Remind me why this is good for me?
1) It teaches you that you can do things on your own
2) You’ll see that people won’t look at you with pity. They’ll be proud of you
I’m in the middle of typing out the third reason when another text from Lauren comes through.
Lauren
Mayday! Mayday!MAYDAY!
Me
What’s wrong?
Austin is here.
With Shelby Miller. You remember her? She was the most beautiful girl in high school
I start to type out “No, she wasn’t,” but I stop myself.
Me
Stay calm
Lauren
How can I stay calm?! I’m eating alone and my ex is here on a date with another woman!
You don’t know it’s a date
I can tell. I just watched him pull his first move on her
I don’t think they’ve seen me yet. Maybe they won’t
Jk he saw me
He must be doing this to get back at me for last night
Oh no. They’re walking this way
HELP!!!!
I get up from my seat, grabbing my keys off the hook by the door on my way out. It’s only a five-minute drive to the Pork Screw, and as I pull into the parking lot, I realize I have no plan. I’m just on autopilot, ready to do whatever is necessary so that Lauren feels safe again.
I step out of my truck and through the windows of the barbecue joint, I can see Austin and Shelby hovering overLauren’s table. Lauren’s face is ghost-white. She’s got a smile plastered on when I walk into the restaurant, but I can tell even from here that it’s designed to hide her sheer panic.
I’m about to shove past Austin with some sort of lame excuse about Lauren meeting the rest of our friends at the wrong restaurant when she glances over Austin’s shoulder and says, “Oh no. Someone’s truck is getting towed in the parking lot.” Turning back to Austin with a look of concern, she adds, “Did you drive your Ridgeline here?”
Austin swivels toward the front door in disbelief. “They’re towing my truck? What the hell?” He barges out of the restaurant, and Shelby follows, looking concerned.
Lauren pulls money from her purse and grabs my hand. “We have about two seconds before he realizes they’re not towing his truck.”
I follow her from the table. Lauren hands the money to the waitress, breathlessly rushing out an excuse, and we slip out the side entrance.
Once we know the coast is clear, I lead her to my truck and drive us half a mile down the road before pulling up to Sweet Mae’s.
It’s only when I park in the diner’s lot that we both release a breath and burst into laughter.
