I THROW the last of my clothes in a suitcase as Bella sits on her twin bed across from mine, watching me intently. “I’m so happy you and Zayn will finally go public.” She releases a dreamy sigh. “Can I help you plan the wedding?”
I laugh. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself. We haven’t even said the l-word to one another yet, and that has to come way before we get married.”
“Well, hurry with all the mushy stuff. I’ve always wanted to style a celebrity wedding, so you’ll have to let me do it when you’re ready.”
“If we ever make it that far, you’ve got the job,” I tell her and then zip up my fully packed suitcase.
Bella frowns. “I’m going to miss you. It will be so lonely around here without you.”
“You can always come hang out with me at Zayn’s place. I’m sure he won’t mind if we have a girls’ day and hang out by his pool?”
“That sounds like heaven. Count me in,” Bella says as she watches me set my bag on the floor. “Are you sure you want to go to dinner with Robert tonight? Zayn won’t like that you’re out with Robert again.”
“Zayn will understand. We are both tying up loose ends on anything that can stand in the way of us being together.” I plop down on my bed and face her. “Robert and I dated for nine months, and we need closure to end things properly. Hopefully, we’re mature enough to sit down and hash everything out and have a civil breakup over dinner.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “I hope it works out for you, but I don’t know one person who’s ever had a civil breakup. Are you going to tell Robert about you and Zayn hooking up?”
I shake my head. “No. But I will tell him I’ve moved on and have feelings for someone else. That’s all he really needs to know.”
“Don’t you think you should tell him? I mean, it’s his uncle, so he’s going to find out, eventually.”
One corner of my mouth tugs down. “They may be family, but they’re practically strangers. Zayn’s only seen Robert twice, and before I got the job here, I didn’t even know Robert had an uncle because he never mentioned him.”
“Wow, their family sounds as complicated and screwed up as mine. Guess we all have fucked-up families in some ways.”
“Agreed.” I don’t go into details about my family because talking about them always leads to me having to discuss the violence that went on in my house before they died. I wish I could say my parents were good people, but they weren’t, and I don’t enjoy lying to make it look like they were.
Bella hasn’t spoken much about her family either, and I’ve never pushed to know more about them. She’s returned the same courtesy to me and not asked many questions once she found out they both were dead.
A couple of quick raps on the apartment’s front door catch our attention.
“I have to go.” I push myself up from the bed and grab my purse. “I’ll be back later this evening to get my suitcase and have Zayn pick me up.”
Bella stands to face me before wrapping her arms around me. “Be careful. Don’t be afraid to call me if things get too heated, and I’ll come and pick you up.”
I pull back and give her a small smile. “Thanks, but I don’t see things getting crazy. Robert’s typically a pretty calm guy as long as I keep my cool, and I don’t plan on losing control over my emotions tonight. What happened at Zayn’s door when Robert showed up was a freak thing, and I don’t think it will happen again.”
“All right, but my offer still stands. I mean it. Call me if you need to.”
I nod and then head for the door, ready to go to dinner and end the first genuine relationship I ever had with a man in my life for good.
Robert brought flowers when he came to pick me up, and I left those behind with Bella before he hopped into his car to go to the restaurant. I really wish he wouldn’t have brought me a gift because it tells me he thinks there is still a chance we’ll get back together. This conversation I’m about to have with him may not go as smoothly as I initially thought.
We pull into the parking lot of an Italian restaurant. “Hope this is okay. It was the nicest place I could find around here on such short notice.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I tell him as he parks the car.
Robert rushes around to open my door, but I’ve already got it before he made it to me. After I step outside, he reaches for my hand, but I pull it away before he can grasp it. He frowns, and I know it’s bothering him that I won’t give in to his attempts to win me back. I have zero interest in rekindling anything with him.
Inside the restaurant, the lights are dim, and tea light candles burn in jars on each table. It’s a very romantic setting, which is a bummer because this conversation with Robert will be painful. The fine linens on the table and the waitstaff’s uniforms of all black with white aprons let me know this place is vastly out of my price range.
“Good evening,” the tall male host with dark blond hair greets us. “Name?”
“Estell,” Robert says smoothly.
The host trails a long skinny finger down the screen of his iPad and then stops on a line. “Estell? Party of two. Right this way.” We’re led to a table tucked into the back corner of the restaurant, surrounded by windows. “Janet will be your server, and she’ll be with you momentarily. Enjoy your meal.”
Robert pulls out a chair and sweeps his hand, indicating for me to have a seat. I do as he asks, and then he circles the table and sits down in front of me. “I’m happy you agreed to go out with me again. We really didn’t have time to talk at the premier party, so this will be nice to actually talk about where we are in our relationship.”
Wow. Okay. We’re jumping right into the meat of the main purpose for our date. I wasn’t planning on spilling the fact I’ve moved on as soon as we got here. I was hoping to ease into that topic, but maybe it’s best to rip the Band-Aid right off. “You’re right. We need to talk.”
