Tyler and I were at lunch at this nice little restaurant that I was first skeptical of. I’m the type of girl that likes going to places that I know have good food. Basically, restaurant chains that I have been to before – and I know what to order before I even get there.

This place was a simple ‘mom and pop’ shop, as they say. It had large glass windows, a few wire tables and chairs outside, and a nice view of a nearby park. The wait staff was nice and our waitress was very friendly and talkative.

Some people don’t like waitresses who blabber on about something. As for me, I’d rather have a waitress that shows some life. Well, she had that. She told me about how her two young children blessed her so richly. They sounded funny, cute, and entertaining.

She had thick, ebony hair and a lot of bracelets on both of her wrists. She had quite a bit of makeup too. It was all caked on, and almost made her look like an artificial person. She was short, a little chubby, and funny. “And you, Mr. handsome man, what would you like to eat?”

He laughed just a few times at her and scratched his chin as he was thinking. That’s a cute thing he does when he’s trying to make up his mind. “I think I’ll just keep it simple and get a corned beef sandwich on rye. I’ll just get potato chips on the side, thanks.”

We were eating outside and there was a pleasant breeze that I just loved. While he was talking, I was thinking about what it would be like to have kids with him. Ugh! I shouldn’t think of such stupid questions. We weren’t even a real couple! “Pretty lady, what can I get you?”

I had looked at the menu, but I hadn’t really been reading it. I had been watching and staring at Tyler out of the corner of my eye. I was thinking mostly about the love we made, and how wonderful it was. “Oh! Sorry, I’m distracting myself. Can I have your grilled chicken Cesar salad? I don’t need a side. Thank you, though.”

She smiled right back at me and finished taking down her notes on her scratched up, pad of paper. “Okay then. I’ll put those orders in and you’ll have your food momentarily.”

Now I could finally go to the bathroom. I was holding it because I wanted to put in my order before she took off. “I’m going to go to the ladies room. I’ll be right back” I said over to the handsomely dressed Tyler.

He smiled over at me. “Okay. I think it would be best if I didn’t join you” he slyly said with a laughing voice. Ever since we had been on this trip, I think it gave him a personality.

I walked briskly into the ladies room and heard my high heels clicking over the floor while I was walking. In my opinion, it’s a sexy sound. Besides, I had to look good for Tyler – my man who really rocked my world.

No need to go into detail, but I went into the crappy, dirty, bathroom. When I walked over to the sink, I saw two things – the paper towel dispenser was empty. The other thing I saw was a familiar face – Veronica.

“Oh, hi! How are you?” I said to Veronica as I smiled over at her. I could see her through the mirror behind me while I was washing up.

She looked over at me without a smile, and just fluffed out her hair without a response. She turned her head to inspect her sides, then widely opened her eyes – I guess to check them in the mirror.

It was a little awkward, so I tried to strike up a chat with her. “So, um, how’s the board doing? Did you guys have a nice time in town?”

She partly closed her eyes into a squint. “The board? What do you mean?”

I turned off the sink and started jerking and waving my hands around as I was trying to get them to dry. “You know, the board you’re on. Tyler told me you’re on the board where he works.”

She curved her lips into a mild frown and scoffed over at me. I turned around and looked at her because I didn’t know why she was acting so weird. “I’m not on his board. Did he tell you that?”

“Yeah. You see, we had been talking the other night and he told me about how you’re on the board of directors for where he works” I said in a confident voice. I didn’t have any reason to doubt Tyler, so I just stated it as fact.

She let out a girly giggle and shook her head. “Well, Tyler’s a liar. You see, I’m not on any board that oversees him. We used to date. I was his girlfriend for four months.”

I waved my wand of denial because I didn’t want to believe her. Why would Tyler lie to me? “I don’t believe you” I said to her while my temple pot began to boil.

She rolled her eyes. The damning revelations continued. “Did he ask you to sleep with any other women? I never wanted to when he asked me, but I just couldn’t say no.”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business” I yelled defensively. Even if Tyler wanted to do that, and communicated it to me, she had no right to know.

“Well, whatever. He’s a man-whore though. Many women, myself included, have slept with him. If you have, I hope you wore a condom because he’s probably carrying around AIDS” she said as she quickly turned her body and walked out of the bathroom.

I was furious. Okay, I admit, Tyler is probably a man-whore. But, I could still get him to change and form a good relationship with me. He wasn’t such a man-whore that he was beyond the point of no return.

Besides, she was probably full of shit. I still think I had a warrant to ask Tyler about what she said, and confront him on whether it was the truth. The truth. That’s what I wanted, regardless of whether it was Veronica, or him that shared it with me.

I marched out of the bathroom and nearly collided with a waiter who was carrying a large tray of food. “Sorry” I quietly said as I kept walking. I was a woman on a mission, and it was time to find out the truth, so help me God.

I violently jerked out the chair and planted my little butt on the edge of it. I glared at him like he was a person in a criminal lineup that I had to identify. I wonder what my stare looked like, but I’m pretty sure it was ugly.

It sure did catch his attention, because he looked back at me and looked dazed. He looked like one of those people who just witnessed something tragic or awful – like a major car accident. “You look really upset. Are you okay?”

I didn’t even answer him. There was no need to. I just went for the throat. “Did you sleep with Veronica?!” I half-yelled at him and waited for an answer.

“What?” he said with a still-surprised glance. I saw a little sweat on his face, and it shook my confidence in him.

I kept pressing him. It was brutal, but I demanded to know what the hell he did. “She said that she slept with you, and dated you for four months. Now, is that true, or not? This is a simple yes or no question” I said to him while breathing deeply.

He leaned back in his chair, maybe because he thought I was going to smack him. He licked his lips, then it all came out. I never thought that so few words would sting so much. “Yes. I slept with her and we dated for four months.”

I got up from the chair, hurled it forward as it crashed into the table. He started begging me to return, and I ignored his requests. The commotion was great enough to get some nearby patrons to stare at us. They looked over, and saw my ass as I was walking away.

His cries were ignored. He said he cared about me and wanted to be with me. I did what I should had done days ago – I ignored him and walked away.

“Maya, just listen to me. I want you to hear me out. Yes, it’s true that we dated, but we were never serious. She’s just a psycho stalker. I don’t want anything to do with her anymore” he said to me while I unzipped my luggage bag and started to pack clothes into it.

I ignored his bullshit commentary and just kept packing. I only needed about five minutes, and then I could leave the liar and resume my life at home.

He grabbed my forearm and begged me to stop. He wanted me to listen. In my view, I had already done too much of that. “Would you please stop for a second? I just want to talk.”

I rotated my wrist around in a complete circle, and got him to let go of. That’s a little defensive trick that I had seen on TV years ago. “If you touch me again, I will call the police and have you arrested” I said to him as I scowled.

“Look, I know I messed up, and I’m really sorry, okay? You’ve been a special woman in my life and you make me feel like no other woman has ever made me feel before. Please forgive me. I beg you” he said in a whimper that looked like it would precede crying.

I gave him the cold shoulder, rolled out my bag, and left. I felt so stupid for traveling across the country to deal with him. “I don’t want the contract!” I screamed at him before I left the penthouse. I walked outside into the warm air.

I never wanted to go back to that place. It was a paradise just hours ago, but now it was a pit of hell. Within about an hour, I was in the terminal at the airport, and they called us to board. I stood in line, and told myself that this place would be gone and out of my mind before I knew it. Then, and only then, could I put this misery behind me.