How Chapter Eighteen should have been. I don't know why I'm like this, I've been in a FanFiction writing funk for a while and I'm trying to be better, I'm almost done an entire story (can you believe that? I'm going to post another chapter tonight and two tomorrow if that's possible, I need to finish it). Maybe I'll create a second chapter for this, maybe not!
Anyway, enjoy and thank you for supporting as always!
Rick Grimes - clad in a dark blue long sleeve button-down shirt, dark blue jeans, and boots - patiently waited at the bar for his date. He had no idea who she was, what she did for a living or what she looked like, and it was making him visibly nervous. He scratched his beard lightly.
"First date?" The bartender who was cleaning some glasses asked him.
"Blind date." He corrected.
"Even worse." The bartender said and they shared a laugh. "Here, on the house." He said, passing Rick a run and coke.
"Thanks." Rick replied as he downed the drink. He made a face, he wasn't expecting it to be this strong. He coughed a few times, his face turning bright red.
"For luck." The bartender said as he walked away from Rick and towards the other customers. Rick took a deep breath to calm himself down, despite it being a blind date, he didn't want to look like he was having an allergic reaction or worse, like a bitch because of a spiked rum and coke.
. . .
Michonne got out of her Uber, she was a few minutes late, but here nonetheless. She wasn't expecting much from her date with the infamous Rick Grimes, but she did her best to look put together since he was already there. She took out her neutral pink lipgloss from her brown Burberry coat pocket and applied another coat before entering the restaurant.
. . .
Rick frowned when he saw her enter the restaurant and almost scowled when she made eye contact with him. I'm gonna kill Shane when I see him. He thought. He didn't date girls like Michonne; girls who thought that they were better than others because they came from money. They weren't his type. He beckoned for the bartender to give him another drink.
"Already?" The bartender chuckled.
"I'm gonna need it." He said dryly. The bartender raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Instead, he grabbed a larger glass started to make it a double. That is, until he saw the woman who was approaching the bar.
"Hi, Rick." She said behind him. She didn't understand why she was nervous, she saw him all the time, they just didn't talk.
"Hey." He said, glaring at the bartender, telepathically telling him to hurry up with his drink.
"Should we get our table?" She asked him, adjusting the strap of her beige purse on her shoulder. Why didn't they just meet at the table? She thought.
He threw some cash on the counter and turned to face her. The bartender whistled, clearly knowing something Rick didn't and Rick glared at him again. "Lead the way." He said, waiting for her to make the first move. If Michonne had caught his sarcasm, she didn't make a point to bring it up which both annoyed and impressed Rick seeing as she was always complaining about one thing or another, especially about her hair. It does look nice though, he thought as she made her way to the front of the house. Rick watched her as she walked towards the hostess' desk with poise and grace, probably from her years as a pageant princess, he thought with a roll of his eyes. He took a sip of his drink when they arrived at their temporary destination.
"Excuse me?" She asked one of the hostesses. "We have a reservation for two tonight."
The waitress looked flustered. "Okay, I'll be right back!" She said, running off.
"It seems busy tonight." She said to no one in particular. The restaurant was, indeed, packed. The majority of the tables were filled with older couples and girlfriends. Michonne felt both at ease and out of place. The latter because she was on a date with a man she didn't know, but had heard a lot of. She wondered what he thought of her, probably not anything good seeing as it was Lori who had set the date up. God, I hate her sometimes. She frowned a bit before regaining her composure however, Rick had noted the brief emotion and clenched his jaw. Michonne sighed a small sigh.
"Does that bother you?" He asked her after a few minutes of silence.
She looked up to him, confused. Her doe eyes pouring into his blue ones in question. "I don't understand."
"Never mind." He quickly said, unable to find the words to properly respond to her. Her eyes lingered on his until the hostess came back to the front of the house.
"Follow me!" She said more confidently to Michonne who, once again, smiled back at her. Rick downed the rest of his drink and left it on one of the dirty tables.
"Here we are." The blue-eyed woman said putting two menus on the table. "Your waiter will be right with you; have a good night!" She finished as she walked away, leaving the awkward duo to fend for themselves.
