Just Desserts

"Two forks?" the waitress inquired.

"One will be fine, thank you," I responded.

It was our second date. He took me to my favorite restaurant in my favorite neighborhood. We sat nestled on a small patio, string lights adding romantic ambiance to the beautiful evening.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom." I removed myself from my seat and, conscious of my swaying hips, sauntered toward the door leading into the restaurant.

I did not have to use the bathroom. It was a ruse to have a moment alone with my cellphone so that I could text my roommate an update on my date.

I sent her a string of emoji's:

heart eyes

fire

eggplant

peach

kissy face

happy family of four

It took seconds for my phone to ping in response.

"Hold on there, cowgirl. Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" Winky face.

I frowned and began typing. "Seriously, Sasha, he is sooooo perfect. I haven't stopped laughing. I think this time it's going to be different."

I watched the three dots flicker on my screen as I waited for her response.

"You go, girl. don't screw it up!"

"Thanks for having my back," I added the sad eyes emoji.

"Girl, you know I always have you. I'm over here rooting for you, listening to your damn dog bark because he refuses to accept the Sasha mom substitute even though we both know I'm better with bitches." Winky face.

Before I could respond, she had texted again.

"When will you be home? Seriously, B, your dog is driving me nuts."

"I'm not sure." Winky face. I continued typing. "We just ordered dessert. Well, I did. I didn't want him to think I'm a fatty, but this place has the best chocolate cake in the city. I'm hoping I earn bonus points for being such a cool chick. I ate a burger, Sasha. A BURGER!"

"Nothing like some meat before the meat. Get home safe. If you don't text me before midnight, I'm sending the police for your ass."

I laughed. Sasha was full of threats. She had no idea what modern dating was like since she had been with her girlfriend for 12 years. At 30, this was akin to winning the partnership Olympics. My longest relationship was nine months. It was one month of great sex and good fun and eight months of finding new ways to ignore one another in the same room.

"G2G. He will catch on if I'm in the "bathroom" for too long."

"Naw, girl, he will just think you're taking a shit." Winky face.

Laughing to myself, I checked my face in the mirror. The lipstick survived the burger. I reminded myself to leave an online review; other women needed to know this.

I returned to the table and rubbed my hand along his shoulders as I came to sit across from him. "Lady's rooms, such long lines!"

"I'm glad to see you made it back in one piece," he responded.

I smiled and went to take a demure sip of my wine. Sitting in the middle of the table, with a giant bite missing, sat my chocolate cake. The single fork had the remnants of chocolate fudge icing on its tines.

He followed my gaze.

"You were right. That cake is out of this world."

"Oh," I paused. "I thought you said you weren't hungry for dessert?"

"Never am. You said it was the best. I couldn't resist trying a bite. Plus, I'm a gentleman. I had to make sure it wasn't poison."

He reached as if to touch my cheek. I jerked away.

"You said you didn't want dessert," I repeated. "I ordered the cake for myself."

He looked at me, startled.

"Wait for a second. Are you seriously upset about this?"

I stared at him in defiance.

"It's a piece of cake," he continued.

"It's not a piece of cake," I fired in retort. "It's my piece of cake. I asked for one fork, just one. For me. You said you didn't want dessert."

I knew I was raising my voice and that I was starting to embarrass him. At that moment, the chocolate cake became the mountain on which I was willing to die.

"Bethany," he lowered his voice in an attempt to calm my reaction. "It was one bite of cake."

"MY cake," I corrected again.

He gave a low whistle.

"Are you really going to make a big stink out of the fact I took one bite of cake?"

"One fork." I picked up the utensil in illustration. "If I wanted to share, I would have asked for two."

He stared at me in disbelief. "Wow. Is this really happening right now?"

"Don't use that tone with me," I said defiantly. "You're the one that stole my cake."

"Stole?" He was utterly exasperated. "Are you a child?"

"A Child?! No, I'm a grown-ass woman that knows what she wants. And, what she wants, is not to share her chocolate cake. If you wanted to try it that badly you should have ordered your own"

He held his hands up in exasperation. "Wow, Bethany. You are unbelievable."

I took a second to calm myself before responding. "I'm sorry. I just...love this cake."

"I can tell," he responded.

"Why don't I get a to-go box, and we can go somewhere else?" I smiled.

He looked to the cake and then back at me.

"You have lipstick on your teeth."

With that, he stood up and left the patio without looking back.