“Sydney’s headed back to Texas?” Jarin asked quietly.
Jennie looked Jarin over, still concerned why he looked like he had been hit by a bus. It was Jarin...hard to say what actually happened. A fall off a horse, tripped into traffic, sneezed? She crossed her hands on the table, not surprised Jarin would ask about Sydney but did feel a very cautious hesitation to answer. She smiled softly, “Yep! He called in late last night to let me know. He says he thinks he’ll be back in a week or two. Did you need to get a hold of him?”
Jarin shook his head, “N-no, I just wanted to tell you…because Tristan said you would want to know… uhm, Sydney and I got into a fight.” His voice about faded into nothing. This was embarrassing.
Jennie about jumped out of her desk, “Oh no! Is that what all of this is about,” she gestured to Jarin’s face. “Jarin, what happened? What do you mean a fight?” Her worst nightmares were coming true! Violence between her staff and clients was not to be taken lightly!
Jarin hid his face a bit more, “Well, I did some things he didn’t like and well, I guess we just uh…” Jarin couldn’t bring himself to say the details. No way. He was ashamed of his behavior.
Jennie leaned forward, her concern only increasing exponentially, “Jarin, who started this fight?”
“Well," he shied away further, "I guess I did. And I-I did fight back too.” Not that he walked away with a heavy-weight grand champion’s belt. But there was no doubt there was resistance from both ends.
Jennie sat back, “Really?” So there was a little fighter in Jarin’s blood after all? She did recall hearing about a scuffle he had a while back but she thought she had surely heard wrong. Maybe there was more than meets the eyes with the powderpuff. “Well…I mean…good on you(?) but uhm, Jarin, I’m not sure how we go on from here. Is that why Sydney is headed to Texas?”
Jarin cast his eyes to his lap. All he could think about was that ring. He might have had more bruises on his body than Sydney but Jarin felt like he had done the most damage to Sydney.
“Does everything I’ve done for you mean nothing, Jarin?”
Jarin’s eyes watered, Sydney’s words jabbing at his heart. He nodded to answer Jennie’s question. Why would Sydney want to be around him after what he had done?
Jennie sat back in her chair to soak it all in. She wasn’t a councilor of any sort. But she knew something had to be done and it had to happen before Sydney got back and they went at it again. She spoke softly, “Jarin, if you two can’t come to some sort of agreement, RidgeRunner will have to intervene. Please tell me this occurred off stable grounds.”
Jarin gripped the seat of the chair and nodded. He had to come to an agreement with Sydney? What kind of agreement? Were they supposed to get along again? How?
Jennie nodded, “Okay…Jarin, I think for now, since this occurred off the grounds, the appropriate plan of action is to handle this as individuals. I can’t have this affecting the stable. I don’t know what you guys got into a fight over but if you want to keep riding here, I can’t have you two fighting here, okay?” She wasn’t trying to sound harsh but if Jarin was the aggressor, it had to be addressed. And she already knew Sydney was a hot-head. These were the makings for a storm and she needed to prep now.
“I understand,” Jarin nodded. “I-I’ll sort it out with Sydney…” Jarin stood to leave. No running. Tristan said not to run away anymore.
“Only a guilty man tries to fuckin’ run, Jarin.”
Jarin was trying to figure out how he was even supposed to be able to get along with Sydney. What they fought over couldn’t be fixed with a simple apology. The things they had done to each other. It hurt deeper than the cracked nails and bruises. But Tristan…
Jarin grit his teeth and wiped his eyes as the tears sprang loose. This was all a mess! If it wasn’t about Sydney, it was about Tristan!
“You fly your fuckin’ innocent card like you give a fuck about anyone’s feelings! Clearly, you don’t give a fuck! You just care about your own goddamn needs!”
“Who knew ya had it in ya, JarJar?”
Jarin fumbled with the tack he had been sorting, jumping at the sudden intrusion from the last voice he wanted to hear anywhere near his ears. Justin. He scowled and glanced over to him. Why was he here?
Justin looked Jarin over, giving a low whistle. He had gotten the briefing from Tristan that Jarin and Sydney had an exchange of fists and he knew from experience how destructive the big oaf could be once he was pissed off. He never would have thought the flower boy would have set the guy off. “I’ve seen bull riders in better shape than this after gettin’ their asses stomped on. Shoot, if you whooped Syd like you did at the reinin’ show, I’d sure as hell like ta see how Syd faired from this! ‘Specially if it scared him all the way back to the motherland! I hear he’s hightailin’ it back to Texas, huh? Good on ya, lil’ Jar! The Princess takes the Queen down. How romantic!” Justin grinned. He had stopped by on his way through back down to Texas but thought he’d stop and see his good buddy to catch up on some bro to bro talk. Seemed he just missed him.