Michonne removed her coat and placed it on the seat next to her. Rick tried not to ogle at the figure before him, but he couldn't help it. Apparently, neither could the men around her. Her strapless red dress hugged her curves perfectly, and the puffed sleeves - or what Rick thought to be sleeves - made her already small frame smaller to the eye. She sat down and he almost regretted not getting up and pulling her chair out for her. Almost.
She opened her menu and browsed through it while Rick remained silent. "If you knew it was me, would you have shown up tonight?" She asked, not looking up.
"What do you mean?" He responded, a little taken aback by the question.
"You don't seem happy to be here." She shut the menu, already having decided on what she wanted to eat, whether that be alone or with the man standing in front of him. "In fact, you look like you'd rather be anywhere but here."
"What makes you say that?" He entertained her.
She shrugged. "Just a hunch." She said, looking at the drinks menu now.
"A hunch?"
"Yes, a hunch." She flipped a page.
"Care to elaborate?" He smirked as the waiter appeared.
"I'll have a glass of water and a glass of Farmer's White please." She ignored his question. The baldheaded and somewhat muscular waiter nodded and jotted down her order. "I'll also be getting the crusted salmon with a salad on the side."
"Ceasar salad or garden salad?" The waiter asked.
"Garden please, with balsamic dressing on the side, please."
The waiter smiled at her once again and turned to Rick. "And what will you be having, sir?"
"I'll get a pint on tap and the New York sirloin please."
"And how would you like your steak?" He waited patiently.
"Medium rare."
They both watched as the waiter finished writing down their order before he took the menus from them. "I'll be back shortly with your drinks."
"Thank you." They said in unison.
Rick waited until the waiter was out of earshot before he asked her the question again.
"I know you don't like me, Rick." She looked at him stoically, but her eyes revealed something else. He titled his head and she took that as a cue to keep going. "I know I wasn't the greatest person to be around in college and I didn't know how bad I was until Sasha told me about myself in the middle of Costco." She smiled at the memory. "But I digress, that was four years ago and you have not spoken to me since and therefore have no reason to hold a grudge against me because I'm not that person anymore."
The waiter re-appeared with their drinks. The duo thanked him and quietly resumed their conversation - which to others, looked like a lover's quarrel. "You think I don't like you?"
She answered simply. "It's no secret."
"You're right." She nodded once, not meeting his eyes. "People like you look down on people who don't come from money. You think that money can buy you everythin' and anythin'. Let me tell you somethin': you're not better than me because your daddy can buy you things left, right, and centre. You're an orphan who was adopted by rich people.l and yet you complain about everythin' that isn't up to your standards like you have the right to do so, even when it's out of your control! Not only that, you take advantage of the people around you and you care about no one but yourself. I don't know how anyone can be around you for so long without wantin' to jump off a cliff." He finished.
There was a pause before she responded. "I see you still think I'm that spoiled twenty-one year old." She took a sip of her drink and sighed. "Excuse me." She said as she pushed her chair back and grabbed her purse before she stood up. Rick didn't know if he felt proud or disgusted with himself, but the look on the face of one of the men near him made him realize that shame was what he should be feeling.
"Unbelievable." The man muttered to the figure in front of him. "Did you hear that?" He said to the woman sitting next to him.
. . .
Michonne entered the women's washroom as calmly as she could, she didn't want to bring anymore attention to herself than Rick already did. She knew she was a spoiled girl, people constantly told her and she also knew that it had gotten to her ahead for a long time. What she didn't know was that people still thought of her as the young girl who had just flown in from a Swiss private school to attend school in the town she was born in; the twenty-one year old girl who had to be told again and again that she wasn't special because she was rich until she got it; the twenty-one year old girl she wished to grow apart from.
Michonne grabbed a few pieces of paper and dabbed her eyes. Like hell she was going to ruin her makeup. She had taken her time today for a man who didn't deserve it, who made her feel momentarily inadequate. "I'm gonna kill Lori." Lori, the peacemaker of the group and every boy's girl next door fantasy girl. Michonne hated the fact that she had agreed to this date. She let a few more tears fall before opening up her purse to fix her mascara and lipstick. Once she was satisfied, she walked out of the bathroom looking better than when she walked in.
. . .
Rick patiently waited for Michonne to come back. He didn't know how to feel about what he had just said, but he didn't get to ruminate on his feelings for long once he spotted her in the corner of the room. The man who had witnessed his attack was now looking at him sternly, waiting to see how else Rick was going to ruin her night.
