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She smiled at him contritely. "I appreciate you going to all this trouble, Steve. Really, I do.
But you should have told me first. Ray's here."
The smile remained on Steve's face but his eyes lost their warmth. "Great. Can't wait to meet
him."
"No, please. Ray's still not comfortable with you. I'm so sorry to have to say this but & I don't
think it's a good idea for you to be here tonight."
Steve's face dropped. "But I came here specifically for your birthday. This dinner was my
idea."
"And if you told me you were planning this, I could have saved you the trouble," she
responded with some irritation.
Seeing the hurt look in his eyes, her annoyance dissipated, replaced by the desire to give him
the closure he appeared to need.
"Why did you plan this, Steve?" she asked him quietly.
Steve swallowed as she gave him her don't-give-me-the-bullshit stare.
"I want to win you back," he admitted.
She smiled at him regretfully. "I'm sorry. But you can't."
He inhaled deeply and looked away. "Are you sure?" he queried.
"Yes, I'm sure. I'm sorry," she whispered. She was remorseful that she had to break Steve's
heart. She cared about him. But she was in love with Ray.
Steve stared at her for a long moment before voicing his acceptance of the situation. "Right.
Well, I guess I'll call Pete and see if he and Lisa are free for dinner."
"Thank you."
"I was going to give you this," he continued as he held up the small gift box he had in his hand,
"but it might be a bit inappropriate now. So if you don't mind, I'll take it back with me."
She nodded.
He gave her a sad smile. "Bye, Faye."
She reached out to give him a hug, which he returned warmly. "Bye, Steve. Take care of
yourself."
"You, too," he said then he walked away.
Faye watched Steve for a long moment, wishing him well with her thoughts. With a sigh, she
turned around to head back into the restaurant, only to freeze on the spot.
Ray was standing by the doorway, his face etched in barely repressed anguish, his hands
fisted to his side.
*******
Ray went out of the restaurant to look for Faye, only to find a blonde-haired man holding out a gift
box for her before she nodded and reached up to envelop him in a tight embrace.
His world stopped. He couldn't have forgotten that face even if he wanted to. How could he
when the last time he saw him, he was pashing Faye. And now he was hugging her.
Blood roared to his head, dimming his vision for a second. Thankfully, the other guy walked
away from his girl. There was no telling what he would have done had he lingered around.
His anger was quickly engulfed by lancing pain in his heart as he watched Faye follow Steve
with her eyes. She hugged him and now she was staring at his back. Was she pining for him?
Suddenly, he was having difficulty breathing.
He shut his eyes tightly while he took a slow, deep breath. When he opened them, he shut the
lid on his emotions. If he didn't, he would lose control and he could end up screaming his lungs out
like a maniac or bawling his eyes out like a baby.
Faye turned around and he saw the stunned look in her eyes. She walked up to him warily.
"Ray. That was, uh & "
"Steve. I know," he responded in a deceptively low voice. "You know what? I think it might
be better if you have dinner with your friends by yourself."
"What? What do you mean?" she squeaked.
"I can't stay. I'll just ruin the night for you."
"No! Wait. Come with me." She took his hand and led him back inside.
He tried to take his hand away surreptitiously but she grabbed his arm and linked it tightly
with hers, making it impossible to extricate himself without creating a scene. He didn't want to
embarrass her, so he reluctantly allowed her to lead him back to the table.
Five pairs of eyes looked up at them expectantly. He was about to sit in his chair in
resignation - it was her birthday dinner, after all - when Faye made a surprising announcement.
"Hey, guys, we're very sorry but we have to go. There's something we have to attend to
immediately. I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll buy you guys lunch or dinner next week, but I'm
afraid this is really, really important."
"No problem," Angela replied hastily. "Don't worry about us. You guys go."
Faye gave them a grateful smile and dragged him back out.
Shit, this is bad. Is she breaking up with me?
They walked silently back to his car. Faye's grip around his arm had loosened but she didn't let go
completely.
His mind kept running different scenarios in his head, the majority of them too painful to
contemplate.
"I'm sorry about that," Faye said, startling him.
He gave her a sideways glance. "Sorry about what?"
She sighed somewhat exasperatedly. "Steve being there tonight."
He frowned. The guy obviously came direct from the airport. And he showed Faye a gift-
wrapped present that was undoubtedly for her. But Steve left with the box. Did that mean they were
meeting up later so they could celebrate together? He forced himself to ignore the swift punch in the
gut he felt at the thought.
"What are you thinking?" she asked warily.
"That you could be breaking up with me." He wanted to sound casual and unaffected and he
believed he succeeded.
"What?" Faye asked in shock as she stopped in her tracks and stared at him in utter disbelief.
The purely incredulous look on her face made him relax a little and release the breath he
didn't realise he was holding. But fear still clutched at his heart.
"Aren't you?" he quizzed, forcing himself to sound nonchalant.
"No! The dinner was Steve's idea. Angela told me when we got there. I went out to call him
and ask him not to come because I had a feeling you wouldn't be happy with it. But I never thought
you'd think I'd break up with you," she said in a hurt tone.
"So you're not?" he asked, allowing a little hope to creep out.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Ray," she cried in frustration, "how many times do I have to tell you
that Steve and I are over? That I love you?"
He took a deep breath and allowed some tension to leave his body with his exhale. "It's just
hard for me to believe that when it comes to him," he said quietly.
"Why?"
He pulled her in his arms and kissed her hair. He didn't want to look at her face when he told
her his reason. He didn't want to see any confirmation of his fears.
"Because even though you've broken up, your love for him while you were together must have
been greater than what you have for me right now."
She leaned back to gaze at him, frowning in confusion. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, for starters, you'd been together for a year and we only started going out two months
ago."
"Ray, Steve very clearly told me he wanted to win me back. I told him just as clearly he
couldn't. Because it's you I love, not him. You. Do you understand that?" she asked forcefully, poking [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]