All Your Fates (Currently editing/updating)

Chapter 22: Poor Baby

Music Track List:

STOOD UP ~ Ricky Nelson

FORGOTTEN ~ Avril Lavigne

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David's POV

I had been so excited for dinner that I even went out and bought a new shirt. It was black and made of silk and not the usual cut I would wear – being a little on the swank side for my liking. But I figured Emma was the kinda girl who appreciated sophistication over irony...and I even trimmed the facial hair to look more...like the masses, I guess you would say.

Speaking of swank and sophistication, here I was sitting at a very posh place at a table with a view of celebritihood. I had to move heaven and earth to get this table but I managed to do it...by blackmail and subterfuge. Anyways, here I sat waiting for Emma, and all I could do was glimpse upon the myriads of my own reflections mocking me in the highly polished dinnerware to keep me company. On my right, my distorted bored expression stared up from the silver soup spoon, on my left my elongated long-face full of sad impatience grimaced in the spiky head of the salad knife, and before me was my growing scowl reflected on the silver cylinder candle holder – candle lit for romance. With not a single Emma in site.

If it wasn't bad enough that my own face was refracting on twenty different surfaces openly patronizing me, I had to endure the waiter pestering me with sad sympathetic eyes to see if I wanted to start ordering without my "date," while I could really see he was gently trying to kick me out of the place for the benefit of paying (and tipping) customers. He was in on the sham and fear of reprisal was the only reason I hadn't been expelled already.

Well, I wasn't moving. I don't care if this table was prime real estate for the ridiculously overpriced restaurant. I was going to squat here the whole night if I had to. Boy, I really hoped I didn't have to.

On top of all else, there was this obnoxious laughing hailing from over where the bar was behind me. Just this incessant loud guffawing...it was so irritating...and familiar...it reminded me of....

I turned around in my seat and observed: "Pepper," I said softly to myself. She was there at the bar, having a grand old time, and seated next to a man who looked twice her age. The tall gangly man with peppered hair in a pageboy haircut stared at her with wolfish eyes as she hung her head back and belted out another belly laugh. He leaned in closer to her and she coyly turned her head away from him so that his lips smooshed against the side of her nose. Awkward.

Suddenly Pepper's eyes went wide as they fell on mine. "DAVID???" She exclaimed across the restaurant disturbing the peaceful patrons who had paid a premium for privacy. "David?! It is YOU, isn't it?"

I could see her excuse herself to the dejected gentleman before I quickly whipped around and sunk low in my seat. This night couldn't get any worse.

I could feel Pepper buoyantly bristle past me and plop down on the very seat Emma should have occupied this evening.

"Fancy meeting you here," Pepper purred at me and then took a swig of the Dirty Martini she had her chubby hand snaked around.

It irritated me that she sparkled. And looked fresh. And cute. And in the flesh. Just a table reach over.

I sighed, "Yeah...it's like one of us knew that the other would be here tonight."

Pepper laughed with a snort and said, "How could I possibly miss out on the date of the century. Speaking of which..." she started but I cut her off: "I don't want to talk about it," I interjected glumly.

"Aw, poor baby," Pepper pouted at me and I couldn't tell if she was mocking or being sincere.

"How's your father?" I prompted and studied her.

"My dad?" she asked with a queer look.

"Yeah...how is the old codger?" I spat hoping to trap her into making some kind of admission, a misstep about her relationship with Atticus.

"My dad's been dead for years," Pepper said with a crumpled-up face.

"Geez, I'm sorry," I apologized, feeling like an asshole. Maybe because I was proving myself to be one. "It's been...a bad night."

Pepper studied my face with a soft look. Then she sat her glass down and reached over to pat my hand. "Hey," she said, "Let's get out of here, Romeo. Let's take your mind off of Juliet and go get wasted."

She smiled warmly at me and I couldn't help but respond with the tiniest curling of the lips. And how could I resist when she said it with such...tender warmth so uncharacteristic of her usually snappy bitter repartee.

"Okay," I nodded and she nodded back.

And we rose to leave together but not before she had me pay for her drink tab.

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A/N

So Emma never showed up? I wonder what happened! I'm not sure if it was a good idea to head out with Pepper though. I have a feeling that it could come back and bite David in the ..

..ANYHOW, we hope you enjoyed this little bonus chapter as much as we enjoyed writing it. Let us know in the comments if you think that David and Emma is doomed to never hook up or if you think they are a match made in heaven and David should keep trying!

Don't forget to vote! We're #61 in Scifi on Wattpad and we could keep climbing with your help! See you on friday!

~T

ETA: MAY 16, 2016

So re-reading this chapter makes me really mad. In my vision, Pepper is the most gorgeous and vivacious creature of all time, but I had to write in David's POV, and let's face it: he can be kinda an asshole with a very skewed perspective. I feel I need to offset the balance and write a chapter on Pepper from someone's fresh eyes, but I don't know who and it might feel so random.

A funny story to relate though, I mentioned before that before we had any idea what this story was becoming we had in mind Jim for David for a web series, so I kinda always saw him in my head. Emma was from Sweden, and so when I wrote in her voice, I heard Tom's perfect and eloquent articulation of English in my head, and some of his attitudes totally rub off on Emma. But once I created Pepper, Tom pointed out that she talks a lot like I do, then teased: you realize you just wrote a love triangle featuring the three of us!? Hahahaha. <3<3<3

~C


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All Your Fates © 2012 Carrie Cutforth, Jim Martin and Tom Liljeholm. All Rights Reserved.