Major plot point in this chapter, so have fun! Follow favorite and review!
Merida sat down in the restaurant that was across the street from her hotel. Her hotel only ever served breakfast so she was forced to eat out for any other meal. (Unless she wanted to eat in, but she wanted to eat out before her flight left; airport food was not her style.)
She still felt miserable over the earlier even that occurred with Joseph at his office. She hadn't exactly been thinking strait at the time. She had found out that his office was there quite by accident and well, it just pretty much descended into exactly what had happened from there.
Not exactly what she wanted to happen.
Merida couldn't help it. She still loved him, even after all these years that they were apart. Merida felt a blush rise over her cheeks. She felt like a giggling school girl all over again. Not that she was going to fall for any person she saw. It had been quite the opposite at the time.
In high school she was one of the more desired girls. Apparently people found her red hair and athletic figure attractive. Unfortunately most guys that got a little to close ended up with a black eye as opposed to a kiss on the cheek.
Merida Dunbrouch was not an easy catch and she was never going to allow herself to fall for any man so easily. She was going to be independent.
Until she met him. Joseph was Rapunzel's friend (and it honestly surprised her that according to Rapunzel, they never once went out on a date) and he was unlike many of the men that had tried to pick Merida up over the years. He was kind uncertain and didn't even try to flirt with her at any point. He just spoke to her like he did to Rapunzel.
Merida sighed. That had been one of the better times of her life.
That being said how was she ever going to tell him-
A laugh interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see Joseph and a beautiful woman entering the restaurant. Merida's eyes widened.
Merida entered the office. Joseph was apparently going to arrive in a few minutes, so she wanted to surprise him. She wanted to talk to him, to explain everything that she should have explained to him the day that they broke up.
She sat on his desk (ignoring the chair) and spotted a picture on the desk. Her heart swelled. Was it?
She picked up the picture and her heart fell to her stomach. It was a picture of a platinum blond woman, who was staring back at her. She was wearing a blue jacket and white clothing. It looked like she was having a good day
Merida felt a tear roll down her face. He really had moved on. Merida gripped the picture tightly. Before she could do anything, she heard the door open
Merida covered her face with her menu. Why? Why now of all times, did this have to happen? They were at the same restaurant? What had she down to deserve this? she was ok meeting Joseph at his office, where she could get some privacy; but to meet his girlfriend? In a public place! This was not good for her temper. Even dealing with her three teenage brothers was better than the scenario she was currently stuck in!
What was she going to do? She peeked out from the menu and saw them getting a table. No! That could not happen! She couldn't do anything. She had already ordered her food and leaving would cause them to see her! But she couldn't stay. She was angry enough as it was!
Merida groaned. Just how was she going to get out of this one!
She watched as Joseph and his girlfriend, walked to a table not to far from where she was sitting.
Not good, definitely not good.
Merida was not very happy. If they saw her, then it was going to be chaos! Joseph would definitely try to leave, causing problems with his girlfriend, who would question his actions.
Yeah that definitely sounded like a recipe for disaster. Merida may be a confrontational person, but she had to agree even that sounded like a ridiculous thing to do.
Instead she just sat there, hoping, and praying that she could find something to do.
If anything, it would be impossible to just go up and talk to them. There was already tension, if it erupted into full blown pandemonium in public, in this restaurant, Merida was sure that she would never be able to forgive herself for doing that. Joseph had moved on; it was time she did the same.
Unfortunately, Merida herself was about as stubborn as could be. She was not one to back down from a fight and if one was to break out she would do her upmost best to win it.
Which would not bode well for anyone near her because, well she had a temper to prove it. it had caused her trouble in the past and it was going to cause trouble for her now
Yeah it was going to be terrible, and she knew it. There was no way that any sort of fight with her was going to end very well
No. She had to play it cool. No contact, no discussion about it. She was not going to ruin her lunch, nor that of anyone else in the whole gosh darn restaurant.
Elinor would probably scold her if she was here, but Merida could not help it. She was here, in this restaurant and that was the only thing that mattered. She would just have to deal with the fact that the universe decided to bring her ex boyfriend here too
Merida was supposed to be enjoying herself, but now she was wishing she was already home. Instead she was stuck here, in a place that was only going to cause her to have a lot more stress than she would have ever wished for.
Oh the joy.
