Short Stories

4 - The Fight

I should have known it was over between us the night I walked in on him snuggling up to his colleague called Alison or something. But being the absolute fool that I am, I made up excuses that he hadn't even tried.

I think he'd happily have walked out at that point, after-all he hadn't "felt the fire" since the previous year. My tongue trailed its way across my teeth as I remembered how he'd broken up with me, I stirred the scrambled eggs one more time and let my brain swallow me up in my thoughts.

**

He'd dialled me up with something different in his tone, something half-way between excitement and fear. We'd been dating for two years and it was completely natural for him to propose at the Emerald Palace, a posh hotel restaurant where we'd gone on our first date. When he hurriedly told me to ready 'cause he'd be picking me up to head there at seven, my heart went giddy and I'm sure the biggest grin broke out on my face.

I put on the dress he had first seen me in and reflected on all the times he'd called me pretty; pretty wasn't quite beautiful, but it was enough for me. Perhaps tonight he would venture to call me beautiful. I revelled in that thought.

But when he came to the door, he barely glanced at me before turning bak to the car, calling out for me to follow him.

'He's just nervous." I told myself, excusing him again. We were silent on the car ride.

"Excuse me sir, have you got a reservation?"

"No, but my friend's already here."

There were alarm bells ringing loudly in my head but I ignored them and imagined 'friend' was a code-word for proposal flash mob. The restaurant did look eerily empty. My heart rate picked up. Which one of my cousins form Australia was going to jump out from under a table to hand me flowers!? I smiled.

Alex led me down a quiet corridor, there didn't seem to be a hidden camera-man anywhere, the bells were ringing even louder. I breathed in what should have been the sweet smell of fresh delicatessen but tasted acrid on my tongue. He stopped so suddenly in front of a table with four seats that I nearly went into him. A beautiful woman sat at the table, which was laid with three plates of steaming food. She wore a tight fitting petite black dress that showed off her collar bone and curves.

"Please take a seat," she had an unrecognisable voice of honey; definitely not a flash mob. "I went ahead and ordered your favourites so they'd be ready when you arrived, you know how it is with bug restaurants like this." She laughed breezily and it was like a fire had been lit how the warmth in her speech spread to the rest of us. I would have almost become entirely captivated by her myself if I hadn't been stabbed in the heart by seeing Alex sit down beside her - not me. And no I did not know how it was, I had only been to a restaurant this expensive that first time we met together for dinner.

An awkward silence followed as I looked down at the plate in front of me, I briefly noted that it was Baked Lobster fideo pasta, the most expensive meal on the menu, and also my favourite.

Alex looked embarrassed, "Charlotte, I wanted to invite you today to formally meet my fiancé! Her name is Alissa, if you remember from last time you met?"

Not Andrea, she was called Alissa.

My heart went still and the alarm bells became so loud that my head could explode. The smell of burning filled my nostrils and everything went black.

**

My eyes slowly blinked open, but everything was too bright. My head was throbbing and I gingerly inched my hand up to touch it, but my arm wouldn't move. Alissa's bright white smile had disappeared and my vision blurred, struggling to make out what looked to me like my kitchen ceiling. The piercing shreak of the smoke alarm still dug into my scull and I coughed as smoke filled the room.

I flailed about, grabbing onto the counter top, I pulled myself uneasily to my feet, still remembering Alissa's deadly words, "You have been the best friend that Alex could ever ask for, he talks about you all the time! And thanks for encouraging him to propose, I honestly thought he would never do it!"

The eggs were about as black as my heart was in that moment.