An Eye For An Eye

Cinquante-Six

I stepped inside and started to head up the stairs to change and get read for the meal that was in an hour.

“Liza?”
I froze on the second step. “Yeah, hi.”
“Jack left some cards for you,” he said. I slowly took a few steps back so I was no longer standing on the stairs and headed into the living room. There were two cards on the table. One was from Jack and Tasha, I was surprised that Tasha even signed a card that was addressed to me. The other was from Timothy who I hadn’t actually met yet but from what I had heard, he was caring for his sick grandmother.

“I wasn’t expecting a card from Timothy, I haven’t even met him yet,” I said as I turned to face Deuc. He was sitting on the sofa, holding a black box in his hands.
“He’s kind, and he understands that you’re practically family now,” said Deuc. I wondered what was in the box as I sat next to him. “Can I give you your present now?”
“Sure.”

He offered the box he was holding out to me and I cautiously took it from him. I opened it and stared at what was inside. A beautiful gold bracelet with red and white gems in it.
“What the… this is…” I wasn’t sure what to say. It looked expensive and I felt a little bad accepting it since he was already paying for so much. “It’s beautiful and I appreciate it but it looks so expensive and…”
“It wasn’t that expensive,” he said. But he had skewed opinions on what was and wasn’t expensive. It didn’t make a difference to him to rent a penthouse and pay for an extra person for almost two months.

“Deuc…” I said as I picked it up.
“It wasn’t that expensive,” he insisted. I had no chance to be stubborn about this. “If you still feel it’s too much at the end of the meal, then you don’t have to keep it.”
I hummed but then nodded. “Okay,” I said. It did feel like a lot but now I felt guilty about giving it back; I had always been taught that it was rude to refuse a gift. “I should probably go and change into the new dress.”
“You might want to, yes,” he said before kissing my cheek.

Once I was dressed in the black dress with red flowers on the skirts, I took the bracelet from the box and, after a few attempts, I fastened it around my wrist. It was a little loose but not enough for it to slip off my arm.

After I checked my hair in the mirror, I smiled. I had red lipstick somewhere. It took a while to find it, I had bought it when I had gone shopping with Tamika in case I might want to wear it. I applied it and rolled my lips together.

I headed back downstairs again to find Deuc missing from the living room where he had been sitting.
“I have the feeling you look rather beautiful.”
I blushed and turned to face him. He wore a button up shit, like before. The top button wasn’t fastened. “Thank you,” I said as I walked over to him. “You look rather nice too.” With one hand, he put on the sunglasses I had brought him and I smiled and took his hand.
“So… where am I driving?”

Deuc told me the name of the restaurant and I was fairly sure I had applied for a job as a waitress there when I first moved to my apartment. It was a nice restaurant with an aquarium in the centre, filled with colourful saltwater fish swimming around.

“I like it here,” I told him as we sat down at a table near the fish tank. “Have you been here before?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling. “Quite a few years ago now though, so I hope the food is still good.”

We ordered food and carried on talking. I made sure to ask the waiter for Deuc’s food to be put out using the clock method so he could eat it easier. There were only a few people in the restaurant but another couple arrived a few minutes after us.

“When was the last time you came here then?” I asked out of curiosity while waiting for the food to be brought out.
“About… eight years ago.”
I laughed a little. “That’s a bit more than ‘a few years’,” I said and he shrugged.
“I came with my mother, she always used to go to newly opened restaurants to see if she liked them. She used to go with my father but he… he had passed away a few years before that. This was her favourite restaurant for a while.”

“Oh,” I said, frowning. From what I knew, Deucalion didn’t have any family left, not any family he was close to. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he said, shaking his head. “It really is. It was a while ago now. Besides, you shouldn’t be feeling sad on your birthday.” I was a little curious about his family but decided it could wait until another day.

“What do you want to talk about then?” I asked. He hummed and I took a sip of the water that was on the table.
“What does your dress look like?” Smiling, I described it to him. The soft black cotton with red flowers that looked like roses. I told him about how it flared out when I twirled and he laughed, telling me that I seemed to like those kinds of dresses. I admitted that I enjoyed wearing the dresses, I was a little thankful that running away had meant I had to wear something completely different to my usual attire.

Soon after, the food was brought out and I smiled, realising they had done as I had asked with Deuc’s food. I knew from experience with Kara that some waiters and waitresses could be rude and sometimes they just didn’t care to change how they set out the food.

“You picked well,” I said as I put the knife and fork down on an empty plate. “Very well.”
“Good,” he said. He had finished eating before me, like always. “I’m glad you like it here.”

When the waiter returned to take our plates away, I asked to speak to the manager and Deuc looked confused. When the waiter asked if we were sure, I nodded and asked to speak to them.
“I thought you said you liked it,” said Deuc.
“I did,” I said, smirking. He had no idea I was doing it to compliment the staff.

The manager was an old man with greying hair. His walking stick hit off the ground as he walked over.
“You asked to talk to me,” said the manager. “Is something wrong?”
“No, no,” I said with a smile. “Everything’s great actually, I want to thank you for it.”
“Oh?” His eyebrows raised and I saw him stare at Deuc for a moment too long.
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s my birthday today and this restaurant has been amazing. The waiter was really nice and the food was delicious.”

The manager smiled and nodded, saying that he’d pass on the compliments and that we’d be welcome to come back and if we did we’d have a discount.

“Excuse me for asking, but do I know you? I think you used to visit but it’s been a few years ago now,” said the manager as he turned to Deucalion.
“I did, I used to come here with my mother,” he said, smiling as he looked at the manager. The sunglasses really helped, he could just look in his general direction.
“Deucalion, isn’t it?” said the manager as he nodded.
“Yes,” said Deuc, nodding.

“I haven’t seen you or your mother in years, how is she doing?” he asked and I could see Deuc’s smile drop.
“She uh, she passed away a few years ago, that’s… why I stopped coming here,” he said quietly but we could still hear him.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said the manager. “She was a lovely lady.”
“Yeah,” said Deuc. His smile was a little more forced. “But I’m glad the restaurant is still great. We’ll have to come back.”
“Oh, please do,” he said with a grin. “Any time you’d like.”
“Thank you,” said Deuc. “We will.”

After paying, we headed outside. I held his hand as we walked, the sky was starting to get dark a little earlier because of the clouds covering the sky. It was a full moon tonight.