CHAPTER 7

" His name was Harry. Harry Kuc. I met him in my first year of college, he was in his third year. I'll skip to the part where we began dating. I loved him so much and he did, me. Then, few months into our relationship, I found out through Lisa that he was a player and had even placed a bet on me to get in my pants. I believed Lisa at once and broke things off with him, though I hadn't gone to bed with him or with anyone at the time so it wasn't a moment of regret.

" After our break up, Harry never left me. He never stopped coming to see me. I tried telling him to move on. I tried explaining to him how people were beginning to think we were back together but all fell on deaf ears. He never stopped coming until one day. He came in to my room and asked me to be his girlfriend again. I had fallen too deep in love and felt that granting him mercy wasn't a bad idea, so I accepted him back. I still regret that day till this moment because that was the day I gave my virginity out for a bet." She stopped to wipe her tears and Dani handed her a box of tissues, still concentrating on the road.

She was taking in Tessa's story and imagining how it must have felt for her back then. Devastating. She listened on and didn't make any move towards her.

" Harry left right after that day and I never heard from him again, even till this day. Few weeks after the incident, I figured out that I was pregnant but didn't know what to do. I had actually been expecting it since we'd had unprotected sex. I told Molly about everything because I couldn't bring myself to tell Lisa and that as when my own sister, advised me to get rid of the pregnancy. She told me that it was the best option since no one in the family bad gonna accept that child and there as no way I could cater for the child alone.

" At first, I ignored Molly's advice but when I realized that I really couldn't cater for a child at the time, I finally gave in. I know I should have spoken to my mum about it but Annie had been going through a lot at the time– what with Lisa's college fees and mine. I went to a chemist nearby and told him that I needed abortion pills. He gave me the supposed pills that destroyed my womb and also directed me on how to use it. Up until today, I'd actually thought the pills worked well and no one else was gonna find out about my horrible past. I was so stupid." She finished and whispered the last sentence.

Dani glanced at her.

" Don't beat yourself up, sugar. Forget about the past, live the present and look forward to your future. What's done's done." Dani said. They both said nothing after that till they got home.

Dani went straight up to her room while Tess crashed at the lounge.  Dani's far was scheduled for 6pm and the time was roughly 4:15. She quickly ran a hot bath and soaked herself in it for about 20 minutes. When she was done, she dried her hair and curled it in a way that it just rested on her shoulders. It took about thirty minutes to get that done but that was because are palms were sweaty the entire time and it was that easy to keep her grip on the curling iron.

She was nervous.

Hell yeah, she was. What if something went wrong. She knew that Fred was going to be extremely careful with their... date but  she still had her fear.

She got ready as fast as possible. She wanted to get to the restaurant earlier than 6pm so she could see Fred before Mannie got there. She wouldn't want them both to meet– that would just be awkward.

She was ready to leave by 5:20pm. She got to the door and was about leaving when,

" Where are you going?" Tess asked, with a bowl of Cheerios in hand.

" Out", Dani simply said.

" On a date? Cause you look stunning"

Dani felt her face heat up. She kept her eyes anywhere else but on Tess.

" Yeah... On a date", she confirmed

" Alright. Have fun", Tess said and Dani opened the door.

" Wait!", Tess said, suddenly. Dani groaned.

" What?"  She asked. Being awaited here wasn't really helping her nervousness.

" I thought all the restaurants were closed", Tess said and Dani immediately felt a headache coming up.

" Closed? Why?" She asked and Tess shrugged, taking a spoonful of Cheerios.

" Wait,  all  the restaurants?"

Yup. That's a headache.

" Yeah. All except one, though" Tess said.

Uh-oh. Dani didn't like where this was going.

" Which one?" She asked. She had a feeling she knew the answer to that and she wasn't going to like it.

" Um, I can't seem to remember it's name. Give me a minute and I'll check it out", Tess said and grabbed her phone from the couch.

Dani held onto her her forehead to try to relieve the pain that was forming but carefully, so as not to ruin her makeup.

Tessa swiped and scrolled on her phone then finally said, " There it is. O' meals restaurant. That's it."

