"I don't know how to tell you this," said Madeleine, when I arrived at work on Sunday night.
Kai had dropped me off after we spent the day hanging out with Will and Isabelle, playing Mario Kart at his house and complaining when Izzy won every single game and proceeded to crow over her "general superiority". I was smiling when I'd walked into work, buoyant with the feeling of having friends and exacting revenge, but I felt the expression slip off my face in response to Madi's pinched frown.
"How to tell me what?"
Madi played with the hem of her skirt in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness. "There's a booking for tonight under Aster."
"Here?"
Madi nodded.
"Huh."
My ex-boyfriend was so butthurt that I kissed Kai Delaney and subjected him to deserved public humiliation that he was willing to take his new date out to the restaurant where I worked? I didn't always work Sundays; I wonder if Tommy knew I was supposed to work tonight, if he really wanted to flaunt his new relationship under my nose. It seemed counterproductive to his mission of winning me back, but perhaps that was just my opinion. I wouldn't have thought it was a hot take, though.
Madi was wincing. She seemed to be waiting for my response—whether it be screaming or crying or melting his face off with a vat of acid—with trepidation. "Valerie?"
"Huh," was all I said.
Madi grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "If you can't be here, I understand. I can cover you."
I looked sceptically at our surroundings. There were empty trays of dishes piled behind the bar—evidence of a busy lunch shift—and too many tables for Madi to wait on her own. It wasn't busy; Madi could easily wait the tables while I did the dishes, but to do the shift on her own would mean a late night. She'd be here until after midnight doing close.
She followed my look. "I can make it work. I could call Cole; he'd help out, probably. You don't have to be here."
"It's fine," I said, rounding her and dropping my stuff off behind the counter. "I'm here to work, and I'll work."
She looked reluctant, but acquiesced to my stubbornness.
I was buoyed by spending a day with people I liked; people who seemed to like me, even if I was only in their life by circumstance, and not because they'd picked me. And Tommy Aster seemed to matter a little bit less every day. It's not like this was unexpected; Cole told me that Tommy had accepted his proposition.
Madeleine, poised besides me, pulled a tray from the dishwasher with a ferocity that would've smashed the glasses, if I didn't place a warning hand on her arm. "Uh, Mads. Do you need to go home?"
She blinked at me. "But if I went home, I couldn't poke his eyeballs out."
"Which would save you from a lawsuit."
Madi pouted. "What's the point of having money if you don't use it to hire a really good lawyer after a well-deserved eyeball removal?" I levelled her with a meaningful stare, and she sighed. "Fine. I can exact revenge in other ways."
"That's what the whole Kai thing is for. That's what this date is for. Remember?"
"I want to get my own personal revenge," she sighed dreamily, looking at the wall with unfocused eyes and a vacant smile. "I can imagine the screams."
"I think you might need to use that money for therapy."
"I'm very well-adjusted."
"Sure, you are."
Madeleine have me one last pleased smile, before she flounced over to greet a table of newcomers with her patented beautiful smile.
I wondered if Lena Montez would look anything like me. Sydney certainly didn't.
My question was almost immediately answered when a girl walked through the front door. She looked absolutely nothing like me.
Madeleine gave me a sad look and went to greet the unfairly beautiful girl that my ex-boyfriend was going to date. Lena Montez was the kind of pretty that belonged on a catwalk. It wasn't conventional beauty; she was too tall for that, too pale, her features almost aristocratic. She looked a little bit like Isabelle; if someone had desaturated her a little bit, bumped up the shadows, and then given Isabelle a course at finishing school and imparted upon her elegance and class. Lena's hair was a dark spill of ink-black curls, falling impossibly long to match her impossibly long legs. She might even be taller than Tommy. Her features were sharp; hard jawline that somehow managed to look feminine on her, high cheekbones, willowy figure that was all elegant lines and long, sweeping curves. The arch of her eyebrow was so perfectly shaped I was almost jealous, and the curve of her smile seemed deliberately confident and self-assured. She looked both intimidatingly pretty and slightly arrogant, and yet somehow, I liked her immediately. She reminded me a little bit of Sydney, instantly magnetic, and maybe Tommy did have a type and I was the deviation. But her expression was frank and open in a way that Sydney's had never been.
