Page 40 of Just Desserts

"Myles! It's so good to see you. I'll have to go tell Pop you're here, he'll want to come out and say hi. And who do we have here?"

Juan then focused on Isla, reaching out and dramatically kissing the back of her hand instead of grabbing it for the handshake she was expecting. Giggling, Isla looked between us.

"Hi! I'm Isla. This place looks and smells amazing! I can't believe I've never been here."

"Tsk, tsk. Myles should have brought you by sooner. Come let's get you seated, I'll send appetizers out while you choose your main dish. Now, don't let that refined gentleman vibe he hasgoing on fool you, most of the time Myles is up to no good. If he gives you any trouble you come and find me and I'll sic my mama on him."

Juan sat us in a large booth that was cordoned off from most of the other diners. It was both roomy and secluded at the same time. Juan returned with menus for us to look at as well as a large margarita for Isla. She looked surprised, since we hadn't ordered it.

"He is driving, no?"

Juan asked Isla, she nodded her head with a confused smile on her face.

"Good, then you must try our margaritas. My sister makes them and I don't know what sort of black magic she uses but they're the best. I made it extra strong since you've got to put up with this guy for the whole night."

I shook my head in mock offense as I heard Isla's tinkling laugh.

"Thank you, a margarita was exactly what I needed. What do you suggest for the entree?"

She asked Juan who quickly glanced at me before looking back at Isla.

"Are you picky? Do you like spice?" He asked her.

"No, I'm not picky and I don't mind spice, but I'm pretty hungry so nothing too spicy it will slow down how much I can eat." She answered seriously. Both Juan and I laughed,

"That's what the margaritas are for! Okay you just trust me and I'll bring out food when it's ready. That works for you, Sir?"

"As long as you don't call me sir." I eyed him seriously.

"Old habits. Alright let me get the kitchen started on your food. It's good to see you, Myles."

He tapped the table as he walked past and I watched as Isla took a sip of her drink. Her eyes got big and she looked up at me.

"This is really strong, but it's also really good. I can't explain it, I've never been a big tequila person."

She took another long sip and nodded to herself almost as if double checking she still liked it. Isla was incredibly expressive, you could see emotions literally dancing across her face, I would hate to see her play poker.

Over chips and salsa we chatted quietly, dancing around anything too serious. I was gonna take her lead on this one, I didn't know Isla well enough yet to know what to expect, emotionally.

Once the table was filled with Nachos, Empanadas, and Huevos Rancheros, the conversation slowly creeped out of neutral territory. With her margarita glass refilled, Isla leveled me with a curious look as I finished a giant bite of a nachos.

"You said you had met Alyssa before. Can you tell me what that was like, or when it was?"

Unsurprised, but still not too excited to revisit that memory, I took a minute before answering to sort out my thoughts.

"Senior year Wes and I were living together in an off campus apartment with two other friends. Wes gave us a heads up that his sisters, plural, were coming. None of us knew you weren't going to be there until Alyssa arrived alone. I had met her maybe once or twice before that, when your aunt and uncle brought her to visit they would take all of us out for dinner butwe didn't speak much directly."

Isla stopped eating and was giving me a strange look.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just haven't really thought about that trip in a while. Alyssa wanted to go so badly but I didn't. I was leaving for college that year and wanted to stay home with my friends. My family begged me to go with her, because they were afraid for her to stay alone with all the boys in the apartment. I agreed, but the night before we were supposed to go she came over to make brownies for us to bring as a surprise. After she mixed the batter she dared me to see how much I could eat."

She paused, taking a sip of her drink before continuing.

"It was stupid, I never really thought much of it but she didn't eat any of it. I don't know, maybe I've become a conspiracy theorist but I was violently ill starting that night. I knew she wanted to go visit Wes specifically so she could go to a frat party and she knew I didn't want to do that."

I felt my whole body tighten as she told the story and forced myself to take a deep breath to stop myself from spinning out. At this point, I wouldn't question the lengths Alyssa could have gone to to get her way.

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