She placed her purse on the chair next to hers before sitting down and taking a large gulp of her wine. "I hear the food is really good here, you mustn't let your steak go to waste." She said as she removed the cloth covering her knife and fork. She took another gulp of her wine and then a sip of her water before placing the napkin on her thighs. Rick watched in confusion.
"Michonne-" He said.
"What was your major again? Lori told me you're working as an engineer in Brooklyn?"
"Michonne-" He tried again.
"Can you believe I've never been on a date before? I can, it's because I'm such a bitch, no man wants to deal with me." She finished just as the waiter set their plates on the table. "Dig in!"
She ate her food so quickly, one would have thought that she hadn't eaten a decent meal in years. Rick had taken two bites of his steak when she was halfway done her salmon and onto her second glass of wine.
"You wanna slow down and chew your food?" She paused as if she were about to say something, but shrugged and went back to eating. "Look, Michonne-"
"You've said more than enough, Rick." She finished her second glass and gently placed it on the table. Her facade was cracking. "Eat your food so we can both forget this night ever happened."
"Is that what you want?" He didn't know why he asked that, of course it's what he wanted.
"It's what you want." She said matter of factly.
"Right." He muttered.
She pulled out her phone and started texting violently, Rick knew that it could only mean one thing: the date was over. When she finished she put her phone back and said, "My Uber will be here in ten minutes." She sipped on her water, awaiting his response.
"Okay." He should have known.
"I'm going to go and wait outside for it." She said as she finished her water. Once done, she grabbed her stuff and stood. "Goodnight, Rick." She didn't bother putting on her coat.
She hadn't wanted to make scene so she got up as quickly as she could however, most of the patrons sitting in the same area as them had taken to their conversation a long time ago and were just waiting to see how it would end. Rick sat there and groaned. The old man who had also been listening to their conversation grinned.
And if things couldn't get any worse, the waiter showed up. "How are we doing here?"
"She left."
The waiter didn't say anything in regards to remorse, he too had been keeping an eye. "Would you like to see the desert menu?"
Rick chuckled dryly. "Do you think I'm an asshole?"
"Will the answer affect my tip?" The waiter asked seriously.
He chuckled again. "No."
"Then yes and for some advice, when going out on a date with someone out of your league perhaps don't do what you just did." After a brief pause. "I'll go and get your bill."
. . .
Michonne stood outside shivering from the cold. Her jacket was not warm enough, but she refused to go back inside where she might encounter him again. She looked down at her phone and the map on the screen still said ten minutes away. She groaned aloud.
After a few more minutes, she felt her knees begin to buckle. Despite all the years of pageantry, she still couldn't stand in heels for more than two hours at a time. "Where are you?" She texted the driver to no avail. "Oh my god!" She stomped her foot on the smooth concrete pavement, her impatience getting the best of her.
"You're still here?" He asked and she jumped in surprise, but didn't turn around; she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she had no yet left. "Do you need a ride?"
She scoffed and checked her phone again. Still no movement. She rolled her eyes. When she found that he hadn't walked away, she growled, "Why are you still here?" She was now facing him. "Don't you have a cliff to jump off of?"
"I deserved that." He said scratching his beard. Rick stared at her for a while, but didn't move. Dejected, Michonne sighed and checked her phone again. She was about to cancel the call and hail a cab, but he interrupted her thoughts.
"There's a price surge going on right now."
"I don't care, I'm rich, remember?"
He nodded. "Right... Offer still stands."
Michonne was at her wits end - her feet hurt, her head hurt, and all she wanted to do was cry. "Please just stop, just leave me alone." Her voice cracked and he noticed that she was wiping away her tears.
"I'm sorry."
Slap.
He felt the reddening and burning of his left cheek. He wasn't expecting her to slap him, but he should have known she would have reacted angrily after what he had said. He swore he could taste blood but maybe he was just being dramatic.
"Doesn't feel good does it?" She stared at him. "Maybe now you'll hate me even more and stay away from me for good." She started to walk away from him when he grabbed her arm. "Let me go."
"Look- Listen!" He said louder as she tried to squirm away from him. "I want to apologize for what I said."
"Apology not accepted."
"Hear me out!" He let go when she threatened to slap him again. "Don't!" He grabbed her other arm which resulted in them both having their arms crossed across their chest. Michonne was breathing heavily, tired from trying to wrestle away from him and Rick was staring at her intensely. "Will you please listen?"
