Love and Food (3 page)

              She waves hello to Mack.  He smiles and continues working to get ready for lunch service.  She wonders how she’s going to break the bad news to him when and if the time comes to close the restaurant.  Mack is an extremely intelligent guy; he must know that things are dire.  Their farewell conversation probably won’t come as that big of a surprise to him.  He’s an amazing chef, so she’s sure that he’ll be able to find other work and fast.  She will miss seeing him everyday.  He’s been her rock throughout the whole process of starting the business.  She will hate to see it end and watch her friend go his separate way.

              She goes into her office and closes the door.  She just wants to be alone.  Usually she and Mack have long chats at this time of the day, but she just wants to be by herself.  Her life has toppled onto its head.  The landscape has completely changed and not for the better.  She’s lost Kyle and she’s not sure she can take another blow with the loss of the restaurant too.  It’s almost too much to take.  She tries to hold back the tears, but it’s useless.  They come pouring out like a waterfall.

* * * * *

                 Hours have passed and Haillee been able to calm down and get down to work.  It’s been easier than she thought to keep busy.  She’s lost deep in her thoughts and paperwork when there is a knock on the door.

              “Come in,” she yells at the door, wishing that the person on the other side wasn’t bothering her when she’s so busy.  She hopes that the person standing on the other side has a simple question that requires a simple answer.

“Hi,” a voice says that she recognizes instantly and dreads when the door opens.

It’s Kyle.

              “What the hell are you doing here?  I told you that I don’t ever want to see you again,” she says, anger starting to bubble up.

              “Haillee, we need to talk.  I knew the only way I would be able to see you is if I came here.”

              “Kyle, there is nothing more that needs to be said between us.  You’ve made it perfectly clear how you feel about me and our sham of a relationship.”

              “What are you talking about, Haillee?  I love you with all of my heart.  I made a stupid mistake.”

              “You love me, Kyle?  When you love someone, you don’t sleep with their employees.”

              “Sleeping with Stella was a mistake.  I wish I could take it back.  I regret it.”

              “Kyle, I watched the security tapes and I heard what you said about me?”

              “What did I say?”

              “Oh, you don’t remember?  Let me refresh your memory.  You said I was a fat pig and you think I’m ugly.  Do you remember saying that I’m a terrible businesswoman?”

              “Haillee, I didn’t mean those things.  I just said what I thought Stella wanted to hear.  What did you expect me to say?  I wasn’t going to tell the woman I’m sleeping with on the side that I love my fiancée and I think that she’s the best thing that ever happened to me.  I said those things just to make Stella feel good about herself and feel good about being with me.  I just said those things so that she would keep sleeping with me.  I didn’t mean a single word I said about you.  I love you.”

              “Kyle, you’ve been cheating on me.  While I’ve been working my butt off trying to make a better future for us, you’ve been screwing someone else behind my back.  I can’t believe that you can stand there and say you love me.  It’s insulting, really.”

              “Haillee, having sex with Stella meant absolutely nothing to me.  Nothing.  I was just using her to fill the void I felt from you being gone all the time.  She was just a substitute for you.  You’re the person I really want to be with, but you never have any time for me.  The time I do get to spend with you, you’re exhausted from working at the restaurant and you’re asleep before we can even have a normal conversation.”

              “Excuse me for trying to make something of myself.”

              “Look, I know that you’re angry with me, but can you just please listen to what I’m saying.  I’m trying to explain to you why I did what I did.”

              “I know why you did what you did.  You can’t keep your dick in your pants.”

              “Haillee, I love you.  You mean everything to me.  Please let me make it up to you.  I couldn’t sleep last night.  I stayed up all night thinking about us.”

              “Do you think that I care if you slept last night?  Has it ever occurred to you that I might be hurt by what you’ve done?  Did how I feel ever play into the decisions that you were making?”

              “Of course they did.”

              “I don’t think so, because if they did, you never what have done what you did.  You never would have slept with Stella and you never would have said the things that you said about me.  You had no regard for me or my feelings.  Me and my feelings were a non-issue.”

              Kyle sits down in the chair on the other side of her desk.  She groans.  She doesn’t want to be having this conversation – not now and probably not ever.  Monica was right on the money.  Kyle was going to come crawling back.

              “Listen to me, Haillee; you are the love of my life. 
You
are the woman that I want to be with for the rest of my life.  I don’t want to be with anyone else.  You’re it for me.  I don’t want to call off the wedding.  I want to get married in two months and I want to continue with all of our plans.  I made a stupid, careless, mistake.  I promise that it will never happen again.  Please forgive me, Haillee.”

              “I don’t know, Kyle.”

              “We’ve been through so much together.  I know that we can get through this too.  Please give me another chance.  I can’t lose you.”

              She can feel herself weakening.  She wants to hate him, but she loves him.  There has never been another man that has made her feel like Kyle made her feel before catching him cheating.  They’ve been together for a long time and it’s for a reason.  Before this, they clicked.  Before this, they were more than compatible.  She always believed that they were soul mates.  They used to finish each other’s sentences and could read each other’s minds.  It used to surprise her and scare her sometimes just how in-sync they were.      

