“I couldn’t say the same,” I say. Nasty. I know. I didn’t mean to say it out loud… I think.

“This is Melissa,” says Ethan, his whole face smiling now. My God, he looks happy. Melissa? I heard that name before. He was on the phone with her the other day, wasn’t he?

“Melissa,” I repeat.

Is she his girlfriend? I assume so. Where did this come from? Where did she come from? I came to the restaurant to meet Max, and instead, I’m meeting Ethan’s girlfriend? I’m so confused. And the most confusing part is not that Max isn’t here, but the fact that Melissa being here is causing me so much heartache. Why would I care? It’s his business who he sees and who he spends time with. I guess it’s the surprise of it all. I didn’t know he was with someone. Truth is, I never asked. Not once. Just because he’s divorced, it doesn’t mean he’s alone. Why did I assume that? Because he spent time with me? It didn’t cross my mind and it hurts seeing them together, smiling at each other and exchanging loaded looks. It really does hurt.

“You’re just like I imagined you would be,” she says and laughs.

A crystalline laugh, like the kind you hear in Japanese cartoons.

“Let’s sit,” says Ethan. He holds her chair, and my stomach churns. I’m jealous. There’s no way around it: horribly jealous. Instead of thinking of Max, I’m thinking of these two kissing and whatnot and I feel like getting up and leaving the restaurant. What’s this charade?

Ethan orders wine. “We’ll need a few to decide on the food,” he says to the waiter.

After he pours the wine, the waiter hands Melissa the bowl.

“What is this?” she asks.

It’s the ‘fortune cookies’. I still have mine from last year, carefully taped in a notebook.

Ethan looks at me for a moment, but I look away.

The waiter explains the fortunes to Melissa, and she gets one. Then me, and then Ethan.

“You can’t have everything. Where would you put it all?” she read out loud and starts laughing. “That’s true,” she says and Ethan laughs too.

I don’t.

I unfold mine. Life is a strange restaurant where odd waiters bring you things you never asked for but unknowingly need. That’s funny. Very funny.

“What did you get?” she asks him.

“The love of your life is right in front of your eyes,” he reads and smiles at her.

I gulp down some wine and as I do, I see her from the corner of my eye, leaning toward Ethan and whispering something in his ear, and I feel like I’m going to get sick. Physically sick.

“Can you excuse me?” I say and without waiting for an answer, I head to the bathroom.

I lock myself in a stall and start breathing in and out through my mouth, trying to calm down. I hate him. And I hate myself. And I hate that perfect Barbie doll he’s making googly eyes at. I just hate my life right now! Can nothing work out the way I hope it will? Nothing? Why would he bring her here to meet me? It’s ridiculous.