“He drove her crazy asking for that sauce and the specialty toast, and he just should’ve accepted your wonderful menu as it is,” she says, pulling out a few twenty dollar bills. “He wants to make it up to her by leaving a sixty-dollar tip, and we’ll come back and visit again when we’re not in a rush.”
“Wow.” The manager beams as he takes the money. “Sonya will appreciate this very much, and I’ll make sure she gets it. Thank you both so much.”
I nod because the only words on my tongue are “Are you out of your goddamn mind,” and they’re not for him.
The moment he walks away, Delilah looks over at me. “Happy now?”
“Let’s just go…” I slide out of the booth and head for the exit.
Out of habit, I hold the door open for her, even though I’m tempted to let it slam.
When we get to my car, she buckles her seatbelt and sighs.
“After this next appointment, let’s try arealrestaurant,” she says, “not some rinky, dinky diner that’s stuck in the seventies. Okay, babe?”
“Yeah…”
“I mean, can you believe that place?” She whines as I peel out of the parking lot. “Only regular brewed coffee and no lattes? Serving all those carbs with no gluten-free options?”
I refuse to utter another word, and I know what you’re thinking right now.
“Asher, this woman is a red flag…”
But the joke’s on you.
I already know that, and looking back, this wasn’t the first one she threw.
Hell, it wasn’t even thetenthone.
There were hundreds of huge, violently waving “stop dating this woman” flags long before.
I didn’t listen, though.
Not until it was too late and our hearts were shattered when they didn’t have to be.
It wasn’t until months later that I learned to spot the red flags earlier.
But it took years and other heartwrenching breakups to finally spot the true issue:commitment.
That word no longer existed in my vocabulary, and I swore off long-term relationships forever.
I never did anything that could possibly make a woman believe a proposal was coming her way. No dates past the third one, no consistent calls, and no mentions of “next time.”
I even lucked into a career where I save men (and a few women) who were close to making the same life-altering mistake I almost did.
And nowadays, there’s only one consistent person in my life, and every time I run into her…it’s against my will.
It’s also a never-ending war between wanting to bend her over mid-argument and succumbing to another bout of blue balls, but that’s a story for another day.
Crossing paths with this woman every couple months is either punishment for “ruining” one too many of her lavishly-planned weddings, or a warning to stay away from her before she gets any closer than she already is…
Either way, I’m putting an end to our numerous run-ins this year once and for all.
I never invited this woman into my life, and the next time I run into her, I’ll be cordially disinviting her from mine.
One
KATIE