“Good evening. My name is Janet. Can I start you two off with a drink while you look over the menu?”
“I’ll just have water,” I order.
“Actually,” Roberts adds. “Can you bring us a bottle of your best wine?”
“It’s two-hundred and seventy-five dollars. Is that okay?” our server asks.
Robert nods. “That will be fine.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back with that.” She scurries off to retrieve the wine for us, leaving us alone again.
Robert is a wine snob. He drinks nothing cheap. I learned that about him when we were in college and he turned his nose up whenever I offered him a beer. I guess when you’re raised in the restaurant business with a silver spoon in your mouth, you feel you’re above something as cheap as a beer and would rather waste your money on expensive wine instead.
Robert grabs the menu off the table and pours over it, scrutinizing every dish and comparing it to his family’s place. I used to think he did this because he was so knowledgeable about the business, but I realize it’s because Robert’s stuck-up. I don’t know how I didn’t see this before.
“I think I’ll stick with the fettuccini. Surely, they can’t butcher that too much,” Robert says as he closes the menu and pushes it to the side. “What about you?”
“I’ll have the same,” I tell him because honestly, I couldn’t focus long enough to even read the menu, and it doesn’t matter what they bring me because I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat much of it as nervous as I am to have this conversation with him.
When the server returns, she shows Robert the bottle for his inspection before she uncorks it and pours each of us a glass. After writing down our order, she leaves the bottle on the table.
I watch as he swirls the dark-red liquid in the glass and then inhales the scent deeply before he takes a sip. “That’s not bad. I’m surprised. Try yours.”
“Later.” I push my glass away. “We really need to talk.”
Robert’s head tilts, and he watches me through his glasses. “I thought that’s what we were doing?”
I wrinkle my nose. “You were talking, and I was listening.”
His brow rises. “Oh. Well, I apologize for that. Please, let’s talk about something you want to discuss.”
I can’t tell if his tone is legit sorry for hoarding the conversation since we got here or if he’s being a smart-ass. Either way, I need to get my feelings out on the table so we can get everything out into the open.
“I asked you out because I wanted to have a serious talk about what’s been going on with me since I’ve been here in Florida and how I’ve changed.”
“How have you changed? You’ve only been down here a couple of months. Where are you going with all of this?”
I take a sip of the wine, trying to think of the best way to break this news to Robert delicately. “For one, I’ve had a lot of time to think about you and me. Our relationship is over, Robert. We want different things, and I’ve never realized how different we are until we had this time apart.”
He pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. “That’s not true. Our goals of having a successful career have always aligned.”
“I’m not even talking about that. I’m talking about what kind of relationship we each want. Everything else comes second to making and having money with you and you don’t put me above it. It’s what stopped you from getting on the plane and coming to Florida. If you really loved me, you would’ve come with me. And that’s what I want. Someone so passionate about being with me that they’re willing to risk it all to be with me.”
Confusion washes over his face. “That…You…I don’t only care about money. I care about you, too.”
“I believe you do in your own way, and I care about you too, but what we have is more of a friendship, not a romantic attachment. There’s no fire or passion between us. I want to be with someone I can’t see myself living without.”
“And you don’t feel that way about me?” he questions.
My lips roll into a tight line, and I shake my head. “No. Not anymore.”
He licks his lips slowly like he’s choosing his next words carefully. “The day we were on our way to the airport, you were giddy and talking about how much you loved me and couldn’t wait to start your life in Florida with me. What changed that?” He pauses for a moment as he studies my face. “Or should I ask who? Is there someone else, Vivi?”
I could lie to him and tell him no in order to soothe his ego, but what good would that do either of us? He wants to believe there’s a chance the two of us can work, that he can change my mind, but if I’m honest and tell him I’ve moved on, perhaps he will too. “There is, and I want to give things between him and me a real chance to find happiness together.”
His mouth drops open, and then his nostrils flare. “This is something you could’ve told me in a text. It would’ve saved me coming here and making a fool of myself trying to win back a girl who doesn’t want me.” He takes a deep breath and then locks eyes with me, anger clear in them. “Are you sleeping with this guy?”
I flinch. “That’s none of your business.”
He leans forward, and his eyes grow dark. “Yes, it is. You were cheating on me! I have the right to know.”
“We were broken up.” My voice raises an octave. “And we still are. What I do with my personal life is none of your goddamn business anymore.”
“You’re right.” Robert pops up from his seat and throws his cloth napkin on the table. “What happens to you is none of my business, so why don’t you call your new boyfriend to come finish this romantic fucking dinner I brought you to.”
He says nothing else as he storms out of the restaurant. I watch through the window as he gets into the driver’s seat of his car and drives off, leaving me alone in this fancy restaurant to deal with all the stares pointed in my direction and an expensive-ass bill I can’t afford to pay.
