"I had a wonderful time tonight," Serena was saying as Shauna returned to their table from the ladies' room.
Shauna took a seat as Calem turned to her friend and said, "It doesn't have to be over."
"What did you have in mind?" Serena asked and Shauna would have kicked her for sounding so ridiculously suspicious if Gary hadn't broken all her toes thanks to his massive feet.
Calem appeared to not have noticed. "Hmm, A walk in the park?"
Before Serena could give a reply, the waiter appeared with two sets of black leather check bills and handed one to each of the men.
Calem quickly deposited his credit card inside and held out a hand to Serena . "One last dance?"
Serena accepted and they returned to the dance floor leaving Shauna and Gary alone to stare at their bill.
Shauna snuck a glance over in the direction of the dancing pair and satisfied that Serena's attention was nowhere near focused on the table, she leaned over to try and grab the bill.
"What are you doing?" Gary asked holding it away.
"I told you, I'm paying for myself."
"Little Maria, I would like nothing more than to watch you slave away in my building's restaurant washing dishes for the rest of the month, but I have my pride and reputation as a man," he replied.
"And I care about that because?"
Gary sighed and handed her the bill. "Suit yourself."
Shauna reached out and opened it. "Which one is mine?"
Gary pointed at a number and her eyes slowly widened, her mouth falling open. Forget not eating for a few days! She wouldn't be able to eat for a few weeks! "Why is my meal so much more than yours?"
"You ordered the Blue Fin Tuna."
"Yeah? So? Isn't tuna fish supposed to be cheaper than other fish? That's why I ordered it."
Gary burst out laughing. "Wow. You really are an ignorant little nun."
"I do not appreciate you laughing at me nor do I appreciate you calling me weird names!"
"Aren't you curious to know why I'm laughing?"
"Do tell," Shauna said crossing her arms with a frown.
"Well Little Maria, while tuna is probably the most consumed fish in the world, that's regular tuna. The one you consumed tonight, however, is probably one of the most expensive fish in the world."
Shauna bit her lip and looked down at the large figure once more and slowly said, "I can still pay for it." She'd just work overtime when she got back home.
Gary snatched the bill back and pulled out his credit card.
Shauna took her own card out from her purse and handed it to him. "Here."
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"It's to pay for my half."
Gary rolled his eyes and as the waiter returned to the table, handed the bills back to him. He then flicked the card back to Shauna who was glaring at him. She wanted to punch him but the jerk would probably actually like that.
"What?"
"I told you I would pay for it myself!"
"And I told you I have a reputation to consider!"
"As the Playboy Prince? Please. If I paid for myself you don't have to worry about me spreading that around. As if I would tell people I went on a date with you. I have a rep to consider too."
"Can't you just take a take a good thing and accept it? Are you the kind of fortune teller that just predicts misfortune and death?"
"First of all, this date was not a good thing. And second, I"ll have you know that I am quite sought out for my accurate and positive predictions. I might predict misfortune and death for you, however," Shauna replied darkly and pushed away her chair to stand up as she noticed Serena and Calem coming back at the end of the song.
"Ready to head out?" Calem asked cheerfully.
"Beyond ready." Shauna muttered.
The waiter came back and handed the credit cards back to their respective owners. As the men signed the receipts, Serena informed Shauna that she had accepted Calem's invitation for a walk along the shore. She asked if her friend wanted to join them.
Shauna shook her head. "I think I should go home. It's been a long day."
Shauna's mind might be blown from having to keep Gary company and her toes might need weeks to recover from his brutal assault of revenge but it had been worth it to sit and watch the exchanges between Calem and Serena go from polite to playful over the past few hours.
"Would you like a ride back?" Calem asked as the four adults exited the restaurant and headed towards the glass elevators.
Shauna shook her head. "No you two go have fun. I'll grab a taxi."
The elevator doors slid open and they stepped in as Gary said, "I'll take you home."
"Oh that's an excellent idea," Calem agreed to which Serena nodded.
Shauna tried to protest, saying she was perfectly fine taking a cab but Calem pointed out that at this time of night, for a woman to be out alone, especially one so dressed up, it just wasn't safe. Serena pleaded with Shauna to take up Gary's offer so that she wouldn't worry and Gary even made her look bad in front of the others by saying,
"Maybe she just really hates me," to which Shauna finally gave in with a sigh, wanting to bash Gary's head against the elevator walls as he smirked down at her.
Finally, they reached the first floor lobby. The employees brought both men's cars around to the front and the women were pleasantly surprised to see they were sports cars.
As Calem held the passenger door open for Serena, Shauna gave Serena a quick hug and whispered, "You get him girl!"
Serena rolled her eyes, a slight blush on her pale cheeks as she enters the car.
Calem shut the door and with a final wave to the other pair, jumped into the driver's seat and sped off quickly. Immediately Shauna turned and started walking the other way.
"Later fool," she called out, using her evening purse to wave casually over her shoulder.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"To call a cab," she responded not looking back.
Gary grabbed her arm. "Oh no you're not."
Shauna glared and tugged her arm out of his grasp. "Look we already know you hate me and I hate you. And it's bad enough that I owe you for the meal but I don't want to owe you for a ride as well."
"Why can't you just think of this as a date and not someone owing somebody something?"
"Maybe if the guy were not a perverted playboy who probably has two girls waiting at home and one at work, then I would consider this a date," Shauna countered, walking again.
She heard Gary groan and smiled. She would win this one. They were tied now, since she had kicked him out of the shop but failed to pay for her meal. She would absolutely not take his ride.
Oh there's one! she thought as she saw the yellow vehicle come closer.
She raised her hand to signal to the cab driver but just as he skidded to a stop by the curb, Shauna felt herself being lifted off the ground. The next thing she knew she was tossed like a sack over Gary's shoulder and found herself staring upside down at his back.
"What the -!?"
"I promised both your friend and Calem that I would give you a ride. And Gary freaking Oak does not break his promises."
As she was carried away from the cab and towards the black sports car, Shauna hollered out everything she could think of, calling Gary a pervert and several other things, beating on his back, struggling and twisting, poking and prodding, to get him to drop her.
But no amount of effort did the trick as Shauna realized sadly that Gary was both bigger and stronger. She tried to catch the eyes of the drivers standing out front but they turned away knowing that the man who held her was Gary Oak.
What a bunch of Wimps, Shauna thought as she felt Gary's arms loosen around her but only to dump her unceremoniously into the passenger seat and immediently slam the door shut. She didn't have a chance to collect herself and jump out before Gary took his seat beside her and hit his foot on the pedal hard.
"I hate you," Shauna said threateningly. She attempted to fix her dress which had gotten slightly crumpled in her fight to escape and just hoped that Serena was having a better time than she was.
"Yeah yeah. Now put on your seat belt Little Maria, cause it's going to be a bumpy ride."