"I brought the contract." He said, putting papers in the middle of the table, between him and Gillian.
"Should I read them first? Could there be a part about me being a feminist and because of that having my heart torn out because you have none either?"
He couldn't help a pleased smirk cross his lips as he pushed the papers and the pen a bit closer to Gillian, obviously eager for her to sign them. He was so close to having her by his side again. "I was just playing your game, darling. These are almost the same papers you signed the first time."
"I'll sign them if I have a half of your ravioli. And you can have half of my dish." She met his confused look with a fake smile. "You didn't give me the time to look at the menu. So it's partially your fault that I chose the appetizer I know nothing about. We all pay for our mistakes, Cal." Now the smile was sincere, wrinkles around her eyes popping up.
"Alright. But you sign the papers first. I'm not gonna give my food to you before I know I have a hell of a reason to do so." It was the game going on. It was innocent (for now at least) and it made the dinner seem a lot more fun.
"You pass me by half of your dish and I sign the papers at the same time or no deal."
"Then you got yourself a deal."
The couple spent the next couple of minutes in a small talk, just the "how have you been" and "what's new" and short, undetailed answers. No one knew what was going on between them, the "bloody line", as Cal liked to call it, appearing every time she felt herself relax a bit more, just to make her straighten her back up, push a bit of hair from her face behind her ear, cough when relaxing too much. She was tense and he could feel it, it reflected on him as well, causing him to feel a bit stiff because she felt uncomfortable. It was an awkward dinner to say at least, much worse than when they started it.
"So, how's Emily? I didn't see her in the office today. Thought she'd come by."
"She did. She left quickly."
"What? Why?" She leaned a bit forward - a sign of interest, Cal thought. Of course. She always loved Ems.
"We got into an argument. Nothing serious."
"It never is too serious between you two, Cal. She loves you too much and she forgives you for everything, no matter how bad it is. It will never be too serious, but don't push her too far. She's a smart kid."
"And she was right about what she said."
Her confused look switched from Cal's to the waiter's face, who put down two plates in front of them, trying to say something but meeting Gil's hand in the process. "Can we have a moment?" And it was his turn to be annoyed, for a good reason, so he walked away much faster than he was supposed to. "So you don't let her have it her way even when she's right?"
"She'd just have her hopes up for nothing."
And then he felt it. He felt the heavy look of realization on him, and he felt his body and tongue betraying him for showing her she was the subject of their fight.
"If you're not gonna man up then at least have the kid have it she's right."
"Oh, Gil, and you want me to man up?" It was anger, hope, lust, love, every single emotion speaking up. "You want me to do something about it? Do you? Do you really want that, love? Or did you chicken out the only tim I managed to cross the bloody line?" He looked her get up from her seat, eyes filled with tears and anger. "You ran away not just from me a year ago, but from Emily and the whole company. Because you chickened out. So don't tell me to "man up" when I lose you if I do so!"
She waited for him to say the last word, and then took her bag with trembling hands and ran out. She didn't care about the bill, about the dinner, about the contract, or anything else. All she wanted was to get out. All she wanted was to never be reminded of her own stupid choices. And to make it all even worse, she just did what she argued him about - he had it right but she wouldn't let him have it his way.