Chapter 3 : Jess Wants Florence To Have A Boyfriend
"This is the weirdest part of you." Jess sat on a kitchen chair, looking at Florence, who was busy making drinks.
Florence didn't want to listen to Jess, but of course that was impossible. She moved to get two glasses from the shelf without looking at her sister.
"Your job is always about other people's love stories. You help them figure things out when they don't know what to do with their love problems. They come to you, and you easily help solve their problems quickly. It always works. It's easy for you."
Florence's hand gesture made the drinks speed up. She knew what Jess was currently wanting to say to her. She knew what she meant, but Florence just kept quiet. She didn't want to say anything back.
"But look at yourself, Flo. You were so busy solving their romance problems that you forgot that you were still alone. You were so quick to help and rescue them when they were trapped in the ocean that you didn't even have time to save yourself when you were about to drown."
Florence pressed her lips together and gripped the surface of the glass firmly. Her jaw clenched. It would be a lie if she said she didn't hear Jess's sarcastic remark. Florence heard it very clearly. She then turned around, stomping off to open the fridge in search of ice cubes.
"Flo, I'm talking to you. Can you stop pacing and look at me?" The intonation of Jess's voice rose.
"I'm making a drink." For the first time in a while, Florence answered. Her voice was soft.
Jess exhaled harshly. She didn't say anything else until Florence finished making the drinks. Now, Florence approached and sat in front of Jess. Florence pushed the glass filled with mango juice toward her sister.
"Thank you." Jess drank a little before continuing. "Flo, I'm serious, you need to start looking for a boyfriend. You need a man. You can't be alone forever. You need to date and have fun.
"I'm not alone, I still have you, and yeah, I have fun too."
"You're not stupid enough to know what I mean," Jess snapped quickly. She looked at Florence with a much more serious look on her face. "This is serious, Flo. Don't take my words lightly."
After staring at her glass for a while, Florence finally looked up. She looked at Jess as she said, "I still want to be alone, okay? It's not something sad. I can do anything by myself. I can do it."
"It's not that you don't need a man in your life. You need a boyfriend. You need someone who will listen to everything that comes out of your mouth. You need to be listened to. You need someone who will listen to all your complaints and problems. You need that. I know that if I were here, I wouldn't walk away from you, but you know that even though we say we'll always be together, that's not the case. I live with Ron. I have a family, and now I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a baby. My time will be allotted to them. Take this seriously, this is all for you. I'm saying this for your own good. Find someone who understands you. You can."
Florence nodded. "I know."
A pause. Jess thought Florence would reply with a longer sentence, but apparently not.
Jess was quite disappointed. "That's all you had to say after I explained myself?"
"I don't know what to say, Jess. I just want to be alone for now. I know that this sounds very ironic and very strange. Considering my job, I should have someone by now. But yeah, it's not like that. I'm still single."
"You should find a lover as soon as possible."
"I'll think about it."
"In case you need help, I can help you. I have male acquaintances who are single. If not, I can ask Ron for help, he must have more contacts than me. What do you think?"
What a terrible idea. That's what Florence's head immediately thought of the idea her sister had just mentioned.
Florence immediately disagreed until she shook her head quickly. She grimaced. "No, I don't agree, but thank you for your offer."
"Come on, Flo. You should have a boyfriend. Or at least you're close to someone. This is weird. Your love life is so minimal. You work so hard that you forget about yourself. This is the downside of working too hard."
"I don't want to discuss this anymore. Just forget about this topic. There will be a time when it will happen. For now, I just want to be alone. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"You're used to being alone, but you can't stay like this forever. You'll be lonely. And that's not good. I hope you'll find the right partner for you soon, who will make you happy."
Florence just nodded, she didn't give any answer, more because she was at a loss for what to say. She picked up the glass and drank with a few gulps.
"Come to think of it, it was really quite ridiculous when I suggested finding you a match. This is your job. You know more about these kinds of things than I do. Not to mention all your clients are satisfied with all the effort you put in for them."
"Yeah, I understand. And please, stop talking about this. I know that I can't be alone forever, but for now, I really want to be alone."
"Don't stay single for too long or be too picky about your partner, lest it make men uninterested in you."
"Okay." Florence nodded briefly. She knew that what Jess said was all true. She didn't deny that. Jess said and explained at length also because she loved her.
Then later, Jess's cell phone rang, making her immediately take it out of her bag to check.
"Did someone call you?" asked Florence, to which Jess replied with a quick nod of her head.
"Right, it's from Ron." Jess looked back at her. "It's unusual for him to call me in the afternoon like this."
"You should pick it up, in case it's important."
"Yeah, that's what I'm going to do." Jess quickly pressed the green button. The call was connected. She brought the phone to her ear.
"What's up, Ron?"
"Where are you right now? I'm home, but you're not."
"Wait, you're home right now?" Jess blinked. She gasped slightly in shock as she stared at Florence in front of her.
"Yes, I'm home."
"You didn't work overtime?"
"Not today, why? You want me to work overtime every day so that we can't enjoy our time together?"
Jess chuckled. "Of course not, honey. I'm actually very happy. I'm currently at Florence's house."
"When are you coming home?"
"You want me to go home now?"
"Yes, I miss you already."
Jess's lips lifted. She smiled widely. It was always like this, Ron would make her feelings become flowery every time, and her heart would beat fast. Despite being together for so long, Ron never failed to make Jess love him more every day.
"Alright, I'm going home right now. You'd better take a shower first. I don't want to hug you if you have body odor, you just got off work."
Florence giggled at her sister's remark.
"Gosh, If you were here, you'd be finished."
Jess' laughter erupted for quite a while at her husband's words. "Okay, I'm turning off the phone first. I'm launching right now. And I'm serious, you need a shower."
Jess turned off her cell phone. That's when Florence spoke up. "You want to go home now?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so. It's okay if I go, right?"
"Why do you ask? Go home, your husband is waiting for you at home. He needs you."
"I thought Ron would be working late again."
"That's good for both of you. You were complaining earlier that your time alone with Ron was limited. Now your wish has come true."
"Okay." Jess stood up and went around the table. She gave Florence a quick hug. "I wish I could be here longer, but I don't think I can."
"We can meet and chat longer next time. By the way, did you get here by taxi?"
"I did."
"Then would you like me to take you home?"
"No need, I can order another taxi."
However, no taxi was available, so Jess finally accepted the offer to use Florence's car. She actually felt bad, but Florence insisted until Jess finally agreed.
As Jess left in her car, Florence waved as Jess honked the horn. Florence then went back inside her house.
Until a few hours later, at night, when it was already eight o'clock, Florence was surprised by a knock on her door.
Florence rushed to open the door and was confronted by a stranger. Someone she didn't recognize at all.