Michonne sniffed. "Do you even know what you did back there? Do you even understand?" Rick clenched his jaw. "Do you know what it's like to get dressed up for a date with a person who hates you? Lori told me that it would be a surprise and then on my way here, she texted me that it was with you!" She paused. "Do you even know what it's like to have never been asked on a date because of rumours? No boy approached me for four years because of you and those that asked canceled on me last minute." She was starting to ramble, but she didn't care. It's not like they were going see each other again anyway. "Once there was a guy who told me he needed to head back to Kingston, Ontario for school! But he had told me a couple weeks prior that he had already graduated!" She laughed bitterly. "Another guy was from Atlanta and said that he would drive down, 'it was no big deal' he said 'I have family there', but then when it came to the day of, he told me his car broke down. I obviously understood, but then I saw him out with someone else in the a week later." She looked at him, but he was unable to read her. "I wish you hadn't shown up so that I could just add you to my list of no-shows."
She looked at their arms and saw that he had loosened his grip. She quickly pulled her arms away. "I'm sorry." He said again.
"So am I." She said as she turned around to wait for her Uber.
. . .
Michonne threw the keys on the side table and shut the door. She visibly relaxed when she kicked off her heels. She looked at her phone and saw seven messages from Lori. She unlocked it and didn't read any of them before replying, "Don't ever play matchmaker with me again."
She knew Lori would be calling her within moments of reading the text so she muted her phone. She deserved some peace after tonight. She made her way to her room where she stepped out of her dress and lay in her bed naked; her breasts lying flat against her chest. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before bolting up towards her newly renovated bathroom. She loved white subway tiles and silently thanked HGTV for bringing them into her life.
She turned on the faucet to scorching hot levels, she would neutralize it once it reached the halfway point. She walked back to the kitchen and got a bag of ketchup chips and a bottle of wine. She was going to drink her sorrows away. As she made her way back to her bedroom, she picked up her phone, she would have to deal with Lori anyway.
She tested the bathtub water with her big toe and slowly dipped her whole body in the near scorching hot water. She tied her hair up in a bun and unscrewed her wine. It was that kind of night. Michonne attempted to relax in her safe space but was interrupted by her never ending glowing phone. She had turned it on mute, not off. She rolled her eyes and dried her hands with the small face towel resting behind her head. "What now?" She groaned.
After keying in her password a few more times than necessary, she saw three missed phone calls, two from Lori and one from an unknown number. She then looked at her missed messages and noticed that they were all from the same unknown number. She opened and read them.
I contacted Lori to get your number. I know I probably shouldn't have done that, but I did because you deserve better. She rolled her eyes, she didn't need caller ID to know who it was.
It's Rick by the way. You probably already suspected that, but I thought I should let you know anyway.
Michonne didn't understand why he sent a series of messages as opposed to a long one. Was he new at texting?
Anyway, I know I'm the last person you want to talk to or see ever again - she dropped her phone. She refused to read the rest of it until she drank more wine and ate more chips.
"Rick Grimes," She sang. "Prettiest and most charming boy in all of Georgia." She sneered in disgust as she took another sip of her wine. "Bullshit."
She sat the glass down and picked up her phone again. She wasn't going to finish reading the rest of his texts, she was going to call him and have him tell her. She tapped on "his" number and put him on speaker.
"Hello?" He answered in his Southern twang. Michonne said nothing. Instead, she took another swig of her wine. "Hello?" He asked again. There was a pause before he said, "Michonne, is that you?"
"Correct." She answered in a sultry voice.
"Oh." He stammered. "I wasn't expectin' to hear from you." And so soon, he though.
"Hmm I doubt it seeing as you called me and texted me right after our date." She said angrily.
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry for saying what you said or for getting caught not being the most charming person in the entire state?" She tested.
"For everythang."
"Oh... Everythang?" She exaggerated. "What does that entail exactly? And before you answer, no, I didn't read your texts because you don't get to get off that easy. You don't get to apologize and then live your life happy as a dog." She sunk deeper into the tub, it was getting colder and she was unhappy about that.
"I'm sorry for..." He sighed. He didn't even know where to begin.
