Chapter 8: The Ruined Dinner

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Ruined Dinner

The waiter returned periodically, checking in on her, but each time, she merely shook her head, refusing to order. "I’m still waiting for my partner," she would say, forcing a smile that felt more like a mask than a reflection of her true feelings.

As the hours passed, the restaurant began to wind down, and at a quarter to ten...the restaurant was nearly empty. Some of the staff quietly began clearing unused tables.

The pianist played his final piece before standing to appreciative applause.

Benjamin approached her table once more, and this time...there was unmistakable regret in his eyes.

"Miss Carter..."

Iris looked up immediately, knowing deep within her what he was going to say.

"I’m terribly sorry to disturb you." He shifted uncomfortably. "But I’m afraid we’ll be closing in fifteen minutes."

For a moment...she simply stared at him. Her mind was a little bit hazy and the words didn’t quite register.

Did he say they were closing? Iris checked the time on her phone, and found that it was quite late already. She glanced instinctively toward the entrance one final time.

Still...Jason did not walk in through the door.

Iris felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She looked around once more, realizing that the vibrant energy she had hoped to share with Jason had faded into an empty space.

Benjamin spoke gently. "The bottle of Château Margaux was prepaid under your reservation. So I’ve had it carefully wrapped for you. I hope you don’t mind."

He placed an elegant black gift bag beside her chair. The unopened wine rested safely inside. Iris lowered her gaze to the neatly wrapped bottle, and a strange numbness spread through her chest.

She had expected to lose herself to her emotions and to just get angry and bust into tears. But Instead...she just felt...nothing.

As though someone had quietly reached inside her and turned off every emotion she possessed.

She rose slowly from her chair and immediately swayed, her legs felt oddly unsteady.

Benjamin stepped forward instinctively. "Are you alright, Miss Carter?"

She managed a small smile. The kind people wore when they were trying very hard not to fall apart.

"Yes." It was barely above a whisper. "Thank you... for everything."

As the waiter handed her the bottle of expensive wine she had paid for in advance, a wave of despair washed over her. It felt as though the ground beneath her was crumbling, the anticipation she had felt all evening had evaporated, leaving only disappointment in its wake.

Picked up the gift bag containing the expensive bottle of wine she’d hoped to share with the man she loved....her heart heavy and her spirit dimmed. The night had promised so much, yet it had delivered nothing but solitude. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves....she walked toward the exit.

Outside...The cool Seattle air wrapped around her immediately. Iris stood beneath the awning outside L’Étoile for several moments after the restaurant doors closed behind her, the elegant black gift bag containing the unopened bottle of Château Margaux hanging heavily from her hand.

Around her, Seattle carried on as though nothing had happened. Couples wandered down the sidewalks hand in hand, taxis weaved through the evening traffic, and somewhere farther down the street, laughter spilled from an open-air bar.

The city looked as beautiful as it always did after sunset, but for the first time since she’d fallen in love with Jason Montgomery, Iris found herself unable to appreciate any of it.

The vibrant city lights blurred through her tears. She felt like her world had just ended, swallowed by the darkness of uncertainty and unfulfilled expectations.

She unlocked her phone again, even though she already knew what she would find. Jason still hadn’t called. There wasn’t a single missed call, not even a text explaining why he had disappeared on the one night that meant more to her than any other.

She stared at their conversation for a long time before opening Zoey’s chat instead with intention of talking to her, but her Her phone vibrated immediately with a text from Zoey. She looked at it almost instantly.

Zoey : "Are you okay?"

Iris swallowed the lump in her throat, no she’s not okay. But Iris found it hard to let tonight end without talking with Jason and finally getting the closure she needs from him. She took a deep breath before typing.

Iris: Zoey... can you do me a favor?

The reply came almost immediately.

Zoey: Anything.

Iris: Zoey... can you check something for me? You said earlier that one of your course mates mentioned the Falcons were having a celebration party after the game. Can you find out if they’re still there?

The reply didn’t come immediately. The typing bubble appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again. And finally Zoey sent her reply.

Zoey told her to wait while she messaged the course mate who had posted about the party earlier.

Iris slipped the phone back into her purse. She leaned against one of the stone pillars outside the restaurant, hugging her arms around herself as she waited. The evening breeze had turned cooler, yet she barely noticed it.

A minute later, her phone finally buzzed again.

Zoey: I just asked Emma.

Another message followed.

Zoey: Emma said the celebration ended about an hour ago.

Iris read the message twice, just to make sure that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. She stared at the words for so long, that they blurred together.

