Twenty-Nine

Chadwick

After getting over my shock, I experienced a resentful awareness that Ashanti was with that oaf, Henry. It made my ribs squeeze tight with envy and felt like a slap in my face when I saw her sitting at a table across the room with him.

They looked cozy, and Henry even had the guts to touch her hand and laugh.

Mom kept going on and on, and I tried hard to focus on my dinner. I had a ritual to always take my mom to dinner at least once in two weeks. But now, I had the strong urge to walk over to Ashanti's table and yank her out of here.

"She's not your girlfriend," my subconscious reminded me. "You have no right over her. Also, this is not the office where you can lord over everyone."

My mom was talking nonstop about her book club and the new yoga class she joined. I nodded and smiled, pretending to listen, but my eyes kept wandering to Ashanti's table. Despite not wearing makeup, she was so beautiful that it hurt.

"Chad, are you okay?" my mom asked, noticing my lack of appeti