Why couldn't she be more diplomatic? Her mother's skills would definitely be able to help out during this situation. If there was anything Merida was good at it was starting a fight over something, but right now, that was the last thing she wanted to do. She already embarrassed herself when she tried to make a move on her ex earlier today, she did not want to make it worse by fighting with his girlfriend in public!
What if he saw her? She wasn't sure she could handle that. Would he panic like she felt like she was panicking?
She did not want to fight Joseph or his new girlfriend in public, but she was already growing stressed which would not do well for her temper if she actually lost it
Merida may not look it but she was physically strong she would go crazy if it came to that, but she did not want to do that.
Which was hard to do when she could see Joseph and the woman practically feeding each other!
Merida felt her heart clench. They used to do that, over the course of so many dates. Merida hadn't been fond of it at first (romance was not her thing at all), but Joseph decided that she had to do it at least once and force-fed her dessert once.
At the time she felt like breaking his arm, but eventually she just gave in. she had to admit looking at it was romantic.
Except for the fact that he was doing it with another woman.
Merida groaned and placed her head on the table. Where was her food, she needed to make a quick exit, but only after she ate. Then she was going to rush to the airport and leave everything else behind.
She fingered the necklace around her neck. She couldn't leave without telling him could she?
She looked up at him. He was smiling happy. His laughter was like music to her ears and it made her heart melt. He had the same laugh.
She couldn't tell him. It would break his heart.
Merida sat back as her food arrived. She nibbled on it gingerly, watching her ex carefully.
It had been many years ago, and she regretted her actions that day, but it was done. But Joseph, he could not be apart of it now. She had denied him everything and he had moved on. It was time she did the same
Maybe she was destined to be alone. Merida had always said she wasn't ready for marriage; perhaps it was better this way.
Merida watched as Joseph got his own food and began to eat as well. Ok then. Hopefully he could leave before Merida and she could escape without ever being noticed by him
After a few moments, Merida stood up from the table and walked to the woman's restroom.
Little did she know, a certain platinum blond woman was also making her way to the woman's restroom.
Merida ran to the sink and began washing her face. She felt the cool water on her face. It felt cleansing and managed to relieve a little of her stress.
Suddenly she heard the door open. Merida stood up fast and gasped as she saw Joseph's girlfriend enter the room.
Oh great! The one thing she was hoping for, just had go and not happen didn't it. She was in the restroom, alone with the person causing her so much stress!
The woman stiffened, no doubt surprised by Merida's gasp. "Sorry" her voice was soft. Merida stared at her. She was beautiful, with a figure similar to Rapunzel's, as well as a similar face, though much paler and with blue eyes unlike Rapunzel's green
Merida bit her lip. No wonder Joseph had fallen so hard for this woman.
The woman noticed her uncertainty "are you alright?" she asked Merida.
Merida clenched her fists, and stared at the ground. How was she supposed to tell her that she was angry because this woman was dating her boyfriend? She felt a tear leak down her face and her body suddenly started to convulse with sobs.
Geez how pathetic was she? She was crying in front of another woman without the slightest hint of an explanation. God she must really look like a complete idiot right now
She heard the woman gasp and a moment later a tissue was placed in her hand.
Merida looked at the woman. She was so kind. She wiped her face, and gave the woman a smile. "Thanks."
The woman smiled "your welcome miss…"
Merida held out her hand "Merida"
The woman took her hand "Elsa"
Elsa. so that was the name of his new lass. Well, it was pretty.
Elsa's face then fell "may I ask why you were crying Merida? I don't mean to pry, I just want to make sure that you are alright."
Merida turned away. She couldn't tell her. "Just… a rough week that's all." That was the truth, considering that Merida was in this situation.
Elsa frowned "I'm sorry I wished that I could help you"
Merida placed her hand on her neck. "Its quite alright." She said.
Elsa looked down at the necklace and her eyes widened. "that is a very beautiful piece of jewelry." She told Merida "where did you get it?"
Merida frowned. "it was given to me by someone very important to me."
Elsa gave her a grin "your husband?"
Merida felt her fist clench. She couldn't tell Elsa. It would not bode very well and it would like be the start of a very heated argument. "No. It was from an ex boyfriend."
Elsa's face fell. "oh… you must have been very happy together."
Must have been very happy together. They were very happy together, until Merida ran away because she just had to be selfish.
Elsa took the pendant in her hand "is this a picture locket?" she asked.
