Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe

Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe- Kendrick Lamar

"Bitch, don't leave me hanging!" Sammy laughed, holding out her fist. I reached out and fist pounded her.

"Wait...you're not mad?" I asked, completely thrown off. I honestly thought she was going to punch me!

"Of course not! I'm a proud mommy right now. We''ve been living together for 2 weeks and you've already learned from me!" Sammy started. "Moving on from Ethan, with one of his friends. Classic move. Two guys, one stone!"

"Pretty sure it's two birds..." I corrected. I was playing along with her. Inside, I was kinda disgusted with myself. That wasn't my intention. It had always registered to me how attractive Jake is, but I have to admit, I've never been attracted to him until things ended with Ethan. Was I subconsciously trying to get back at Ethan? Is that what Jake thought?

"Whatever. In the words of Left Eye, 'if your man starts actin' up, switch and take his friend'" Sammy sang.

I forced a laugh and shook my head.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just surprised by your reaction. That's all." I shrugged.

"You gotta realize, you're not living with Rocky. I don't live by old fashioned rules of life."

"Then what rules do you live by?" I asked.

"None! I swear, Lily. That's one thing I never really liked or understood about you. You let everyone's opinions rule your life. Life is too short to let people have that type of power over you. Do you!"

I smiled. "Ok."

"Obviously, we have the same taste in guys. So if there is ever a guy that's off limits, just let me know. And I'll do the same. But other than that, we're ok." Sammy finished.

"Thanks for being so cool about this."

"I told you me and Jake were not like that. There are way too many guys on the planet to be fighting over one. Besides, my weekend was so great, nothing can bring me down."

"Well, do share." I encouraged her.

"I finally had the interview with Ron. I got the job!" Sammy started.

She continued to explain how Ron had 14 girls employed right now. Essentially, they audition for each event. The client's wants/needs determined who received what jobs. Each job can pay anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the hours and type of event. Plus the girls took home any tips they made.

"Sammy, that's not really stable. What if you don't get picked? And what about benefits?" I asked, as gently as possible. I don't wanna burst her bubble, but I hoped she thought about this.

"All I need are a few events and you know I'm going to be a favorite. And besides, I plan on working at Dave and Buster's too. At least for the next few months. If I don't like it, I'll quit."

"But there's no telling how many jobs you'll actually get in the long run. It depends on how many events Ron is hosting."

"He's already done 15 for this month alone. Just 5 of those would be at least a thousand dollars." I could imagine the dollar signs floating around her head.

"Sammy-"

"Before you say anything else, Ron invited me to an event. Just to get the feel of things. Come with me. Hell, bring Jake. You'll see it's legit."

"I'll go. I don't know about Jake. I'm pretty sure that was a one night, drunken thing." I said.

"But how was it?" Sammy said, wiggling her eyebrows. I grinned.

Sammy laughed. "You can appreciate him being with a lot of girls now, huh?"

"I don't know about that. But I definitely appreciated the tongue skills." I commented.

Sammy's eyes widen. "What all did y'all do?"

"Made out, a lot. And he went down on me."

"You didn't return favor?" She asked.

"No."

"Wow. I can learn something from you then." Sammy smiled. I laughed.

"So, why did y'all stop hooking up?" I asked. I really wanted to know what lies Jake was referring to at our housewarming.

"We just moved on." She answered.

"But it sounds like y'all were having fun. And it wasn't a one night thing. Why not continue?"

 "We're both hunters. That's probably why he likes you so much. It's all about the thrill of the chase. The fact that you hooked up with Ethan probably makes you more appealing." She elaborated.

I wanna call bullshit. They hooked up the first day they meet. On campgrounds. Where everyone could hear. What kinda chase was that? But I didn't press the issue. She's cool with what happened. Why push it?

"Actually, he said he wanted to fulfill the fantasy of hooking up with roommates." I told her.

Sammy laughed. "Wouldn't have counted anyway. We stopped hooking up before you and I moved in together."

I pulled out my laptop and went through the mud run pictures. Sammy looked through them with me and helped me pick which ones I wanted. I paid for them online. I texted the link to Jordan as well, showing her which ones I bought.

Jordan: Thanks! Corey saw our picture. He doesn't know which one you are, but he thinks you're sexy!

Me: Lol. Ok.... Who's Corey? And should I be concerned he thinks I'm sexy covered in mud?

Jordan: He's the guy I'm setting you up with! And you should be relieved. Only uphill from covered in mud!

Me: Not fair. I have no idea what he looks like.

Jordan: He doesn't either. He thinks you could be Jasmine. Trust me. You'll like him.

I put my phone away and explained my potential date to Sammy.

"A blind date? What if he's a loser. Or worse, ugly?" Sammy made a face as she heated up leftover Chinese.

"Jordan said I would like him" I said.

"Well, what does her boyfriend look like? Then you can see what she thinks is cute." " Sammy asked, eating my leftover lo mien.

"I don't know. I don't know anything about him. Which is weird, cause she talks about him all the time..."

 I suddenly remember something from the first time she brought him up.

"What is it?" Sammy asked, noticing my apprehensive look.

I explained to her how Jordan joked that she thought we were on a date the first time we hung out outside of work. Or how I thought it was a joke...

Sammy busted out laughing.

"She's in love with you. It's like that movie Obsessed. She's got you in her crosshairs."

"Shut up Sammy. You watch too many movies."

