A Touch of Raspberry

Chapter Three

       "That's a reality of my marriage I have to face." Stasia exhaled. She gripped Suki's hand for a moment, then drew herself up again. "And I don't want pity for it."

       "No pity. Got it." Suki nodded sharply. She frowned, her garnet-red lips glimmering in the light of the romantic candle lights surrounding the friends. "Where's our men?"

     Stasia sighed, tossing her long gorgeous hair over her shoulder. Hundreds of pounds' worth of top-drawer hairspray kept her locks perfectly in place. Money was an easy substitute for love, but it left a hole in Stasia' heart. "Who knows. Maybe we should go on a date without them."

     "You'd like that." Stasia's friend crooned teasingly, tossing a flirty, winning smile out. Stasia only raised her eyebrows, a tiny smile on her face.

     Given this was supposed to be a double date, the two empty seats really appeared to be a setup for Suki and Stasia instead. If Beau didn't show up in the next two minutes, Stasia was going to bury him next to Alex. That way, they could be together no matter what.

    She took another sip of her wine. This was going to be a long night.

    After a long conversation about shoe shopping, Beau and Alex finally made their appearance. Alex rushed straight over to Suki, giving her an adoring kiss on the cheek. Stasia watched Suki's besotted smile with envy.

    When Beau approached Stasia, their greeting was far less cordial. Beau nodded at Stasia, and she gave him a slight tilt of her head in response. He sat next to her, exhaling softly as he picked up his refilled glass.

     Beau turned to Suki, acknowledging her small good deed as he sipped from the full glass of red wine. "Thanks, Suki."

      Suki eyed him oddly, then smiled. "Oh, I didn't re-fill your glass. That was courtesy of your lovely wife."

      Beau looked startled as he glanced surreptitiously in Stasia's direction. Stasia forced herself to stare straight ahead, sipping from her glass as she waited for a response.

       "Thank you." she heard Beau's low voice murmur. He didn't sound bitter, or resentful. Stasia couldn't bear to find out if that held true to his expression.

      "Don't mention it." Stasia muttered back. She could perform decent gestures like that still. Being civil wasn't difficult. Even if their companionship was teetering on the verge of indifference.

     The night was awkward, as many of their prior dates were. Suki and Alex were cosied up as new fiancées, whispering endearments into each others' ears. Meanwhile, Stasia and Beau awkwardly sat next to each other, pretending they were each in their own respective world.

So Stasia drank herself into a stupor to stop the odd jolts of jealousy and pain from rushing into her chest every second or so.

*

     Beau only woke from his reverie in the restaurant when he felt a featherlight touch on his wrist. He glanced over at Stasia's fingertips, ghosting his skin. His gaze travelled from her hand to the woman's eyes, which were looking beseechingly into his.

     Stasia giggled, a fountain of laughter that coursed through Beau's veins, dipping them into a pool of warmth. He shook his head, forcing himself to remember. He disliked her. She wasn't pretty, her laugh was not warm, and he didn't like her.

      Stasia twisted in her seat so that she could lie across her chair's arm, tipping her head so far back that Beau worried she'd fall and break her head.

     He looked to Suki and Alex for assistance, but their lips were apparently occupied. Briefly disgusted by the amount of tongue he was witnessing, Beau turned back to his wife. He sighed, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt to cool himself down as he asked Stasia succinctly, "What is it?"