              She digs deep down inside and asks herself if she can forgive him for what he’s done.  The trust she had for him has completely gone out the window.  Is it possible to repair broken trust?  Most people say no, but she’s never believed that it was completely impossible.  Her father cheated on her mother and they were able to get through it and were never happier afterwards.  She actually thinks the affair made her parents closer.

              “Haillee, remember the good times?  You know that we’re meant to be together.  You’ve said it some many times yourself and I totally agree.  You in my life is what I need to be happy.  I’m totally miserable without you.  Please forgive me.  Take me back.”

              She looks at the Kyle sitting across her desk.  She’s never seen him look so pathetic.  She doesn’t think he was lying about not sleeping because he looks terrible.  She’s never seem him look so disheveled before.  She’s starts to think that maybe losing her did have an impact on him.  Maybe he really does love her, like he says he does.  If he didn’t, why is he here sitting in her office and begging her to take him back?  If he didn’t love her, he wouldn’t care, right?

              “Kyle, I don’t…,” she says.

              “Haillee, please.  Just give me another chance.  I will show you that I’m worthy.  I will show you that you are the one and only person for me.  I promise that something like this is never ever going to happen again.  I will never let it come to this again.  If I feel neglected or ignored, I will come to you and talk to you about it.  I won’t go looking somewhere else for what I need.  I won’t ever be so stupid again.”

She wants to believe him.  She wants to believe that he is remorseful.  She wants

to accept his apology and go back to the way that things were before, but can she just let things go that easily?  Can they really ever go back to the way that things were before? 

She’s been thinking about forgiveness since she opened her eyes in the morning.  She contemplates forgiving Kyle again.  After one last careful consideration, she decides that she is going to give him another chance.  She doesn’t want to throw away the past seven years, which have for the majority of the time, have been good years, without being completely sure that it’s over.  She needs to know if she can get over what he’s done to her, before she completely leaves the only man that she’s truly loved behind.  She has to try.

“Haillee, I….”

“Okay, I will give you another chance,” she blurts out.  She doesn’t want to hear any more of his apologies.  She wants his begging to stop.

“Seriously?” he asks, surprised.

“Yes.  I will take you back, but if anything like this happens again, it’s over for good.  I’m not going to put up with anymore cheating and lying.”

“Oh my God, Haillee, thank you so much.  I don’t know what I would’ve done if you had said no.  I don’t think that I would have been able to handle it.”

“I’m telling you, Kyle.  This is it.  You’re only going to get one more chance.  You betray my trust again and I’m through.”

“I know.  I promise you that this will never ever happen again.  From now on it’s just you and me.”

He gets up from his chair and puts his arms out for a hug.  She reluctantly lets him hug her.  She’s not totally sure she’s made the right decision, but she’s going to go keep to her decision for now.  Kyle is treading on very thin rope and she hopes that she’s made that very clear.  He makes one slipup and it’s over for them.  She will leave him and she will never look back.  She will move on with her life and find someone that will be happy being with her and won’t feel the need to cheat on her or lie to her. 

“I have something for you,” he says, breaking their hug.

“What?”

He pulls out her engagement ring.  She looks at the ring and remembers when he proposed and gave it to her.  It was one of the happiest moments of her life.  She wonders if they’ll ever be able to get back to the feeling that she felt that day.  She had never been happier to be with him at that moment when he got down on one knee.  She allows him to slide the ring back on her finger.

“I promise you that things will be better between us,” he says, wrapping her back up in his arms.

She hopes that what he says is the truth.  She wants things to work out between them.  She loves him with all of her heart. 

Chapter 3

              Haillee is placing plates on the tables in the dining room when Stella comes strolling into the restaurant, dressed like she’s ready for her shift. 

              “You have got to be kidding me,” she blurts out, staring at Stella in disbelief.  “You have a lot of nerve showing up here after what you’ve done.”

              “Look, Haillee, it was a mistake.  It’s over between Kyle and me.  I really need this job.”

              “I can’t believe that you would actually think that you were going to keep your job here.  The moment I found you in bed with Kyle you were fired.  Get out of here and never come back.  I can’t stand the sight of you.”

              “Fine.  Have it your way.  Before I leave let me says this – he doesn’t love you.  I don’t think that he ever did.  Why do you think that I was in his bed?  It’s because you don’t satisfy him.  You will never be able to please him like I do.  You need to stop being blind and open up your eyes.  Kyle doesn’t care about you and he’ll cheat on you again and again.  Guys like Kyle don’t change.  He will keep coming back to me.  I’d put money on it.  Even if I never see Kyle again, I won’t be the last.  Wake up, Haillee, before it’s too late.”

              “Get the hell out of here before I call the police,” she says, trying to keep her composure.

              “You’ll find out sooner or later.  I feel sorry for you, Haillee.  You deserve better than Kyle.  He’s the definition of a dog.”

              “Get out!”

              “Oh yeah, and this restaurant, it’s crap.  It’s headed into the toilet.  Kyle told me all about your poor business sense.”

              “I’m not going to say this again, get the hell out of here,” she says, starting to lose her cool.  If Stella doesn’t leave, there is going to be a problem.  If she were a cartoon character, steam would be coming out of her ears.  She has never felt so much rage and anger towards another human being.  She can’t stand women who sleep with other women’s men.  She can’t stand home-wreckers.