Merida smiled and opened the locket revealing the picture that she placed inside of it.
she watched as Elsa's eyes widened…. she was obviously taken by the photo inside the pendant. She glanced up at Merida "very nice" she said
Merida smiled. Most people did indeed find the picture to be adorable. There just wasn't any reason for it not to be.
She closed the locket and smiled. "Thank you Elsa"
Merida then left the rest room.
Her heart was racing. She could not believe what had just happened. She had met and talked to Elsa the woman who was causing her the most stress today.
Merida returned to her table making sure to hide her face. Would Elsa tell her ex about the encounter that they had in the restroom. It didn't exactly make for good dinner conversation and it was a very depressing moment, so it didn't seem that it would ever need to come up in a conversation.
Merida clenched her fist. She did not want something like that to ever happen again. if she ever saw Elsa again, she did not want it to be to introduce her to her ex. It would not be a very pretty situation.
Merida frowned. It would seem that Joseph never told Elsa about her. Why would he? They had long since broken up.
What was Merida to do? She was caught in the largest dilemma that she could face at the moment. If Elsa tried to find her and introduce her, it would just cause more problems then she needed, but she had to see Joseph again. She desperately wanted to
But how was she going to be able to do that when she had the problem that she was currently facing? Elsa seemed to make him very happy. Wasn't that the most important thing?
But Merida couldn't help it. She so badly wanted Joseph to be hers again. She deserved him. After everything that had happened in the past. She wanted him.
Merida finished her plate then left some money for the check, before quietly exiting the restaurant and walked across the street back to her hotel room. Her entire being was overloaded with what had happened to her today. She was unhappy and angry all at the same time.
She had to find out more about Elsa. There was only one problem. She didn't know Elsa's last name nor did she have anything with which to contact her.
Jealously was a sin, so she was told. But Merida was far too angry to care. She entered her hotel and returned to her room.
She went into the hotel bedroom, and began taking her cloths and shoving them into a suitcase that she had. It was untidy and clumsy but she was in such a rage that she didn't care about what it looked like. It was a suitcase.
She roared in frustration as she began to cry once more. It was just too much for her to handle at the moment.
She shoved more cloths into her suitcase. Why? Why did everything have to be so hard?
She curled up on her knees ready to just cry her heart out. She clenched her hand around the necklace once more. It was hers and hers alone. The necklace had once been a gift; it held something very dear to her.
But the one she loved know had the attention of someone else, someone who made Merida's blood boil.
Now Merida was not a malicious person. She was known to be kind if very hot tempered. But she was seething with rage right about now.
Merida, growling grabbed a pillow and shoved her face in it screaming loudly. After doing so, she felt much better. she tossed the pillow aside and sank to her knees crying.
She frowned and stared at the wall. It was not a very happy moment for her. She needed to say so much, but she refused to. She needed to move on, return to her mother and care for her. Then maybe, just maybe, she could finally move on. There was nothing left for here. Joseph was engaged.
She may love him, but he no longer felt the same.
She huffed and stood up. She grabbed her purse and slung it on her shoulder. As she did so, a small photo that she kept tumbled out of its pocket. She looked down, must have forgotten to zip it last time she opened her purse. She bent down and picked up the photo. It was from her last night at college. It was her self and Rapunzel waving goodbye. Merida and Rapunzel had huge grins on their faces; they were happy to be leaving college. Rapunzel's smile… it was the exact same smile that Elsa had worn earlier. She dropped the photo. Rapunzel and Elsa…. They must be related!
Merida gasped an she felt her heartbeat racing… she never…. Despite keeping in contact with Rapunzel all these years, Rapunzel's extended family never came up to visit and she certainly never talked about them. Not even when they were in college
Rapunzel never dated Joseph, but now he was dating someone in her family? Merida growled. She needed answers.
Rapunzel had been her best friend in college. The girl had a good heart and really hated lying. She would answer most, if not all of the questions Merida would ask her.
That was one of the good things about having Rapunzel as a very good friend.
Merida frowned. This would certainly not be something that would be very easy to do, but it needed to be done.
Would Rapunzel understand? Well she knew what had happened so long ago, so she would, minus the fact that if she was related to Elsa, she would definitely be on the other girls side, rather than her own.
Merida grabbed her phone from her purse and dialed Rapunzel's number. She was going to get her answers.