75 — A date…?

It turns out that Tyler's idea of a new level of petty revenge is a date. Or almost that. It's not romantic at all, at least not for me. Julian really hurt my feelings and I needed to get away for a while. But when he knocked on my door looking so messed up, my chest tightened. And I stepped into the elevator, letting our gazes meet again, with a sigh escaping my lips. His eyes seemed to be begging me not to go… not to leave him.
But I did.
And once again, I feel stupid for crying in front of Julian. Of course he has no feelings for me. This is Julian we're talking about, the convicted bachelor. He has never committed to anyone, and wouldn't commit to me — his best friend's daughter.
When the doors opened on the second floor, I didn't let Julian get to me anymore, just took a cab quickly. And soon, the car is driving through New York City, with the night sky already ruling the landscape. The drizzle has passed, perhaps it has dried up along with my tears, or it's simply tired of crying like me.
The driver pulls up in front of an establishment I don't recognize, but it looks elegant, at least I'm glad I didn't overdress for the place — somehow, I wanted to feel pretty today. Paying a few dollars, I got out of the taxi, inhaling deeply the humid air of that gloomy night.
A cold breeze passes over my body, chilling my skin… and suddenly, I feel *watched.*
I look around, searching for some familiar face or something suspicious, but don't see anything out of place. So I just rush into it, arriving only five minutes late.
When I walk in, I see a hand waving loudly. A smile breaks out on my lips at the sight of Tyler, and I hurry to the table with four chairs. It's quite set back, next to a big window that takes up an entire wall and gives a view of the sidewalk and the city lights.
I sit down opposite Tyler, noticing that his hair is styled differently from the usual wear at the restaurant. He's also very well-dressed, with a black silk shirt showing off his muscles which, I can tell, are very nice indeed — Ok, I admit, can't help but notice it. I really like defined muscles.
“I'm sorry, did you wait long?” I say, putting the bag aside and resting my eyes on him again.
“Of course not.” He waves his hand, calling for the waiter, “What will you have?”
“Probably something non-alcoholic… I'm not getting along with it very well.” I smile back, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear; this simple gesture seems to catch Tyler's eyes.
“I'm not drinking anything alcoholic, either.” He lifts his glass; it looks like tonic water, “How about a mocktail?”
“Oh…” I moisten my lips thoughtfully… And once again, I notice that he's watching my movements cautiously. “What do you suggest?”
“A virgin piña colada?” I nod and he smiles. He looks at the waiter and orders this drink, which I haven't had before.
Meanwhile, I take the opportunity to look around, feeling that shiver run up my spine again. However, I still don't see anything fishy.
When Tyler turns his attention to me, I try to leave this feeling behind.
“If I can be honest, Angel… I didn't think you would agree to go out with me tonight.” He says softly, looking at me with intense eyes. “I asked you out without any bad intentions, but I didn't expect you to believe me.”
“If I can also be honest… if it were any other time, I wouldn't accept it.” I sigh, running my hand through my hair, brushing it back, and making the brown waves fall past my shoulders.
“The blond guy?”
“The blond guy.” I nod, pursing my lips. “He's acting odd. He's the one who said he'd like to be just friends, but then, he touches me and tries to kiss me-” I stop my words suddenly, feeling uncomfortable. *When did I become so honest with Tyler?*
“Maybe he regretted it,” Tyler says thoughtfully, his elbow resting on the table, holding his glass high. “Actually, I'd regret it too if I were in his shoes.”
I give a sarcastic smile and a silly laugh rises to my lips, “He might regret it, but now, I've realized that I don't want just that. I don't want to be a body; I don't want to mean just sex. And I told him. Told him that, if he doesn't have feelings for me, then he shouldn't do these things anymore.”
Tyler looks at me so intensely that I feel my throat narrow, and I clear it hard, adding, “Well, things got bad, so I just ran away.”
“Why do you think it's just sex?” He asks suddenly, making my eyes slightly widen in surprise. “Didn't see it that way when he paid off your bill.”
“Julian has no feelings for me,” I say with painful conviction… It's painful to admit it, but it's the bitter truth. “If he had, he would have told me when I confronted him.”
Tyler takes a sip of his drink, keeping his eyes on me. It's strange to be under such an attentive gaze, it's almost like I'm in front of a shrink, venting all my problems, hoping for some vague answer that will make me reflect and realize that maybe the problem isn't big as it seems.
I open my lips to say something else, but the waiter appears with my order, places it on the table, and then leaves. So I take a quick sip, wetting my mouth, which is suddenly too dry.