"I'm for real. You better ask specific questions about her boyfriend. And this guy she's setting you up with. Or it's gonna be her, in drag. With chloroform and duct tape in the trunk."

"Now you watch too much Lifetime"

--------------------------

On Facebook, I posted and tagged Jasmine in the video of her on the bull. A lot of her friends and family made fun of her or liked the video. Jake commented saying how she was in Fort Worth one day and came back a vaquera.

In the comments, I posted a meme of a cowboy, with a fuchsia cowboy button down, pointy fuchsia cowboy boots, and the phrase "Haters gonna hate."

Jake commented back.

Jake: Lol. You can look that stupid, but if I say something, I'm a hater? @Lily

Me: Duh. Everyone knows the more hate you get, the better you're doing @Jake

Jake: Maybe it's not hate. Maybe it's the truth @Lily

Jasmine: It's ok Lily . I know I get hated on cause I'm a bad bitch :-)

Jake: Or maybe you're just doing bad, bitch ; -)

Jasmine: Vete al infierno!

Me: LMAO. I'm stealing that @Jake

Jake: That's cool. Just give me my credit @Lily
And I'll see you there @Jasmine

I smiled, gratefully that we're still ok. I don't know what's going on between me and Jake, but I was glad we could continue to be friends till I figured it out.

-----------------------------

All this week, I was swamped at work. I had been putting in 200% effort ever since my talk with Derek. Especially since I had requested days off to go back to California. Derek hadn't said anything negative nor positive about my work. But I figured no news is good news.

On Thursday, Jordan caught me coming into work.

"Hey. Let's do lunch today!" She said.

"I can't. Derek has a meeting with Dr. Samuels about a new patient that I'm going to be working with. I should be there." I declined.

"Oh. Do you normally go to those?" She asked.

"No. But I figured I better show I'm focused and dedicated and shit." I smiled at her.

She shook her head.

When lunch time rolled around, I went to meet Derek in his office.

"I'm ready for the meeting with Dr. Samuels whenever you are." I said.

"I don't need you to be there. It's a classic ankle repair." Derek answered.

"Nonetheless, I would like to go. I've been reading up on some new techniques. I would love to implement them." I said, firmly.

How's that for dedication?

"Dr. Samuels is old school. He's not going to want to hear anything new." Derek replied. "I would like to hear them. Take the rest of the day and come up with a rehab plan. We can go over it tomorrow." He finished.

"Of course. Thanks Derek."

"Thank you. Your hard work hasn't gone unnoticed." He said. I smiled and left. I grabbed my purse and headed for the nurses station.

"Guess who got a compliment, and the rest of the day off?!?" I said to Jordan.

"It's not me, so I'm going to take a wild guess and say you!" Jordan grinned.

"Still wanna do lunch?" I asked.

"Love to. Give me 10 minutes." Jordan answered.

I used that 10 minutes to freshen up and think of some questions to ask Jordan about her boyfriend. Not gonna lie, Sammy's warning is still a thought in my head. I know, it's stupid and super conceited of me. But I can't help the feeling that something wasn't adding up.

When she was ready, we went to a sushi place. After ordering and receiving our food, we ate and chatted.

"So, tell me more about Corey?" I said, as we dug into our food.

"Oh, he's awesome. We went to high school together. So he's my age. 24. He's a pharmacy tech. Really laidback. Great sense of humor. I really think y'all are going to get along great."

"Cool..." I said, taking a sip of my water. "So... does he get along with your boyfriend?"

"Sure. My boyfriend's always busy. So it's hard to hang together. But when we do, it's fun." She said quickly, before going back to her food. I couldn't tell if she was really hungry, or if she was avoiding the question. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and decided she was just hungry.

"What does your boyfriend do?" I asked her, when she paused.

"He's a doctor." She answered.

"Oh. What does he practice?" I asked.

"He works at a clinic. So y'all all went out to the bar after the run?" Jordan asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. It was so much fun. I wish you would have came. Your boyfriend's a doctor but wouldn't come out for a charity run?" I questioned.

"He had to work."

"Oh, I thought you said it wasn't his thing?" I questioned.

"It wasn't. But he had to work in the morning anyway. That's the thing about Corey's schedule too. He works pharmacy hours. So he doesn't always get weekends off. If you do hang out, you're going to have to work around his schedule."Jordan explained.

She finally took a breath "Let me show you a picture of him." She exclaimed.

I let her change the subject. I know she's hiding something. She was too eager to break her own rule to show me a picture of Corey. I decided to catch her off guard with more questions later.

I looked at her phone. He's definitely cute. Cute enough that I let Jordan send my number to him.



On the drive home from lunch, Trevor called me.

"Hey you! Becca finally uncuffed you?"I answered.

"I'm on my lunch break. Waiting for your brother. And we don't use handcuffs. We use rope." Trevor replied.

"Mmmm....Gross. Don't wanna hear about you sex life." I said.

"Do you have a sex life we can talk about?" He teased. I blushed, thinking about Jake.

"Potentially. You know that girl from my work? Jordan? The nurse? She came to my housewarming?"

"Yeah..." Trevor said. I could hear the confusion in his voice.

"I think she's obsessed with me and loves me in a more than friends kinda way." I said, mater of factly.

Trevore laughed. "Ok. Run that by me one more time. But slower. And tell me any intimate moments you two might have had. In many details..."

I laughed with him.

Do you agree with Sammy? On her opinions on the 'girl code', Lily's choices and attitude, and about Jordan's intentions.