Chapter 43

GAINESVILLE, Jessica sat across from Frankie at his favorite Reggae restaurant.

It was her first time being here, and he was over eager to share the experience.

She was still devastated by his gayness, but she was surviving. The first hurdle crossed was admitting to him that she was disappointed.

For the first few days, things had been uncomfortable. Denial did nothing for their friendship. Then she cried in front of him and told him why.

She had worried a little bit that he'd be mad or not understand. But that didn’t happen.

He said. "How can I not understand? I've crushed on guys who aren't gay.”

"Did you tell them?" Jessica had asked.

"Well, one. He was one of my close friends. The other was Simon Helberg, so it wasn't like I'd get the opportunity."

"Why?" Jessica had asked.

He laughed. "Do you know who that is?"

"No?"

"He's an actor. From The Big Bang Theory."

"The autistic one?" She had watched the show a few times.

"No, the Jewish one with interesting belt buckles."

"Really? That one?"

He laughed. "I thought– Well, I still think he's kind of hot. But my chances with him are slim." 

"Probably,"

They had both laughed.

"So how did your friend react?"

"He was totally cool with it. Well, he knew I was gay way before that but didn't know I was attracted to him. When I finally told him, he said he was relieved. He was actually kind of hurt that I didn't like him in that way." 

"Oh." 

"And just the same, if you weren't attracted to me. I'd be totally offended." 

That was all about a week and a half ago. Since then, Jessica's familiarity with The Big Bang Theory had been advanced. Thanks to Frankie, it was becoming one of her new favorite shows.  

"What should I order?" she asked

"Anything your beautiful Aussie heart desires."

"What are you getting?" she asked.

"I'm trying to decide between the Jerk chicken sandwich and the goat. I like eating exotic animals." 

"Goats aren't exactly exotic," she said.

"True," he said. "But eating them is. Sort of."

She didn’t argue with that. She looked back at the menu. Everything was a lot more costly than the Ramen Noodles she had been eating earlier this summer. She had been splurging a bit too much lately. She should look for something on the menu that was light in price.

She decided to go for the chicken wings, the ones with the tropical sauce. Just four wings. Which was not really enough for her. She hoped Frankie wouldn’t pig out on his own meal and would have some leftovers to share.

He usually did.

***

When the waitress came to take their order, she asked Jessica if she'd like some breadsticks with the order.

Jessica had a hard time saying no.

But then Frankie ordered some hush puppy things to go along with his goat. He promised her one.

She accepted the offer.

***

While waiting for the food, they talked about their ghosts. Frankie talked about how his mother was seeing someone on the other side and that it was hurting his dad quite a lot.

 "The thing is. My mom and this other guy. They've been married before in other lives. They're kind of soul mates. I think my dad feels now that the thing he had with my mom was just a fling."

"That's rough," she said. 

He sighed.

She talked about Jesse. She was hearing from him much less these days. "I used to talk to him almost every day. Now it's like every three days. Or less than that. And he usually wants to talk about Taylor." 

"How's she doing?" Frankie asked. 

"Better," Jessica said. "I think. She kind of goes back and forth. Normal. Then she'll go back on a crazy strict diet. Jesse had to talk her out of drinking this laxative tea. He spends a lot of time with her."

Their food arrived.  Jessica's four chicken wings looked minuscule next to Frankie's huge meal, which included not only goat but also rice, cabbage, and plantains. Frankie offered to trade some of his food for one of her wings. She agreed and got much more out of the bargain than he did.

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