The GEEKs

34. competitiveness, entitlement, and wine for tea

PREVIOUSLY: Mark keeps his word and calls Kat again...and again; during one such conversation, she tells him a little bit about what happened between her and Chris while Mark, in turn, tells her about how Kristine was suspicious of her feelings towards him - both of which are unusually intimate topics for them to be discussing; Kat wonders why Mark's really been calling her but doesn't openly question it and just enjoys their banter-filled conversations and their deepening friendship; it seems like Jerry's never in the right place, at the right time aka in Lizzy's immediate vicinity but they finally meet at a bar where their friends hang out after basketball games; Jerry spends the whole time trying to touch Lizzy and when he finally takes her hand, she freaks out because it occurs to her all of a sudden that she might end up being just a rebound to Jerry; she seeks advice from Eva but ultimately decides to wait a little and see...

I start my internship so soon, there's so much to think about, but at the same time, I feel like the day can't come fast enough. Kat thrifted some really nice pieces for me to wear... I'm aware it sounds really shallow but it's important to think about. What I look like is what people are going to think of me every time I enter a room and if I want to launch my career into orbit, I want them thinking only the best. Kat found some silk blouses, a couple of really sweet skirt suits, and I already have like three pairs of shoes for the job. So I'm all set there...

I tap my fingers against the steering wheel, thinking about all that, while Eva and Lizzy talk about shopping lists...before Lizzy changes the subject.

"How can I be sure that I wouldn't be just a rebound to him?" She asks me and Eva seconds after bringing up this same boring topic yet again. I wish I could just walk away from having to listen to her whine about Jerry again, but seeing as I'm driving this car, that would be kind of irresponsible...

"Lizzy, how much more can we talk about this..."

"You can be real mean sometimes, you know that, Gwen?" She scrunches her nose at me from the passenger seat.

I mean, it's just that...Lizzy's already asked everyone for their opinion on what she should do, literally – she had lunch with her aunt's family, who are in town to scope out UW for Lizzy's cousin, and it sounds like her cousin voted for Lizzy staying friends with Jerry to give him time for now... Absurd! Of course she shouldn't do that because then he'll start dating someone else and Lizzy will be crushed.

"Okay, sweetheart, I'm going to be completely honest with you now so just hear me out," I turn my face towards her after stopping the car at a red light, "you do not have the willpower to stay away from him. You can't even stop talking about him so how are you gonna be 'just friends' with him??"

"This is really a non-issue, Lizzy," Eva says from the back seat. "You have an okay looking guy—Hey!" Eva laughs when Lizzy tries to whip her with her silk scarf... "Okay, okay... You have a good looking guy who's into you... And he's already shown you that he's a honest man. What more advice do you need??"

"I think Jerry's a good guy...I don't know if I should, considering what kind of people he's friends with, but I do. And he obviously likes you. Do something about it, Lizzy ," I tell her as I parallel park and kill the engine. "There is no way to know what's gonna happen, you just have to live it and see, sweetheart."

"That's what I said! You know Gwen's right, Lizzy," Eva backs me.

We get out of the car and I add enough coins into the parking meter for just over half an hour. It's windy today so the three of us clutch our jackets close to ourselves as we make the short walk from the parking spot to the café.

"Hello!" Eva walks into Raison d'Etre first and heads for the staff room.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Jeff smiles at us from behind the espresso machine.