“And why did you ask me out?” I ask, trying to switch the focus away from me. I don't want to think about Julian tonight, or the painful things he makes me feel. “And how could this be a new level of petty revenge?”
“Actually, ever since you started going to the restaurant, Laura has been sending me messages with different numbers. I have no idea how she gets them, but there have been at least five different ones. Of course, she doesn't sign her name in the texts, but I just know.”
“Okay, that sounds creepy,” I say, moistening my lips.
“Do you want to see it?” Tyler pulls his phone out of his pocket before I can answer and casually stretches it toward me.
I take it with apprehension, taking my eyes from his face to the screen,
**[Tyler, I miss you…]**
**[You know I'm sorry.]**
**[I made a mistake because I was needy and missing you… Why are you treating me like this?]**
Uh-oh.
“There are plenty of others like that.” He says, while I hand the phone back, with shivers running down my skin. “And well, I already intended to ask you out, but after what happened today…”
“What happened today?” I frowned, retracting my arms, hugging them slightly to disguise this shivering body of mine.
“After work, she showed up at the restaurant… Which is quite funny, considering that she hadn't been eager for it before. She had her usual pitying expression, her big puppy-like eyes, and her sweet voice that used to fool me.” He gives a bitter smile, then takes another sip of tonic water, “She finally stopped texting and came to tell me in person how much she misses me and how wants us to have another chance.”
“You're kidding!” I say, in astonishment, with my eyebrows raised so high that surprise is all over my face.
“I told her, *there's no chance of us getting back together, why aren't you after your boyfriend, the one you fucked in my bed?”* Tyler shakes his head with an incredulous laugh, “Can you believe she told me that she's not with him, and it was only that time? Either she didn't know you told me everything, or she's just a psycho bitch.”
I'm completely baffled. There are no words that can come out of my mouth right now.
“Anyway, I said that I knew everything, that you told me. And she said you're a crazy person, you want to hurt her, and that you even threatened to fire her just because you hate her and are taking advantage of your father's position.”
“What?” I scream loudly, high-pitched, and cover my mouth with an apologetic look. Closing my eyes tightly for a moment, I breathe deeply and retract my hand. “It didn't happen that way, I swear. All right, I did threaten to fire her, but-”
“Angel, it's okay.” He interrupts me gently, resting his cup on the table while holding my gaze, “I know Laura very well, she clearly twists everything around her. When we broke up, she ran her mouth about how I abandoned her, threw her out of my apartment… how I didn't pay any attention to her, and then discarded her with no reason.”
“I'm sorry, Tyler,” I say honestly, and he just shrugs with a resigned expression.
“After you started going to the restaurant, she suddenly changed her way, and now is trying to make me feel sorry for her.”
“It's almost like she enjoys taking things from others, but doesn't like feeling that things have been taken from her,” I say quietly, almost in a whisper, and take a generous sip of the drink which, by the way, is really delicious. “The problem is that people aren't things.”
“I'm getting annoyed about how Laura thinks she can do what she wants and then twist everything around, making people suffer the consequences of her actions.”
“I understand you.” I nod, sighing. “The truth is that something strange has been happening to me too. Someone is following me, taking photos, and recording me at specific moments when I clearly make the wrong decisions. It's true that the first time I was really a victim, but the second — *and worse* time it was my fault for drinking like that. As I said, I'm not the best friend of alcohol, and it despises me.” I give a sweet smile, and add, “Now, I feel like I'm being watched everywhere.”
“Even now?”
“Uh-huh.” I grumble, looking beyond the window, “Maybe there's someone with a camera or a phone pointing at us right now.”
“That gives me a terribly petty idea.” He gives me a mischievous smile.
I laugh, not taking it seriously… But when he moistens his lips, I feel a chill.
“You see, at this angle, if I move to the chair next to you, like this…” Tyler moves, jumping a chair, standing exactly next to me… so close that our skin is almost touching. “And if I pass my arm *like this…”* He slings his big arm over my chair, behind my shoulders… “Doesn't it feel like something's going on now?”
“You really want to bother Laura, don't you?” I purse my lips, suddenly unsure if this is a good idea, but…
“Don't you want to know if the blond guy has feelings for you?” He raises an eyebrow, catching my attention. “I'm a man, Angel. And I can tell you that nothing opens our eyes more than the threat of losing the one we love.”
I hold the air in my lungs.
“So… Why don't you trust me this time?” Tyler brings his hand up to my face and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, “If they're watching you through a lens, then smile for the camera and put on a show — *let them see who they're messing with.”*