We arrived at the restaurant exactly at five minutes to six. The hostess sat us down at a table right near the door, which gave us the perfect view of Ria walking into the restaurant. I was feeling fine until she waltzed in wearing an incredibly form-fitting red dress and black high heels.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume she was a movie star.
Ria slid into the other side of the booth without even looking at me. “Good evening, Jorge.”
I cleared my voice before speaking. “Good evening, Ria. I’m Ginger.”
She merely nodded while looking over the menu.
Jorge was in no mood to play games. “We’re not ordering food tonight, Ria. Order a drink on me, and let’s get this over with.”
She slammed the menu shut, placed a drink order with the server, and glared at me. “How much do I have to pay you, Ginger?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Look, you’re only interested in Jorge for his money but not me. That’s because I come from money, darling.”
I started to stand up, but Jorge tightened his grip on my hand. “Let’s get one thing straight, Ria. I called off my engagement with Jorge when I thought he was hooking up with you. So believe me, the last thing I’m after is money.”
She looked at Jorge, who smiled and nodded.
I kept going, “I knew Jorge was the one for me several months ago, when we talked on the phone, and he listened intently as I poured my heart out. I was stressed about school, worried about the future, and he was the one I could count on.”
Jorge looked at me with shock in his eyes, and I realized that I’d just spilled my guts to him.
Ria, on the other hand, smirked. “What a sweet story, darling—”
“Ginger,” I said. “My name is Ginger, not darling.”
She took a long sip of her drink while rolling her eyes. “Whatever, Ginger. How long have you two known each other?”
“Well, he was a good friend of my brother’s back in college, but we were reintroduced last year at a wedding reception.” Ginger looked at Jorge and then back at me.
“And what do you do for a living?”
“That’s none of your business, Ria.”
She rolled her eyes while taking another sip of her drink. “All right, prove to me that you know Jorge as well as I do. How does he take his coffee?”
“One cream.”
“Favorite meal?”
“Fried chicken.”
“Favorite sexual position?”
Jorge wasn’t having any of that talk that night. “No, Ginger. This is getting out of hand. What more do you want out of me? We’re engaged!”
Ria protruded her fake breasts out in defiance. “Show me the engagement ring.”
Jorge let go of my left hand so I could show it to her. Ria yanked my fingers closer to her face, where she scrutinized it to make sure it was real. It took her several minutes of zooming in and out with her eyes, looking for any indication that it was a fake.
When she was done, she threw my hand to the table so hard that I winced in pain.
“Ow,” I yelled while using my right hand to massage my left wrist. That was when Ria’s eyes lit up at the diamond tennis bracelet around my right wrist.
She went to grab it, but Jorge stopped her.
