I Don't Belong To You

Chapter 4

"Here you are, ladies."

"Thank you so much," Becky says to the young man before removing her jacket and taking a seat.

They sit in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes looking over their menus.

"I think I'm going to have the southwest burger," Becky says out of the blue. "I love guacamole."

Freen smiles at that. She doesn't know why, there's nothing particularly special about guacamole, but the way Becky says it just does something to her.

Everything Becky says does something to me.

"Yeah? I think I'm just going to do a Caesar salad."

She watches Becky roll her eyes and feels instantly defensive. "What's wrong with that?"

"Please don't order a salad to try and impress me or trick me into thinking you're super healthy. I don't care."

Freen scrunches her face. "Do women do that?"

Becky squints at that, "Have you never met any girl ever made? They all do it. They order water, or better yet Perrier, and a small salad with the dressing on the side. Then they pick at it through the entire meal and then tell me they're just so fullllll," she whines to imitate these women and Freen snickers at her. "Meanwhile I'm over here eating enough for the entire Brady bunch."

"Well, I can assure you, I would not order a salad just to impress you. I genuinely enjoy salads. I…I could get a fancier salad if you want? Would that be better?"

Becky just shakes her head. "Order what you want, really. I just wanted you to know that you could get whatever…you're paying anyway."

Freen immediately looks up at that. "Wh-I…I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I thought this was a date."

"Oh, it is Freen," she says pretending to still be examining the menu, "but after standing me up a month ago, the least you can do is pay. Have some class."

Freen sees the small smirk on her face and can't help but smile.

This seems to be a trend, constantly smiling against her will in the presence of Becky Armstrong.

"I didn't stand you up! We never had plans."

"I planned to receive a phone call from you. You never called. I felt stood up."

She rolls her eyes and puts down her menu.

"I didn't know you'd take it so personally. Honestly…I wanted to call but I thought…"

Becky looks up when the silence persists.

"What did you think?" She asks curiously.

"I thought it was just a game to you."

The look on Becky's face is hard to read, as if she doesn't understand something.

"I thought you were just using a series of lines designed to get me to sleep you, so I'm very sorry that I misread the situation and didn't call," Freen offers as an apology.