Chapter 3: I Stumble at Best

(Roderick)

I sat with Murray at the Rainbow Room, tapping my glass with a spoon. I was nervous. What if I didn't like this woman? What if she was judgmental? What if she hit people when she was excited?

"Stop it," Murray said, grabbing the spoon from me. "It's annoying."

"Sorry," I said.

"You're nervous," Murray said.

"I'm not nervous," I argued. "What time is it?"

"Five after seven," Murray answered.

"They're late."

"Only by five minutes."

What happened? What if this person shot Amy on the way here? What if this girl was a crazy ax-murderer? What if……

My thoughts got cut short as a woman with ebony-colored skin walked into the restaurant. Her black hair was in tiny braids all over her head. She looked around the restaurant as if looking for someone. She was beautiful and I didn't normally say women were beautiful. But, also, she looked familiar. Had I seen her somewhere before?

Suddenly Amy walked into the room and grabbed her arm and led her over here. That's her, I thought. The woman looked like she was dreading this. I took a deep breath and stood up with Murray as they made their way towards us.

"Hey, Roderick," Amy said. "I'm glad you didn't come straight from the office."

"How do you know I didn't?" I asked.

That was lame, a voice in my head said. Amy looked at me quizzically.

"What?" she asked.

"What?" I repeated.

Amy shook her head and brought the woman forward. She wasn't smiling.

"Aisha, this is Roderick," Amy introduced us.

"Hi," I said, shaking Aisha's hand.

"Hi," she replied.

I didn't really like the way she was looking at me. It was like she was judging me and I hated when people looked at me that way. Already, I could tell that she wasn't as nice as she looked.

(Aisha)

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"Isn't it?" Roderick joked.

It was all I could to not to scrunch up my face in disgust. Roderick wasn't bad-looking, though. He had a short beard with curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Not bad, I thought. In fact, he looked familiar. Where had I seen him before?

But, there was something about Roderick that I didn't like. He kind of had a cocky aura hanging around him. I released his hand and sat down at the table with him, Amy, and Murray.

"So Rapunzel finally left her tower," Murray joked.

That was lame attempt to break the tension, I thought.

"Ha, ha," I said in monotone.

"So, Amy told me you're an artist," Rob said.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Do you live in a studio apartment in the Village?" Rob asked. "I mean, do you spend all day on a painting? Do you sell your paintings on the streets? Do all your clothes have paint stains?"

What the hell? I thought.

"Not all my clothes have paint stains," I said. "I take precautions with that. I don't sell my paintings on the street. I have art galleries. Yes, I spend all day on a painting, but I spend all day doing something I love."

(Roderick)

When she sounded so snobby when she said that. Maybe my questions were out of line, but she didn't have to sound stuck up.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Aisha asked.

"I work in the insurance business," I said, with a little more pride than I meant to.

"Sounds like fun," she said, sarcastically.

"It is," I said.

I was lying, but she was so critical. Is she always like this? I thought.

(Aisha)

Dinner was a nightmare. All night Roderick and I had been giving each other subtle insults. Every time Amy would bring up a good point about him, he would brag about it. I knew I was doing the same thing, but he did it worse.

"Would you like some desert?" the waiter asked me.

"No thank you," I said. "Just some coffee would be great."

"You sure you don't want some?" Murray asked.

"No thanks," I said. "Maybe I'll just have a bite of your cake or something."

"He does have a girlfriend," Roderick said.

I snapped my head in his direction. "Excuse me?" I asked.

"The only person who should be eating his cake is him and his girlfriend," Roderick said. "If you wanted desert, you should order your own instead of eating Murray's."

That did it. I couldn't be civil anymore. I was done.

"Excuse me, do you have a problem?" I snapped.

"What?" was Roderick's reply.

"You've basically been criticizing me all night," I said, angrily. "My job, my clothes, my taste in food. You obviously have a problem with me."

"You're the one who's got a problem with me," Roderick retorted.

"I do not."

"You've been criticizing me, too."

"I have not."

"You have, too."

"Well, you started it."

"What are you, three?"

I suddenly felt verbal vomit coming out of my mouth.

