champagne coast, tim bradford

010. isabel ii

chapter ten
010. isabel ii

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    WHEN THE ROOKIES had a day off, they took the opportunity to use it. Whether it be going to the guest house of John's friend's mansion and binge-watching old TV shows, going out late at night and doing shots before karaoke or trivia, or simply trying out a new recipe▬and failing to cook it because John and Ines were both control freaks in the kitchen, so, in the end, they simply ordered take out to the beach and ate while watching the waves. This weekend, it was Ines's turn to host their board game night. It was great since Nate was never around at the house▬or at least, never when Ines was home▬to bother them. He was at whatever friend's house he had mentioned it to her. Ines didn't care. She didn't care what friend this was, nor did she care that he was ignoring her and avoiding her. She was determined not to let him punish her over this and come crawling back to him with an apology like she always did. Lucy and Jackson had gone so far as to set rules. Ines wasn't allowed to text Nate unless he texted her first. She wasn't allowed to call him, or pick up the phone unless he called her twice in a row, or texted her afterwards. She wasn't allowed to go to his work to ask what his problem was and she wasn't allowed to stalk his Facebook and Instagram to try and find out who this friend was. 

    Because she didn't care. 

    (She did care▬but she was going to act like she didn't).

    "Like, who is this friend he's spending so much time with?" Ines was saying over her bowl of ice cream. John had just won their game of Scrabble, and so Ines and Jackson were supporting their wounded pride with three different flavours of ice cream. "Why would he say that I've never met them? Why haven't I met them? And it's not like I care who he spends his time with because we're not even dating anymore, but why would he say it like that? Like 'friend'..." she put on her best impression of his voice. 

    "I feel like this is a violation of the 'No Nate Talk' pact we made yesterday," Lucy pointed out, gesturing her spoon at her over the coffee table. 

    "Yes, I know, but▬" Ines huffed and set her bowl down on the coaster. "Can we break it just for a second and talk about this? Like what if he's seeing someone?"

    "So what if he is?" Jackson mumbled, his mouth full. 

    Ines gave him a dubious stare. "Because it hasn't been that long. Like▬how long has he been seeing them if he's comfortable staying at their place? We were together for ten years."

    "And you've been broken up for seven months," reminded Jackson. "Not that I'm defending him," he added at the look on Lucy's face.

    "It's just..." she sighed. "He always acts so weirdly when I talk to someone new▬and even if it never lasts long, he'd make a big deal out of it. Not that I've spoken to many people since we broke up, it's just ... you know ..." Ines placed her hands down on the table. "I just feel it would be hypocritical of him."

    "But if you think that way," John mixed in the flavours of his ice cream, "then you'd be giving him the reaction he might want."

    Jackson snapped his fingers at him. Ines hesitated, considering John's words. "So ... the petty thing to do would be to not care..."

    "Well, not petty," the eldest Rookie corrected the youngest Rookie's take on his words very quickly. "Being petty is never the answer ... I was more saying that you can't let Nate think he still has an emotional hold over you, you can't let yourself think that."