I had wanted to hate her a little bit, even if she was Cole's platonic soulmate forever and ever, or whatever other nonsense he had proclaimed to me and Madi over a glass of ice water. But when Madeline greeted her, her answering smile was both polite and sweet.
You agreed to this idea, Valerie.
But I would have marginally preferred Cole's friend to be ugly. Just a little bit.
And her dress looked as if it cost ten months worth of my wages, and she looked really really good in it. It was black and classy and little bit flirty, and if Tommy decided he didn't like her, I promptly decided I would set her up with Jameson. Except that, you know, she was apparently in love with some other super hot guy already. Small details.
Madeleine had a brief exchange with the girl, who responded with a small confused frown, before leading Lena to her table. Reserved under, gag, Aster. Madeleine made a face at me, nodding her head toward Lena as if to say "oh my god, Tommy is going to go on a date with her" to which I widened my eyes, telling her, "oh my god, stop terrifying the very nice girl".
Madeline left the girl with a menu in what was almost a stomp. Lena looked confused, but hid it by checking her phone.
And then Tommy walked in.
Despite everything he'd done, it didn't take away from the fact that Tommy Aster was startlingly good-looking. I'd always found him cute, with his dark curly hair and easy smile, but dressed for a place like this, which was all cultured arrogance and rich narcissism, Tommy was so very handsome that for the first time since I'd seen him naked over my best friend, I missed being his girlfriend.
But then I saw his eyes quickly fall on Lena, noticing her looks and her attitude and the confidence she exuded, and I saw him smile. And I mostly hated him again.
But when his gaze turned to me, I saw a flash of panic. Good. He didn't realise I was going to be here, and regretted it sorely. I gave him a small pinky wave. His jaw set.
Madeleine, doing her duty, greeted him at the door, but her smile was vaguely murderous, and while I didn't like Tommy very much, I was slightly concerned that he would walk out of this restaurant with a lighter wallet and a few missing limbs. When she walked him to the table, she shot me a glance that confirmed that delimbing Tommy was part of her plans for the near-future.
I could hear her laugh—a little bit shrill and tinged with a slight hysteria—and I saw Lena Montez, the unfairly beautiful giant, raise an eyebrow.
Then Madi beelined toward me.
"Holy shit," she hissed. "Valerie. She's so hot."
"Thanks," I said wryly.
"You know that I think you're stunning, darling," she said. Then she looked at Lena, who was looking furtively at us with a furrowed brow, before returning a beautiful, dazzling, million-dollar smile at Tommy. She looked like she could afford to spend a million dollars on a smile. "But holy shit."
I nodded. There was really nothing else to be said for it. "Holy shit."
We watched without any subtlety and Lena and Tommy flirted. Lena still looked to us occasionally, but Tommy's attention was almost steadfastly on her, as if meeting my watchful gaze and Madi's laser-like one would ignite him. I wouldn't be surprised; if Madeleine had Matilda-esque powers, I was convinced Tommy's overpriced outfit would alight in a fiery death.
I wasn't mad. I was sad, and a little jealous, and frustrated that I'd wasted so much of my life on this.
I could almost feel Madeleine vibrating beside me.
"Madi, are you okay?"
"Yep," she said through gritted teeth. The word sounded funny in her angry French accent. "So okay."
When Tommy smiled languidly at Lena, who was looking dashing and flirty with her lowered lashes and coquettish smile, and I thought Madi might actually burst with the force of her vibrating.
Madeleine snatched a bottle of water off the bench.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
Her smile was suspiciously innocent. "Taking them a bottle of water. Standard waitressing practise, Ally."
But the look in her eyes was that of a rabid dog, and if I was Tommy Aster, I'd be terrified of Hot French Madeleine. I was a little scared of her, and she was my rabid dog.
She marched over to the table, bypassing the old gentlemen enjoying their meal at table 3, and the old couple at table 4. She was a woman on a mission, her stride long and purposeful. Madi would almost be as tall as Tommy's model-tall date, but she cleared the floor like she stood at 8-feet high, determination almost giving her wings.
