth, more than willing to give him my piece of mind. Instead, I shut it close like I had done so many times in the past and muttered an apology instead.
“She’s part one of the game plan, alright? It’s not really what I want from this.”
I crossed my arms and tried to shake off my irritation at myself, “Then what is it?”
“Honesty.” His green eyes pierced into mine. “Throughout this whole weekend, I want you to be honest with me. Honest about how you feel, the things you want to say, the things you want to do, what you like and don’t like. Consider me your therapist.”
“Why?”
He shrugged and broke eye contact, choosing to stare at the TV in front of him. For the first time since I arrived at the plane, I was given the chance to really look at him. He had sandy brown hair that fell past his ears and piercing green eyes that looked a lot like my own. Faint freckles ran across his nose. His slender legs looked uncomfortable in a place too small for his large stature.
“Because it’s only fair. I can only help you if you’re 100% honest, or else how will that guy fall in love with you?”
“Okay,” I said with a stretched out arm for a handshake. “It’s a deal then.“ He spat on his hand and as he moved his hand towards mine. Within the blink of an eye, I retreaded my hand. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’ve got Irish ancestry. This is just a thing we do.” His hand continued in the air, waiting for hers to seal the deal. “You’ve got to spit on yours too.”
With the best version of my are-you-kidding-me face, I did exactly what he said and shook hands with him whilst twisting my face in repulse.
He smiled, “Now say it.”
“Say what?”
“What you really wanted to say just now when I said she couldn’t go to waste.”
I knitted my brows, wondering if he was some kind of magical godfather. First, he offers the deal my subconscious had been dreaming about all along and now he apparently read minds?
“I didn’t want to say anything,” I lied.
He sighed. “It hasn’t even been 30 seconds since we shook hands and you’ve already broken your end of the bargain.”
I stared at the seatbelt sign above, rethinking my choices and whether this deal had been a good idea after all. If I were silent for the rest of the flight, would he just forget about it and let me be?
“Still waiting,” he reminded.
“Get out of my brain!” I said with an incredulous smile.
He joined me in laughter, “I’m good, huh?”
Rolling my eyes, I rested my head on my hand. “I just, um…” I trailed off, not knowing how to put my thoughts into actual words. I sighed, searching my mind for a way to soften the blow of my piece of mind. “I just thought you had little respect for her, that’s all.”
He chuckled and pushed me further, “Those were the exact words you thought?” I fought a smile in hopes that he’d buy that answer as the solemn truth. He didn’t. “Really?” God, I was such a terrible liar.
“Fine, fine!” Maybe if I did this quick like ripping off a band-aid, it wouldn’t sound as bad to his ears. Or maybe it would? But then again, John seemed to be a very careless sort of person. He could handle it, right? I mean, he did ask for it.
I forced myself to stop overthinking and took a deep breath in. I felt like the total fool I am whilst John’s gaze remained still on my face. Anticipating my nerves, I shut my eyes and I spoke as quick as lightning, “I thought you were an insensitive ass who probably only came to the wedding to screw bridesmaids and never call them back.”
He placed a hand upon his heart and threw his head back with shut eyes, faking a gunshot. “Ouch, that’s harsher than I thought it’d be!”
I widened my eyes in regret and lightly touched his forearm to comfort the fake wound, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—“
“Oh man,” the sound of his contagious laughter puzzled me, “Honesty isn’t second nature to you, now is it?”
I clenched my jaw and controlled myself not to roll my eyes for the hundredth time. “Seriously, what is the matter with you?! Don’t scare me like that!” I put a hand to my chest as a way to calm my fast beating heart.
Ladies and gentlemen, permission to land granted.
I fastened my seatbelt and John mirrored me. “I’m just messing with you,” he said. “But how great did that feel?”
My nerves had been at such a high, I had little time to register how I felt about putting my real thoughts out into the world. It felt surprisingly… nice. Instead of being suffocated by my inability to be frank to people about things that could hurt them in any way, a sense of freedom washed over me.
I offered him a half smile, not wanting his smugness to return. “It felt sort of nice.”
“Good!” He smiled enough for the both of us, “Now let’s get off this plane and get things started.”
I started to believe that whatever John had in mind, whatever the steps of his plan were, it’d work. I beamed inside, “What are we going to do?”
“You’re going to buy me a drink.”
John’s proposal coloured my mind with scenes of how my life would be if Scott became a true part of it. We’d get to know each other more, he’d eventually move in, I’d be able to cook Sunday waffles for someone other than myself, I’d—
“So?” John eyed me with patience nowhere near his eyes. “What do you say?”
“What’s in it for you?”
He pointed towards Scott’s direction, “Her.”
“You don’t even know her,” I said with furrowed eyebrows.
A smirk was stamped on his smug face. “But I will tonight.”
