No Filter

Chapter LXVIII (68) (Part II)

"Hi, Ally," Jade greets, "do you mind if I join you guys?"

Liam and I exchange a look. Liam creases his brows and shifts his eyes, telling me to decline. I look at Jade and see the hope on her face. My stomach grow a bigger void than I thought. I sigh and close my eyes for a moment. "Jade," I begin. I open my eyes and look at her. "You can join us."

She squeals and pulls a chair, taking a side of the table. She places her elbows on the table and rests her head on her knuckles. "So, what brings you two to Monica's?"

Liam answers, "Ally and I are having dinner."

"That's really sweet," Jade says. She turns to Liam. "Ally didn't mention that you were coming to eat dinner with her."

Liam looks at me and questions, "Really?"

"Jade," I got her attention and ask politely, "why are you here?"

"I'm here because I assume you were going to go to dinner by yourself," Jade says, "You know, I thought you were doing that saying, 'I don't need a man to make me happy. I make myself happy'. So I thought I'd join you as two single ladies hanging out and getting drunk, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I try to call you beforehand, but you didn't pick up. But now, I see why," she turns to Liam, "You're hanging out with Liam, I see. How did that come about? Last time I heard, you weren't really a dinner-type-of-guy."

I furrow my brows. It seems to me like there were more stuff said during Jade and Liam's date that they did not informed me. I stayed out of the conversation as Liam and Jade begin to argue.

"I never said that," Liam rebuttals. "I said that I wasn't feeling dinner that day."

Jade crosses her arms and leans against her seat. "Yeah, right?!" Jade scoffs, "Did you forget that I was your date? I was there, and I knew that you didn't feel comfortable. Yet you still carried on and let me believe everything was going great. And then you just had the guts to leave me when you could have talked to me first."

Their voices begin to raise above the others, and I begin to shush them. But I was too scared that people might hear my voice as well. I proceed to shush them until Jade reaches over the table to grab Liam's drink, but along the way, her elbow tipped my cup over and the wine spill over the table and onto my dress. I scoot back, gasping a little.

Jade gasps heavier. "Ally, I am so sorry," she says. I look at her and see her covering her mouth.

"It's fine," I said. "It's fine."

I reach over and grab the napkins. I begin to dab the napkins against the stain on my dress. Liam walks around the table and kneels beside me, handing me a handful of napkins. His hand rests on my back, and he looks up into my eyes.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he whispers. "I didn't mean to ruin the evening."

"It's okay," I whisper back. I set the used napkins on the tables and state, "I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"You want me to come with you?" Jade asks.

I shake my head. "No," I answer. "That's alright. I can take care of it." I stand up from my seat and walk away to the ladies room.

I take a clearer look at the stain and clench my jaw. The stain was just a darker navy color. But the stain was noticeable from a far distance.

I grab some paper towels and wet them. I try to scrub the stench away, and I got most of it out. But there was a bigger stain. I sigh, giving up for now.

I walk out of the bathroom and walk back to the tables. However, I stop once I saw Jade and Liam bickering again. I sigh and turn my head. I needed to take a breather. I see the exit and walk through it. I was hit by the cold breeze of late winter. I held my arms firmly and rub them for warmth. I walk along the sidewalk until I hear a car honking.