And then she dumped the entire pitcher of water on Tommy's head.
I couldn't stop the laugh that spilled from my lips, even as the other patrons turned to stare, flabbergasted, at the live entertainment. Tommy looked resigned, Lena amused, and Madeleine triumphant. I buried my face in my hands to hide my laughter, but I was grinning from ear to ear.
Tommy was drenched.
Madeleine recited something animatedly to Lena, as Tommy looked downcast, and it wasn't long before Madi was sauntering to the hostess stand and Lena was gathering her things to leave Tommy dripping in her wake. Dignity and class intact, Lena strode toward Madeleine and whispered something in her ear before departing the restaurant.
I hoped that Cole's plan for Lena worked out. I would have to ask him.
Tommy sat there, staring at the empty table, unmoving. The sight of him made something crawl beneath my skin. He stood up slowly, just as he had when he rose from the floor after the play, and, under the watchful stares of the entire restaurant, he walked over to me. "You weren't supposed to be working."
From behind him, I saw Madi giving me a pointed look, asking silently if I needed saving. I shook my head.
I folded my arms. "There's lots of restaurants. You didn't need to come here."
"Maybe I was trying to make you jealous. But I wanted you to hear it retrospectively. Unlike some, I have no desire to flaunt my relationships."
"I'm the asshole here?"
Tommy shrugged. "No. But you don't have to be so immature about it."
I blinked at him. "This is you completely giving up on winning me back, right?"
His jaw flexed. "No. I love you. But you can't expect me to wait around forever."
"Maybe a little more than two weeks, though," I said unsympathetically. "You know, given all this love you profess. At least a month, I'd say. And at a different venue."
"I would've waited forever, I think, for you," he said. "If you weren't kissing Kai Delaney."
"And having so much fun doing it," I said antagonistically.
His jaw tightened, a droplet of water beading there. "Sure. Whatever." We stared at each other, locked in a silent battle of wits and two years of memory. But I was vengeful and he was heartbroken, so he caved first. "I do miss you, Ally. Everything about you, about us. But I won't chase someone who is repeating my mistakes with my enemy. I kiss Sydney, you kiss Kai. I get it."
I didn't deign him with a respond. Instead, I point toward the door. He marches out without another word, Madeleine patting him condescendingly on the back as he leaves.
When he has vanished, a small trail of water behind him, she skipped over to me. "Are you mad?" she sang.
"Never." I grinned.
"Ah, I hate him. I wish he'd drowned."
She looked so pleased with herself, I couldn't help but laugh. Madeleine might be known for being Hot and French and Elegant and Rich, but to me, she was Crazy Madeleine. Because this girl was beautiful and fabulous and batshit insane.
I handed her a mop. "You're cleaning up after him, though."
Madeleine, who'd never mopped anything in her life, looked at the instrument with distaste. But at my unrelenting stare, she shrugged. "Worth it."
At that moment, Lena stomped back in to the restaurant, tucking her phone into her pocket. If Madeleine looked crazy, Lena Montez was downright scary when she was mad. It made her look like a beautiful avenging angel. But when she spied me, her expression softened.
She really was too pretty.
Lena walked with confidence that couldn't be faked. Madeleine leaned the mop against the bench, interest sparking in her eyes. The tall, beautiful girl spun herself into a stool, one leg crossing over the other, in Cole's usual spot. "Just a moment of your time," she said, in a voice that was cultured and posh. She could make even our accent sound posh. Australians never sounded posh. "I have to go home to wring Cole's neck. Do put poison in his water the next time he comes, please."
I blinked.
"Uh, sure?" said Madeleine.
Lena Montez smiled graciously. "Thank you. He deserves it. Setting me up with some asshole just because he's convinced I belong with, gag, Jace Hartley." She shook her head. "Sorry, never mind. But Valerie, dude, please do better than that asshole."
"I'm working on it," I said, amused.
"Good." She slapped a fifty dollar bill on the table. "A tip, for excellent service." I stared at the note with wide eyes, but she pushed it over the table to us. "We both deserve way better than that guy."
Then she turned on her heel and left.