“Oh, so that’s your plan? Sleep with her?” I whispered in a temper.
“What did you expect? For you to hit that,” he lifted his lanky finger, directed at Scott, “we’ve got to get her out of the picture. And she’s hot. I wouldn’t want her to go to waste,” he spoke as if they were talking about bread about to expire on a kitchen counter.
I rolled my eyes in annoyance and something very close to disgust. And here I thought he was a nice guy. I opened my mouth, more than willing to give him my piece of mind. Instead, I shut it close like I had done so many times in the past and muttered an apology instead.
“She’s part one of the game plan, alright? It’s not really what I want from this.”
I crossed my arms and tried to shake off my irritation at myself, “Then what is it?”
“Honesty.” His green eyes pierced into mine. “Throughout this whole weekend, I want you to be honest with me. Honest about how you feel, the things you want to say, the things you want to do, what you like and don’t like. Consider me your therapist.”
“Why?”
He shrugged and broke eye contact, choosing to stare at the TV in front of him. For the first time since I arrived at the plane, I was given the chance to really look at him. He had sandy brown hair that fell past his ears and piercing green eyes that looked a lot like my own. Faint freckles ran across his nose. His slender legs looked uncomfortable in a place too small for his large stature.
“Because it’s only fair. I can only help you if you’re 100% honest, or else how will that guy fall in love with you?”
“Okay,” I said with a stretched out arm for a handshake. “It’s a deal then.“ He spat on his hand and as he moved his hand towards mine. Within the blink of an eye, I retreaded my hand. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’ve got Irish ancestry. This is just a thing we do.” His hand continued in the air, waiting for hers to seal the deal. “You’ve got to spit on yours too.”
With the best version of my are-you-kidding-me face, I did exactly what he said and shook hands with him whilst twisting my face in repulse.
He smiled, “Now say it.”
“Say what?”
“What you really wanted to say just now when I said she couldn’t go to waste.”
I knitted my brows, wondering if he was some kind of magical godfather. First, he offers the deal my subconscious had been dreaming about all along and now he apparently read minds?
“I didn’t want to say anything,” I lied.
He sighed. “It hasn’t even been 30 seconds since we shook hands and you’ve already broken your end of the bargain.”
I stared at the seatbelt sign above, rethinking my choices and whether this deal had been a good idea after all. If I were silent for the rest of the flight, would he just forget about it and let me be?
“Still waiting,” he reminded.
“Get out of my brain!” I said with an incredulous smile.
He joined me in laughter, “I’m good, huh?”
Rolling my eyes, I rested my head on my hand. “I just, um…” I trailed off, not knowing how to put my thoughts into actual words. I sighed, searching my mind for a way to soften the blow of my piece of mind. “I just thought you had little respect for her, that’s all.”
He chuckled and pushed me further, “Those were the exact words you thought?” I fought a smile in hopes that he’d buy that answer as the solemn truth. He didn’t. “Really?” God, I was such a terrible liar.
“Fine, fine!” Maybe if I did this quick like ripping off a band-aid, it wouldn’t sound as bad to his ears. Or maybe it would? But then again, John seemed to be a very careless sort of person. He could handle it, right? I mean, he did ask for it.
I forced myself to stop overthinking and took a deep breath in. I felt like the total fool I am whilst John’s gaze remained still on my face. Anticipating my nerves, I shut my eyes and I spoke as quick as lightning, “I thought you were an insensitive ass who probably only came to the wedding to screw bridesmaids and never call them back.”
He placed a hand upon his heart and threw his head back with shut eyes, faking a gunshot. “Ouch, that’s harsher than I thought it’d be!”
I widened my eyes in regret and lightly touched his forearm to comfort the fake wound, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—“
“Oh man,” the sound of his contagious laughter puzzled me, “Honesty isn’t second nature to you, now is it?”
I clenched my jaw and controlled myself not to roll my eyes for the hundredth time. “Seriously, what is the matter with you?! Don’t scare me like that!” I put a hand to my chest as a way to calm my fast beating heart.
Ladies and gentlemen, permission to land granted.
I fastened my seatbelt and John mirrored me. “I’m just messing with you,” he said. “But how great did that feel?”
My nerves had been at such a high, I had little time to register how I felt about putting my real thoughts out into the world. It felt surprisingly… nice. Instead of being suffocated by my inability to be frank to people about things that could hurt them in any way, a sense of freedom washed over me.
I offered him a half smile, not wanting his smugness to return. “It felt sort of nice.”
“Good!” He smiled enough for the both of us, “Now let’s get off this plane and get things started.”
I started to believe that whatever John had in mind, whatever the steps of his plan were, it’d work. I beamed inside, “What are we going to do?”
“You’re going to buy me a drink.”