Skydive resturant( Denver resturant)
Denver was waiting at the side of the females restroom , he got awkward stares from women who entered the restroom but he didn't care, he clenched his fist at the thought of Rhea, why did she just stay quiet, it was obvious that they were mocking her and she just smiled all through , why did she do that.
He didn't plan to go to the reunion in the first place, he had seen the invite but he had ignored it, he never spoke on that group chat but as soon as he saw the name " Rhea" in the message , he left everything he was doing to his sous chef as he looked at him wondering why he had rushed out like that, his phone was blasting with messages, it was all about Rhea, they were gossiping about her saying things like , " I can't believe she showed up, we didn't even invite her , she is not on the group right?, how did she know we were having a reunion", Denver jaw clenched as he quickly entered his car, ten long years he had waited for her and now she was here, he pulled his lever and he sped off, excitement and anxiousness bubbled through every fiber of his body, he didn't care he wanted to just see her, as soon as he reached the resturant he quickly got down from his car and literally ran , pushing the door out and entering inside, he almost stumbled and fell but he didn't care.
His eyes desperately scanned through, he then saw it, the banner , he heard laughter as he got closer and then he heard them speak, " by the way...., I heard about what happened to you....., it's bad that such a thing happened to you.....I mean everyone knows how good of an author you are ", even from a distance you could easily tell that they wanted to push her to the edge , they wanted to break her ,but to his surprise she smiled, it was forced, it was a way to try to hide how she truly felt, he knew that smile all too well, he clenched his fist , they guised their mockery as concern, he knew she knew that they were faking it cause she also faked a smile.
He heaved as he began to walk towards the table, they saw him, gasped, mummured and complimented him but none of that mattered , what mattered was the moment they locked eyes, it felt like time stood still, only them in that space,for a moment he could not move, ten years and she was still so pretty, her eyes, that light shade of brown looked like melted chocolate, it was warm and it looked so soft but it was empty, it looked warm but there was no warmth, she looked almost dead , then she averted her gaze like he wasn't there, Denver felt his throat run dry , it was clear that she didn't want to have anything to do with him.
He strodded to the first available seat which disappointedly was far from where she sat, they questioned him about his life , he answered politely but the anger was still palpable of how they had spoken to her, he glanced at her, she looked somehow relieved as she sipped her wine, he was happy that he could at least take that little burden away from her but then it started again, they taunted her once more and this time they didn't even try to hide it as they became more vicious, she was visibly trembling but she still smiled, she didn't look at anyone , the air was thick with tension when the wine poured and the glass shattered, she looked confused and disoriented, Denver watched every action , carefully observing , all attention on her and they all looked at her with amusement, it was disgusting and then Ashley grabbed her arm, this time full of resentment as she held on her arm tightly. Denver couldn't take it anymore , the fork he he had been holding tightly in his hand, he slammed it on the table hard, everyone's attention except from Ashley and Rhea was drawn, he stood up and walked briskly to Rhea his focus just on her and then he reached out pulling her from Ashley's hold, she wasn't reluctant, she didn't pull away, she just melted into him, his eyes met hers, distress, exhaustion and wanting to get away from this environment, by just looking at him she told him everything, he looked at Ashley , his eyes full of disgust as he pulled Rhea close to him and they both went to the bathroom, she didn't spare him a glance , she removed his hand roughly from her shoulders and rushed to the restroom , he wanted to hold unto her longer, he wanted to ask her how she had been doing , she didn't even look like she was planning to talk to him and he didn't want to put her in an awkward situation when she had just used the restroom.
Should he wait for her here, no...., he couldn't do that, that will be awkward, how was he going to start a conversation with her, after ten years she will probably not want to talk to him after this incident, he sighed as he thought about the wine stain on her sweater and the reason why she had been in that situation, he was angry , just because of her situation they still wanted to pull her down, he looked at the restroom stall it will probably be so embarrassing if she sees him at the door and then he saw the red haired woman, he suddenly got an idea, he removed his jacket as he carefully approached the woman, raising his hand in a surrendering position making sure that she did not perceive him as a pervert, the woman got the message as she smiled warmly at him, " I'm sorry for disturbing you but there is a lady in the restroom who....", he extended his hand which held his jacket as he smiled awkwardly, " is in need of this....", he said completing the sentence, " oh,okay.....", the woman said as she took the jacket from his hand returning the smile, " what's her name .....or could you give me a description of her", she asked , " ahh....yes.....her name is Rhea ,... , she has a wolf cut , fair skin and she is dressed in a white sweater that is stained with wine", he said almost running out of breath , the woman nodded, a playful smile on her face, " okay then....I will give this to your girlfriend", Denvers cheeks turned red in surprise at the sudden word " girlfriend?", he was about to correct her but then the door opened, it was Rhea , she had almost ran into the woman , he quickly left as he sighed in relief.
