“Hi.” He thrusts a hand forward. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jabari.”
Does he not remember me? Is he just one more person who finds me forgettable and invisible? “Hello,” I force out. My voice feels scratchy but sounds normal.
“And your name?” he asks.
My confusion mounts. Is hereallygoing to act like he doesn’t know who I am? Like I hadn’t hung out with Jackie and him in the past?
“Val,” I respond flatly, shaking his hand nonetheless.
“How do you know Raimo?”
“Are you serious right now?” I cross my arms.
This is ridiculous. Yes, he hasn’t seen me in ten years, but I don’t lookthatmuch different.
A couple of lines mar his smooth brown forehead. “Have we ... have we met before?”
“Wow. That’s rich coming from you.” I sneer. “I guess when you have a playboy reputation, you effectively give yourself amnesia with all the women you’ve ...metover the years.”
His brow furrows. “What are you talking about?”
“Jackie Elliot ring a bell?” Wait until I tell her he doesn’t even recall dating her. Wait, no, that’ll drive the stake farther in. I want to spare her the details, which means I shouldn’t tell Fran about this because she doesn’t know how to keep a secret to save her soul.
“Jackie? You don’t sound like Jackie.”
Of course I don’t. But if my teeth grind harder, I’ll be booking a dental visit. Maybe he hit his head harder than sports media has indicated. “I’m not Jackie. I’m Val.”
“Val!” His eyes widen. “You know Raimo?”
“Yes, but that’s beside the point.” I wave my hand in the air. “How can you pretend you don’t remember me? For one”—I hold up my pointer—“I resemble my sister, so that should’ve jogged your memory.” My second finger goes up. “Two, I haven’t changedthatmuch in ten years. You should’ve taken one look at me and said, ‘Oh, that’s Val, Jackie’s little sister.’ And last, you should’ve told Raimo no as soon as he told you who he set you up with.”
Jabari shakes his head, as if trying to erase cobwebs.
But I don’t wait for him to respond. “You know what? I don’t need to take this. This has to be the worst blind date in history.”
“This is the worstdayin history,” he grouses.
My movements halt. “What do you mean?”
“Val, I can explain why I didn’t recognize you.” He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “All I ask is that you please not speak a word of this to anyone. And I do mean no one. Not even Jackie or Francis.”
My mouth dries. I already decided not to share this fiasco with my sisters, but the bitterness in his voice makes me worry that I’llwantto tell them.
Still ... “Fine.”
Jabari runs a hand down his face. “I got a severe concussion last month.”
“Yeah, I saw.”
He winces.
“I’m sorry. That was insensitive.” Even a cheating jerk deserves a little kindness, right?
“No, I can only imagine what the replay looked like.”
“I was actually in the arena, so I saw it in person.”
“Oh. Well, um.” He sighs. “Turns out I also had some swelling and a lesion on my brain.”
