Chapter 2
You’re panicking at the wrong disco.
—Text from Ellodie to her mom
ELLODIE
Dinner out with Frederick—don’t ever call me Fred—was the last thing that I wanted to do.
Frederick and I had been dating going on three months now, and I knew that I needed to cut the strings on our relationship. Frederick was catching feelings, and I didn’t feel anything for him besides annoyance.
Yet, instead of calling and canceling, like I probably should have after the food I’d devoured, I decided to be a big girl and go out on the date. We already had plans.
Now, if I happened to break up with him while on that date… so be it.
I mean, I’d gotten more excitement out of watching a police officer yank a suspect out of his car than I did in the three months I’d been dating Frederick.
Yet, I got into my car and headed in the direction of the restaurant Frederick loved but I only tolerated when I was with him. I had to admit, when it’d first opened I’d loved the place. Frederick had ruined it for me, though.
When we arrived, I was annoyed to see him already standing there, waiting for me.
I hated that he saw me pull up, but only because I hated the way he always had a comment to make about my car.
“I see it still works,” he drawled.
I ignored him as I walked up to the front door and opened it myself.
He followed behind, close but not quite touching, and smiled at the hostess.
“Sandy,” he said jovially. “Do you have any seats in Dolly’s section?”
I nearly rolled my eyes all the way back into my head.
Dolly was a short, busty blonde who knew how to play the game of waitressing. She also knew how to get a great tip with very poor service, and that was by giving out compliments to men who desperately wanted to get her attention.
“Uh, no,” Sandy said as she glanced my way. “She’s off tonight.”
I thanked her with my eyes, and she walked us right to our seats that were luckily on the opposite side of where we usually sat.
Likely, Dollywas here.
Sandy had made my acquaintance in the bathroom a couple of months ago, and I’d told her how much I hated sitting in Dolly’s section because of how Dolly and Frederick acted.
From then on, if she was working, she’d make sure to seat us in the opposite part of the building.
If this restaurant didn’t give me hives every time that I came near it, for obvious reasons, I would eat here just because this girl was so sweet.
Like always, Frederick took the booth seat, and I was stuck with the hard chair. Yet another strike against him.
I mean, my dad wouldn’t be caught dead with his back to the door. But, Frederick not only took the chair with his back to the door, but also the more comfortable of the two spots to boot.
The one and only time that I’d tried to sit next to him, he’d had a conniption fit because he ‘liked his space’ and ‘didn’t like to sit too close.’
I rolled my eyes, and started to sit down, but the hostess paused and said, “Oh, this one.”
SinceFrederick was already sitting down, and the hostess was blocking the chair spot for me to take, I took the booth spot of the next table over, and she winked.
Frederick stood, then glared hard at me as if he expected me to get up.
I stayed where I was, and barely contained the urge to giggle my ass off when he took the hard chair, almost reluctantly.
“Thank you.” I smiled at her.
“No problem.” She patted my shoulder. “Enjoy your dinner.”
This place we were at would’ve been any woman’s dream. The owner, a woman in her thirties, had designed it to have pretty much every food imaginable. Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Mexican, American, and so many more. You could get a sushi appetizer while simultaneously getting a British style breakfast, following it up with a Russian dessert.
And, even better, there was a section labeled ‘girl dinner’ on the menu.
I usually ordered off of that, because honestly it was a genius idea that was not only progressive, but also great food to boot.
“Would you like to split a meal?” Frederick asked, as he always did.
I nearly rolled my eyes.
What was it with this man and splitting meals? MyGod, I wanted to eat my full fucking burger!
“No,” I immediately said. “I don’t like splitting meals.”
Which he damn well knew.
ButFrederick’s idea of splitting a meal was more like this: He ordered what he wanted. He ate as much as he wanted. Then he gave me what was left on his plate when he was done.
I’d tried it once, and once only.
That time, we’d been here as well, with Dolly as our waitress.
By the time he’d eaten everything good on the plate, I’d realized my mistake.
And since Dolly had never come around to ensure everything was going okay, I couldn’t order another meal.
When she had come around, I’d been so freakin’ mad that the last thing I wanted to do was order any food from her and give her a bigger tip.
“What are you going to order?” he asked, sounding bored.
He liked coming here because Dolly was a ‘delight to be around’ according to him. Really, she gave him all the attention he craved. And when we weren’t seated in her section, Frederick tended to act like his world was ending.
“I’m going to get the girl dinner that has chicken strips, sushi, and the appetizer of chips and hot sauce,” I answered, excited about what I was about to eat, yet still bummed about who I had to eat with. “You?”
“Breakfast. Pancakes,” he answered. “Can we get the cornbread instead for an appetizer?”
I perked up at that.
“CanI have a bite of your pancake if we get the cornbread?” I asked hopefully.
They looked good. And though I wanted a bite, I didn’t want an entire stack of pancakes.
“Sure,” Frederick murmured, sounding annoyed with me.
