Tell me why we're here again?" Whines Eva whilst twirling a black curl around her finger and sipping suspiciously at her strange... pale blue cocktail
Sighing, I return to my bar stool and inform her (for the third time) that we are here- at Alfonsos, sitting amongst dozens of couples, old enough to be my grandparents because for some bizarre reason I just couldn't walk past the place
"Well we've managed to walk past it every other time we've come out. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that we've avoided 'Alfonsos- bar/restaurant for the old and nearly-dead' fairly successfully these last couple of years. Why do you have to go and change things tonight?"
I sigh again, and don't even attempt to offer up an explanation
It's ridiculous...
And this place is horrendous! It's decorated like some really bad, 70s movie, and this margarita that I'm holding onto as though my life depended on it? It cost me 3 times what it would normally cost, but for some reason I just couldn't walk past. It was as though the building lassoed my soul and made it impossible for me to walk in any direction other than this one... Eva hasn't stopped going on about it since!
"In fact" she continues, her cheeks now pink with alcohol "I seem to remember you telling me that you would never ever, date anyone that had so much as set foot into Alfonsos"
"Well I guess that means we'll have to cancel Saturday then huh?" I say it in my most suggestive tone and then I drag a finger down her cheek causing us both to collapse into fits of giggles, something which earns us the frowns of most of the diners
"Tay... I smell old people, they're everywhere! please say we can leave, please, please, please!"
I feel sorry for her, I really do because when we decided to do this, I'm sure the last thing she expected was to be sat in a bar/restaurant that our parents would describe as 'hip'- but for some reason, the thought of leaving fills me with more dread than I'd felt when I realised that we were actually going to come in here
"Sure" I say it not knowing whether I mean it or not "Let's finish these and then we can find some place else, somewhere we can kick back, listen to live music and hopefully attract the attention of some really cute guys
"Speaking of cute guys, are you going to tell me what happened at your reunion? I know you were worried about going because your ex was going to be there, was it really terrible?"
I feel my soul growl at the mention of tonights 'forbidden subject' but I shrug nonchalantly and decide on telling her my 'fairy tale of woe' as I've now christened my relationship with Travis
"He yelled at me... a lot" I cringe at the memory of Travis towering over me, his face almost red as the tomatoes he despises whilst he berated me for my cruel treatment of him. 10 years may seem like enough time to heal all wounds, but as I found out in Toronto, Travis Kelce wounds deep and heals slow
"Jerk!"
Good old Eva, taking my side, even when I was the one in the wrong, I knew there was a reason I hired this girl, oh that and she had the most amazing Prada handbag...
"And then he told me he forgave me""About time too, what, 10 years isn't enough time to get over being dumped?!" "And then he danced with me. Eva, he held me so tight..." I close my eyes in an attempt to recapture the moment, the way his arms felt, wrapped around my waist and the way he smelt "And he told me I was more beautiful now than I was when I left him"
"Oooh... that is so sweet, where did you find him, I want one!"
"And then I bumped into him in the early hours of the morning, after we'd been drinking and dancing, he was scavenging for snacks and there was a moment"
"There was kissing and you didn't tell me ...what kind of girl are you?!" Eva narrows her eyes and then dramatically turns her head away in disgust, leaving me with a face full of black curls
"No, there was no kissing, Eva, it was more than that, it was... it felt like I was breathing in magic dust or something, just like it did the first time I laid eyes on him"
"Magic dust? Girl, you need to be careful, I hear that stuff is habit forming" Eva giggles and drains the last of her drink, I sigh and knock back the last of mine. I don't tell her that I've been hooked on Travis for my entire adult life, I don't tell her that I've been in withdrawal ever since I got back
"So, are you seeing him again?"
"We've talked a couple of times on the phone, but the last time it was really weird. It was like he couldn't wait to hang up. He did tell me that he was 'hanging out' with an ex girlfriend, but I just can't help thinking there's more to it than that and she is the reason he was acting so strangely"
"An ex-girlfriend of his or yours?"
"Both, I dated him, Hailey and I were friends then she dated him and all of a sudden Hailey and I are definitely not friends"
"Awkward"
"More than you will ever know"
Shaking my head at the memory, I find the courage to verbalise the thoughts that I've slowly been coming to terms with
"I just have to accept that our moment has passed, you know? I have to let him go... for good this time"
"No, what you need to do is get your self back to Toronto, kick the ex's ass and then ride off into the sunset with this guy that I've never met but feel like I know because he is branded on your soul"
"I just want him to be happy"
Eva places her glass onto the bar and then looks into my eyes with such intensity I wonder if she actually can see into my soul
"Tay, if you can't be happy without him after all of these years do you really think that he can truly be happy without you?"
No, no, no this is too much thinking and there wasn't supposed to be any thinking tonight!
There was supposed to be alcohol, and guys that aren't Travis.
Eva was supposed to take my mind off of this but here we are talking about him, and thinking about him and now I really, really want to get out of here and get lost in some crappy band whilst knocking back beers and flirting with any guy that doesn't look like that guy
"Okay Eva, promise me we wont talk about Travis again tonight and we can go"
"I promise"
I'm just standing up from my barstool when I suddenly begin to hallucinate.
I giggle loudly as Eva looks at me and screws up her face like I've gone crazy
"No wonder those drinks were expensive, they're laced with hallucinogenics"
"Taylor, are you having a 'Margarita Moment'?"
I giggle again
"No, It's okay...I'm just going crazy, I could have sworn I just saw..."
And then the chocolate hair I caught sight of as they entered the dining area turn and the eyes that skim over the restaurant can belong to only one person...
"Eva... I think I need to sit down"
