Yeah, but he's cute

Staci walked through the mall past all the stores toward the Food Court. It wasn't too crowded except for various mothers with their strollers and numerous teenagers enjoying their summer break by populating the mall. Upon arrival at the Food Court she spotted a vacant table and sat down, pulling out her phone from her purse and typing in a quick message. Seconds later, her phone buzzed and the incoming message read, "I'm on my way." She looked around at the restaurants not sure if she wanted to eat here or somewhere later. Seconds later a familiar voice called to her.          
         "Hey Stac, what's up?"
         "Oh, hey Monica. How you doing?"
         "I'm good, just starting my lunch break. Did you want to grab something to eat here with me?"
         "I was just trying to decide that. I guess I will."
         "Alright. By the way, what did you want to talk about?"
         "Well I have something to decide dealing with guys. And I wanted to ask you about it."
         "Oh really? What guys are you going to play around with now?"
         "Well there are two guys and I'm having a hard time deciding between them."
         "Oh wait, is Justin one of them? Don't tell me he is."
         Staci felt a little ashamed and blurted out, "well what if he is?"
         "Staci, why do you do this to yourself? I try and give any guy that you find the benefit of the doubt because you're my best friend, but why Justin? You know I don't like him."
         "We have been talking lately and he wants to treat me differently."
         "Out of curiosity, how many times has he said this to you, like a dozen?"
         "I don't know."
         "I don't want to waste my lunch break trying to convince you that Justin is a jerk. Change of subject. Who is this other guy?"
         "Remember Lauren's cousin that we met at that party a couple weeks ago?"
         "Whoa, wait, you've been talking with him?"
         "Well no. Lauren told me that he was asking about me and she wants to set us up. I'm still not sure what to do. He seemed nice."
         "And he wasn't bad looking at all."
         "True."
         "So...why is this so hard to decide? I don't get you sometimes," Monica asked perplexed.
         "I feel more comfortable with Justin sometimes, and I don't really know Lauren's cousin."
         "Okay. Staci. I'm only going to say this one more time. Justin is a jerk and has cheated on you who knows how many times? The only reason you're in this situation is because you're dumb with guys. You dismiss guys who are nice but don't seem to fit your fake standards, which I will never understand, and you constantly end up with jerk guys who you claim are hot, who treat you like crap and walk all over you."
         "Yeah, I guess."
         "What does Justin even do for work? Isn't Lauren's cousin a grad student in business?
         "Yeah, that's what they said he does. But Justin is a model."
         Monica scoffed at this, "Justin wants to be a model but has never been paid for it and will never get anywhere unless he pulls his head out of his butt."
         "Yeah, but he's cute."
         "You know who else you used to say was really cute? Tom Cruise. Do you still think he's cute?"
         "Kind of. I don't like how he treats Katie though."
         "Okay, Staci, you're smart enough to decipher that about Tom Cruise but can't quite figure it out for you. Why is that?"
         "I don't know. I've always had a thing for Justin."
         "It's time to let go of that thing. Let Justin find another flavor of the week. You're my best friend and I love you, but if you go back to Justin, I refuse to listen to your drama and complaints that you've always had with him."
         "I'm nervous to go out with Lauren's cousin. I don't even know him."
         "I think if you gave this guy a chance you might be surprised at how nice other guys can be. Other guys that aren't Justin."
         "If I went out with him, would you get a date and come with us?"
         "Of course I would."
         "Maybe I'll give Lauren a call and get his number."
         "Staci, you can do this. Drop Justin like a bad habit and do yourself a favor. You need to find a guy who isn't a jerk. There are a lot of them out there, but many girls are too dumb to go after them. Many girls attract jerky guys and then complain to the world when problems come out."
         "Okay, I'll do it."
         "Good. Well I have to grab something to eat quick and eat it on the way back to work. Are you going to take off now?"
         "Yeah, I have some errands to run."
         "Okay, Staci," Monica said walking around the table to give her a hug. "I'm proud of you. Please give Lauren a call and give her cousin a try."
         "Yeah, I will. See you."
         Staci turned and headed back out the way she came in and was soon in the parking lot and in her car. She felt nervous and pulled her phone out of her purse. She clicked a few buttons until Lauren's name appeared on the screen. Just before calling the number, she hit a few more buttons and pressed 'Send.' It rang a few times and then a deep, male voice came on. "Hello?" the voice said.
         "Hey Justin, it's Staci."
         "Oh hey Staci, what's up?"
Shortly after hearing his voice, Staci heard another female voice in the background ask, "Justin who is that?" Then the conversation between Justin and the female voice was slightly muffled.
"It's no one, give me a second," she barely heard him say. Then his voice came back on. "Sorry about that, what's going on?"
Staci was confused but decided to continue with what she had called for. "Well, I was calling to see if you wanted to get together this weekend?" Was this the right thing to do, she asked herself?
"Well, let me check my schedule, make some calls and get back to you. I might have a photo shoot sometime this weekend."
"Okay, just let me know."
"Right on, later," he said and the phone clicked.
She closed her eyes and put her head down on the steering wheel. "What am I doing?" she said aloud. "Why can't I let him be and stop calling?" And with that she started crying.