I nearly rolled my eyes but caught myself in time.
He didn’t like it when I rolled my eyes. He insisted that it was ‘rude.’
Whatever.
The waiter came by, we ordered our food, and then we were left to actually speak to each other.
Frederick started talking about work, and I studiously ignored him because when he talked about work, he made himself sound way more important than he actually was.
Truthfully, I knew where he worked, and what he did for work.
I knew that he wasn’t that special.
He worked for the city in the sanitation department. He was a boss, but not the boss.
He acted like he was the best thing since sliced bread when really, he was the coordinator for the people who called and said that their trash was skipped that day.
Truthfully, he made pretty good money. He got great benefits.
How did I know so much about his job?
I’d worked there myself while I was putting myself through school.
I knew everyone and everything that went on up there because, once upon a time, I was his boss.
Though, he didn’t know that.
I’d never tell him.
The waiter finally brought our food out, and I started to eat the small portions that made up my girl dinner.
“Don’t forget to save me a little bite,” I begged.
Because man, those looked fantastic. As in, I wanted more than just a bite, but I knew that wouldn’t fly.
I watched carefully as the pancakes were slathered in so much butter and syrup that it was spilling over the sides of the plate—again, something I’d told him was ridiculous for him to do, yet he continued to do it.
I just felt like if he knew he needed the room on his plate for the syrup, he should ask for a bigger plate. Which he never did.
He ate his eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, and toast, then moved onto the pancakes.
AndI watched as, bite after bite, he ate through the entire stack.
It was only as he was getting to the very middle that I knew he’d either forgotten, or purposefully ignored my request.
“CanI have a bite, now?” I asked when I saw him cut the middle piece in half.
He ignored me, then proceeded to reach for the last bite.
“Frederick,” I said when he speared it with his fork. “Please can I have the bite, now?”
The way he looked so offended solidified my resolve. Today would be the last day. I wouldn’t keep pretending that I wanted to spend time with this man.
He narrowed his eyes. “You know this is my favorite part of the pancake.”
Actually, I didn’t.
But that didn’t negate the fact that he knew I wanted a bite, and that I’d asked him in plenty of time before he’d gotten to the best part.
Deflated, I finished off my sushi, chips, and drink.
When the waiter came by, I smiled at him and said, “We’re separate.”
Frederick stilled, his last bite of pancake on his fork, as if he was just leaving it there to taunt me.
Usually, I allowed him to pay because he felt like it was the man’s job to pay.
AndI’d allowed it.
Only, today had proven that I just needed to walk away.
“Sure thing,” he said. “Who gets the appetizer?”
Well, since Frederick was the one to eat it since it was fuckin’ cornbread, and I didn’t like cornbread…
“His.” I smiled sweetly at him, then handed him my card.
WhenI turned back to survey Frederick, he still had that last bite on his fork, as if he was contemplating letting me have it if it would help get me out of the mood I was in.
Spoiler alert, it wouldn’t work.
“Want it?” he asked, holding the fork out.
I shook my head resolutely, waited for him to finish his bite, then said, “It’s been fun, Fred. ButI gotta be honest. I don’t feel any sort of connection to you. Honestly, you just annoy me.”
Frederick’s mouth dropped open, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what I’d just said to him.
There was a low chuckle behind me, but I didn’t look back to see who I’d amused.
“What are you talking about?” Frederick asked, sounding bored. “You love me.”
I snorted. “Uh, no. I don’t. But it’s been fun.”
The waiter came back with my card and the receipt. I signed, then got up from my chair.
“Where are you going?” he asked. “You’re not going to talk about this with me? I let you have the more comfortable seat!”
I nearly rolled my eyes.
“No,” I said as I left.
Or tried to.
Because the moment I turned to make my way through the maze of tables past the bar, I came to a sudden halt when my gaze lit on a familiar man blocking the majority of the walking space with his big, muscular body.
The man who’d done the winking earlier in the day was at the bar right behind me, a stack of pancakes on his plate.
“Do you share meals?” I asked curiously as I came to his side.
He snorted. “No. Never. I like food.”
Same, man. Same.
Relief hit me. “ThankGod.”
He offered up a bite of pancakes, which happened to be the very middle, and I don’t know what came over me.
AllI could think about was how badly I wanted that bite off his fork… So, I leaned over and took the bite.
My eyes stayed connected with the gorgeous green eyes that reminded me of the tall grass field next to our house that my dad refused to plant or let cows graze on because it was so gorgeous in the middle of spring.
So, so green. Green for miles.
My lips closed over the fork, and I groaned.
“Gosh, that’s good.” I pulled back, licking my lips.
Those beautiful, grass green eyes sparkled as he said, “Sure is.”
He speared another bite and offered it to me, brows lifted. “One more?”
I took one more.
And when I got home that night, the only thing on my mind was that I wished I’d see him again.
I didn’t think that when I saw him, though, it’d be with him accusing me of a crime.
One which I might, or might not have, committed.