Troublemaker

With her nerves on end, she started the small walk it took to get to the Mexican restaurant they had visited not to long ago. He didn’t know she could see him sitting outside, already sipping something sweet and boozy. He was looking melt worthy in a hooded sweatshirt.

The nights had grown colder with the oncoming fall season, and Zoe was thankful. It meant her birthday was soon and that the hot weather would soon subside into cool days and even colder nights. Maybe nights of snuggling by his big fireplace?

She smiled at the thought as the Mexican man escorted her to the table Nick was sitting at.

He thought she looked quite scrumptious as well in her skinny jeans and long sleeve shirt. He licked his lips at the thoughts racing through his mind. They jumped from sex to her, to sex, and back around again to eating.

“Hey” She smiled wide, they planted a small kiss on each other’s lips and both agreed in their minds that each one tasted as sweet as last time.

“How was your day?” Nick asked her, his grin meeting his ears. The waiter took their drink orders, giving Zoe permission to speak.

“Slow. Work is always slow on Sundays. We close at five, so I know no one is actually going to come in.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” He didn’t mean to sound like he was brushing off the comment, but he was. He remembered he had bigger things to accomplish with this date, so he played cool until something sparked in her face.

“Why’d you want me to meet you here?”

“Just wanted to see you.” Even though the air from the pond was cool, and the icy stares from females across the room were colder, Nick was sweating.

“Uh huh, okay, I see.” She half grinned with a puzzled look to her eyes. She brushed it off and then decided talking about the incident that morning would be a good thing to discuss. “About this morning, I don’t know why I let that slip out of my mouth. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Their food came and they both took the first, customary bites.

“It’s too fast, I just don’t know. I guess I just really want to punch your mom, but since I can’t do that without going to jail, I wanted to do something that would hurt her worse than physical pain.”

“So you said it because you want to get back at my mom….not because you really meant it?” He was puzzled, hurt, and shocked. His anger at the situation was growing.

“No, what I mean is…Look, Nick, we only just met and we’ve had an AMAZING few weeks together, but don’t you think this is a little fast?” He had officially had it after that statement.

“Don’t you think there is love at first sight?” He stood up from the small booth, threw his napkin down, along with a hundred dollar bill, and then walked away.

Zoe tried to call after him as he walked away, and he wouldn’t respond. She got up, leaving the uneaten food on the table and walked after him.

When she got to the parking lot, his car was already going down the road. She put her hands to her head and wanted to break down. She didn’t want to do it here, though, not in public.

As she made her way through the parking lot to walk home, she stepped on something and looked down. It was a fuzzy, black box, one reminiscent of a ring box. She studied for a long while before deciding to click it open.

Inside was a note, folded over a gorgeous silver ring with a giant Opal cut square style. She unfolded the note and began reading;

Zoe,

Opal for your birth, and a ring for the promise that I’ll always be here, friend and lover.

-Nicholas

Her mouth flew open and the tears poured out. She immediately tried text messaging him, but she received no answer.

She walked home, solace, and called Jo, demanding her and Meaghan come over immediately.

They came faster than she thought and found her crumpled on the couch, no TV on, and no stereo playing music. Dead silence.

“Are you okay?” Meaghan asked her, sitting down on the sofa cushion that was beside Zoe’s head, Jo sat on the opposite end. Zoe just shook her head and whimpered like a child.

“What happened?” Joanna asked her best friend.

Zoe sighed, sat up, and wiped a single tear from her cheek, “I said stupid things at the restaurant that I don’t 100 percent believe myself, and he left. Oh, and I found this in the parking lot.” She held out the box with the note and ring inside. Joanna moved closer to Meaghan so they could read the note together, both of them dropping their mouths open at the same time.

“You’ve got to be shitting me! You are so stupid.” Meaghan yelled.

“Thanks for the subtlety, Meme.” Zoe looked at her, angry at her friend, but mainly at herself.

“We have to do something about this.” Joanna, always ready to take action, was already scheming a plan in her head.

“Oh no, what are you planning now?” Zoe asked her friend.

“Nothing. Meaghan, we have to go, ASAP.” Joanna signaled to her sister. “We brought you this, and you do as we say, you’ll feel better. And go to bed when it’s all done.”

“Okay?” Zoe was puzzled, but she wasn’t puzzled anymore after seeing what Joanna had brought to her house. A pint of Ben and Jerry’s Brownie Cheesecake, and Mean Girls on DVD. She smiled at her friend as they left.

She wondered through the whole movie was Joanna had planned, but let it go to get some sleep.