Under the Influence

Final Fantasy

Shawnie's POV

I walk back into the restaurant and back to my table. "Sorry about that," I say, taking my seat across from Aubrey.

"What's going on?" He asks, taking a sip of his wine.

I take a deep breath, trying to relax and not make a big deal about Chris showing up here.

I take a sip of my wine as well, then I speak, Chris was outside."

"What, is he still here?" He says, pushing his chair out from the table, about to get up.

"No, I got him to leave, and what are you going to do? Even if he was still here, you going outside will only make everything worse." I say, "He's pissed off." I add.

"Well, he is clearly trying to start a problem, so why not give him what he's asking for. What the hell did he pull up for anyway?" He asks

"Why do you think? You went live on your damn Instagram and said we were here and that you were on a date with me." I say, irritated, "That wasn't smart. I get that you're trying to live your life, but don't post me, because if you keep doing that, he's going to keep popping up. If he knows we're together, he's gonna make a big deal about it, and all you're doing is antagonizing him, like you've been doing. So stop it." I say with an attitude. Aubrey knows exactly what he's doing, and I know he's doing it on purpose.

"What are you mad at me for?" He asks, looking at me, confused.

"Because I know you're doing it on purpose."

He chuckles a little, "I'm not, but anyway..." He says, trying to change the subject.

"Just drop it. I got him to leave, so let's move on." I say

He looks at his watch, "Let's head to 1Oak." He suggests. 

"Sounds good."

He stands up and helps me out of my chair. He puts his arm around my waist and pulls me close to him.

"Give me a kiss, let me know we're good."

I look at him for a second, then I kiss him on the lips. I did it to shut him up, but I also wanted to. It was only a second, but it was a sweet little moment. I like him, and I don't want to. It's just hard to fully like him when so much is going on around me.

He flashes that adorable smile, "Thank you."

"I'm still irritated with you right now," I say, breaking out of his hold.

We gather our things and his security escorts us out of the restaurant. Aubrey grabs my hand before I can react, and they start taking pictures. I swear they were waiting for us to leave. I can't get used to this. I hate it.

He opens the passenger door of his Phantom for me. I get in, he walks around the car, gets in himself, then drives off.

"Did you have to hold my hand?" I ask

"Yes. I'm not going to stop doing what I normally do just because we're in public. If you don't like it, then we don't need to go out, and I don't mean that in a mean way, I'm just saying. You can't live like this. Are you scared of him or something?" He asks, and I instantly get upset with him.

I don't want to answer that. I'm not scared of him, I'm scared of what he might do. But Aubrey is right, I can't live like this, and he's also right about how I shouldn't go out with him. I said no, but he talked me into it, and that's why we're out now.

"No, I'm not scared of him, and if you remember, I didn't want to go, but you talked me into going, because you said you wanted to do something nice for me. So chill out. I don't have to go anywhere with you." I say, upset.