Yup. That's exactly what Dani expected the  restaurant to be.

The only restaurant left was Fred's.

" What's he up to this time?", Dani muttered under breath.

" What was that?", Tess asked and Dani just sighed.

"  Nothing. Bye Tessa." She said and hurried out of the house.

She drove way past the speed limit and go to to the restaurant in no time. As soon as she got there, as if in cue, her phone rang– Mannie.

" Hey. Did you hear the news?", She asked, almost immediately.

" Yeah, I did. All the restaurants have been shut down. Now what do we do?", Mannie asked.

" Well, not all the restaurants are closed", Dani pointed out as she undid her seatbelt.

" Yeah but don't you think O'meals will be overcrowded?".

Dani glanced around the restaurant– totally crowded but she remained silent.

" You know what? I'll make a reservation anyway. I'll call you back to tell you how long till a table.", He said and hung up.

Letting out a deep breath, Dani got out of her car, walked past the line outside and through the people standing in the restaurant. As she did so, she thanked her stars that no one knew that this place belonged to Fred.

She scanned the building for him, then reminded herself that he was the owner of this huge building, he couldn't be seen waiting for a table but she could bet that he knew that she'd arrived.

She stood in the restaurant awkwardly for some time totally confused on what to do, then her phone rang again.

" Hey. I got us a table. I'll come pick you up a little after six since our table's not until 6:15", Mannie explained.

" Oh, don't worry about that. Why don't I meet you there instead"

" What? No. Why? That's ridiculous. Why would you even propose that?", Mannie asked and she bit her lip.

" Nothing. It's just that I have a place to be after our date do I'll need my car.", She lied.

Then, she suddenly felt strange and uncomfortable. Like she was being watched...or stared at. Glancing around the place, she caught sight of a waiter staring at her. That particular waiter had been looking straight at her when she walked in here but she brushed it off thinking he had only been looking at her because she came in alone but now that she noticed, he hasn't actually moved from where he was since she walked in and he'd been staring at her.

She didn't like that.

" You know I could just drive you there myself, right?"

" Yeah but I won't want to put you through that stress. You know what, just get to O'meals when it's time. I'll meet you there. I'll talk to you later, I have to get ready. Bye."

She hung up before he could even give a reply.

Then, almost immediately, the waiter approached her. The hair on her skin stood on end.

" Miss Roe?", He asked.

She looked taken aback at first but she masked it with a defiant look.

" Who's asking?"

" I was told to take you to my boss", he said and her mouth formed an 'O'.

His boss. Fred.

" Will you come with me, ma'am?".

At first, she was reluctant but she soon gave in. That was why she arrived early in the first place, wasn't it?

She moved quietly behind him as he walked towards the door that had the tag ' out of bounds to non– workers' on it. The door led to a hallway with two doors on either side. He left her by the second door on their right then left.

When she was sure he had left completely, she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

She was actually going to be seeing Fred after two years. She wasn't going to lie, she'd missed him. A lot. She just couldn't deny her love for him but she also knew that he had to stop this madness and he had to be taught a lesson. But so far, it felt like she was the one being taught a lesson. She wished things didn't have to be like that.

Placing her hand on the knob, she let out a deep breath and braced herself for the rush of emotions that she knew was going to come from seeing him.

She opened the door slightly first, then , after a moment or two, she opened it wider to let herself in.

The office was brightly lit and it was kind of obvious that it was the boss' office, though it looked homey. The  desk was neat too, too neat actually and the swivel chair behind it was turned to the window behind it. It was a floor to ceiling glass actually but she didn't think anyone could see the inside.

She noticed that a person was sitting in the chair. She moved further into the room since the person hadn't actually moved since she walked in.

Then she saw it.

Brown hair.

Fred.

He seemed to be asleep. Asleep? Something was definitely wrong here. She got to the edge of the table and whispered, " Fred?" But got no reply.

Then, just as she was about touching him, a door– which she had thought led to the bathroom– swung open and he walked out of it.

With a bottle of champagne and two glasses in hand, he said, smiling, " That's not me."