Short Fiction: "Every Now and Then"

Brandon thought he had it all figured out. But every now and then, it wouldn’t hurt to shake things up right? It was the beginning of November - so much time had passed since that chance encounter with Holly (his ex) at Super Deal. Feeling as though he would be much better off not following through on calling Holly, who was his roommate and best friend Jake’s current girlfriend; did he think Jake wouldn’t notice, or Ginny (Brandon’s girlfriend) for that matter? 

Life likes to play its little jokes. As Brandon and Ginny’s relationship rolled on over the intervening months, getting stronger, Jake and Holly’s crumbled; even though they were still together, they weren’t happy about it. Brandon couldn’t shake the feeling he had something to do with it, even if inadvertently. Weekends were slow times for everybody – during the week these days they were all so busy they could barely find time to hang out. 

On this particular weekend, the four of them were gathered in Brandon and Jake’s apartment, playing poker instead of video games, for a change. 

“Look, can we take a break?” Holly asked, looking up from her hand. Brandon glanced at his own hand. 

“Yeah, but why? We’re in the middle of a great game!” 

Ginny agreed with Holly. 

“C’mon Brandon, let’s get something to eat.” 

Jake was looking forward to a break too, apparently. “Yeah man, that sounds like a good idea.” 

“Fine, I guess we’ll just get back to this later.” Brandon set down his cards in frustration. His pile of chips was the smallest, while Ginny’s was the biggest. He had never been good at poker; now, if they were playing mahjong, that might be a different story.  

“Brandon, can I talk to you outside real quick?” Holly looked like she had something serious on her mind. Brandon thought about it for a second, and then replied, “Sure.” He turned to Jake and Ginny. “Why don’t you two order us some pizza or something?” 

“From where, Pizza Hut or Papa John’s, dude?” Jake asked, walking towards the phone in the kitchen. 

“I don’t care, pick one,” Brandon answered, as Holly went outside. Ginny looked between Brandon and the door. “Um, I don’t know about you guys, but I want some Chinese,” she chipped in. Jake poked his head back into the room from the kitchen. “Hey yeah, I’d be cool with that.” Brandon knew Ginny meant more than just lunch when she mentioned it. The look she gave him told Brandon she knew something odd was going on between him and Holly; best to play it safe, then. 

“OK… so yeah, pizza or Chinese, doesn’t matter. Whichever works, I’ll be right back.” Brandon hurriedly followed Holly. Pissing Ginny off was never a pretty sight. She was a generally friendly and sweet-tempered girl - if you provoked her, let’s just say it wouldn’t end well. Frowning, Ginny got up and went into the kitchen with Jake. 

“Jake, do you think there’s something going on between Brandon and Holly?” Jake had just been looking up carryout menus to figure out where to call for delivery. “Huh? I don’t know Gin, they’re exes. You can’t really blame them.” 

“Yeah, but, you’re with Holly now and I’m with Brandon…wouldn’t that bother you?” It didn’t seem Jake was listening to her. “Look, what do you really want for lunch, pizza or Chinese?” 

Ginny shook her head noncommittally. “You pick one, I don’t care. I’m going to the bathroom.” Jake sighed with exasperation. “C’mon, Ginny! Why do I always have to do this? Nice to know I have friends who every now and then would order takeout or something. Even when we go drinking, I always have to pick up the tab.” He decided just to call both pizza and Chinese and let the others figure out what they wanted to eat. 

“Dammit! Nobody said exactly what they wanted, either!” 

*

Brandon looked around the hallway, but it appeared that Holly had already walked to the nearby patio. Sure enough, that’s where he found her. She was staring off into the distance, lighting up a cigarette. 

“Wait, since when did you start smoking?” Holly looked up, smiling innocently. “Oh, only sometimes, you know.” Brandon face palmed. “That didn’t answer my question, Hol.” Holly’s smile flickered for an instant. “I know.” She took the cig from her mouth and exhaled, letting the small plume of smoke billow out around her before evaporating. 

“Do you still think about, you know, us?” 

“Of course I do; we hang out a lot, don’t we?” 

