93
Lucy
I turned around to look at the woman who was trying to yank away from David. The people passing by had stopped to watch. They murmured between themselves as the woman kept screaming for David to let her go.
“David, what’s going on?”
“She was about to grab you by your hair,” David explained. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
She shoved at him and snarled. “This is none of your business! Stay out of it if you know what’s good for you.”
“I’m not going to just let you attack someone. Who are you and what do you want?”
“It wasn’t enough that you stole Tony, now you’ve picked up someone else, huh?” She sneered. “You’re worse than a homewrecker, you worthless, desperate little nobody!”
My eyes widened, and I cringed. How many exes did Tony and Matt have?
David threw her hand down. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
“I can say whatever I want—”
“You’re embarrassing yourself,” David said. “Behave like an adult. Aren’t you a bit too old to be starting a fight at a mall? With a college student? Over a man who dumped you? You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Tony didn’t dump me! She stole him from me!” She glared at me and tried to get around David. He blocked her off. “She should be ashamed of herself, the little whore! It wasn’t enough that you steal Tony, but now you’ve got this guy wrapped around your finger, huh?”
“I—”
“He dumped me out of nowhere!” She hissed. “And we had been together for so long. Because of you!”
David shook his head. “Stop. You have no business talking to her like that. And shouldn’t you be taking this up with Tony? We don’t even know who you are?”
“There’s no way that he’s never mentioned me!” She cried. “You’re just lying! I know how he felt about me!”
I winced and looked between David and the woman. He rubbed his head and glanced at me. He stayed between me and her, but he was clearly annoyed.
“Miss…” I started and flicked my gaze across her, hoping that she had her name on display somewhere, but she didn’t. “Well… I, I’m not with Tony at all. I don’t want to be either, so there’s really no need---”
“You think I’m going to buy that crap?”
“Melissa,” David said.
“How did you know that?” I asked.
David pointed at her neck. “It’s what her necklace says.”
I blinked and squinted at her necklace. I couldn’t make out the words, but I believed him.
“Right… Melissa. There’s no need to be… so upset.” I swallowed. “I really hope I never have to see Tony or Matt again. So, why don’t you go talk to him?”
Melissa sneered. “You’re just saying that. People like you always pretend like they’re done then come back and steal him away again. I’m not going to give her the opportunity!”
“Don’t you think you’d be better off making sure that he doesn’t have time to find someone else than bothering Lucy?” David asked. He glanced at me. “Lucy doesn’t deserve you attacking her when she’s done nothing to you. She doesn’t even know who you are---”
“She’s lying—”
“And if you feel so wronged, you should go after Tony.”
Her eyes flickered with rage. “I just need to get rid of her!”
She lunged towards Lucy. David darted in her path. She bounced off of him.
“You think you can protect her? You’re just a nobody, just like her! If all these people weren’t here, I’d—"
“That’s enough,” he growled. Melissa went still. “Lucy is far from a nobody. She's intelligent, kind, and deserving of respect. She doesn't need validation from someone like you. You may have lost Tony, but that doesn't give you the right to lash out at others. You have no business here. Either you leave in peace and go deal with your issues with Tony, or I can have you escorted into custody.”
“You can’t—” She broke off. Her voice broke off. There had to be something in his eyes that made her step back. Then, she looked at me and sneered. “I get it now. You’re just pack-hopping! Wait until they see this! We’ll see how they feel about you then! Bitches like you who don’t know what loyalty is? He’ll see how hard it is to try to replace me!”
She pulled out her phone. David snatched it from her hand. “That’s mine!”
“You’re trying my patience,” he said. “You’re not going to take photos of Lucy and me. I’m not going to tolerate this another second.”
“You can’t just take my stuff!”
“When you’re intending to do harm, I can. I have the nearest jurisdiction.” He lifted his hand and waved an officer over. He handed her phone to the woman. “This woman is trying to photograph a protected person with the intent to cause harm. I’m pressing charges for harassment and attempted assault on the protected person’s behalf as well.”
She huffed. “You’re not going to get away with this when I tell them what a whore she is!”
“Alright, that’s enough,” the officer said, taking Melissa by the arm and taking the phone. “We’ll collect your statements later.”
“But, I—”
“Come quietly, or I’m going to drag you, book you, and you can spend the next three days in a holding cell.”
She growled at me, but she didn’t fight the officer as he escorted her away. David rubbed the back of his neck.
“There really needs to be more rules of conduct…” he said and groaned. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I’m fine. Thank you, David.”
He sat back down. “You really need to learn self-defense soon. That’s the… fourth one.”
He shook his head. “How do they even know what you look like?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
He huffed. The man on the bus called out a number, and he stood.
“I’ll keep an eye out.”
I lifted my bottle of soda at him and laughed. “I’ll try to be inconspicuous.”
He grinned and walked back toward the bus. I looked around as people milled around. When he came back, he set at least fifty tacos on the table and grinned at me. He looked so proud.
“Let’s eat!”
He started to open the little containers of sauce and squeezed lime over all the tacos. The scent of the meat made my mouth water and my stomach grumble.
“Those are beef. Those are pork.” He said pointing. “This sauce is spicy and everything is better with avocado.”
I watched him load up his taco and did the same with a beef taco. It tasted so good even as my mouth started to burn from the spice. I ate the whole taco in a few bites before grabbing another one.
He chuckled. “I promise not to steal them from you.”
My face heated. “They’re really good.”
"I knew you'd love them. This truck never disappoints." He grinned. “Though, we’re going to have to get you a disguise. Maybe a wig or something? A mask?”
I wrinkled my nose. “It would just be nice if they would leave me alone.”
“Especially when there are tacos around?”
I took another bite rather than saying anything. Birds sang. People kept walking around and I sat back as I finished another taco. I smiled.
"You know, David, I never thought that tacos could bring me so much joy… I guess this is what people mean when they say it’s the little things.”
David chuckled, wiping a smudge of sauce from the corner of his mouth. "Food has a magical way of bringing people together and making everything better.”
“Even other people’s crazy exes?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Especially those!”
I chuckled and met his gaze. He blinked.
“Thank you…” My lips trembled. “Thank you for being here and… showing me things.”
David reached across the table and took my hand.
"The pleasure is all mine," he replied with a warm smile. "I'm grateful to have you back in my life, Lucy. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”
“Me either.”
He grinned. “Not even more Black Magic?”
I scowled and him and took my hand back as he laughed. “Don’t tease me!”
“I can’t help it,” he said. “You’re too cute when you blush.”
I scowled at him. “Well… don’t go trading me for tacos.”
“Never,” he said. “Not even a lifetime supply. You’re priceless… How’d your evaluation go?”
I told them about the three witches and the results they gave me. He seemed relieved to hear it, then we went back to talking about school. Almost two hours later, we’d eaten all the tacos and finished our drinks. He bought a flight of ice cream for us to eat before he walked me back to campus and left for the day.
“Have a good day, Lucy,” he pulled me into his arms. “Consider that disguise, hm?”
I squeezed him back. “You too, David.”
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