Chapter 17 : Technical Glitch

Ella:

We hungrily gorge down on our food while talking about Accent, our company’s expansion plan, the week that went by and Joe’s plans of getting another tattoo although I wasn’t too excited about the last part. Having too many tats gives the impression that you’re trying too hard!

“We need to plan a trip to Mexico, I have been dying to go there since the James Bond-Spectre-movie,” I say while hungrily forking on my last ravioli.

“ Oh absolutely, let's plan it sometime next month, what do…” his phone starts ringing all of a sudden. He looks at the screen, freezes for a brief moment and cuts the call continuing, “What do you think?”

“ Oh I’m game!! I shall talk to Jen next week to approve my leave, could you put in your request maybe the following week?”

“Yes, that sounds….” His phone started ringing again. He glances at the screen again and says, “Sigh, I got to take this call sweety, it’s this irritating sales executive who gave me a lead once and wants a favour in return now. I’ll be right back”

“Sure, go on!” I reply as I sip my wine admiring the surrounding landscapes.

He comes back in five minutes and places the phone on the table, “Sorry about that baby, I have put my phone on silent mode, so what was I saying?”

The wine waiter arrives at our table to pour more wine. Just as he is done, a burly man accidentally nudges the waiter as he passes by. The poor waiter loses his balance and ends up spilling the wine on Joe’s trousers.

“Oh my god! I am so sorry” he profusely apologizes as we stare at each other in absolute shock.

“Can I please assist you to the dressing room to clean it off Sir!?” he apologetically offers.

Joe swears under his breath, gets up grabbing a couple of tissues muttering, “I’ll be right back!”

“It’s a tiny glitch, he will be alright” My thoughts are interrupted by loud vibrations of a phone. I look around and realize that Joe had left his phone behind on the table.

I pick his phone to give that sales executive a piece of my mind, I mean who disturbs people on weekends especially New Year’s Eve? My heart stops when I see the name on the phone screen, ALICE!

I picked up the call anyways to see what she had to say. “Baby, why haven’t you left already? Just tell Ella, “It’s over!” and leave! I am waiting in the hot-tub for you to celebrate 30 days of consecutive fucking. I was thinking of dressing up as your naughty elf again from our Christmas night! What do you think?” she blabbered not knowing it was me on the other end of the phone.

It felt as though somebody had slipped the ground from beneath me. The phone slipped from my hand and smashed into pieces on the floor as I covered my mouth in shock trying to make sense of what just happened.