Chapter 31- Stoop up

All his life, Luke Junior Tequiedo was considered weird. Not in the figurative sense, but the fact that he was skinny and looked shabby made people consider him weird. He kept to himself so much so that barely few people in Craigsburg knew of his existence, and the others knew about him only because of his mother.
Who passed away few month after Wren’s mother.
Then, the blonde felt they had something in common and would sometimes speak to him whenever they ran into each other. And that, was how they became acquaintance.
Right until when Wren Austin rapidly gained popularity for her skill in the bedroom, Luke stayed by her and didn’t judge her. Rumours began to circulate around town that she was shagging Luke, but the blonde gave a cold shoulder to it.
Of course she knew he had feelings for her. Bit by bit, she had started to notice the change in his mannerisms and the way he spoke to her, but she chose to ignore it for the sake of their friendship.
Then he had, like the rest of the assholes who walked around with tiny inflated balloons in between their legs, called her names and he had even tried to force himself on her.
Wren Austin didn’t know when or how their friendship had gone down the drain with nothing left to salvage.
Because she could not forgive him for his actions.
Now, Wren Austin didn’t want to refer herself bossy or anything, but to the best of her knowledge, Luke had always been scared of her. And as she stood there with Luke hovering over her, she suddenly remembered who the hell she was.
At once, Wren Austin pulled the perfect maneuver so now she had the young man’s face pressed against the wall with his hands pinned behind him.
“I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you Luke. I tried, but I still can’t find any fucks to give. Here is my last warning to you. Don’t you ever, in your Godforsaken life, do what you just did. You have officially crushed the last bit of respect I had for you. You’ve known me as a friend, and I assure you, you don’t want to know me as an enemy” the blonde spat out and let got off the young man as the nothing happened.
Casually, the blonde adjusted herself and aimed for the door, but not without hearing Luke blurt out.
“I’ll get my revenge on you, Wren. You better watch your back” he spat out humiliatingly, but Wren didn’t let his threats affect her.
When Wren Made it back to the front she noticed Gwendolyn was nowhere in plain sight. After a talk with the cashier, the blonde was made aware that the dark-haired had gotten fed up of waiting inside and chose to go out.
With a sigh, Wren hurriedly made her way outside and immediately came face to face with an infuriated Gwendolyn.
“What the hell where you doing in there? Birthing a horse?” Gwendolyn Jefferson uttered when he gaze landed on Wren.
Stretching out her arm and taking the paper bag that was handed to her, Wren replied;
“I wish I was” Wren dismissed and the dark-haired understood not to press on.
**********
The time currently read five thirty p.m. in the evening and the blonde was set up. She took another look at herself in the mirror and smiled in approval at her choice of clothing.
She had settled for the red podka dot dress which she paired with a black leather jacket and a pair of high-knee black leather boots. Her blonde luscious hair was held in a high ponytail, with some hair falling on both side of her face that served a baby hairs.
The total output was a simple yet classy bohemian look. Everything Wren loved.
“Do you think he’ll love it?” Wren questioned with paranoia in her voice.
Gwendolyn Jefferson looked up from her phone and gave her friend an encouraging smile.
“You look beautiful Wren. Giovanni will be speechless when he sees you” the dark-haired encourage.
The blonde took a deep breath burning looking at her reflection in the mirror.
“I was just talking with Topaz and he hasn’t shut up about the date. Everything will be great” Gwendolyn figured another moral boost will make her feel better.
The sound of a car honking caught both girls attention, making Wren quickly pick up her little black clutch purse.
“See you” she called out, already half-way through the door.
“Have fun!” the dark haired called out.
The streets of Craigsburg in the evening hours were generally scanty, mainly because those with cars and bikes were most definitely parked in a drinking spot, trying to rid themselves of the events of the day.
In consequence, the drive to the outskirts was quick and in less than twenty minutes, Wren Austin paid the cab driver and she was out the next minute.
She took in a deep breath. Standing on the walkway of ‘your paradise on earth’, the blonde suddenly felt like she had teleported back to the day of their first date. The events of that beautiful night flashed before her eyes, bringing a smile to her face.
A walk down memory lane.
Wren Austin took out her phone and sent a quick message to Giovanni, informing him that she had arrived.
“Hi, Miss. Do you have a reservation?” the waiter flashed her an eye-blinding smile.
“No” replied the blonde.
The waiter nodded. “This way, miss” he said and ushered her to a boot in the back of the room. Coincidentally, it was the same boot where Giovanni asked her to be his girlfriend.
“Here’s the menu” the waiter placed the menu on the table.
“Thanks you. But I will not be ordering now. I’ll wait for my date. How about you just get me a glass of natural juice?” When asked with a smile.
It wasn’t long until the waiter returned with Wren’s order and the blonde wasted no time in digging in, whilst scrolling through her phone to while away time. The blonde didn’t even notice the time pass as she was too busy on her phone, and it wasn’t until the glass was empty that she got alert.
The waiter walked up to her when he noticed her glass was now empty.
“I’m not ready to order yet. Give me some more time, please” she immediately spoke up when the waiter leaned in to her and with the nod of his head, he walked away.
As minutes passed, Wren was starting to worry. Giovanni was taking an awful lot of time. At once, she took out her phone and dialed his number and he heart sank when it went to voice mail.
“Maybe he ran out of battery” the blonde thought to herself. Something didn’t sit right with the blonde, but she pushed that thought in the back of her mind.
Seconds became minutes, and minutes became hours. Still, Giovanni didn’t show up. The unsettling feeling Wren felt tripled. The waiter had approached Wren four more times, and every time he came, the blonde felt ashamed to whenever he asked him to come back.
After her sixth attempt at contacting the young man, she came to the realisation of what was happening. She tried to make up excuses for him, but she quickly understood that she was lying to herself.
She should have left after her third attempt. Wren didn’t understand why she didn’t follow her gut and leave. Maybe because she was hoping that her mind and paranoia were just being creative.
Even after noticing the room gradually being emptied, she still didn’t leave.
Wren’s insides start to boil with anger as she fished for her phone, ready to dial his number for the nth time, but only got more upset when the call when straight to voicemail and her phone signaled low battery and immediately powered off.
Her eyes start to get watery with pain, to which she blinked several times to push it away. Wren didn’t know what to think. The hopeful side of her was tired of making up excuses for him, and so this time when the waiter approached her, Wren politely apologised for having wasted his time, and made it up to him by leaving a hefty tip.
As Wren walked out of ‘paradise on earth’, tears began now roll down her cheeks.
She didn’t fight them.
The cold breeze slapped her face and it finally sunk in.
Giovanni stood her up.

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