"Hey babe can you meet me at the restaurant? I have some things to take care of real quick. I looked at his text and sighed. Tonight was date night and like usual Charlie was being the 'perfect gentleman'. He had forgotten our anniversary last month, and cancelled on our make up date. Now he was making me go to the restaurant by myself for our make up date for the make up date for the anniversary. I shook my head. Hopefully he would get there on time and wouldn't cancel like he's done so many times. It's always so embarrassing when he's done that. I sighed and looked in the mirror. He was supposed to be taking me to Butter. A really fancy restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. I was wearing a navy one shoulder cut out mini dress. I smoothed my dress and shook out my curls. I grabbed my black heels and slipped them on. Then I grabbed my clutch and put my red lipstick, and compact in it. I checked my phone for any new messages from him before I stuffed it into the clutch. I picked up my pea coat and walked out my bedroom door. "I'm going to dinner." I said while coming into the kitchen. My mother was chopping up carrots by the counter. "Where is Charlie?" "He's gonna meet me there, he had some things to take care of." She eyed me quickly and then shrugged and went back to chopping the carrots. "Okay honey, be back by ten." I stopped after I opened the door. "Can I make it eleven tonight? It's our anniversary dinner and I haven't seen him in a few days?" "Sure honey." She replied without looking up. I shrugged and stepped out the door then closed it. "Lot easier than trying to convince dad." I muttered to myself as I made my way towards the subway.
"Be there soon Babe just got caught up." I rolled my eyes as I read Charlie's text. He was supposed to meet me here thirty minutes ago. Now I'm just sitting in a restaurant alone while everyone is giving me looks of pity and judging me. "So are you ready to order?" The waitress asks for the third time. "No I'm still waiting on someone." She slowly nodded "Okay I'll get you another water..." she slowly walked away while looking at me weirdly. I sighed and sunk down in my seat. I can't believe he did this to me. I checked my phone again. No new messages. I looked over at the door. Hoping that he would walk in. But all I saw was an old lady, a family with a screaming kid, and a teenage boy about my age. Of course the teenager was staring at her with the same look everyone in the room was giving her. I quickly looked away and pulled out my phone again. Still nothing. The waitress brought my water and again asked me again if I was ready to order. "Umm I'm not ready yet. He'll be here soon." I replied. "Hopefully" I whispered as she walked away. I took a sip of my water and took out my phone. I dialed Charlie's number. Straight to voicemail, I quietly groaned. "Hey where are you? You said you would be here a while ago." I sighed. "Call me..." I hung up.
Ten minutes later and I'm still sitting here. He still hasn't called me back. I called him again. "Charlie I swear, this is such an asshole move. You are so single! Do you hear me we are done!" I whisper yelled into the phone. I hung up and sighed. The waitress started to come over. "He's coming!" I said loudly. A lot of people looked over at me. She raised her eyebrows and backed away. Some guy at the table next to me went 'Mmhm.' I put my hands on the table forcefully and turned swiftly to him. "He is!" He raised his eyebrows and turned back to his food. His girlfriend gave me an apologetic look. I sunk down in my seat and played with my napkin. "He's not coming." I whispered as I fought back tears. One slipped out and I wiped it away. "I can't believe this..."
