Page 34 of Falling Too Soon
“Oh hell no,” she shot, narrowing her eyes as she stared at Dr. Marcus Fuckface Williams standing by the host stand. He lifted his eyes, looked right at me, and then started heading our way. What in the actual fuck? I couldn’t remember a single time in our entire relationship that I had seen him here. I guess that was just my fucking luck.
He approached with a wide grin, “Hey babe, I’ve missed you.” He leaned in and tried to kiss my cheek, which I dodged. This guy was either totally delulu or thought I’d go along with his charade so as not to cause a scene in public. He was dead ass wrong.
I pushed him gently out of my personal space as I caught sight of Lexi’s gaping mouth and eye twitching. She was about to lose her shit. “Marcus, what are you doing here?” I asked calmly.
“I was heading to get lunch down the street and saw you guys walk in here. I haven’t seen you, so I thought I’d pop in to say hi,” he said casually as if he didn’t know we had broken up.
I reached out and grabbed Marcus’s arm to make sure I had his attention, as I said, “Listen, Marcus, we broke up. Please, leave me alone.”
He leaned in. “No, you listen, weare notdone. You’re clearly going through something here and I’ve beentryingto be supportive,” he said through gritted teeth while I swear I saw Lexi’s left pupil blow.
Lexi’s restraint had evaporated and as she was pushing up to stand, Max arrived at the table with our food. “Everything okay here, girls?” she asked, looking warily between Marcus and us.
“Yeah, thanks, Max. Marcus was just leaving. Right, Marcus?” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
Max, Lexi, and I all stared blankly at Marcus for a moment while he regained his composure and straightened. “Of course. I’ll let you get back to your girl time. I’ll see you later, babe.” He smiled brightly as if we weren’t just in an awkward standoff and then turned on his heel to walk out of the diner.
“You girls need anything else?” Max asked as she placed our food in front of us. I’m sure she was more concerned about our safety than if we needed ketchup. By the way, who uses ketchup at breakfast? Sociopaths like Marcus, that’s who.
“We’re good, Max, thanks.” I smiled up at her, and she trotted off to help another table.
“The fucking balls on that guy. Seriously, like, is he okay?” Lexi shook her head and dug into her stuffed French toast.
“Yeah, that was so weird. Do you think he followed us? Or are you buying that story about being in the neighborhood for lunch?”
“There’s not a chance this was a coincidence. He’s out of his mind if he thinks playing dumb and pretending you’re still a couple is going to get you back. Right?” She winced at the last part as if she didn’t mean to let the question slip.
“Really, Lexi? Am I so pathetic that you think I’d go back to him?” I could feel myself getting upset. I knew I was a mess, but the fact that she had to check if I was considering going back to him had me questioning myself.
“No, babe, but he manipulated you for years, and I’m just checking to see where your head’s at. You’re not pathetic, and it wasn’t your fault that you fell for his shit before. He’s good at what he does.” Lexi eyed me sympathetically.
“Ugh, I hate this.” I pushed my beloved plate of SOS away and put my head down on the table. “Why can’t he just leave me alone? Every text and voicemail sets me off, and now he’s showing up randomly,” I muttered with my face still on the table.
“First off,” Lexi pushed my face up off the table, “please, for the love of my French toast, get your head off the table. I’m still eating here. And second, forget about that dickhead. I’m more interested in the new guy.” She winked at me. The bitch actually winked at me.
I sat back in the booth, slouched down, and let out an exasperated sigh. “Nathan doesn’t need my drama. He’s a nice guy, and we had a great time, but emotionally I’m a total mess, and I need to sort out my own shit before I think about dragging someone else into my life.” But boy, did I miss him. Who would’ve thought that after spending justfive days with someone, I’d feel such a strong connection? But then again, that was so me, wasn’t it? Bebopping from relationship to relationship and always picking the wrong guy. Whether Nathan was a great guy or yet another in a long line of mistakes, it didn’t matter. I was clearly not capable of making good decisions, and I wasn’t about to drag anyone else down with me.
31
NATHAN
Thankfully, Daphne was pretty easy to find online and her social media accounts weren’t private. Listen, I wouldn’t say I wasstalkingher. More like doing some light private investigating. I mean, how would I woo her if I didn’t know where she was or what she was up to? It’s not like she was giving me much to go on over text and besides, I had a plan.
Step one, recon. I needed intel. I wanted to know as much about Daphne as I possibly could. I already knew some basic things. She sucked at the game Operation, preferred red wine over white, liked to read romance novels, loved fall, Halloween, and scary movies, Italian food was her favorite, especially pizza, had an affinity for all things pumpkin spice, and thankfully lived in the same city as me. From my brief gleaning of her socials, I got a pretty clear snapshot of her life. She was a dedicated and caring nurse,volunteered at an animal shelter, and hardly went anywhere without her best friend, Lexi.
Step two was a little more complicated, and I’d need to enlist help for that. That’s why the recon was so important. I had to find out who my potential allies could be. The number one contender was Lexi. As Daphne’s best friend, she was an obvious choice, but I wasn’t sure she’d be on board to help me get the girl. I’d have to have a pretty compelling argument to win her over, but that was a later problem.
It had been a few days since Daphne left the cabin and I hadn’t heard from her since she let me know she had gotten home safe. I texted her once a day later to see how she was, but she didn’t respond. She had asked for space, and I was trying my best to honor her request. I knew it was what she thought she needed, but was it what she actually needed? I wasn’t so sure.
Daphne hadn’t posted anything on her socials since she was at the cabin, so I wasn’t entirely sure of what she was up to, but I was also checking Lexi’s and happened to catch a couple of posts that indicated Daphne was staying with her. I spent the week after I returned from the cabin going between my investigative work and writing because, let’s face it, regular life had to go on. Writing was going surprisingly well, despite the ever-present distraction that was Daphne, who kept invading my thoughts. Maybe she was my new muse.
After a week of radio silence, I decided to shoot my shot and sent Lexi a message through social media. We weren’tfriends, so I wasn’t sure if she’d see it, but I hoped she would and I hoped she’d be open to helping me.
Me
Hey Lexi—I know this is totally out of left field, but I had to try something. I know we haven’t officially met and I’m sorry that our first encounter is this creepy message on social media, but
Delete, delete, delete.