"You know what?" I said. "I didn't even want to come tonight. The only reason I came was because Murray and Amy asked me to. They made you sound like a typical fatjackass. But, I was wrong."

"Really?" Roderick sneered.

"Yes," I replied. "You're a different kind of jackass. You're a wise-ass, butnot-so-repulsive-lookingjackass.You are the KING of jackasses."

"Thanks for the kind words," Roderick said, sarcastically. "You know, Murray described you as a freaky, artsy, lady who didn't know there was a world outside her apartment. But you're not. You're something else."

"What am I?" I asked, snidely.

"You're a snobby, psycho, bitch," Roderick retorted.

"Well, you can kiss this psycho bitch's ass," I said, standing up.

I couldn't stay in that restaurant anymore. Not while I was breathing the same oxygen as Roderick McAsshole. I went into my purse and took out my wallet and threw a twenty-dollar bill down on the table.

"Amy, Murray," I said. "Thank you for dinner. It was lovely."

I turned on my heel and walked out of the restaurant. I was so angry I was sure smoke was puffing out of my ears.

"Aisha!" I heard Amy behind me. "Aisha, wait!"

I walked up to the elevator and pushed the button.

"Aisha, I'm so sorry," Amy said. "I had no idea he was going to act like that."

"Is he always such an ass?" I asked.

"No!" Amy shook her head quickly. "He's never like this! He just gets a little uptight. You just have to give him another chance."

"I'm not even giving him a shoe with dog poop on it," I said, just as the elevator arrived. "That's how much I hate him."

I stepped inside with Amy on my heels.

"I know tonight was a little bad, but-" Amy started off.

"A little?" I asked. "Amy, that was the day from hell!"

"I'm sorry," Amy said.

We stood in silence.

"Murray and I thought you two would be perfect together," Amy said. "We would always talk about it. I mean, you're beautiful and he's hot. You both are good people and believe it or not, you both have a lot in common. We just thought this match-up would work and that you maybe would've gotten him out of the office."

"Well, it did," I said. "You really out did yourself. Thanks for the night."

"How many times do you want me to say 'I'm sorry?'" Amy asked. "You don't have to take this out on me. I didn't know he was going to act like this tonight."

I suddenly felt bad. It wasn't Amy or Murray's fault that Roderick was a jerk.

"I'm sorry, Amy," I said, calmly. "You're right."

"You weren't exactly friendly this evening either," Amy said.

"I know," I replied.

Finally, the elevator landed on the first floor and Amy and I walked out. I was ready to erase this night and Roderick from my memory. But, there was one thing that bothered me at the back of my mind: I had definitely seen Roderick somewhere before tonight. But, where?

(Roderick)

Good riddance, I thought, as Amy followed Aisha who was stalking out of the restaurant. I couldn't believe I even liked her. Yeah, she was beautiful, but she was a bitch. People like her really pissed me off.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Murray asked.

"What?" I asked.

"You just started pouncing on her the minute we sat down," Murray said.

"I did not," I protested.

"'Do all your clothes have paint stains?'" Murray mimicked. "'Do you sell your paintings on the street?'"

"Hey, did you see the way she was looking at me when we were introduced?" Roderick asked.

"She was uncomfortable," Murray said.

"She was judging me."

"You've always thought everyone was judging you because your last girlfriend was too judgmental."

"That's not true. And she wasn't exactly Miss Manners towards me either."

Murray and I stood up and walked towards the elevator.

"I apologize on her behalf," Murray said. "I don't know what got into her either. She's usually nice."

"Well, maybeCoun Draculla'sillegitimatewanted me to see her fangs," I said.

"That's not fair," Murray said, just as the elevator came.

"I know," I said. "Sorry."

But, there was one thing that was bothering me. I knew Aisha from somewhere. But, where had I seen her? Did she used to work in the office? Did we go to college together? Did I pass her on the subway once? Oh, man, I thought. This is going to bug me all night.

To Be Continued………

A/N: I know they acted immature, but I wanted to make this story somewhat funny. Plus, Aida and Radames didn't exactly like each other, so I kind of wanted to echo the originalplot. Chapter 4 is coming soon.