City of Delusion

"Nice to see you again," Pete hugged me as we met outside of the very upscale Leo Lindy's. Paul cleared his throat behind me. He had no idea who Pete was or what our relationship was, and I hadn't bothered to fill him in. Pete let me go and looked at Paul, then at me.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to introduce you earlier. Paul, this is my good friend Pete. Pete, this is Paul."

"You're that guy from Fall Out Boy."

"Yeah, that's me. That random dude," Pete laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Paul didn't join in. Pete covered his laughter with a cough. "So, Paul, how do you know Joanna?"

"I'm her husband."

"Oh." Pete looked at me and I nodded solemnly, looping my arm through his and allowing him to walk me into the restaurant.

"So, is Patrick coming?"

"Yeah, he'll be here he loves this place, but he doesn't know you're here."

"Is it for the better?"

"I would think so. If he knew, he wouldn't come."

We sat down at our table. It was circular, so I ended up sitting across from Pete, Paul on my left, the empty chair waiting for Patrick on my right. Pete and Paul ordered drinks; meanwhile, I pumped Pete for information.

"What, exactly, happened?"

Random memories suddenly filled my mind. They were gone before I could actually notice any details, but I knew they were there. I wasn't such a hopeless case after all.

"You really don't remember?" Pete's words interrupted my thoughts. I looked at him in time to see a skeptical look come over his face. I shook my head vigorously, at the same time that he looked behind me.

"Hey Patrick."

I tensed up a bit, but managed to turn around and smile at him. I was met with a cold stare.

"Why didn't you tell she would be here?" Patrick glared at Pete, acting as if no one else were around.

"Come on, Pat. It's time to get over this. I figured the two of you could talk this out."

Patrick sighed and sat down next to me, partly from giving up and partly because attention was starting to divert to us. He didn't look at me, but noticed Paul. He elbowed Pete, who had been surveying his menu, and motioned towards Paul.

"Who's he?"

"I'm Joanna's husband."

Pete and I exchanged looks and sighed. I covered my face in despair. This was getting us nowhere.

"That's great" Patrick mumbled under his breath, distracting himself with his own menu.
There was tension surrounding our table until the waiter came to take our order. After we ordered, Pete began trying to make conversation.

"So Joanna, how have you been?"
Suddenly, Paul reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly as he spoke.

"We've been doing well. We've been married for a year and have a two-week old son. We're perfectly happy."

I turned my head slightly to see Patrick staring at me. When our eyes met, he looked away quickly, shaking his head. I wanted to tell him it wasn't true, but I couldn't form the words. I pulled my hand out of Paul's grip and turned my body away from him, mostly to face Patrick, but also so that he would hopefully butt out for once.

"Patrick, what did I do? Please tell me"

"Why? You lose track of how many hearts you've broken?"

"What?"

"Just forget it," he set his menu down and nodded to Paul. "Keep a hold on her while you can. You never know when she might spontaneously leave. Have a great life together. See you tomorrow Pete."

He got up and walked off without another word. I got up to go after him, but Paul pulled me down.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm going after him. What the fuck does it look like?"

Paul looked at me in shock, allowing me to quickly run out of the restaurant. Attention was definitely on me as I ran out to the parking lot, catching up with Patrick as he climbed into his car.

"Patrick."

He looked around startled, noticed it was me and grimaced. I ran around and jumped into the passenger seat. He stared at me as I did, making a move to get out.

"Please, don't. We really do need to talk. I swear to you that I'm a completely different person than whoever I was when I left you."

Apathy covered his face as I talked. When I was done, he turned on the car and sat back in his seat.

"I hate what you do to me... After everything, here I am, about to give you a second chance."