A Collection of Short Stories

3

We give the name for the reservation and are lead to a table with three people already sat in the booth waiting for us. "Lydia! You made it" a woman greets her, getting up to give her a hug that I can tell Lydia doesn't want. She never let's go of my hand, squeezing it a bit, which I don't know if it's for her comfort or mine. The woman eventually let's go and turns to me, "you must be Aisha" she smiles and I glance at Lydia before nodding. "We've heard so much about you..." she says and I can tell she's lying.

Not only because Lydia only asked me yesterday but also because, even if she didn't, she doesn't know me well enough. Not to mention she's also a private person. "Really? All good things I hope" I smirk, turning to Lydia to wink at her and she shakes her head. "Of course! Come, sit" she gestures to the table and for the first time I look to the seats. The woman returns to her place and Lydia goes to move forward but I stop her, "can you ask for a chair? I don't think I can fit" I whisper. She stands for a moment, thinking, before she smirks.

She doesn't reply, just pulls me over to the table and onto her lap. I look back at her and narrow my eyes, she smirks and shrugs. I turn back to everyone and listen to their conversations, occasionally being added in on the topic if I knew about it. Most of it was music talk, a bit about business, and then just random things like wine or places they'd visited. "Do you guys have any plans to travel?" A brunette woman, Cynthia, asks Lydia and I, I can feel her tense and I decide to answer instead. "If I can ever convince this one to take time off, then certainly. I was thinking Italy or maybe Spain, I've always wanted to go" I reply, turning to her and booping her nose.

She scrunches it and smiles but narrows her eyes telling me not to push it, I smirk and turn back around. "That sounds lovely! Marissa and I went to Italy last year... it was beautiful" Cynthia claims before they pick up a different conversation. We talked for a while more before the waiter came back over to ask if we wanted refills and also what we wanted to eat. We ordered rather quickly, Lydia ordering for me as I hadn't had time to look over the menu since they were asking me a million and one questions. Once the food came, the discussion finally died down and I felt calmer.

The food went almost as fast as it came and we were back to talking over dessert. Most of them opting for coffee instead of a pastry. I decided on a piece of tiramisu because as soon as I heard it was an option I began craving it. As I nibbled on it I felt something poking me and I started moving on Lydia's lap trying to avoid it. "Stop moving" she speaks quietly in my ear, her voice a bit deeper than usual. "Then empty your god damn pockets" I turn to whisper with a sarcastic smile, "there's nothing in them. It's all me" she remarks.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion until I realize what she must mean, I try to get up but she pulls me back down just as fast. I hear her groan softly as I hit her lap and it causes me to close my eyes and sigh. "If you get up now, everyone will see" she says softly, "insecure much?" I quip. "Just stay put" she demands. So I do, feeling her bulge pressed against me until they finally decide to end the night. I made sure not to move anymore so she could... calm down. By the time we stood up, it was like nothing ever happened.

We got into the car and I just stayed silent, I didn't feel like talking anymore. "So?" she prompts and I ignore her, "Aisha" she calls me and I still don't speak. "You're just not going to say anything?" she asks, "What would you like me to say? I hated every second of dinner? That I loved it? That your boner was flattering?" I ramble, "I'm sorry about that" she says softly. "You're sorry..." I sigh and bite my lip, "I just want to sleep" I state and she doesn't say anything else. We get to the hotel and don't speak at all, just get into bed and go to sleep.