'Why am I still wasting my time?' Ari thought as she swirled the red wine in her glass while looking out of the window on her left.
Deep in the hollow of her heart, she knew all too well why she was stupidly sitting at the restaurant alone for six hours. She had hoped that this time, things might be different.
Ari glared at the set of untouched dishes and then at the empty seat across from her, where her husband should have been sitting.
Her husband, Noah, had dared to stand her up during their wedding anniversary celebration, despite her husband claiming that he wanted to celebrate it before. She had worked in a cafe for the past six months so that she could afford this dinner at this expensive restaurant, hoping that she could use the chance to clear up all the misunderstandings from the past three years.
But of course, he didn't show up.
Just the very thought made her blood boil. She drowned the rest of her wine in a huge gulp before slamming her glass on the table.
She should have never trusted her husband's words. Ari had taken his words as though they were carved in stone, but it turned out that Noah's words were as good as scribblings on sand, too easily washed away by the waves to matter.
Her husband also loved having double standards. Ari remembered the time when she was late for a birthday dinner that Noah had arranged for her.
It was rare for Noah to agree to take her out for dinner. However, the cafe had a sudden influx of customers that day, causing her to be late by a mere ten minutes past the reservation.
She apologised immediately when she saw Noah already sitting at their reserved table. Back then, he was dressed in a royal midnight blue suit, his blonde hair gelled back. Paired with eyes that were as grey as a rising storm, he was a vision of handsomeness that took her breath away.
But his attitude was the exact opposite of his looks. Noah had slammed his hands against the table and stood up with an annoyed look on his face as he glared at her.
'Ten minutes. You were ten minutes late. What on earth were you doing that was so important? Do you think that I have the same luxury as you, Ariana? How dare you waste my time!'
'There was a rush in the cafe——'
'I have had enough of your lousy excuses. What kind of hard-ass job do you do in that cheap cafe of yours huh? I am the CEO of a multi-million dollar company and yet I was right on time! But you…' he glanced at her with disdain. 'A minimum wage waitress was too busy to take a look at the clock!'
With that, he had left her without even looking back.
"A mere ten minutes delay and he acted like I caused him to lose his entire fortune and yet here I am, sitting here for six hours like an idiot," the alcohol coursed through her system, causing her to laugh while her eyes were brimming with tears. She helped herself to another glass.
Meanwhile, upon seeing her getting more and more drunk, the restaurant staff could not help but get worried.
"Psst, why don't you go and ask her?" A server whispered to his colleague. They did not know who this woman was, they only knew that she had been sitting in the same spot for the past six hours after extending her reservation. But she didn't even eat the food she ordered; only choosing to drink wine.
"What do you want me to say to her?" The waitress said with annoyance. "Can you not see for yourself? This is the typical show of a pitiful woman being dumped by a heartless man?"
"But we are going to close soon. She can't sit here all night!"
"Fine…. I will go and talk with her," the waitress also resigned because her colleague was right. They were closing soon and someone needed to speak to the woman.
The only reason she was being forced to volunteer was because she was a woman and a woman should know a woman best, right?
….
" Madam, I'm sorry to inform you but the restaurant is closing soon… Do you want us to help you pack up the food and cake?" The waitress asked as she looked at Ari nervously. She was afraid that the woman in front of her would beat her to death.
However, contrary to her expectations, Ari only nodded politely.
" Okay," Ari answered with a fake smile as she did not want to trouble the restaurant staff.
The server bowed as she went back inside the small kitchen to bring out the cake that Ari had ordered earlier.
Ari watched the waitress leave as if she was scared and suddenly felt even stupider. Why did she sit here for so long? Making a joke of herself?
Tick.
Because you are a joke.
Tick.
No one wanted you ever. Why did you even hope that this time would be different?
Tick.
You are a fool.
Those thoughts whirled around in her mind, and she soon felt nauseous. She took deep breaths to force her stomach to settle down.
It was fine, she was fine.
So what if her husband of three years refused to come to their anniversary celebration for the third time? It wasn't the end of the world.
Breathe. Breathe. F*cking breathe.
But she could not breathe properly as ——
Rage. Rage bubbled within her, and her mind was filled with thoughts of dousing her husband in gasoline and setting him on fire.
Ari picked up her phone and looked at the time. It was past midnight and Noah had yet to reply to any of her earlier messages,
"Madame, here's your cake."
Ari looked up at the server who returned with her cake packed in a fancy bag. Her eyes were filled with sympathy for Ari.
' So, the final chance I gave Noah went to waste huh?' Ari thought while blinking her tears away. She was not going to cry this time around as Noah had done the same thing many times already, there was no point in wasting any more tears on him.
Ding.
The sound of her phone chiming with a new message echoed in the now-silent restaurant. Ari's heart leapt as she quickly picked it up. Hope bubbled in her heart as she thought Noah had finally responded, but then as she opened the message.
Her hopes shattered and tears began to trickle down her eyes, falling her face like pearls dropping after the snap of a string.
Someone had sent her a picture of her husband, cuddling with her older sister, Ariel.