"You're sorry?" She mocked and he chuckled dryly. "How does it feel? To be the most loved person in King's County and Atlanta?" Se paused. "Everybody just loooooves you." She slurred.
"... Are you drunk?" He asked. She was indeed drunk, but why did it matter? She moved forward, she sloshing of the water transferring to the other side of the line, and drained some water out to refill it with hot water. "Are you swimmin' right now?"
"Bathing." She ignored his first question.
"... My wife left me a year ago for my best friend and I recently found out that she's pregnant."
"And you're telling me this because?"
"My life isn't perfect." She scoffed. "Yours isn't either, I realized this a little too late."
"Everyone I knew ended up hating me because of you. Andrea hated me and Lori - the girl who used to take a shot of rum as her birth control "chaser" - was the only one to defend me from you and right now, I don't even want to talk to her because of you."
"Michonne I- Can we start again?" He no longer felt like his apology would be heard.
She was stunned. "Why?"
"Because you deserve it." She said plainly.
"Why do you want to start again with me?" She pointed to herself, holding her half empty bottle of her strawberry flavoured Girl's Night Out rosé.
"Because I want to get to know you, the real you, the one who introduced herself to me in Chem101."
"No." She answered flatly. He nodded into his phone. "You really don't listen do you?"
"I'm tryin'."
"No you don't because if you did, you would know that I told you that you don't even know me. You don't even know the girl you met- I'm sorry, you never got to know the girl you met in Chem101 and that girl no longer exists." She said, feeling proud of herself. It had taken a long while before she was able to defend herself and when she did, she felt like a million bucks.
"You're right." Was all he said. "Sorry to bother, it won't happen again. Goodnight, Michonne."
"Bye, Rick." She hung up her phone and searched for Lori's name.
Rick Grimes just told me he wanted to get to know me. This is AFTER he basically told me that he hated my guts. Is he going through some sort of emotional breakdown because I am NOT THE ONE. She pressed "send" and immediately saw three dots on the screen. Poor girl was waiting for Michonne to talk to her again.
He said what?! What is going on with him? Let me talk to him, brb.
Michonne rolled her eyes and set her phone down. She was going to enjoy her bath for another half an hour before settling in for the everything. Unfortunately, her relaxation only lasted a few minutes because Lori texted her back.
Alright he told me that he never intended to humiliate you and that it just came out.
"Yeah right!" Michonne said aloud.
He's saying that the past couple of weeks have been a living nightmare for him and that's its triggering negative emotions. He says he's been getting him for it, but sometimes he can't control it.
He's a liar. Michonne responded.
That's what I'm thinking as well. Lori said. Let's wait and find out what he says. After a few seconds, Lori texted, He doesn't know how to apologize for what he did in the past and tonight. He wants to make it up to you, but he's already accepted that you never want to see him or talk to him again. AAAAAAAAAAAAND he might be in love with you.
EXCUSE ME? Michonne screamed and texted.
I'm kidding. Lori said. I just added that for the fun of it, please don't hate me. He actually said: "Please tell her that I'm sorry, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I shouldn't have judged her - I didn't even know her and tonight, she reminded me that it's true, I was an ass for the fun of it. Maybe it was because she was different or maybe because I felt threatened by her. I don't know why, she was never one to speak badly of everyone despite everyone talking behind her back. If I could take it all back, I would, but I can't. All I can do is ask for her forgiveness and hope that one day, I could gain her trust and friendship.
What the FUCK LORI?! She texted. Are you shitting me? Why is God testing me?
Maybe his divorce made him realize that he's not invincible and that karma is real? I don't know! I just copy pasted the damn thing!
I can't. I can't. I'm going to bed, goodnight.
LOLOL goodnight and good luck. Lori texted.
Michonne drained the water and exited the tub, she wrapped a fluffy white towel around her and walked towards her bed. She didn't even bother with moisturizing her skin, there were too many things on her mind right now. "Why Rick? Why now?" She groaned, lying on her back. "What do you want from me!" She screeched. She knew that no one would hear her, she lived in a penthouse suite managed by her parents. "I hate you." She whispered as she dragged her feet back to the bathroom and towards her phone.
I hate you, but you're right, your life is worse than mine. She pressed send and went back to her bedroom unbeknownst to her that Rick had read the message as soon as he had gotten it and breathed a sigh of relief. At least some things were going well in his life.