His face went cold when he realized he had to go back to that toxic table , as he got closer , there they were gossiping, it wasn't surprising, he expected then to do that, " tsk ...., she is still so full of herself after all these years , Ashley why did you even bring her here, she just ruined my mood", said Claudia spitefully, Ashley stirred her wine in her glass, " I just wanted to show her that we were all better than her and now she is beneath us, she acted so pompous in highschool....", said Ashley as she drank her wine finally, " yeah...even in highschool, no matter the rumors that went around about her she never flinched, never batted an eye...., I was happy seeing her reaction today, if only Denver had not come it would have.....", they all stopped talking, all stopped laughing when Denver quietly came , had he been listening to them all along, his face had lost its warmth, it was cold almost like it was ready to kill them.
" Is it fun playing with ones emotion like that?", his voice had its usual calm that everyone loved but it greatly contrasted with his expression, he was cold and reserved , " haha..., it's not like that, we were just....", " and you are suddenly not drunk?", said Denver to Claudia, Claudia was shocked, " it's not...", she didn't have anything to say as she just bent her head in defeat, Denver sighed, " you called her in to taunt her, used her situation to Mick her and yet,...", he scoffed as he looked at them, his eyes scanned the large table, all eyes on him, they all disgusted him, " you call yourself humans.....", his voice cold, stoic, Josh hit his fist on the table as he stood up attracting the attention of everyone, " and so what if we mocked her, what do you care it's not like you are her boyfriend or anything...", a sardonic smile playing on his lips.
His voice was not raised but you could feel and hear the built up resentment , Denver jaw clenched as he also stood up and walked to Josh, his step precise,before Josh knew it, Denver had grabbed him by his collar and he roughly pushed Josh to the chair, there was loud gasps, the force so great, his strides so defined and unpredictable that Josh didn't know what was coming , at that moment he didn't look like the calm and kind Denver they all knew, he looked emotionless almost like he was going to hurt him, " do I have to date her just to care...", his voice calm contrasting to how he was holding Josh, Josh and everyone else on the table was frightened with this version of Denver, Denver sighed releasing his hold from Josh collar, he looked around as he finally left, he tried to stay controlled but he was just pissed especially when Josh stood up and said that, he looked back at the restaurant will he also leave immediately, he wondered as he entered his car, she was going to order a ride , he won't have a chance to speak to her again , he tapped on his steering wheel waiting for her then she showed up, he almost had a heart attack as soon as she came out through the door, he bent his head instinctively as he hid behind his steering wheel so that she would not see him, why was he even hiding , the window was tinted it's not like she could see him and they are just coincidentally in the same lane, he sat straight up, there was nothing to be afraid of, he will just approach her and start a casual conversation but ten years, what was he going to say, " hi..., how have you been", of course she won't be fine , with everything she had been going through who would be fine.
He crossed that thought away, he was clearly frustrated, he thought again of what he was going to say when he saw her face expression when she brought out her phone, why did she suddenly look mad when she brought out her phone , did someone send her an annoying message, she looked frustrated, she wasn't waving out to any cab, was she planning to walk back home, Denver checked the time on his phone it was almost midnight, hell no, he won't allow that, before he knew what he was doing he took hold of his steering wheel and drove to her, stopping near her, that had been accomplished now what was he going to do, what was he going to say , he was going to look stupid right now, he instinctively turned and saw her hooding her eyes against the light, his eyes widened as he quickly switched it off, she looked irritated, should he just drive off,no...it was almost midnight he won't let her go home herself but what if he was wrong, what if she had other plans and he was just interfering.
He had come so far now he won't back out, he is going to look as cool as possible , he took a deep breath before wining his window down, as soon as he did that she looked at him, he suddenly could not remember anything and he was nervous, what should he say, what should he di, she looked surprised and it almost looked like she was going to swear at him, well considering how he had left his lights on almost blinding her so it was acceptable.
He finally managed to speak, " I thought you said you were going to order a ride", thankfully his voice did not break, it was silent for a while, was she going to ignore him, " my phone is dead and I didn't bring my wallet ", as soon as she said it he felt relieved, that meant he was not crashing into her plans, " come in...., I will take you home".