“That’s not what I meant,” Holly said exasperatedly. “You know what do I mean, right?” Brandon scratched his head. “Well yeah, sometimes, we’re still friends, aren’t we? Holly, what’s going on? You’ve been with Jake for ages. And I don’t want to screw up my relationship with Ginny.”

“I know,” Holly replied shortly, a touch of sullenness in her voice. “But still, would you ever consider getting back together?” 

“Maybe, but I doubt that would ever happen,” When Holly looked back at him, Brandon could tell there were tears in her eyes. “Ah c’mon Hol, I didn’t mean it like that.” Holly rolled her eyes at him. “Brandon, you never mean it like that. You take Ginny for granted, don’t you?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Brandon responded. Holly’s cryptic questions and statements were really starting to get on his nerves.  “I take her for granted? What do you mean?” 

“I mean, do you really appreciate her? Do you love her?” 

Brandon was beyond confused. “Where are you going with this?” Holly turned around and looked him square in the eye. “I really want to know, Brandon. You wouldn’t have actually called me when I wrote my number on your arm.” 

“We’re still talking about this? It was in fucking January, Holly! It's November now! Have I been on your mind this whole time? Is that why you and Jake are cooling off?” Holly didn’t answer; at least, not with words, anyway. She suddenly strode forward and kissed Brandon forcefully.

“What do you think?” 

“What the fuck?” an angry voice rang out. Brandon and Holly turned around to see Ginny glaring daggers at them. “How…Ginny, wait!” Brandon exclaimed. Ginny did something very unlike her and flipped them both off before storming back inside. Brandon felt a mixture of resentment and frustration rise up inside him. “Thanks a lot for nothing, Holly,” he said coldly, before heading back inside. Holly, for her part, was now unsure if she had done what she just did on purpose, because she had noticed Ginny standing behind them, or because it just felt like the right moment to do so. Either way, she was regretting it now.

Brandon went back inside to find Ginny on the couch, crying onto Jake’s shoulder.  Brandon would have thought she would have a much more vehement reaction, say, attacking him with a knife or something. Jake didn’t look too happy either, either because, from Ginny’s point of view, Brandon had kissed his girlfriend, or that he had done anything to make Ginny cry in the first place. 

“Look, Ginny, that wasn’t my fault,” Brandon began, but apparently Ginny didn’t want to hear it. She just turned away from him. Jake an arm around her before saying, “Brandon, maybe you should just get out of here, man.” 

“Hey, I don’t want this turning into a melodrama. This isn’t fucking Degrassi. I don’t have feelings or anything for Holly, it’s all on her.” Despite what Brandon thought, this didn’t exactly calm anybody down.  Jake considered his next words before speaking.

“What are you saying, Brandon? You were the one calling her, weren’t you?” 

“Well, yeah, but, wait, how do you know about?” 

“I didn’t think much of it, we’re all friends. But this, this is crossing a line, man.” 

“Like you didn’t break the bro code first,” Brandon shot back. “She was my ex, dude!” Ginny held up a hand to forestall any further argument. Brandon scoffed before she could say anything. “Why do I have to prove it wasn’t my fault? She made the first move.” 

“I saw what I saw,” Ginny whispered. “Brandon, did you really think about getting back together with her?” 

“Every now and then, yeah, but never seriously; I don’t know what she’s thinking , I’m just as thrown off as you two are.”

“Did you kiss her back?” Ginny’s voice was quieter than Brandon had ever heard it go. That couldn’t be a good sign. 

“I didn’t want to say this, but maybe we should stop talking to her for awhile, let her cool off,” Brandon said. Jake’s eyes glinted as Brandon continued. “Let’s not too big a deal of this…maybe some time apart will help.”

“I hate to use clichés, but absence does make the heart grow fonder,” Ginny pointed out, and Jake nodded. “She’s right, dude.”

Brandon ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Yeah well, what else can we do? I don’t want to feel like a bigger asshole about this than I already do. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.” 

“Seems to me like you already did,” Jake said. By now, the food had arrived. Jake got up to pay the delivery guys who had both shown up at the same time. “You know, maybe occasionally you guys could help out with this? I’m not an ATM machine.”