Burning Bridges

Burning Bridges-- Chapter 6

Him

Why was she looking at him like that? Had I seen that look before?

Something in my brain told me I had made a mistake and it was going to cost me. BIG TIME. It was probably all the stress from the divorce.

The divorce would be finalised in a month, till then I just had to live somewhere else, and Ashley was definitely benefiting from the divorce. She would get the house, and I would get my old car.

So that's all I get from this stupid waste of time marriage. My old Mercedes-Benz. 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Actually I lost my house that I had paid for. That selfish skank. Anyways, I guess it doesn't matter. I have to get a fresh start in my life. 

But first, I had decided to take my lawyer and Mandy out for dinner. And I was starting to rethink my decision about that. It's just that the way Roger looked at Mandy was bugging me. It was probably nothing. 

Right?

And anyways, I didn't have anything to do with her anymore. Okay, maybe when she had kissed me the last time, eight months ago I wanted to go back to her and my old life so badly. But I had promised myself that there was no turning back. I currently didn't have anything to do with any female. And for sometime, I wanted it to be that way. 

But I don't know what happened, that night, when I was waiting at the outdoor table I had reserved for the three of us, things changed. Roger came, wearing a cream-coloured suit that, to be honest, I had never seen anyone else wear better than him. And me? I was just wearing a black shirt and dingy blue jeans. I was pathetic. My net worth was more than a million dollars, but I didn't want to buy a freakin' suit. 

After some small talk, and waiting for the woman to arrive, she finally did. And she was so, so worth the wait. 

She walked into the restaurant, all dressed up, in her high heels and this beautiful red dress. She looked confused, it seemed she couldn't find us. As soon as I was going to get up to go and get her, I realised I was too late. 

Roger had already gone and shook her hand. His hand was on her waist, and he was walking with her to our table. 

"So, Mandy," Roger said, once we were all seated. "Is it hot in here or is it you?"

I smirked. At least, I tried to. I think it came out a snort, though. Pick-up lines never worked on Mandy. She knew better to fall for guys who used pick up lines, especially the cheesy ones. 

Mandy laughed, putting her hand on Roger's arm. 

Really, Mandy? 

Oh goodness, today was going to be a long night. Why did I invite Roger in the first place? He wasn't even my friend. Or if he was, he was my paid friend. 

Roger and Mandy really seemed to be hitting it off. And I just sat there, checking my phone. I wonder if they would even notice if right at this second, I spontaneously combusted into ashes. Well, there was a probability. There was always a probability. 

I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I wasn't even sure if I could handle this any more. 

Her 

Oh my God, my dress was killing me. And the shoes? They were one size smaller. They didn't have a size 6, so I had to take the 5. 

And on top of that, Dan left me alone. With another guy. How could he even do that? Didn't he care about me at all? 

Roger was okay, too, I guess. He was funny. But then he kind of started overdoing it and I wanted to get the hell out of there. He seemed like a nice guy, though. Maybe I was being too tough on him.

Okay, I was having conflicting thoughts. On one side, I thought Roger was extremely nice and how any girl would die for him. Seriously, you could see his abs in the suit he was wearing. 

On the other side, I was afraid. I was afraid of commitment again. I didn't want to be broken again. 

But what choice did I have? This or ending up like Ms Staggerhorn? I didn't want to be someone with a fetish for paperweights. 

So I started being nice to Roger. And he liked that. Daniel had this poker face. He was making sports conversation with Roger, and I felt really sorry for him, because Dan hated watching sports. He had no idea who LeBron was. 

So I decided to save him. "So, Dan, what are you going to do now? You know, now that you're free?" 

Daniel thought about it, while he stuffed his mouth with pasta. "Hmm. I was thinking about it, and I think I'm going to go to Brazil for sometime." 

"Oh really? How long?" Roger interjected. 

"Um, I don't know, a year, maybe." 

WHAT???? HE WAS GOING AWAY AGAIN? 

And for A YEAR???

I thought his answer would be something like, "Well, I was thinking about moving back in with Mandy, you know, my lover, and asking her to marry me, perhaps." 

Okay, maybe not that much. But I still thought he would move back in New York. I mean, didn't he love this place? 

Crap, what  was he going to do in Brazil? Probably get with some other bimbo and marry her and end up getting another divorce. And then another. And another. 

Maybe this was a bit of an exaggeration on my side. Daniel was a man and he could make his own rational decisions. But that didn't mean his decisions were always rational! 

I felt like I was going to explode. If I had any more of that pasta, the dress would probably burst into little pieces of fabric. 

"So, when will you leave?" I asked him, looking him in his eyes. 

"Um, well," He said, avoiding my gaze. "Probably in a week." 

"Good for you, you should take a break from all the drama here in the US. Also, I hear Brazillian women are really something." Roger said, with a wink. 

I grimaced, but managed to change it into a plastic smile. Dan did the same thing, I think. 

Awkward. 

After the dinner was over, Daniel got up to leave. Roger and I thanked him, and wished him the best. Okay, moment of truth. 

Daniel was already on the way to his car, when Roger asked me, "So, Mandy, want to hang out at my place for a while?" 

I knew this was going to happen. "No, Roger, I don't want to go with you. I don't even like you. I like Dan. I love him. But he is going to Brazil, probably to get with another girl, and I'm going to be left here, again, as always. But I'm going to wait for him. I know he will come back." 

Total BS. 

"Sure, I would love to." I said, and we walked to his car.

I wasn't going to wait for him. Not again. Not anymore.