If the party had ended an hour ago... And Jason wasn’t with his teammates anymore. Then where the heck was he?

She closed her eyes, thinking that maybe...maybe he’d fallen asleep. Maybe his phone had died. Maybe....No.

She couldn’t keep inventing excuses for him, it had to stop. Iris felt a wave of determination wash over her as she decided to confront Jason directly. She needed answers, and waiting for him to show up felt like a futile exercise in patience. She typed another message to Zoey.

Iris: I’m going to his apartment.

The reply came almost instantly.

Zoey: Do you want me to come with you?

A small smile tugged at Iris’s lips. She knew that if she said yes that Zoey really would come with her even at this hour, and If she comes...Zoey will wage war on Jason.

But this...this isn’t what Iris wants right now. She just needs to have a conversation with him and this conversation belonged to Jason and her.

Iris: No. I’ll be alright.Ijust want to talk to him.

Zoey: Promise you’ll text me afterward.

Iris: I promise.

Locking her phone, Iris hailed another cab. Giving the driver Jason’s address, she entered the cab and the car drove off.

As the cab drove through the streets of Seattle, she struggled to appreciate the city’s beauty, which usually soothed her soul.

Iris loved looking out the window during night drives. But tonight...she barely noticed any of it. The twinkling lights and vibrant nightlife felt distant, overshadowed by her growing unease.

With every block that passed, her heart raced faster, a mix of anxiety and resolve. She was determined to confront him, to demand the truth. Her mind drifting to what her future would be like without Jason in it....that’s if the conversation didn’t go well.

The driver pulled into Jason’s apartment complex twenty minutes later.

"We’re here, miss."

Iris thanked him quietly, paid the fare before climbing out. The underground parking garage was brightly lit.

And almost immediately...She saw it, Jason’s black Porsche parked neatly in its usual space.

Her heart skipped. This meant that he was home. A strange mixture of relief and hurt washed over her.

If he was home...did he not see her messages and calls. Iris breathed in deeply....maybe there was a reasonable explanation.

Maybe he’d fallen asleep, maybe he’d been sick. Maybe....no...she stopped herself. No more maybes and making excuses. Tonight, she would hear the truth from him.

She took a slow, steadying breath before making her way upstairs. Jason had given her the passcode to his apartment almost a year ago. He’d wanted her to move in with him, but like a scaredy cat, she refused it. But he had gone ahead and given her his passcode, telling her to stop ringing the bell like a guest.

The memory twisted painfully inside her chest. Iris turned and checked her reflection one more time in the hallway mirror of Jason’s apartment.

She couldn’t help wanting to look pretty for him. Her dark hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, and the red dress hugged her curves in all the right places.

She’d even splurged on new lingerie, the kind that made her feel powerful and beautiful and desired. She inhaled and turned back to his door.

Her fingers entered the familiar numbers. The lock clicked and the door opened.

The apartment was dimly lit. Only a lamp in the living room had been left on.

"Jason?" Her voice echoed softly through the apartment, but there was no answer. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

Her eyes drifted toward the coffee table and she saw that there was two wine glasses and one was half-empty. The other nearly untouched.

She frowned. Then she noticed a woman’s handbag resting casually on the sofa, and she knew that it wasn’t hers. Then she also noticed that a pair of elegant heels sat carelessly near the entrance to the hallway.

Iris stopped breathing.

No... Her heart began pounding so violently she could hear it inside her ears.

But...she could hear something. Music, maybe? No....breathing. Heavy breathing. And then a sound that turned her blood to ice.

A woman’s moan.

Iris’s hand froze on the gift bag she’d been about to set down. Her mind scrambled for explanations, for anything that would make sense of what she was hearing. He was watching a movie. He’d fallen asleep with his laptop on. He was....

Then came another moan. Louder this time. Followed by Jason’s voice, rough and breathless. "God, you feel so good."

And Iris he heard more sounds...sounds both of the people inside the room was making. Sounds that no woman should ever hear coming from the bedroom of the man she loved.

Iris couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Her body had turned to stone, rooted to the spot as her mind screamed at her to run, to leave, to be anywhere but here and just walk away and pretend she had never come.

But another part of her...the part that demanded the truth... Forced one shaking foot in front of the other.

Each step toward the bedroom felt impossibly heavy. The hallway stretched endlessly before her, and her vision blurred with unshed tears, but she still continued forward.

She reached the bedroom door, her trembling fingers wrapped around the handle. For one endless heartbeat...she couldn’t move.

Then she inhaled sharply...and she pushed the door open...