Great food, but also a great place to escape because it was on the not so busy side of town and didn’t get all the action the other diners saw.
It was also a great place to talk without being seen by too many people.
Frankie was watching me today and allowed me some breathing space.
That was what he’d called it and I was grateful.
It gave me a chance to have a much needed catch up session with Anya for a talk I was hoping not to have.
My best friend seemed to be on a roll of chatter and I was happy for her. She was talking about a guy who was a hundred times better than Marc her cheating ex.
Tim, the new guy was a vet and had his own practice. Of course he had a dog and the man just happened to look like a Greek god with a soft spot for animals.
Anya had been out with him five times already and was now contemplating whether a breakfast meeting counted as a date.
“It counts. People meet for breakfast all the time as dates.” I giggled.
Anyone who looked at me would think I’d gone crazy and forgotten my current situation, or that I deserved an academy award for best actress.
I personally thought it was both.
I had gone crazy in my situation and this version of myself that sat before my friend was the mask that deserved the award.
I’d gone to see her to prep to say goodbye to her.
Goodbye for now.
I was certain that Pa would make some arrangement for her to see me somehow and hopefully she could come to the wedding.
The wedding…
I shuddered at the thought. I had a wedding that was mine. I was getting married in less than a month to a man I hated and the man I wanted to be with was some kind of secret agent who had come for my father. My father, the monster. The mafia king who was taking away my choice and rights.
I laughed completely off key at the craziness of it.
Anya narrowed her eyes at me because she hadn’t said anything funny and there I was laughing.
“Jia, you okay? I didn’t say anything funny at all.” She giggled a little and the sound reminded me of our silly girly giggle attacks we used to have when we were kids. Ma used to find it funny how we could laugh at nothing in particular and laugh to the point of tears. It annoyed the hell out of Pa something fierce.
“Oh…” was all I could say. That must have sounded odd too.
What would be more strange was what I had to tell her and the fact that we’d sat here for an hour talking about Tim, or rather me listening to her drool over Tim, while I had so much to tell her.
She blinked and looked me over. The expression on her face became more concerned and it was like she just knew I wasn’t okay.
“What’s up my friend?” she asked.
I smiled. It was a fake smile, but without the fake intention. It was as if someone asked me to smile but there was nothing to smile for.
Where did I begin?
“Um…” Well at least that was some start. It was something. It showed I intended to talk about what was going on with me. I did. I had to. If there was more time though I might delay telling her my problems so we could enjoy that she was so happy with Tim.
I was the kind of friend who loved when her friends were happy and I thought it was nice to take the time to be excited together over whatever that thing was, no matter how big or small.
A new dress, a new man, some item of makeup, something to do with hair.Anything.
Tears pulled at my eyes and a wayward one escaped.
