Chapter Fifteen
I arrive at the restaurant fifteen minutes late. Right when I was about
to close tonight I had a customer come in to order flowers for a
funeral. I couldn’t turn them away because... sadly... funerals are
the best business for florists.
Ryle waves me over to the table and I walk straight to them, doing
my best not to look around. I don’t want to see Atlas. I tried twice to
get them to change the restaurant location, but Allysa was hell-bent
on eating here after Ryle told her how good it was.
I slide into the booth and Ryle leans over and kisses me on the
cheek. “Hey, girlfriend.”
Allysa groans. “God, you guys are so cute, it’s sickening.” I smile at
her, and her eyes immediately go to the corner of my eye. It doesn’t
look as bad as I thought it might today, which is probably due to Ryle
forcing me to keep ice on it. “Oh my God,” Allysa says. “Ryle told me
what happened but I didn’t think it was that bad.”
I glance at Ryle, wondering what he told her. The truth? He smiles
and says, “Olive oil was everywhere. When she slipped, it was so
graceful you’d think she was a ballerina.”
A lie.
Fair enough. I would have done the same thing.
“It was pretty pathetic,” I say with a laugh.
Somehow, we get through dinner without a hitch. No sign of Atlas,
no thoughts of last night, and Ryle and I both avoid the wine. After
we’re finished with our food, our waiter approaches the table. “Care
for dessert?” he asks.
I shake my head, but Allysa perks up. “What do you have?”
Marshall looks just as interested. “We’re eating for two, so we’ll take
anything chocolate,” he says.
The waiter nods, and when he walks away, Allysa looks at Marshall.
“This baby is the size of a bedbug right now. You better not encourage