I Didn't Know I Could Break Your Heart

Checking her reflection in the car window, Marrietta made sure she looked like nothing less than a respectable business woman. She sighed and was about to get into her car when she heard someone yelling back inside.

"Look, lady, I'm looking for a girl named Marrietta and you're going to tell me where she is right now!" exclaimed a male voice.

Marrietta almost vomited on the spot. It was Rodger. It had to be. Feeling completely defeated, she let her red hair fall out of her bun and headed back towards the restaurant. As she walked, she thought of all the things she could say to him.

It's just my job, Rodger, you know I love you.

It's not like a stripper or a hooker or anything crazy like that.

I love you. Isn't that enough?

Why does it matter what I do? Didn't you fall in love with me?

But somehow all of these things sounded wrong and Marrietta knew that they weren't going to help. She slid out of her navy blue jacket as she walked through the kitchen and flung it on the coat rack. Dabbing at the edges of her eyes, she checked that her mascara hadn't run and then realized that it didn't matter. Everything she had worked so hard at was about to be over.

She headed up to the front desk just as the hostess was saying, "I don't care! She's not here right now, her shift just ended. I'm not giving you her address or her phone number! Do you know why? Because-"

"I've got it from here, Tina," She said, laying one hand on Trina's arm. She glanced back at Marrietta, shrugged and then went back to work. Keeping her head down, Marrietta pulled the man into the waiting area of the restaurant. "Just say what you have to say and then leave, okay?"

"You're not even going to look at me?" He said in a bemused tone, "Not after all this time?"

All this time? "What the hell are you talking ab-" She trailed off as she looked into big blue eyes and was caught of guard by an award-winning smile. Her lips moved but no words came out for the longest time. Finally, she stammered, "What the f*ck are you doing here?"

"I... uhh..." Tyler stumbled over his words. He was shocked that she wasn't excited to see him and ready to leap back into his arms. "I...I recognized you before."

"Huh?"

"I was the guy who told you to bring out Nina? Said we wanted a blonde waitress?" He tried, a begging expression taking over his face, "Look, I really shouldn't be here right now but-"

"Then go," Marrietta snapped as she crossed her arms.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Go. If you know that you shouldn't be here, you shouldn't have even come. I mean, honestly, Tyler, after what you did to me? Do you really think you can come waltzing back into my life just because you wanted to?"

"That's not what I meant," Tyler hissed. He grabbed her arm and pulled her farther into the corner, away from the prying eyes of the restaurant's customers. "Mary, you've got to believe me when I say that what you saw was not the whole story. I didn't cheat on you. Why on earth would I keep lying to you after all this time?"

"I don't know, Tyler," She spat at him, "Maybe it's some weird mental disease or something, but for some reason, you continued your little lie eight years after the fact. It's disgusting really. Just be a man and admit it." She paused for a moment but he didn't say anything else. With a sigh, she continued, "Even if you are telling the truth, I don't give a damn. Even if you're not over me, I'm over you."

Tyler stared at her for a moment and then responded, "You're over me, yet for some whacked reason you still care about whether or not I cheated on you?" He smiled as her stone cold expression faltered, "Something just doesn't add up here."

Marrietta stared straight back at him for a moment before shoving her left hand in his face. "I'm engaged, Tyler. To a man who is much, much better than you. And if you had an inch of dignity in you, you would just leave me alone." She hissed, waggling her fingers so that the diamond sparkled in the light.

He shrugged, "Fine," He whispered in a small voice, "Go."

She shook her head in disbelief and headed for the door. As she reached for the handle, a thought came to her. Turning back to face Tyler, she asked, "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm the coach of the New York Yankees," He replied, slightly caught off guard.

She left without another word, thinking to herself, Oh, the sweet, sweet irony.