As We Lost the Light

VII.

"You okay?" Mike asked as he leaned back, draping his arm across the back of my chair. I glanced around the table; everyone else was engaged in conversation, chattering excitedly.

Everyone, that is, except for Vic. He was staring directly at me, and even when my eyes caught his he didn't look away. Rather, a sly smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, and I squirmed in my seat.

"I'm fine," I murmured, continuing to watch Vic as he watched me. Mike patted my shoulder and scowled at his brother before redirecting his attention to the story that Jaime was telling. I became acutely aware of another set of eyes on me. I glanced over, watching as Vic's girlfriend looked disapprovingly back and forth between the two of us.

It seemed that she had caught on to the fact that I was more than an 'old friend,' her eyes had been shooting daggers at me since we sat down. I shouldn't have come here; I knew better. I knew that it would be awkward, especially with her clinging to Vic like she owned him. But Vic had practically begged me to join them, and when he flashed me a big, toothy grin I knew I needed no further convincing.

He still had a hold over me. And I hated that.

"Baby!" Mike hollered as a girl in a short pink dress approached our table. He jumped up, planting a kiss on her glossy lips and then turned towards me. "Sadie, this is my girlfriend, Alysha. Lysh- this is Sadie." Her eyes flashed with realization and then pity, but she quickly quelled the emotions, extending her hand in my direction.

"Nice to meet you," she said sweetly as I took her hand.

"You too." Mike pulled out the chair to his left and she took a seat, greeting the others. I withdrew into myself, my mind a jumbled mess. So many thoughts swam in and out; A hundred different emotions were washing over me as I sat there in front of him. I tried to focus in on a conversation between Mike and Casey, but I kept drifting back to Vic.

"Sadie and I ate there once." I looked up at the mention of my name. Vic was smiling proudly. "It was pretty good, wasn't it, Sade?"

I grimaced. "Huh?" I asked, realizing that I had no idea what Vic was talking about; I had been too busy daydreaming about being in his arms.

"Julio's. In Long Beach," he responded. I nodded, pretending to follow along.

"Oh. Yeah, the food was great." I honestly couldn't remember if the food was any good or not, and the fact that Vic did was shocking.

Vic chuckled and everyone turned to look at him, confusion settling among their faces. "We decided to take this little bus tour around town," he continued. He was sharing this story with everyone, but his voice seemed to be directed solely towards me, as if he was trying to jog my memory. "The bus stopped at this little shopping center and we had two hours to do what we wanted before we would get back on the bus and do some more sight seeing."

He was probing me, trying to get me to join in with my own version of the events, but I couldn't get myself to speak.

"Anyway, we got distracted and ended up missing the bus. So we decided to just walk back to the venue. But we got fucking lost! We spent hours trying to find our way back before we finally gave in and called a cab." Vic was very animated as he spoke, everyone at the table laughing nervously, their gazes falling upon me. My face felt like it was on fire with embarrassment. "You remember that, Sadie?" He asked.

"Yeah," was all I was able to muster. Of course I remembered. I would never forget that the reason we missed the bus was because we were busy hooking up in the bathroom of that Mexican restaurant. I would never forget that, that night after the show, Vic told me he loved me for the first time. There were a million other things that I would never forget, and it made me furious that he had the audacity to think that I would.

I clenched my teeth, my jaw tense. Not only was I angry that he thought I didn't remember, but most of all, I was angry that he was sharing these special moments with strangers; with her.

"Hey remember-" Vic began again, but he was cut off.

"Shut up, Vic," Mike hissed, Vic swallowing hard.

An awkward silence settled among all of us. Kayla removed her hand from Vic's arm; she was seething with indignation. I looked at him, exasperated, and he shrugged his shoulders, unaware of the trouble he had caused. Alysha leaned around Mike, flashing me a sad smile.

My phone chimed, and I took that as my opportunity to rise to my feet. "Uh, thanks for having me everyone, but I've gotta get going. I have to head back to work." My words came out quick, disorganized, and the chair squeaked as I pushed it back to the table. Mike turned, opening his mouth like he was going to protest, but instead he pulled his lips back together in a tight line, nodding his head. I grabbed my purse and tossed some cash on the table before quickly making my escape. I didn't give Vic a final glance, but as I hurried towards the door I could feel him watching me.