Of June

24- Rhythm Of The Night

Recap: Adam and Madison reunite after 4 months, (or 10 years, from Adam's POV) Through a slip up related to her diary, he figures out her secret and they plan to meet at a restaurant where Madison spills everything. She's also revealed that him and Abbey broke up not long after she left. Things were going great until Abbey (now 25 years old) makes a surprise entry with a mysterious man *drum rolls, please*

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Adam whips around for a quick glance of her, so rapidly that I'm afraid his neck almost snaps. He turns back around barely an instant later with the same speed, a tight palm clamped over his mouth with eyes the size of saucers. 

"She didn't see me, did she?" He says, now using the hand over mouth in a weird attempt to hide his face.

"No." I eye them discreetly as the man escorts Abbey in our direction. He's wearing a charcoal grey suit jacket, the buttons of which are undone displaying a plain black crew neck inside. I'd have said he looked pretty dapper if I wasn't so biased towards this confused, hot mess of a fellow in front of me who doesn't seem to register anything going on.

With a casual smile I shift to Adam, intending to act as normal as possible. "But she definitely will notice you, if you keep behaving like a fish out of water."

Much against our luck, the couple settle for the table just infront of us. Thanks to our position it's only my face and Adam's back that must be visible to them. While the man occupies the seat just behind Adam, Abbey chooses the one opposite to her partner such that I'm able to see her merely by a slight tilt towards right.

"What should we do now?!" Adam whispers, leaning towards me.

"What do you mean?" I shift forward to make sure my low voice reaches him. "We spy on them, obviously. Unless you don't care if she ends up dating some stranger, or do you?"

"Ofcourse I care!" He exclaims, keeping his voice down. "But still, this feels kind of. . .wrong. . ."

"It's not wrong if we're only looking out for her, is it?" I waggle my eyebrows once, a smirk lifting up one corner of my lips. Wrong or not, as long as we don't involve ourselves and not get caught, does it really matter if we stick around for a couple of more minutes? Curiosity might kill the cat, but it sure as heck also kills a decent amount of boredom. Besides, I'm also doing this for him– whether it's to recompense for my past faults, or simply because I don't want to see him suffer silently.

Hesitation persists on Adam's face. "But still. . .they seem to be doing fine. What's there to look out for–"

"Have you ever thought about how many kids would you like to have in the future, Miss Abilene?" The man says out in a loud, obnoxious voice.

Adam calmly drags forth his chair by an inch, possibly to maintain a safe distance from the guy right behind him. The look of disdain is evident on his face as he does so. "You're right. It's not a bad idea, at all."

"Really?" I suppress a laugh. "But that's not what you said earlier."

"Did you hear that?!" He widens his eyes, subtly gesturing behind. "Why would he ask those kind of questions?!"

"I don't know. Isn't it normal nowadays to know about such preferences?" I shrug, finding Abbey's face among the small crowd of a family leaving their table. She's grinning bright, but I can tell her uneasiness beneath the facade.

"Why don't we order something first?" Abbey offers politely, evading his question.

"Sure, sure!" The man slaps his thighs with a weird laugh and picks up the menu booklet. As he goes through the pages, the awkward silence on Abbey's behalf suggests strongly that it's definitely their first date. She lets her smile drop for a while, but forces it back once he looks up at her again.