Solrine ducked behind a parked van as David approached the small restaurant. Through the gap between vehicles, she watched him pause at the entrance, his shoulders rigid with fury. He was breathing heavily, like he'd been running, though she knew he'd only walked from his car.
The restaurant was called "Melvine's Kitchen"—a cozy place with mismatched tables on a small patio and hand-painted signs advertising daily specials. A few customers sat outside enjoying their lunch, unaware of the storm about to hit.
David didn't go inside. Instead, he stood at the edge of the patio, scanning the area with sharp, angry eyes.
"Melvine!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the afternoon chatter. "MELVINE!"
The conversations at nearby tables stuttered to a halt. A server hurried out from inside, looking concerned.
"Sir, please keep your voice down. We have other customers—"
"Where is she?" David demanded. "Where's Melvine?"
Solrine crept closer, using parked cars as cover. She could see David's face now—red with anger, veins standing out on his neck. She'd never seen him this furious, not even during their worst fights.
A petite woman emerged from the restaurant, wiping her hands on her apron. She had dark curly hair pulled back in a messy bun and wore a simple black t-shirt under the apron. Even from a distance, Solrine could see her hands shaking.
"David," the woman said quietly. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" David's voice cracked with incredulity. "What am I doing here? Are you serious right now?"
This had to be Melvine—the owner, presumably. Solrine had never seen her before, didn't recognize her from David's social circles. She looked to be around their age, maybe a little younger.
"Please, let's go inside and talk—"
"No." David stepped closer, and several customers began to look uncomfortable. "We're going to talk right here, right now. You owe me that much."
Melvine glanced around at the staring faces, her cheeks flushing. "David, you're scaring people."
"I'm scaring people?" David laughed bitterly. "That's rich, coming from you. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Solrine's heart began to race. Something was very wrong here. This wasn't the conversation she'd expected to overhear.
"I tried to call you," Melvine said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've been trying to reach you for days."
"Oh, now you want to talk. Now that it's too late."
"It's not too late. We can fix this."
"Fix this?" David's voice rose again. "FIX THIS? Melvine, do you understand what happened? She lost her job. Her career is ruined. People are calling her terrible things, treating her like she's some kind of—"
"I know," Melvine interrupted, tears starting to flow. "I know, and I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Solrine's blood turned to ice. She pressed herself closer to the van, straining to hear every word.
"Sorry doesn't fix anything," David continued, his voice breaking. "I loved her, Melvine. I still love her. And you... you destroyed any chance I might have had."
"You weren't going to get her back anyway," Melvine said, a flash of defiance in her voice. "She was never going to choose you."
"That wasn't your decision to make!"
The few remaining customers were gathering their things, clearly uncomfortable with the public argument. The server had retreated inside, probably calling the manager.
"I was trying to help you," Melvine said desperately. "I thought if she was brought down a few notches, if people saw what she was really like—"
"Help me?" David stared at her in disbelief. "By posting a private video? By humiliating both of us? By destroying her reputation?"
Solrine's legs nearly gave out. Melvine. Not David. Melvine had posted the video.
"I didn't mean for it to go this far," Melvine was sobbing now. "I thought it would just embarrass her a little. Make her realize what she was throwing away. I never thought—"
"You never thought," David said flatly. "That's the problem. You never think about anyone but yourself."
"That's not true! I was thinking about you. I've been thinking about you for years."
The words hung in the air between them. Solrine saw David's expression shift from anger to something closer to disgust.
"Years," he repeated slowly.
"Since college, David. I've loved you since college. I watched her treat you like garbage, string you along, break your heart over and over. I watched you waste years on someone who didn't deserve you."
"So you decided to take matters into your own hands."
"I thought... I thought if she was gone, if she was out of the picture, maybe you'd finally see me. Really see me."
David ran his hands through his hair, looking suddenly exhausted. "Melvine, what have you done?"
"I ruined everything," she whispered. "I know that now. But David, I love you. I've always loved you. And I know you could love me too, if you just gave me a chance."
"Love you?" David's voice was hollow. "You destroyed an innocent person because of some twisted fantasy. You committed a crime. You—" He stopped, shaking his head. "I can't even look at you right now."
He turned to leave, but Melvine grabbed his arm.
"Wait! Please, just listen to me. We can make this right. I have money saved—I can compensate her somehow. We can figure this out together."
David pulled his arm free. "There is no 'we,' Melvine. There never was, and after this, there never will be."
Behind the van, Solrine was shaking with rage. All this time, she'd been ready to destroy David, to make him pay for ruining her life. But it hadn't been him at all.
It had been this woman. This stranger who thought she could play god with other people's lives because of some pathetic unrequited crush.
As David walked away, leaving Melvine crying on the restaurant patio, Solrine made a decision.
She stepped out from behind the van and started walking toward the restaurant.
It was time to introduce herself to Melvine.