Adele
Garth and I go out to dinner and I am a nervous wreck. I never know what will set him off and the fact that he wanted us to go out has me nervous. I know this must be a test and my goal for the night is to pass it. He chooses a Chinese restaurant and I bite my lip realizing it is a major test. Garth knows I hate Chinese food. We're sat at a table and the waitress places menus in front of each of us along with a glass of water. Garth snatches away my menu and lifts his hand letting the waitress know that he is ready to order. He places an order pork chop suey and the poo-poo platter for both of us and I want to throw up from the sound of it. I shouldn’t be surprised that if Garth is going to take me out to dinner, he would use it as a torture measure. Garth plants his hands on his chin and watches me as the waitress goes to fetch our order.
“I was thinking that maybe we could make me a doctor appointment,” I suggest to Garth as I grab my glass of water. I pray that I can keep him calm and not set him off tonight. Garth takes a deep hard sigh and continues to stare at me with his dead eyes.
“Why do we need to make you a doctor appointment?” I can practically hear his teeth clenching after he asks me to explain why I should need a doctor.
“I would like to get on birth control. We have been having sex and neither of us wants kids. I think we should be proactive.” I explain to him and he closes his eyes looking away from me.
Garth never responds as he continues glaring at me and I start to wonder what’s going on in his head. Did I piss him off? Will he punish me when we get home? I can breathe easier knowing that I am safe until I get back home. Garth would never drop his act while in public. He has a reputation to uphold after all. Garth sits quietly for ten minutes and the waitress finally brings our food to the table. Now that Garth has his attention on the waitress, I look around the restaurant. It’s a smaller restaurant with beautiful Asian pictures on the wall. There are six booths but there is a wall separating this area from the other side of the restaurant. Garth and I are sitting in front of the window and his back is turned towards the door, while mine is facing the window.
The waitress delivers our meals and I pick over my chop suey and try to keep it down as I take bite after bite. The waitress comes back to the table five minutes later asking if everything is fine and Garth starts to question her on what liquor they offer. As she slowly explains to Garth their beer selection, I see the door open. In walks a tall girl with short black hair. It’s cut into a stylish bob, but she has it curled. The girl is wearing a sleeveless black V-neck dress and she waits for another waitress to seat her. The waitress walks over to her and the girl shakes her head and points towards the door. She must be telling the waitress that she is waiting on someone. I look back at Garth, who now is looking over the drink menu with our waitress and glance back at the girl who just came in. She smiles as the door opens and Teddy comes in giving her a hug. I lose my breath the minute I see Teddy walk into the restaurant. I don’t want him to see me, or do I? What will Garth do if Teddy comes to the table to talk to me? I grab my glass of water and turn away from them while the waitress walks them over to their table. I only pray that they aren’t seated anywhere near us. I lift my eyes from my glass and see there are two open booths near Garth and me. I close my eyes as the waitress sits Teddy and the girl at the booth in front of ours. I close my eyes and try to move so I am directly in front of Garth hoping Teddy doesn’t see me. I have no idea how I will get out of here though. We’ll have to walk past their booth to leave.
Garth finally selects a beer and we wait for the waitress to return. Garth throws his arm over the back of the booth and nearly hits the girl with Teddy. I close my eyes and take another drink of water as Garth pulls his arm down and leans over the table towards me.
“I think you’re right, Adele. Make a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. The last thing I need is to have to beat another kid out of you.” Garth tells me and I flashback to when he did exactly that. I grab my stomach thinking of the pain that I felt, both physically and emotionally when he killed our baby. If she would have survived, I swear I would have escaped from Garth and I wouldn’t have been careless enough to get caught. I would have gone further away from him and he would have never come anywhere near our baby. I start to think about Alex and how he wanted to kill Garth. I told him that I didn’t want Garth to be killed. If I only had that option now. The waitress comes back to our table, delivering Garth’s beer. She places it the table, still in the bottle and walks away. Garth looks at the beer and turns around yelling, “Hey, can I have a glass?” as the waitress turns back to him and nods her head. I watch as the waitress nods and I feel a pair of eyes on me.
I take a deep breath as Teddy looks past his date and looks at me and then the back of Garth’s head. As the waitress drops off the glass, Garth looks up at her and I casually nod my head letting Teddy know not to acknowledge me. He softly nods his head and his date turns back to look at me with a soft smile. A little while later, I watch as the girl goes to the ladies’ room. I place my hand on Garth’s arm and tell him that I need to use the ladies’ room. He nods his head and I casually walk past Teddy as he narrows his eyes at me.
The ladies’ room is right past the cash register and as I walk past, I glance back at Garth. He is drinking his beer as he watches out the window. I quickly ask the cashier for a piece of paper and a pen. She hands it to me and nods as I rush to the bathroom. As I walk inside I hear a flush and Teddy’s date comes out and washes her hands.
“I need your help,” I tell her as I write a quick note against the wall.
“Excuse me? “She looks at me like I am a crazy woman who just followed her into the ladies’ room. She is half right. I did follow her, but I am not crazy just desperate.
“Please help me. I used to work with Teddy. I need for you to tell him to pretend he doesn’t know me and to take this back to Alex.” I plead with her as I hold out the later for her to take. I close my eyes as she just stares at the note in my hand and I start to fear she isn’t going to help me.
“Why don’t you give it to Teddy yourself? You’ll walk past our table,” she questions and I don’t have time for this shit. Garth probably has timed how long it takes me to pee and will start knocking at the door in few seconds.
“I can’t. The man I am with is my husband. He is dangerous and things will go badly if he even suspects I know who Teddy is. I need to get this message to Alex Deluca. Please!” I plead with her and she takes the note and heads back to the table, as I follow. I sit down as I glance at her leaning over the booth towards Teddy. He meets my eyes and nods letting me know that my message will get to Alex.