Picking up the hotel room phone, I dialed room service to order a pint of strawberry ice cream, grateful that it came so quickly. With my ice cream in hand, I crawled into bed, got under the covers, grabbed the TV remote, and found movies to watch until I drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 19
Tobias
I sat at the dinner table, drumming my fingers beside my plate and trying to ignore the peculiar glances from neighboring diners. I reached for my phone, checking the time and seeing that nearly twenty minutes had passed.
Worried, I sent Scarlet a message: Is everything all right?
No response.
I shifted in my seat to get a view of the area near the bathrooms. Frowning, I contemplated walking over, but decided against it. What could I do? Press my ear against the women’s bathroom door to see if I heard Scarlet inside? That would only get me kicked out of the restaurant for being a creep.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair, wondering if the food had made her sick, or if it was a bout pregnancy sickness. I knew about morning sickness, but was there such a thing as evening sickness? With the exception of Joanna, I hadn’t spent much time around pregnant women to know much about this kind of thing.
Frustrated and confused, I ran my hands through my hair. I then rested my head in my hands, my mind spinning.
“Mr. Gentry, is everything all right?”
I looked up to find our waiter standing beside the table. I forced a smile. “Yes, sure. Uhm…Everything’s great. Dinner was superb.”
“May I interest you in dessert?”
“No, thank you.”
“How about your lady friend?”
“Uhm…Probably not,” I said, glancing toward the restrooms again. “I think she’s probably had enough to eat tonight. In fact, I think she may not be feeling well. By any chance, could I have someone check the women’s restroom for me? I mean, I know that’s a weird request, but I’m kind of worried…”
“She’s not in there,” came a voice from a nearby table.
I paused, startled and searching for the speaker. It was an older gentleman, sitting across from his wife. He stared back at me with a grim expression
.
“Excuse me?” I said.
“Your girlfriend left, if you haven’t noticed. She came out the bathroom and headed straight for the door,” the man said.
I blinked, stunned. A mirthless laugh escaped my mouth. “Well shit. Of course she did,” I muttered, shaking my head. I checked the time on my phone again, seeing that it had been a half-hour now since I’d seen Scarlet. How could I not have realized she’d left?
“I’m very sorry, Mr. Gentry,” the waiter said, embarrassed on my behalf.
“So am I,” I said. “Just the check please.”
He bowed. “Right away, sir.”
I stared down at the table, feeling like a complete idiot.
“That was a beautiful young lady there,” the old man at the nearby table commented. “Hope you work through whatever it was you did to her.”
If I hadn’t been raised to respect my elders, I probably would have rolled my eyes and told the old geezer to mind his own damned business. But I couldn’t be so rude, especially under the watchful gaze of his wife sitting across from him.
“Thanks for your concern, sir,” I said with some difficulty.
“Don’t give up, dear,” his wife chimed in. “If you care enough about her, then she’s worth fighting for.” She gave me an encouraging nod, and I smiled back in return.
“Here you are, Mr. Gentry,” my waiter said, returning with my check.