Five minutes later I am considering just getting up and leaving, but it would be so embarrassing. Especially since I made such a huge deal that he would show up. The waitress comes over and I open my mouth and start to say that he's coming but she stops me before I could get anything out of my mouth. "Look ma'am I'm sorry but we're gonna have to give this table to someone else..." I bit my lip to stop the tears. This was so embarrassing. I nodded. I looked over and saw the guy was still looking at me. I glanced down at my hands lying on the table. "Yeah... yeah sure I'm..." I whispered and turn to reach behind my chair and get my coat. Just as I did that I heard a chair squeak and someone sit down. "Sorry I'm so late babe. There was an accident and the traffic was awful." Someone said loudly. I turned around quickly to see the guy from the entrance. The one who was staring at me. The waitress looked between us. "Okay, ummm. I'll be back in a minute to take your order..." she slowly backed away. As soon as she left he leaned forward. "I'm Lucas just go with it yeah? Whoever didn't show up is a dick." I smiled. "Thank you." The waitress came back a few minutes later and we ordered. After she walked away he leaned forward and picked up some bread. I leaned forward too. "Why are you doing this? Why are you being so nice to me?" He smirked and tore off a piece of the bread. "Cause your letting me." He replied before he stuck the piece of bread in his mouth. I smiled and leaned back in the chair. "So who was the asshole who didn't show?" "Charlie. My boyfriend." He stared at me and I shifted under his gaze. I wasn't used to this much attention by a boy. Especially not a cute one. Charlie never gave me much attention even when we dated. I shook my hair and turned my gaze. "It's not a big deal. He's done it before." "But it is a big deal isn't it." I glanced at the table and rubbed my lips together. "You get used to it when you date him... you know. Guys are flakey, Inattentive assholes." I shifted and crossed my arms. "Especially Charlie..." I bit my lip. He looked at me like he understood me. "It was your anniversary? Wasn't it." I sighed and looked away. "You know, I don't know why I put up with it... he's awful to me. He ignores me most of the time. And the other part of the time he just treats me like I'm his toy. Even after I gave him everything. Even... you know... it only made him ignore me more. He basically only used me for that." his eyes widened slightly. "The asshole." He whispered. "And after I stopped giving him that he started ignoring me almost completely, bailing on our dates at the last minute, never responding to my texts...And I'm pretty sure he's cheating on me and you know what..." I sighed and closed my eyes. "I don't even care..." I chuckled a little. "I care that after everything I've done for him, he still treats me like I'm nothing... I care that after everything he's done...I still come crawling back to him every. Single. Time. And I'm always falling for his lies even though they are complete crap." I chuckled and opened my eyes. Then I leaned forward. "You know one time he tried to convince me that he was at church." I laughed. "I don't think he's even been near a church in his whole life. And the thing is I only fall for the lies because I want to believe them. Even though I know they aren't true." I finally look at him and see that his jaw is clenched and his knuckles were turning white. But his eyes are full of sadness. "Anyway, that's my crappy story. What's yours." I took a long sip of water. He finally unclenched his jaw and hands and relaxed a tiny bit. "Don't have one." I leaned back and crossed my arms. "I don't believe that. Everyone has a story. What about your parents?" He scoffed. "You want to know about my parents?" "I want to know about you. And your life. Come on, it can't be as crappy as mine." He scoffed again. "You wouldn't believe how crappy it is?" "Tell me." He looked at me and rubbed the back of his neck before leaning forward on the table. "Where do I start." "Your parents..." he smiled in a sarcastic manner. "Oh. Where do I start with them? Lets see... They fight all the time. My mother is a drunk and my father is a bastard. He has mistresses in almost every state. And he always goes on these 'business trips'." He used air quotes. "And my mother likes to believe that's they are just that. Even though she knows that's a lie. I mean it's not like he tries to hide it. People named Sylvia and Mary call our house everyday to ask when he's coming back to visit. I think the only reason my mother stays with him is because he pays the bills." "What about you? doesn't she stay with him for you?" He scoffed "Please, she's so drunk she doesn't even notice me. And my father, well... he wants me to be the best at everything. No... not wants. Requires. He wants me to be just like him. He always talks about me taking over the company, I can't tell him that My dream is to be a veterinarian. It's not like he cares what I want. No. He wants me to be this picture perfect son who does everything right. Can't even tell you what happens if I don't live up to his expectations." He took one look at my face and trailed off. He cleared his throat. "But thank goodness for Zay. He's my best friend. His family is like my second family... no scratch that. They are my family. They usually care for me. When my dad kicks me out of the house for getting a B, they always let me stay over. And when my mother is too drunk to come talk to my teachers, Zay's mom comes and does it for me. Even when I broke my arm during a football game... from my dad, all I got was a text saying that he expected more from me. But Zay's family came rushing in and cared for me the whole time..." He glanced down at the table and I rested my hand on top of his and rubbed it with my thumb. He looked up and I gave