Taming Cinderella

Chapter 9 : Showdown

Ella:

We hungrily gorge down on our food while talking about Accent, our company’s expansion plan, the week that went by and Joe’s plans of getting another tattoo although I wasn’t too excited about the last part. Having too many tats gives the impression that you’re trying too hard!

“We need to plan a trip to Mexico, I have been dying to go there since the James Bond-Spectre-movie,” I say while hungrily forking on my last ravioli.

“ Oh absolutely, let's plan it sometime next month, what do…” his phone starts ringing all of a sudden. He looks at the screen, freezes for a brief moment  and cuts the call continuing, “What do you think?”

“ Oh I’m game!! I shall talk to Jen next week to approve my leave, could you put in your request maybe the following week?”

“Yes, that sounds….” His phone started ringing again. He glances at the screen again and says, “Sigh, I got to take this call sweety, it’s this irritating sales executive who gave me a lead once and wants a favour in return now. I’ll be right back”

“Sure, go on!” I reply as I sip my wine admiring the surrounding landscapes.

He comes back in five minutes and places the phone on the table, “Sorry about that baby, I have put my phone on silent mode, so what was I saying?”

The wine waiter arrives at our table to pour more wine. Just as he is done, a burly man accidentally nudges the waiter as he passes by. The poor waiter loses his balance and ends up spilling the wine on Joe’s trousers.

“Oh my god! I am so sorry” he profusely apologizes as we stare at each other in absolute shock.

“Can I please assist you to the dressing room to clean it off Sir!?” he apologetically offers.

Joe swears under his breath, gets up grabbing a couple of tissues muttering, “I’ll be right back!”

“It’s a tiny glitch, he will be alright” My thoughts are interrupted by loud vibrations of a phone. I look around and realize that Joe had left his phone behind on the table.

I pick his phone to give that sales executive a piece of my mind, I mean who disturbs people on weekends especially New Year’s Eve? My heart stops when I see the name on the phone screen, ALICE!

I picked up the call anyways to see what she had to say. “Baby, why haven’t you left already? Just tell Ella, “It’s over!” and leave! I am waiting in the hot-tub for you to celebrate 30 days of consecutive f*****g. I was thinking of dressing up as your naughty elf again from our Christmas night! What do you think?” she blabbered not knowing it was me on the other end of the phone.

It felt as though somebody had slipped the ground from beneath me. The phone slipped from my hand and smashed into pieces on the floor as I covered my mouth in shock trying to make sense of what just happened.

I looked up and saw Joe approaching the table. From the look on his face, it seemed as though he saw what had transpired in the last few minutes.

He sat down, folded his hands and spoke anxiously, “Ella, I can explain!”

Tears started brimming in the corner of my eyes. “Were you with Alice on Christmas?” I asked, clenching my jaw with anger.

He cowered with fear replying, “Ella, I meant to tell you!”

“I was going to introduce you to my family and you said, you couldn’t come as you had been admitted to the hospital after suffering from a seizure enroute to my house, did you say that or not!? I emphasized for an answer.

“Ella, I did but...Alice is lying...she tried to push herself onto me!” A normally over-confident Joe seemed to be rambling for words today.

 “Was I not good enough for you?” My voice was shivering and starting to grow louder.

“It’s not you, it’s me” Joe replies trying to convince me.

“Damn right, it's you!, you were trying to stand in two different boats, isn’t it? ” I stood up and slammed the table as I confronted him while hopelessly trying to hold back my tears. 

Patrons seated around the neighbourhood tables swung around to see what the commotion was about. Usually, I wasn’t someone who would react the way I did right now, but I did not seem to care.

Joe had never seen this side of me before. He started faltering for words and said, “Ella, you need to calm down, please sit down”

I was in no mood to heed his request. Throwing his stupid surprise gift at him, I screamed even louder, “You’re a f*****g cheat, Joe Smith!!!”

He stood up, came closer and tried to pacify me saying, “You’re over-reacting, let’s get out of here”

I slap him tight and hard across his face leaving him stupefied. Still not satisfied, I grab the glass of wine on the table and splash the liquid all across his face screaming, “There, I have overreacted, go f**k yourself!”

Saying these words I left the restaurant. I started feeling like there was a knot in my stomach and wanted to throw up. Before I realized what was happening, I instinctively bent down and vomited on the side of the road.

People around started looking with some of them staring probably sad at the sorry mess I had become in that very moment. I felt like I was going to collapse. It’s a good thing the Madison Square Park was close by.

I grab a bottle of water from a nearby pharmacy and park myself on the bench. After gulping a few deep breaths, I close my eyes and rest my neck atop the bench, still trying to make sense of what actually happened.

In a way, I had compromised on the kind of man I wanted to be with because magazines, tabloids and Mary’s antics forced me to be practical and settle for the average Joe even though Helen and Jane tried warning me.

I take a deep breath “How could I be so stupid? This is going to be the first and the last time I settle, because I will never make myself emotionally available again.”