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"Cool. Sorry."
She shook her head. "No worries. I hope you have a good day."
I smiled back at her. "You, too."
My eyes stung from the tears, so I put the receipt away in my purse. I kept blinking to try not to cry on the street in front of other people.
It would be wrong to say that I felt betrayed. I wasn't betrayed. He hadn't told me that he wasn't a prince. But representing himself as just a businessman was wrong, too. So what if he wasn't interested in me anymore? I'd been my own person before I met him. I'd go on being myself whether I had him in my life or not. But I felt like I deserved more.
I was stupid for thinking that Prince Charming was waiting out there for me with a white steed. I could rely on one person: me.
It began to rain. I didn't want to go home and cry, so even though I was still sweaty, I walked to the Esplanade and stopped at a boba place. I sat there, reading a book on my phone, until the rain stopped. I walked home then and locked myself in my room. I decided to stay away from heartbreakers, businessmen, or princes. Neither of them seemed to make me happy. I was responsible for my own happiness.
I took a shower and heard my phone buzz. I ignored it, letting the hot water wash away my day. When I got out, I dried off and wrapped my hair in a towel. I could see the notification on my phone's screen.
I'm in Cairns.
The name of the contact was Massimo, better known as Prince Pietro. I didn't respond. I turned off my phone and plugged it into the wall. I was done with heartbreakers.
The next morning, I went into town to eat truffle and Parmesan fries at McDonald's right at 10:30 AM. The food available at the Mickey D's here was better than the options available back home in Siesta Key and far better than the options available in Camden, where I grew up. McDonald's had intuitive ordering kiosks that made it incredibly easy to input an order, pay, and have someone deliver food to your table, when McDonald's called table service. It was the same kind of thing they did at fast casual restaurants such as Noodles & Co., and I loved the vibe. It made me feel like I was at a real restaurant. Frankly, at the prices that I paid, I was glad that McDonald's was more of a middle-class restaurant here in Australia. The cost was comparable with any given café, so the Australian Macca’s, as they called it here, put an emphasis on customer service that didn't exist back home.
I loved people watching. There were so many families that came in and groups of teenagers. There were older people reading the newspaper while sipping coffee. Watching the employees was like watching a dance troupe dance at double speed. They were slinging food around, filling orders as fast as they could, and never resting. They looked like teenagers.
When I could no longer plausibly linger over my fries, I threw my trash away and walked further into town. I sat at the Cairns Central bus platform and looked at the bat trees. There were six enormous fig trees next to the library which were full of a gigantic colony of fruit-eating bats. They squeaked and mostly slept during the day. The angle helped me peer straight into a tree. They were much cuter than American micro-bats. Seeing them squeak did my heart good. Eventually, though, I knew I had to go home, so I walked back to my place.
As soon as I got home, I opened up Whatsapp.
I saw you on the news today.
I looked at my phone. He hadn't written back. A cold ball of fear settled in the base of my stomach. So long, thanks for the memories.
My phone chirped at me. I had an automated email that told me that there was some kind of party at 8 PM tonight. I checked my watch. I guessed that I'd go there.
It was dark when I left the house. There were little clumps of guys wandering around, somewhere betwe
en two and six. I walked past the mall and passed the bus station, which had about six people sitting around on benches, waiting for the next bus. I checked my phone to make sure that I was going in the right direction. I walked on Spence Street. I crossed several streets until I was on Lake. I turned left to go towards the door. When I got there, it was dark and empty. I could see a boy and a girl standing next to me with a grocery bag. They were talking to each other and were interrupted by two people.
"You know you can go upstairs, right?"
"Yeah, I just want to finish this cigarette."
"See you soon."
"See you in a bit."
I checked my phone. It was 8:01 PM. Everything was still dark.
At 8:03, the lights turned on. I walked inside. In front of me was a poster saying that the Thursday party was at 8:15 PM and that there was some kind of tax discussion on Fridays around noon.
"Oh, hello," the girl in the office said. "You're early."
"I have an email telling me that I needed to be here at 8 PM."
She picked up a flyer. "This says 8:15."
"Yeah, your poster says that, too." I crossed my arms. "Do you need me to come back?"
"You're okay, but I was planning on going down and having a smoke, and I can't leave you up here by yourself. Are you drinking tonight? You can go down and buy some beer. You have time. We used to serve it, but they stopped letting us."
