Juniper

I was really enjoying myself, I guess a little too much because my worst nightmare started. My phone started ringing; I looked at my phone and it was my mother. I immediately declined the call. I went back to joining in the conversation and she called again. I saw Min Jun look over to my phone as I rejected it again.

“Is everything okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, everything is good.” I lied. I didn’t know the reason she was calling. I didn’t want to ignore the call, as it could be important, but the last time we spoke to each other, she was bringing up wanting me to speak to Caleb.

“Is that your mother calling? Are you ignoring your mother?” He asked. I saw Chanel look my way.

“Yeah, I really don’t want to talk to her right now.” My phone rang again.

“She’s been calling me Juniper. I haven’t answered the phone either. And you know your mother knows I know where you are.” Chanel said. Shit, I thought, this just can’t be happening right now. My phone buzzed again; she was calling again. She wasn’t going to stop unless I answered the phone.

“Go take the call, she might need to tell you something.” Min Jun said as he slid out the way to let me out from behind the table.

“I’ll just be a minute. Can you order for me please?” I asked as I grabbed my coat and headed towards the door. He nodded and I left the restaurant. I answered the phone once I was out of earshot of everyone.

“Hello Mother.” I answered.

“Juniper! You finally answered.”

“Yes, Mother. Is everything okay?”

“Oh Juniper. Where are you?”

“What is going on Mom?”

“Caleb is upset. He’s trying to find you.” Here we go, I thought. I knew I shouldn’t have answered this call.

“Mom, we are not about to start this again. I don’t care if…”

“Juniper, he saw the video. Did you know you were on the internet?” She interrupted me. My heart stopped. How in the Fuck did she know about the video? How in the fuck did he know about the video?

“What?” I asked.

“He saw the video of you dancing with some guy and kissing him and Caleb is pissed off. He’s looking for you Juniper.” She said.

“I don’t care. Why would he care? Why would YOU care?” I said, raising my voice. I couldn’t believe this. This video has gone viral and now Caleb is trying to find out where I am.

“Juniper, he wants to talk to you.” She said. I don’t even understand why she was telling me this.

“Mom, I don’t care!” I yelled. I heard the door close and looked back. Min Jun was standing outside the restaurant door. He was looking concerned. I turned around and put my hand over my eyes. I didn’t want him to witness this conversation. I didn’t want to disrespect my parents in front of him, given the fact that in his culture, that is not done. However, in my culture, I was grown and I could speak my mind, and sometimes I would raise my voice just so she would understand because she is utterly clueless.

“Juniper, are you okay?” He asked, walking over. I turned around and he saw that I was upset. My mother was talking and I hadn’t heard a word.

“Not really.” I said.

“Who is that? Who are you talking to?” My mother asks as she hears Min Jun talking to me.

“Talk in the car.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to his car. He opened the passenger door and I got in the seat. He stood outside looking at me through the window.

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“Don’t worry about it, Mother. Why are you calling me?” I asked. I saw Min Jun walk to the drivers’ side and get in. He turned on the car and the heat. I didn’t want him to hear this conversation but I had no choice. I put her on speaker phone and just held my head in my hands.

“Juniper, just talk to him. He wants to say he’s sorry, baby.” I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing.

“Mom, why are you telling me this? He cheated on me, Mom, with Nevaeh. How could you ask me to speak to him?”

“He said it was an accident. He’s looking for you to tell you in person. He knows you are in South Korea.”

“I don’t care Mom. It’s over between us. Why are you siding with him?”

“Juniper Ashley Brown! He is a good man. He made one mistake, you can work it out.”

“Are you fucking serious Mom? Are you even my mother? I can’t believe you are asking me to speak to a man who I physically saw fucking my step sister in the bathroom of our house!” I screamed.

“Baby, I just want what’s best for you. Men make mistakes.” She replied.

“That wasn’t a mistake Mom. He didn’t respect me at all. This was not the first time with Nevaeh. I ignored it and that was my mistake. I’m not going back and I’m not speaking to him.”

“Well, he saw the video of you and that guy. He saw you kissing him. He got so pissed, he said he was coming to bring you home.” She said. I looked at Min Jun and he looked concerned. I was totally shaken. I didn’t want to deal with this and I definitely didn’t want Min Jun in between this shit.

“Well I’ll make sure he’ll never find me.” I answered, looking at Min Jun. Tears started falling from my eyes. I was just so tired of this shit from her. I’m supposed to smile and turn my head as if things never happened.

“Who is this guy Juniper? Who were you kissing?” She asked. I wiped my eyes and sniffed. I looked at Min Jun and he looked so concerned with what I was going through.

“He’s my boyfriend, Mom. I was kissing my boyfriend.” I stated. Min Jun smiled which made me smile.

“You’re boyfriend? He’s Korean!” She responded.

“Yes Mom, yes He is. And he is a better man than Caleb ever was or could ever be.”

“Juniper! Caleb is a good man!”

“No he isn’t Mom and I can’t believe you are siding with him! I don’t even know who you are anymore, because you are not my mother! A real mother would NEVER tell her daughter to get back with someone who has done her wrong on so many levels.” I said

“I just think you could work it out.” She responded.

“Don’t think Mom, It’s not in your best interest to do so.” I said and disconnected the call. I was so embarrassed and distraught, I cried. I was so tired of trying to understand why she thought that was the best I could do in a man. She was actually telling me to get back with this person who ‘made a mistake’. What bullshit!

Min Jun consoled me and hugged me and kissed my forehead. I did not want him to witness that conversation, but maybe it was a good thing that he did. Now he could understand exactly how fucked up I was and why he saw me like he did when he first met me. I sat back in the seat and just stared out the window.

“I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.” I finally said looking down at my phone. She was calling back. I declined the call. This time I blocked her ass.

“I’m not.” Min Jun said as he reached for my hand. He laced his fingers with mine and he kissed the back of my hand. “I will be by your side, always. We will get through this together.” He stated. He was going to make me fall in love with him. No one has ever said anything remotely close to what he has told me.

“Thank you, but I didn’t want you to hear me speaking that way to my mother. I didn’t want you to have to hear how fucked up my family is.” I responded.

“It’s okay. Your mother just wants you to be happy. She just thinks that you couldn’t do better than that asshole. But she’s never met me.” He stated. He looked proud to be with me. “Let’s go back in, our food should be ready.” He said.

We got out of the car and I bundled up in my coat. I wiped tears from my face as I didn’t want to let the others know that I had been crying. We stopped in front of the restaurant and Min Jun stood in front of me. He wiped my tears away and caressed my face. He looked at me so lovingly, I could just melt. He didn’t have to say a word as his entire face told me everything. He was happy and he wanted to see me happy too. He gazed in my eyes and smiled. I smiled back. He made me happy for sure. He held my face in his hands and leaned down and his lips touched mine. They were soft and warm; his kiss released the chill from my body. He kissed me deeply as my tongue danced with his. The entire world was no longer busy as we stood kissing outside in the cold. He made everything go away. It was as if I didn’t even have a conversation with my mother.

“Shit y’all, the food is here.” Chanel said, screaming from the door. I don’t think we would have stopped if it weren’t for her. We parted with small kisses and giggled as we heard Chanel fussing as she was going back into the restaurant. We hurried back in to join the group and eat our food. I was famished after that conversation. Min Jun held my hand as we walked back to our table. Everyone had their eyes on us as we were walking in. As we sat down, it looked as if we had some explaining to do.