WORK IN PROGRESS: Dinner Disasters: Drake and Quinn

Chapter 6 (Quinn): Decidedly Uncivilized

By the time Celine and I made it to the door, Keres was already outside, keying SCUM onto the hood of his truck. Drake watched Keres, his face impassive, but made no move to stop her. Celine and I hurried outside, just as she finished with the keying and began the yelling. 

And she was Y E L L I N G, not to put too fine a point on it, as if she was funneling all of that violence she'd normally still be exercising into her voice.

"What are you doing here? Why are you even here? How can you dare show your face after what you've done to her? I can't believe the nerve you have, showing up on her doorstep. Do you understand how much damage you've caused? Do you even care how much you hurt our girl? How could you do this, Drake? How could you treat someone you supposedly love like that? What possible reason brings you back here?"

"Because I wanted to bring all of her things back," he said quietly, looking down at the box in his arms.

That just proved the contrariness of human emotions when my heart fell to my feet at his words. I literally gasped out loud at the realization that he was done with me. He'd said it himself -- if he wanted to end the relationship, he'd just bring everything back. Now, all of my belongings were packed neatly in a box, held in his arms, and with that action, I knew Drake was finally admitting he was done. It was OK when I said I was done with him, but he should have been begging and pleading with me to stay with him instead of proving me right. He didn't love me. He never had.

If you were nothing but a bet, I'd have taken the money, brought everything back to you all at once and walked away, happy as hell it was all out in the open and done. Over. But I'm not doing that. 

Well, now he was doing exactly what he'd said he wouldn't so that told me where I stood with him. He may not have looked happy as hell, but who would with Keres screaming right in his face?

"You should have brought them back the first time so she wouldn't have to see your weasel face ever again! Do you know what an absolute asshole you are? How horrible you are? Do you have any idea just how much I want to run over you and your stupid friends with one of your fire trucks? And then use those fire hoses to wash away whatever stain is left after I'm done with all of you?"

"I'm here to talk to Quinn," he said when Keres had wound down.

"No! Hell no! You don't get to breathe the same air as Quinn much less talk to her. The only air you deserve to breathe is the same diseased air as those horrible friends of yours -- air that I hope is filled with bubonic plague particles so you all get sick with it and leave this earth, making it a better place for all concerned. I hope you rot in hell with the knowledge that you hurt the most wonderful woman in the world, someone who would never hurt another person. I hope you swing from your intestines in eternal torment for what you've done to Quinn."

"I deserve to," Drake said simply. 

Then he looked over her shoulder at me.

"Quinn, this isn't what you think. I brought everything back not because I'm giving up but because keeping your things as a reason to make you talk to me was wrong. That's all this is. I still have every intention of working this out and proving to you that I love you. And you'll see that if you open this box."

"Don't talk to her," Keres shouted at him as he held the box out to her and she took it. "You have no idea, Drake, how hard I'm trying not to do bodily harm to you!"

"Take a shot if you want. I deserve it." Then he returned his attention to me. "I was wrong for a lot of things, Quinn, but falling in love with you was the best and most wonderful thing I've ever done in my life. I'll be in touch soon."

With a nod, he turned and walked away while Keres yelled things about his family tree not having many branches and other insults to his manhood. Celine just looked thoughtful.

"OK, I feel normal again. Thank God that temporary insanity is over," Keres said, then turned to me and held out the box. "You need to check to make sure everything's in there."

Celine and Keres followed me back into my living room, where I set the box down on the couch and opened it up.

"OK, this looks like everything," I said as I pulled the items out, one by one. Inside, however, my heart was breaking again. He'd brought my things back. "My perfume. My extra glasses. Favorite sweatshirt. My ripped jeans. Hairbrush. Shampoo and conditioner. Second favorite necklace. And...what's this?"

I pulled out an iconic Tiffany-blue box and inside was a ring box.

"What the fuck?" Keres said.

"No way," Celine muttered.

Inside that little box was a beautiful diamond solitaire ring. It was at least two carats and was set in white gold. Or maybe even platinum.

"Note!" Celine exclaimed, pulling out a piece of paper from the bottom of the box that she handed to me.

"I bought this one month after meeting you," I read. 

"That's all the asshole wrote?" Keres demanded, her voice raspy from all the screaming she'd done at Drake.

"I think that says more than enough," Celine said thoughtfully.

"No. He does not get to do this and leave this ring with me. I am not keeping this," I said, snapping the tiny box closed because who needed to look at a sparkly ring? "It needs to go back to him right now."

I grabbed my purse and keys, ring box in hand, and headed for my car. Keres and Celine were right on my heels.

"Let's go fuck up the asshole," Keres said.

"Stop," Celine said when we got to my car. "Quinn, do you really want to return the ring right now?"

"Honestly, I'm torn between wanting to cry and wanting to key his car, too."

"Is that even a real choice?" Keres asked, and the world felt in balance again with Keres in revenge mode and Celine being reasonable. 

"Let's go give him back the ring," Celine said. "But no more keying his car." 

"I'm going by myself," I said stubbornly because it just felt humiliating to return an engagement ring with witnesses, even if they were your best friends.

"Not on your own," Keres said flatly. "I'll sit in the damn car if I can't go to the door with you, but you're not going over to his place alone."

"Good plan," Celine said. "We'll both go with Quinn, we'll both sit in the car and if Drake gives her any trouble about giving the ring back, she can give us a signal. At that point, we'll get out of the car and force him to take it back."

"Fine," Keres and I agreed.

So, like civilized ladies, we drove over to Drake's. We pulled into a guest parking space just as I realized Jessa was getting out of the car next to us.

"Shit, that's Jessa," I said in case they hadn't seen her.

"Geez, she's already moving in? That bitch has always wanted him," Keres snarled.

At that point, we all popped out of the car, and I was determined to keep it civilized.

"Thought you got the message," Jessa said to me dismissively. "Why are you here? Not enough humiliation last night?"

"Why are you here?" I countered, ignoring the sting from her words. 

She just wanted a reaction, which I wouldn't give her. Jessa gave me a look like she knew something I didn't. 

"I'm here to talk Drake out of making the biggest mistake of his life."

"Oh, he asked you out?" I asked innocently.

If I had to pinpoint it, that's when things became decidedly uncivilized.