him a warm smile. He smiled back. "So football star huh? Let me guess quarterback?" He nodded. "You know football?" I nodded. "Definitely, it's my favorite sport after basketball. The Knicks are my life." "Knicks fan huh? They suck." My mouth fell open. "They do not!!" "Their score was 31:51." "Hey! Just because their score is bad doesn't mean they are a bad team. Win or lose I will still love them." He raised his eyebrows in amusement. Then shook his head as I launched into a rant about the Knicks and their fake fans. When I finally stopped he laughed. "Are you done?" I nodded. "Yup. So what were we talking about before?" "Football." "Right football. So Mr. Quarterback. I'm guessing you're a real big shot at your school? You know the stereotypical jock who every girl loves and every guy wants to be. And you act all tough and macho, but secretly you love school. You watch old movies and listen to classic rock. Oh and you have an accent so I assume you moved here from the south. Probably Texas." His jaw fell open. "Oh and you can never keep a girlfriend because they never quite understand you and they are too... what's the word? Conventional and ordinary for you." He blinked and left his jaw hanging open. I smirked and twirled my straw around in my drink. "I'm pretty good huh?" "How?" I laughed "I never reveal my secrets... but let's just say I study psychology." He laughed. "Okay, let me do you." I leaned back and crossed my arms. "Go for it." "Okay, you're the shy, quiet girl, you always get straight A's. You hate all the popular kids and what they represent. Oh and also you spend most of your time in the library hidden in the shelves." I smiled and laughed. "Oh you couldn't be more wrong." He raised his eyebrows at me. "I'm a cheerleader, I was elected prom queen. I am very outgoing. Although I do get straight A's. And I love classic literature, but my house is basically a library so I don't have to go through all the shitty books the school library has. Oh! And I love any music before the 2000's although I do like Jimmy Eat World." He laughed. "Wow." I leaned my head into my hand and giggled. "So... cheerleading? Didn't strike you for a Pom Pom type of girl?" I nodded my head. "Yup... I absolutely despise it." He laughed. "Why don't you quit." I gave him a look. "Why don't you quit football?" "What do you mean?" I shook my head. "Please, you hate it, I don't even know you that well and I can already tell that." I looked at me. "Believe me, you probably know me more than anyone else in my whole life." We stared at each other for a minute. Then the waitress came over and set our food down which snapped us out of our moment. We dug into our food and made small talk. And after much debating we agreed we would split the check. He insisted on walking me home. We stopped at the end of my street when I saw Charlie sitting on my doorstep. He saw him too and glared. "Want me to deal with him?" "No I got it." I turned back to him. "Thanks by the way for tonight. You really saved me from major humiliation." "No problem... you maybe wanna do it again sometime?" "Sure I'm not too boring for you like all the other girls?" I said jokingly. "Trust me, there's nothing boring about you." We stared at each other for a minute. Then I smiled. I searched through my clutch and found a pen buried at the bottom. "Here." I wrote my number on his hand. "So we can schedule that date." I winked at him and then walked down the street. I got to my house and stopped in front of Charlie. "Ahem." I cleared my voice and his head shot up. "Riley, I am so sorry! I just got held up at-" "save it Charlie. You made me look like an idiot tonight. First you ditch our anniversary and our next date and then you blow me off and make me sit in a restaurant alone for an hour. Do you know how humiliating that it? To get pitiful looks and to keep telling the waitress that you're coming soon when you're really not. And to have her ask you to get up and leave because they need to give the table to someone else. Until some random guy comes in and sits down to save you from being a total loser?!" He looks at me in complete shock. "What guy?" "You don't need to know. The only thing that you need to know is that he was actually a very nice person who does abandon his girlfriend. And I'm glad there are still people like him in the world because they somewhat make up for assholes like you!" I stormed past him and waltz right up to my door. I stopped and turned around. "Oh and if I didn't make it clear. We're done. Now you can go and screw girls behind my back guilt free." He glanced at the ground and I knew that it was true. He really was cheating on me. I shook my head. "He was right." He glanced up at me. "You are a dick." I opened the door and slammed it behind me.
I walked into the living room and found my mother on the couch. "Sorry I'm late." I said while taking off my coat. She paused the movie and turned to me. "You're seven minutes late." She laughed. I shrugged. "Late is late." "I heard yelling outside, so I'm guessing he didn't show up?" "Nope." "Oh I'm sorry honey." "It's okay I had a pretty good night." She looked confused and I walked to the stairs. I stopped at the bottom and turned back. "It's nice to know that there are still some nice guys out in the world." I smiled blissfully and walked upstairs. "Goodnight." I got to my room and flopped down on my bed. I smiled to myself before getting up and heading to the bathroom to take a shower.
I had just gotten out of the shower and was walking back to my room in my pajamas, drying my hair with a towel when I heard my phone ding. I looked at it and smiled. "Sweet Dreams City Girl. Btw I'm picking you up next Saturday at seven." "I'll be ready an hour before and waiting at the door. Goodnight Cowboy." I bit my lip and smiled. What started out as the worst night of my life became one of the best.