“Sure, I’ll go.”
“Are you nuts? You are not coming on this date with me. No way. I can’t even believe my family asked this of you. I know you always sayyesto everybody, but to this? Stop letting people walk all over you, Tae. You’re not doing this.”
“Don’t make this about me, Julia. Your family is trying to do a nice thing. They’re doing this for you. And just because you’re dead set on believing you’re going to mess this up, you won’t even give it a try. Maybe this doctor is The One. How can you know if you don’t meet him?”
The words stung. If Tae was this up for trying to get Julia with this doctor, it clearly meant he had no interest in her himself. She hadn’t anticipated how much that realization would hurt.
“There’s no such thing as The One, Tae. There’s just a whole lot of people out in the world, and if you get lucky enough you find someone you can stand to be with the rest of your life.”
“That’s bullshit. And I know it’s not what you believe,” Tae said.
“I can’t believe you didn’t have my back in there.” Julia sighed, shaking her head. Why did it feel like he was on their side instead of hers? She didn’t like it.
“What do you want from me, Julia? Do you not want me to come as your interpreter? You’d rather have your mother?”
They were standing back where they’d originally reconnected, in the middle of the neighborhood park by the swings. Julia didn’t even remember walking here, she was just so frustrated and angry and let her feet lead the way.
“I don’t want you to see firsthand how bad I am at this. If you go on this date with me...” She hesitated.
“I’ve been on dates with you, Julia. Two so far. And they’ve been the best times I’ve had in a long time. You’re fun and funny and smart and observant. You can dish it out with the best of them. But you can take it too. And I love that. I love spending time with you. I love—”
He’d stopped himself. And that pause snapped Julia out of the warm bubble Tae’s words had put around them.
Pop.
“But that’s with you, Tae. I’m not like that with anyone else. You’re the reason we have fun, not me.”
Tae reached over and gently lifted her chin with his finger. She tried to avoid his eyes. She hated being this vulnerable in front of anyone. But she hated Tae seeing, hearing, how pathetic she was.
“Julia,” he said, his voice so soft, she could barely hear him. But her heart was screaming for him to say her name again.
He put his hand on her cheek, and she wanted to lean into its warmth. But she couldn’t move. She was planted in thismoment, rendered unable to react. Why couldn’t it be like this with the men she dated? Why was it only with Tae?
“I need you to go on this date so that you can see.” Tae was almost pleading with Julia.
“See what?”
“See yourself. See... me.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I need you to see that it could be...” He wouldn’t finish his sentence. His eyes stared down into Julia’s, his face drawing closer.
Julia held her breath. The tenderness of his eyes made her knees weak. She drew herself up as he lowered himself to meet her. She closed her eyes and—
“Tae?”
An unfamiliar voice cut through the air.
Tae jumped back and the coldness slapped Julia immediately in the face. She opened her eyes and looked at the beautiful woman walking across the park. She’d never seen her before in the neighborhood. Julia didn’t know this woman, but this woman knew Tae.
Julia looked up to see Tae’s surprised expression.
“Kari, what are you doing here?” he asked.
Julia looked back at the stranger as she approached them. She took a close look and knew it immediately, the face of someone in love, the face of someone determined, the face of someone here to win back her man.
The face of Kari, the ex.
19
Ex-Girlfriend
