57
Daphne
I glance around the table at my besties and realize what a difference a couple of weeks makes. I’d been so happy a couple of weeks ago, when I thought I had something special going with Dominic, and then…
I got stupid. I want to blame it on Heather, but I can’t. I’ve had the last couple of days to really think about what she said and why I believed her, and I’ve realized that it’s because a part of me didn’t believe someone like Dominic could really want me. I know that’s stupid; I’m a damn doctor, for fuck’s sakes. I’m smart, I’m pretty, and I’m pretty funny.
But Dominic had once loved my mom, too, and see how that turned out? I think my subconscious was worried that he’d get sick of Williams the Younger and drop me like a hot potato. Maybe if I broke up with him first, I could protect myself.
Which, let’s face it, makes no sense at all. My mom divorced him ‘cause she realized she loved pussy, not dicks. So yeah, my hang-ups really don't make much sense.
Awesome for me to realize this afterwards, of course. I sigh into my cosmo. I know I’m being pathetic, but I just can’t help myself.
“What’s going on?” Gisele asks sympathetically. Of course she can be sympathetic. She got her happily ever after with her rock star boyfriend. I’m the one who’s going to be single and loveless for the rest of my life…
Okay, I’m literally crying into my cosmo now. Is there a level of pathetic-ness that I hit before my friends quit hanging out with me in public? ‘Cause I may have just hit that.
“I was stuuupppiiidddddd,” I wail. “I thought he wouldn’t like me anymore and I thought he didn’t want to be seen with me in public and I believed an insane woman ‘cause I only look confident but I’m nooootttttttttt…”
Lisa is patting my hand frantically, while looking repeatedly toward the door. I think she’s trying to comfort me, but quite frankly, she’s just acting weird. It was her idea for all of us to meet together tonight, and I can’t help but wonder why. She’s my oldest and truest friend, but she’s been acting super bizarre lately. I mean, when we got here, she was all bossy about who sat in which chair. I don’t mind going along with her ideas, but … why?
Finally, her shoulders relax a little and she says with a grin, “Well, you won’t be sad once you talk to Dominic.”
I stare at her through watery eyes, her face going in and out of focus. “Wha…what?” I hiccup.
I am a pathetic crier.
“When would I talk to Dominic? Are you telling me to call him? I probably should. I want to. I just don’t know how to say, ‘Oh, and by the way, Dominic, I listened to your insane ex a little too closely and I thought you were ashamed of being around me in public and I thought you thought I was too young for you and wouldn’t actually want someone like me and I thought you would break up with me so why not break up with you first, and hey, I’m a little nuts – want me back?’”
“Yes.”
The world stops for just a moment, as I hear his voice behind me say that single word. That one word I want to hear more than anything else. I'm hallucinating, that’s all there is to it. I can’t possibly be hearing Dominic’s voice behind me. I can’t possibly believe…
Peeking one eye open, I slowly turn in my seat and see…
58
Dominic
This is it. This is do-or-die time. Me, a single rose, a diamond ring, and the guts to lay it all out on the line. I can totally do this.
Just as soon as I can start breathing correctly, I'm totally going to do this.
I grip the rose in my hand, thankful that the floral industry has decided that de-thorning roses is a good plan, because otherwise we could add physical pain to the list of ailments I’m suffering under, along with emotional. Not to mention that handing someone a bloody rose isn’t the most romantic thing I could choose to do today.
With a deep breath, I step into the dimly lit bar. There they are, against the far wall, Daphne’s back facing toward me. Perfect. I can walk up behind her and surprise her. Lisa catches my eye and I swear to God, even from over here, I can tell she’s happy to see me, although she doesn’t do anything overtly welcoming, like wave to me.
I make my way over to the table, trying to keep my knees from knocking together, and can hear Di’s words to her group of friends.
“…want to. I just don’t know how to say, ‘Oh, and by the way, Dominic, I listened to your insane ex a little too closely and I thought you were ashamed of being around me in public and I thought you thought I was too young for you and wouldn’t actually want someone like me and I thought you would break up with me so why not break up with you first, and hey, I’m a little nuts—want me back?’”
“Yes.”
Okay, it probably wasn’t kosher for me to eavesdrop like that, but on the other hand, she was talking about what she’d say to me, if only I were here. And I’m here, right now. And I would give all that I possessed in the world to have her turn around and look at me. For her to give me a chance to fix this.
At the sound of my voice, she freezes in her seat, and I swear to God, the world stops. I’m not breathing and no one is talking and Daphne isn’t moving and I panic. What if she doesn’t want me after all? What if she was just venting to her friends, and doesn’t want me? She’s so gorgeous and smart and fucking hilarious and fun to be around, that she could pick any guy in the world. I grip my rose harder.
She slowly, ever so slowly turns in her seat and peers up at me, squinting as if she isn’t quite sure I’m real.