AUTHORESS'S POV
Beauty forcefully gulped the whole drink down her throat in one go. Her whole body was tormented by the alcohol, and she shook herself as though trying to shake it off.
Her heart burned with the alcohol, and she coughed and coughed.
“Wow! That's one strong drink.”
She looked up and found no one on the chair opposite her.
“Yeah… that's what I thought, he left,” she said sadly and started crying, forcing the food into her mouth.
Many heads turned in her direction. The waiter approached her and told her to stop disturbing others, but she cried even more.
---
AT BRUNO'S PLACE
Bruno had just finished working on a new project. He pressed his fingers over his tired eyes and closed his laptop.
He was about to retire to bed when his phone rang.
He glanced at it tiredly.
The number wasn’t saved in his phonebook, and he hated phone calls.
So, he ignored it and put the phone back on his bedside table.
It rang again. He kept ignoring it, but the caller seemed relentless.
The phone kept ringing, and he grew annoyed.
He picked it up and finally answered.
“Don’t you know when to stop?” he groaned.
“Heeeeeeeey!”
His eyes snapped open.
That voice sounds familiar, he thought.
“I’m sorry, who is this?”
“I got dumped again. Can you please come pick me up… baby?”
Bruno was beyond confused.
Baby what?
He heard a hoarse voice in the background, telling the caller to get to the point.
The voice sounded rough, and it was clearly that of a man. He wondered if she was in trouble.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m alright… I just told the waiter that my boyfriend is rich. He didn’t believe me and is threatening to call the police.”
“Remind me who you are and how you got my number?”
“Hello, is this Beauty’s boyfriend? She got drunk and refused to pay for her meal…” another voice yelled over the phone.
Bruno was unable to respond.
“Give me my phone, rude!” he heard Beauty say to the man, and then she took over.
“Hello, baby!” Beauty yelled.
Bruno groaned lowly, wiping his face with his palm in frustration, unsure of what to do.
“That’s certainly the employee I stood up for at the company today. I recognize her voice,” he said to himself. Suddenly, he heard her yelling.
“Don’t touch me!”
A nerve in him kicked off.
“Hey… if you can hear me, waiter, don’t lay a finger on her! I’ll be on my way,” he shouted louder than usual.
“Take that!” he heard Beauty yell at the waiter.
He sighed and groaned again. “Miss, where are you?”
“What’s the name of this place?” Beauty asked. The man replied, and she screamed the name out loud before breaking into a song about it.
Bruno sighed.
“Fine, I’ll be on my way.”
He hung up, sighed again, and stared at his phone for a while.
How did she get my number? Beauty… huh.
He got up from the bed, put on a shirt and jeans, picked his car key, grabbed some cash, and headed out.
---
He parked his car in the lot and dialed the number again, but there was no answer.
He stared across the road at the restaurant.
“I hope she’s okay,” he murmured and got out of the car.
With his hands tucked into his pockets, he walked into the place and found her sitting at a table with food scattered grossly everywhere.
“Emm, hello…”
He waved at them.
Beauty turned, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of tears and excitement.
“Tim! You’re here,” she said loudly and ran to hug him, crying.
Who the hell is Tim?
Bruno looked behind him, but no one was there.
“Actually, it’s… Bruno,” he said softly, unsure who Tim was.
The angry restaurateur approached him.
“Is this your girlfriend?”
Bruno looked down at Beauty beneath his chin, sobbing, then back at the restaurateur.
“Sorry for the inconvenience. Please, how much is the bill?”
He avoided the question.
“$1,090.”
“Wire transfer?”
“We accept.”
Bruno took out his phone. She was still hugging him, sobbing and mumbling words he didn’t understand or have the energy to make sense of.
He paid the bill.
“Received. Please take your girlfriend out of here. She’s a mess. She has such a nice boyfriend and still goes on dates with men. Not like she’s even beautiful.”
Bruno’s cold eyes met his.
“No offense,” the man added and walked away.
Bruno sighed and tried to pull Beauty to stand on her own, but she was already dozing off.
“Miss…?”
He took a closer look at her. She looked exhausted, with tears still wet under her eyes.
I guess I have to carry her out of the restaurant, he thought.
He carried her in his arms, surprised she was lighter than he had expected.
“Tim… your arms are so warm,” he heard her murmur.
“It’s Bruno,” he replied calmly.
“Oh, Steven.”
Now who is Steven?
First Tim, now Steven?
He reached his car and put her down beside it, fishing for his keys in his pocket.
“Tim… Can I get ice cream, please? Chocolate flavor,” she turned it into a song, “maybe a stra…wbe…rry… Choco Choco… strawberry… Choco Choco… strawberry…”
Bruno sighed and took her by the hand.
“What have I gotten myself into? I guess she wants ice cream.”
He looked around and spotted an ice cream truck outside the restaurant, just across the road.
I can’t leave her alone here, he thought and carried her with him.
“Can you get me a mixed flavor—chocolate and strawberry?”
The ice cream man nodded and scooped the ice cream.
Bruno paid and returned to the waiting bench, where Beauty was now dozing off, sleeping soundly.
He gently tapped her shoulder.
“Here you go.”
Her eyes opened slowly, but upon seeing the ice cream, they widened.
“Ice cream?”
“You said you wanted one,” he replied.
She looked up at him, surprised.
“I did?”
“Yes, you did, in song form.”
She laughed.
“Oh, I guess I did.”
Then she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
“Aww, you got both flavors,” she sobbed loudly.
Bruno was confused.
“Are you okay?”
“Why did you ever leave me, Tim?”
“It’s Bruno!” he exclaimed, fed up with constantly reminding her.
“Why do you all hate me? I’m trying so hard to be slim… I’m trying…” She cried loudly.
“Let’s get out of the public first,” Bruno replied, embarrassed.
He helped her to her feet, but she asked to be carried instead.
With his face flushed, he obliged.