The rest of the dinner was awkward as Sam wouldn't leave. He kept on asking Karen questions about herself, and she gave one-word answers, but the guy didn't get a hint to walk away.
In fact, he called Don and ordered his food. Karen wanted to stand and walk away, but her legs and brains failed her.
"Can we meet up sometime?" Sam asked, wiping his mouth with the serviette before him.
"No, Sam," Karen answered, "You were rude enough to interrupt our dinner. No one asked you to sit with us."
"No one asked me to leave either," Sam answered, looking into her eyes. He then turned to look at Val, who looked away.
"That wasn't an invitation," Karen answered back fiercely.
"Sorry. I'm sorry. Can I make it up to you by paying this bill?" Sam asked.
"Whatever," Karen answered, standing up and asking Val that they leave.
Allowing Sam to pay for her bill had been a mistake that Karen didn't realize at that time. In fact, she had considered it as a payment for some of the money he owed her.
"Why did you let him pay our bills? Who is he in the first place? You seemed pretty uncomfortable," Val asked once they were in the car back home.
"My ex," Karen answered, then went quiet.
Val stopped the car by the sideway and looked at her friend.
"I'm sorry for asking," she said, careful not to upset Karen more.
"Don't be. I don't know what's come over me," Karen apologized.
"You can always talk to me," Val assured her.
"We dated sometime back. Before I joined college, I thought it was a relationship born out of pressure, and you know , how you always want to fit in and have something to talk about when your girlfriends are talking about their boyfriends. It was so damn stupid, yet it felt so damn right."
Val was silent, not wanting to interrupt Karen's thoughts.
"I did lots of things to keep that foolish guy. You know, he wasn't from a well off family, and I thought that financially helping him was the key to making him stay with me," Karen went on.
The two were interrupted by Val's phone ringing. It was Arnold asking when they would be back.
"Can we finish this sometime?" She asked.
"Maybe. I don't even want to talk about it now," Karen said, forcing a laugh.
They drove in total silence to Val's, and when they got there, Karen pulled Val towards her and gave her a tight embrace.
"Thank you for everything," Karen said. She got in, thanked Arnold for taking care of Frank and apologized if he had bothered her then left for Angie's.
~
Cheryl reported to the restaurant she managed along Fifth Avenue.
Being a morning person, she used to wake up early and get to the hotel before the other staff and prepare for her day.
She looked at the restaurant and felt proud that she had done her best to manage it. It was raking in profits like it had been when it was being managed by her old folks.
She had been given that responsibility in her early twenties, and despite not knowing much about business, she didn't want to lose the offer. She thought Karen was stupid for not wanting to be a part of the business.
She sat in the small room she considered her office and checked her financial records. She then looked at her diary and went to the page where she had written her bucket list for the year.
She hadn't done any of the things on her list. She heard the front door open and checked to see the chef and cleaner walk in.
She went back to her business, but minutes later, the front door opened again, and this time, it was Carol.
"So you're still alive," Carol asked, looking around Cheryl's office.
"Of course I am. Have a seat. What brings you here this early morning?" Chery asked, closing her financial records and diary.
"I haven't seen you at home for a while. I tried calling, and you weren't picking, so I decided to come and physically look for you."
Cheryl removed her phone from her bag and checked it to find missed calls from Carol. There were also some from Jim and Jael.
"I have been so consumed in my work. Looking at my phone is becoming a luxury," Cheryl answered.
"I get that," Carol answered.
When they were kids, Karen, Eric and Carol had wanted phones when they were in high school. They had pestered their parents till they finally gave in.
On the other hand, Cheryl wasn't bothered. She had gotten her first phone when joining college.
"I'll put it on my desk so I can hear it ring next time," she said though she knew that wouldn't make much of a difference.
She hated phone calls and preferred texts but even those disgusted her when they weren't straightforward.
"What were you looking at just before I came?" Carol asked, moving her hands towards the file and diary before Cheryl but Cheryl was quick to push them away.
"This is my diary, and it's a secret," Cheryl said.
"I get it."
"Okay. Will you please stop saying that? It sounds so cringe."
"What am I supposed to say when I get it? I do, honestly. No hard feelings attached. Why do you seem so snappy, though?"
"Am I?"
"I wouldn't have said so if you weren't. You know I don't mince my words," Carol answered back.
"I know. Sorry if I seem snappy," Cheryl answered.
"I'll leave you to get to work then. Your staff is already in. Customers will be filling this place before you know it," Carol said as she left the office and walked out of the restaurant.
Cheryl breathed out a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected Carol, and she knew she had to be careful.
She couldn't act suspicious lest the family would find out her secret before she executed it.
'One more careless step and all your hard work over the years will go down the drain,' she told herself, locking up the file and diary in her drawer and going to check on her staff.
Carol got to her car parked outside, and sat pensively thinking about Cheryl. She was physically fine but was she really okay?
She looked pale and so out of her normal self, and Carol felt worried. She touched the door, ready to open it and walk back into Cheryl's.