Jarin boiled over at being called ‘Princess’. He had no right to call him that and it was the last thing he wanted to be reminded of by someone like Justin. He swiveled and landed a knee behind Justin’s, buckling his legs. He kicked a leg to take Justin’s legs out from under him but wasn’t quite fit enough to move out of the way as Justin grabbed for him. They both crashed to the ground in a heap, Justin on the bottom and Jarin slung across him. Jarin took a swipe at Justin, “I am not his Princess!”
Justin blocked his face, laughing, “Okay okay! You can be whatever ya want! Ya feisty shit!”
“Jarin!”
Jarin’s heart jumped and froze. He looked across the lounge area and saw Jennie stood outside her office looking stern. She crossed her arms, looking very disappointed. She started on her way over. Jarin scrambled off Justin and to his feet. His body ached from being so careless but he straightened right up. Jennie had that disappointed mom face. She stepped right in the middle of Justin and Jarin, addressing Jarin first in a low tone to keep it private, “Jarin, we’re going to have to have a talk about this. This is very inappropriate behavior for the stable.”
Jarin hung his head. No. He wasn’t like this. This wasn’t who he was. He didn’t want to hurt people. He wasn’t like Sydney… or was he?
“Quit trying to get out of what you fuckin’ started! This is your problem, Jarin! You never accept the fuckin’ consequences. You just expect everyone to fuckin’ baby you. Grow up.”
“Jarin…” Jennie started out, taking the time to sigh. What was she supposed to do with this kid?
“I’m sorry,” Jarin immediately interjected. He knew he was in deep trouble now.
Jennie backed off her tone a bit. She didn’t want to scare him or seem like she was trying to be mean. “Jarin, I feel like there’s been something going on in your life and it’s affecting how you handle yourself at this stable. We just talked about your behavior earlier and I come out of my office to see you fighting with a guest. It’s okay if you don’t get along with someone, but it’s how you conduct yourself around them that matters, Jarin. You see what I’m saying?”
Jarin nodded. He didn’t mean to be so mean to Justin but he didn’t get to call him that name. Princess. It wasn’t his to have. Not anymore. Justin didn’t have any consideration. He knew they had been in a fight. Why did he have to be so cruel?
Jennie drummed her fingers on her desk, thinking about her next move. She really didn’t want to tell Jarin he needed to go elsewhere. Up until today, he was generally a nice guy. He took good care of his horses. Granted, he was a bit haphazard which got other riders in trouble sometimes…maybe it was best to let him go… She tiptoed towards the subject. She did not want to burn any bridges or hurt any feelings, “It’s important to me that you’re happy in your training program, and I feel there may be a better place for you where you can be more comfortable. I don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped in a hostile environment. I know a couple of closeby barns with reasonable pricing that I could get in touch with for you. We could probably set up a sort of trial period for you to make sure it’s a better fit for you and your horses if you’d like.”
Jarin looked up with concern written across his face, “You want me to go somewhere else?”
Jennie held firm, “I think it would be best for your happiness.”
Jarin felt the squeeze on his heart, “But, I pay and I take care of my horses just like everyone else.”
Jennie nodded, “Oh no, you’re a fine boarder, but I think the tension between you and our resident trainer has caused some ill feelings in you and I don’t want to see you unhappy-“
“No! I can be happy!” Jarin resisted! He didn’t want to leave! Tristan just got there! Why would he want to leave!? All of his horses liked this place! They were well taken care of and Jarin always paid on time! Why did he have to go!? He couldn’t go now! He still had so much to make up for!
Jennie sighed softly, “Jarin…”
“Please! I’ll do whatever I need to! I really like it here, I swear! I don’t want to go to another barn!” Jarin pleaded.
Jennie drummed her fingers again, thinking about how to handle this as a professional. She should really give him a chance since he was offering to make the change. She nodded, “Okay, but you’re going to have to handle yourself in a professional manner and that means at least pretending to get along with someone even if you don’t necessarily like them. That goes for Sydney and that goes for Justin too. We like a civil atmosphere here and we just want to make sure you’re going to continue to be happy here. Otherwise, we can help find you a barn where you would be happier, okay?”
Jarin nodded, almost pleading, “I promise!”
Jennie smiled, “Okay. And Jarin, seriously, if there’s something going on that you need to address that’s causing all of this, you can tell me. We’re all like a big family here.” Jennie didn’t get to where she was in the business by having poor people skills. She had a very bad feeling there was more going on behind the scenes than either of the boys were letting on.
Jarin smiled nervously back at her. Like a family? Well, he certainly wasn’t telling his moms anything about Sydney so he’d keep his mouth shut to Jennie too. He mentally apologized to Tristan. He just couldn’t do it. Not yet.
“You’re so fuckin’ selfish.”
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