David relaxed once he decided I wasn’t going to leave, and he let a smile grace his lips. He pulled a granola bar out of his backpack along with a plastic bottle of orange juice. I picked at my bagel with a doleful expression on my face, hoping he’d take the hint. Karen and Nate were still giggling and whispering at their table, though now it only annoyed me, where seconds before I’d found it heartwarming. David looked at me sideways and laughed softly.
“Sitting with me isn’t that bad, is it?” he asked with a grin. I turned my head to him, giving him a very clear look that answered his question in a second. He raised his eyebrows at me, still smirking, and shook his head. “All right, time to change the subject. How was dinner with your mom last night?” I looked down at my half eaten bagel, hoping to hide any hint of the truth my expression may show.
“It was fun. We did dinner and a movie. Probably stayed up later than we should have but it was worth it.” I wasn’t sure why I was lying since he’d probably bugged my house or something and knew that I’d really spent the evening eating reheated leftovers. If he detected the edge to my voice, however, he didn’t show it.
“That sounds like fun,” he said simply, without a smidgeon of sarcasm. I nodded my head but said nothing in response. Our conversation had definitely taken a turn for the awkward. I couldn’t quite understand why David had decided to eat breakfast with me. It seemed odd that he was so bent on destroying me and yet he wanted to spend time with me. I suppose he could be trying to get to know me better so that it would be easier to take me down. After all, that’s what I did to my customer’s boyfriends. I sighed deeply, instantly attracting David’s attention. “You all right?” He asked that question a lot.
“I guess,” I said glumly. David always seemed to make me so depressed. It was a mixture between my hate for him and his stupid ideologies and my secret wish that he’d just realize that he wanted to be with me for the rest of his life so we could live happily ever after. “I feel like the victim of a kidnapping,” I said suddenly, once again using my brilliant social skills around this boy who seemed to always make me say the most ridiculous things. David looked at me the way I expected him to-like he had no idea where that had come from.
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“It’s like you’re holding my business hostage, and yet I’m forced to be around you and eat breakfast with you… so it’s like you’ve kidnapped me, and even though I know you’re trying to ruin my life, I have to be around you and treat you civilly.” The words came spilling out of my mouth with absolutely no censor. I wasn’t even sure if they made sense, but the whole thought process had definitely made sense in my head before it had made its big debut out of my mouth. Surprisingly David didn’t look confused, but disappointed.
“Maybe you’ll get Stockholm Syndrome,” he said with a laugh before turning serious again. “Amelia, I know you feel like I’m ruining your life or sticking my nose in your business, but I’m really trying to help you. I’m sure I sound like a shrink or something, but you really do fascinate me.” He stopped short once those words left his mouth and I wondered if he was rethinking what he’d said or just wondering if he’d come off as a creepy stalker. I was still bothered by his insistence that he belonged in my life somehow, but I couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of affection for him. He kept his gaze trained on me expectantly and I looked around for some kind of out. Karen and Nate had left without me noticing, so I took this as the perfect opportunity.
“I need to go. I’ve lost track of my client.” I stood from the table, leaving my bagel behind and walked away from the cafeteria, feeling the oddest impulse to turn around and go back to where David sat with a frustrated expression on his face. I instantly heard footsteps behind me, which I knew were David’s so I turned abruptly to thwart any attempt he was making to follow me. “What do you want? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“Because I’m-”
“Trying to help me? Yeah, I know, you’ve used that line. What is it you really want? You know there’s nothing morally wrong with my business. If people want me to help them break up with their boyfriends, that’s between them and me. It has nothing to do with you, so just stay out of it. Besides, you can’t do anything to stop me. You don’t have some claim over the hearts of angsty high school boys.” I glared up at the guy who stood before me. His shaggy blond hair was hanging in his green eyes as usual, and the glare he wore matched mine perfectly.
“You’re not doing anyone any favors by doing this. They should do this on their own. It’s not like they’ll be able to hire someone to take their tests for them or grieve at their parent’s graves when that time comes. You’re really hurting people and you don’t even see it. If you could just see how much these meaningless little high school relationships mean to some people, I don’t think you’d be so bent on destroying them.” A look of sadness passed over his handsome features, catching me completely off guard. This look lasted only a moment though before it hardened and he continued on his tirade. “Life is hard. Sometimes we have to do stuff that sucks. That’s just the way it is.”
“All the more reason for me to make one less thing a burden, don’t you think? Besides, if you’re worried about me being the cause of heartbreak, you can just shelf that theory. These couples would break up anyway. I’m just speeding the process along a little.”
“That’s not what bothers me!” he shouted, and I was instantly glad that the cafeteria was almost empty so that we only had to endure a few curiously aggravated stares.
“Well then, what is it, David? Did your friends’ breakups really bother you that much? Apparently you’re the one who needs to learn to deal with hardship, not my clients.” I did feel a bit bad about the words that were escaping my mouth especially since he got that same “you just ran over my dog” look that he had given me on our date. I was a generally pleasant person. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever raised my voice at someone, but for some reason David just had a special way of getting under my skin. David looked at me intently, biting his bottom lip to keep from swearing at me, I’m assuming. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before speaking.
“At first I was really bothered by what happened to my friends. I guess I still am in a roundabout way.” His tone was even again, and the stares that had been trained on us were now back on their food. “I was really angry that their girlfriends hadn’t had enough decency to at least break things off themselves. It still would have been hard for them to hear about the demise of their relationships but when they’re set up to look like something they’re not…” His words trailed off then. Quite possibly because he realized that I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. It was like we had been reading a book and thirty pages had been cut out of my copy. Shaking his head and apparently deciding to give up on whatever direction he was taking with this little talk he continued, “That’s when I decided to ruin your career. But like I said, I became fascinated by what you do. Well… why you do it, really. And then, when I went in for the kill to topple your carefully practiced business, I made a mistake.” He looked at the ground now, some of his confidence obviously leaving him. It was odd to see David looking shy when he’d always seemed so outgoing and forward to me.