CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
RHONA's POV
I had been at the restaurant for a good 30 minutes before Cheryl arrived. In my alone time, I had the opportunity to take in the ambiance of the restaurant.
Cheryl had chosen a place with the 80s vibe, there was jazz music in the background, and the patrons with people who were in their mid-40s and 50s, everyone seemed to be having a good time, but you could not be so sure. It was one of those places where people put up the front they could be laughing and talking, but holding knives to stab each other. Somehow I felt that was the scene that Cheryl and I were going to Create today.
I had felt the tension in her voice when she called. I wasn't sure what she wanted to say but I had my suspicions.
The waiters were quite nice. A couple of them had already been at my table to confirm if I needed anything but I had declined. I kept looking towards the door, hoping it was Cheryl coming in. I already had it up to my neck when she suddenly appeared. Cheryl was always late for every event.
She kept smiling so hard one would think there was an award for the best smile of the day. Imagine keeping a date waiting for almost an hour and still having the guts to smile like that.
"My Rhona," she said with air kisses enough for everyone around to get a share.
I decided to shove away my anger. I was quite pissed, but after all, it was Cheryl. She always got away with everything.
"Hi, Cheryl." My response was lackluster but I guess that was going to be good enough till I got over having to wait that long for a date I didn't even initiate.
"I know you're mad at me, but I got stuck in traffic. I promise I didn't do that intentionally," she pleaded.
"That's fine. How are you?"
The look on her face suggested that she wasn't just going to give me a simple answer. She looked like she was ready to give you a full thesis on why she wasn't ok but I came prepared.
"I'm very sad. I feel like you don't love me anymore. I saw you the other day at the dress shop, and you were holding hands with Kim. Remember she's the traitor. How is it that you are friends with the traitor? She literally stepped into our lives and ruined all of our plans. Remember all the trips we already had planned, all of the things we were going to do as a family. She ruined all that." Cheryl was coming at me with every bit of emotional blackmail. I had planned for everything but that.
"You do realize that we are talking about my sister-in-law. Kimmy is my brother's wife and she is family now. I owe her all the love and affection I can give to a family member. Besides, she never offended me in any way. We just hated her for no reason."
I was still trying to defend myself when another waiter came to our table. This one was different from the other two, who had come earlier. He snagged my attention immediately when I saw him. He was so handsome. I was lost in his eyes for a full second, and I had to tap myself mentally to pay attention to what he was asking us.
"Would you like a drink? Or should I get you one of our compliments for the evening?" He was asking, but why did it feel like he was talking to me alone? He had those piercing stares that looked like they were caressing you at the same time.
"Yeah, I'll have red wine please," Cheryl replied, trying to catch his attention.
Cheryl only got a brief stare before he turned his attention back to me. He was still looking at me when he nodded a reply to her. I'm sure there was somewhere in the book of wrongs where what he just did was regarded as bad but I didn't care at the moment.
"So what will the beautiful lady have?" He said, this time directing his question to me. For a split second, I wondered how Cheryl felt.
"I'll have water please," I replied, infusing my voice with as much nonchalant indifference as I could.
He nodded and left to get our orders, when he came back, I was tempted for the first time to ask for his number, but I refrained because I lived by the rules to never pursue a man.
Eventually, Cheryl and I got back to our original conversation.
"I know it's your brother's wife or whatever but the girl is a snake and that's why we didn't like her. We knew she was up to no good and just as we suspected, she ended up stealing my man."
"Craig is now married and clearly out of reach. I believe you really should let him go. I know, trust me, I know you loved him and all but you really should move on because he already made it public that he chose her." I wanted to take the route of trying to talk some sense into her and I really hoped it would work.
"You're saying you support that bitch and you'll choose her over me?" She started ranting, "There's no way you prefer that thing from the gutter over me for your brother."
"You'll not use that tone nor those words over the mother of my nephew again." I was already losing it and I had no patience for her dirty drama.
"And who exactly do you think you are to tell me the tone to use or what to say? Bold of you to think that you matter to me. What on earth do you think of yourself? Just in case you didn't get the memo yet, you were only a pawn in the game that I played with your brother. I believe it's high time you got a grip and stopped being delusional about this friendship."
I was dazed. This wasn't Cheryl. Something wasn't right. My head was still spinning when she continued.
"I've had enough of this bullshit that you call a friendship where you can't even do the least things that I ask you to do. I mean, what use are you then if you can't even deliver your brother to me?"
It was on reflex when I slapped her, hard across the face. I wasn't on the receiving end, but I felt her see stars.
I was still trying to process what happened when she slapped me right back and I started tearing at my hair.
At this point, the patrons at the restaurant, all of them were slowly leaving their seats to get a better view of what was happening. I felt like I was dreaming, like I wasn't even a part of the scene.
It soon became a chaotic throwing of fists and before long I was tasting blood. My first instinct was to call my brother, but a couple of the patrons were already coming to my rescue. In the blue of faces, I saw the waiter with the piercing stare shove his way through the crowd and gently try to hold me up. I didn't remember much after that because I passed out.
********
"Rhona, baby, Rhona...."
I could hear the voices but they sounded so far away, like they were coming from miles away. I still felt dizzy and my brain was foggy. I slowly started coming to and I could hear someone crying in the background.
"What...what...happened?" I tried to ask through lips that felt like lead. When I got no answer, I figured no one heard me and attempted to open my eyes instead.
One look around confirmed my worst fears. We were at the hospital. My eyes landed on Kim first. She was crying and sobbing without control. Her husband was trying his best to put her together.
Mom and Dad looked like they figured out how to stand their daughter-in-law for one day because they were standing by her side and looking quite forlorn. There was another person in the room, the waiter with the love eyes. I wondered why he was here but I smiled wistfully at the opportunity to see him again before I drifted away.
When I woke up again, it felt like hours had passed. This time I felt more alert but then the pain on my head was sharper and I suspected that my medications were already starting to wear out. This time Kim was sleeping with her head resting on the bed stand. No one else was in the room and it looked like it was dark outside.
"Kimmy. Kim?" I tried to get her to wake up. She did wake with a worried start.
She looked disoriented at first but she eventually settled and immediately became worried.
"Hey baby, how do you feel?" Her voice was so soothing that I immediately felt better.
"I'm alright really but I don't remember much and my head keeps pounding." As I spoke, I raised my hand to my forehead and immediately recoiled. I felt a suture, at the left end of my eyebrow, a hair's breadth away from my eye.
Then I remembered the fight all over again at the restaurant.
That fucking bitch.