Chapter 9: Can You Believe It?

Scarlett laughed out loud. Dan continued, “Can you believe it? It’s my fifth Tinder date this month alone. I wouldn't say I like it, but I still can’t stop. I feel like I gotta keep trying my luck.”

Scarlett took a closer look. “Well, you never know, maybe you’ll have fun! Maybe she’ll turn out to be a good match for you. You gotta stay hopeful, right?”

Dan shook his head and sighed. “I’m not as optimistic as you.”

“Well, by the time you find the one, you’ll be so experienced. Things will go smoothly and fall into place.’ Scarlett laughed again.

Dan gazed at her lovely face, and a sudden sadness rose from the bottom of his heart. Would he ever be able to confess his love to Scarlett? Would he have to remain silent… forever?

Scarlett waved goodbye to Dan, who had to leave to go elsewhere. She noticed, too, that Bell and her Facebook beau had finished talking. Alright, great, they’re done. I can finally go, she thought to herself.

“So how did it go, girl? How was it? Tell me everything!” Scarlett rested her arm on Bell’s shoulder and asked.

Bell kept fiddling with her dress. She seemed nervous and bashful, like a young girl who had just found out that the boy she liked, liked her back too. “We… We decided that we like each other and want to be in a relationship. Like… boyfriend and girlfriend!”

“I knew it! I bet everyone in that coffee shop felt the chemistry between you two!” Scarlett said, dragging Bell up and getting her to walk with her towards the bus stop.

“Haha! He’s really nice! By the way, where are we going?”

“Hey, don’t ask so many questions, girl. I’m your lucky charm. Look at you, you got a boyfriend now! Bell has a boyfriend now, and my makeup skills helped with that!” Scarlett winked at her. She was proud of herself.

Bell patted Scarlett on the shoulder and said with great delight, “What do you want to eat? Do you want to go shopping? It’s all on me!”

They finally nailed down a highly rated Italian restaurant in the area. Scarlett had wanted to eat at that restaurant for a while now, but she hadn’t gotten the chance. She was excited to have the opportunity to try it out finally.

As they arrived at the restaurant, a waitress led them to a table near the door. Scarlett didn’t want to sit right by the door, but the restaurant was already packed, so they had no option. She was surprised that they had even managed to get in without a reservation.

But the worst thing about sitting by the door was that you were forced to see everyone who walked into the restaurant. Even those you especially did not want to see– or were avoiding for particular reasons.

“Hey, isn’t that Sophie’s boyfriend…?” Bell stared. Her eyes widened at the sight of a man walking in and his arm wrapped tight around a woman.

“Well, we don’t know it’s a date. Maybe she’s just a friend.” It was obvious to both of them that this was a date. But Scarlett attempted to deny the truth of the situation. She hoped that it wasn’t a date and that Jeff was not cheating on Sophie.

“Scarlett… come on. Don’t be naïve. It’s definitely a date. Just look at them.”

“Ah hell! I wish we had never come here. Then we wouldn’t have had to see stupid Jeff and his mistress.” Scarlett said in despair.

“It’s always terrible to find that your friend’s boyfriend is having an affair without another woman. What do we do now? If we tell Sophie, and it turns out that they’re just friends, what’s going to happen? On the flip side, if we tell Sophie that her boyfriend is having an affair, she might freak out and think that we’re just plotting against her or lying to her face… This is so complicated. What do we do?”

After a long internal debate, Scarlett decided to follow her conscience. She took her phone out and dialed Sophie’s number.

“Go ahead, Scarlett. It’s no big deal, and you’re doing the right thing!” Scarlett encouraged herself.

“Hey, Sophie. Where are you now?” Scarlett talked to Sophie on the phone.

“I’m busy counting money now. What’s wrong?” Sophie replied.

“I’m in a Vacanze Romane Restaurant. Do you think you could come to get me? It’s an emergency.”

“I don’t like Italian food. What’s up? Is something wrong?”

“I just saw Jeff here…” Scarlett hesitated to tell the truth to Sophie.

“Then what?” Sophie was losing her patience quickly.

“He came in with some woman.” Scarlett finally spits it out, letting the words escape her mouth.

After a long silence from the other side, Scarlett realized that Sophie had already hung up the phone. She wondered what Sophie was thinking and how she would react. She was worried about her.

Sophie arrived within the next half hour. “So, where are they?” Sophie asked. Scarlett pointed at the door with a guilty expression on her face. “They left… like just a few minutes ago. I’m sorry, Sophie.”

Scarlett and Bell both thought Sophie would turn around right away and try to catch up to Jeff and the girl. But they found; instead, Sophie taking a seat beside them. Amazed at her calmness, Bell said gingerly: “There is still time to catch up.”

“Let them go. I need some food to fill my stomach first and get myself ready for a real fight!” As she said, she waved at the waitress to come and started to order food.

“I want a Baked Lobster with Cheese, a Baked Rice with Bergamot, a Tuscany Toast, a Dumplings in Ewe’s Milk, and a Caesar Salad. That’s all. Thanks.”

Hearing the long list of food, Scarlett was startled, and Bell, the “hostess” today, suddenly turned pale, thinking of the hefty bill she was about to receive at the end of this meal.

“Hey, it’s my treat today!” Sophie released Bell from her worries. Then she took out a box of cigarettes and handed one to Scarlett. Scarlett shook her head and said, “No smoking here.”