Mariana was busy sulking on her bed, she laid drearily on the sheets, as her eyes gazed into the screen. Her fingers moved slowly across the keyboard, as she was typing out some ideas in an email that she was going to send to her editor soon. She sighed irritably as nothing in her life seemed to be going right.

Even though she was far gone from Xavier and he was rotting away in prison, he still troubled her mind in some way. And having the horrible things he had done brought up most carelessly, it was like all she had experienced amounted to nothing, and that she didn't even matter like she was just a small blip in time.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. She wasn't in the mood to answer it but when she saw the name and it was Leilani, she decided to answer it anyway.

"Hey, girl! What's up?" She put it on speaker and then held it in front of her as her legs dangled in the air.

"Hey! I'm good, what are you doing?"

"Just gathering some ideas for a new article."

"That's nice, and how are you and Micah?"

"Um... not great."

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"Um, we kinda had a bad night yesterday."

"Oh sorry to hear that. Tell you what, why don't you and Micah have a double date with me and Miguel? Since this is our last day before we head back to Majorca, we were planning to go to a restaurant.

"That sounds like a good idea and a fun one too!"

"So you wanna do it? I can tell Miguel to let Micah know about it, and we can meet at 8?"

"Okay! See you tonight!"

"Bye babes!"

They ended the call and she threw the phone across her bed. She went back to her laptop while thinking of what she was going to wear later on. She hoped that if her editor replies to her with a positive note so that she could start doing some research of what she wanted and get sufficient information before she could get ready.

****

When the twilight dusk of the evening came upon the early, night sky, Mariana slipped on her black, evening dress. The chest part was gold and sparkly, while from the waist down was just black. She sighed as she put her into a simple bun and baby pink lipstick. From the corner of her eye, she saw Micah's car drive up to her house from the window. She sighed and then grabbed her black purse.

Here goes nothing...

She went downstairs with her shiny black heels and then stepped outside her house. She stood at the front door for a few minutes, figuring out where she should go or not. The way she shouted at him was quite too much and now she found it a bit awkward to be in the same car as him.

He came out and then rested on the roof of his car. He was wearing a white suit with a black tie, his beard was neatly shaved as his finger stroked it a little. He wondered why she wasn't coming and just stood there looking like she had seen something terrifying.

"Mariana?" He said and got off the roof of his car, slowly approaching her.

She didn't know what to say or how to react so she just stood there like a statue, until he was standing right in front of her, his shadow overshadowing hers as he stared down at her anxious-looking face. Her cheeks appeared sparkly and snowy, like something out of a dream, her brown, doe eyes stood out like melted chocolate. His eyes made their way down to her lips that looked like Cupid's arrows. He wanted to kiss her but he felt a bit awkward with what happened last night.

So he took her bags and then led her toward his car. he opened the door for her and she got inside gracefully. She got settled into her seat as he went back to his. She watched him fiddle with the controls and he switched the engine on as well as the radio.

"Are you all set?" He asked as he put his seat belt on.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Okay," he suddenly coughed to clear the awkwardness and then drove off.

Mariana laid her head back on her seat. She was comfortable physically but not emotionally. She didn't say a word to Micah and neither did he. The only thing spoken were the voices coming out of the radio. Some of it was just general speech and then the other was music.

"Do you know what restaurant we are going to?" Mariana asked, trying to build a conversation.

"Um I don't know but I think Miguel said it's called something with 'spice' in the name so that may be a clue."

"Ah okay," she said and then stared out the window. Her breath made a small cloud against the dripping glass. She could see the faint glow of the shop lights that shined their way through like she was seeing them through a fog. She wiped away the residue that her breath left so she could see them properly. Now they were much clearer and she smiled at all the different signs. She wondered if it was any of those that they were going to meet Leilani in.

But when Micah pulled into a parking lot away from them, she knew that wasn't the case and that they were going somewhere completely different.

He parked the car and got out. He opened the car to let her out and then linked his arm with hers. They looked at the entrance of the restaurant which was a bit further ahead. The wind blew playfully around them, as well as chilling their bones, making them shiver a little.

The restaurant was called Spice Palace and was South Asian cuisine. Some parts of the outside were decorated with mosaic patterns of gold in contrast to the darkness of the paint of the building. The name was in big, bold letters and inside was brightly lit up with families seated around. They went inside and managed to find Leilani and Miguel seated in a booth.

They sat in the opposite chairs and smiled. Some diamond chandeliers hanged around them, with their little crystals dangling like raindrops, cutlery and plates all set up along the brown table. Leilani wore a bright red dress, which matched well with the flower that was on the side of her ear. She had on red lipstick and her hair was pulled back into a middle bun. Meanwhile, Miguel wore a suit like Micah's except it was black.

"Hey!" Leilani said and greeted them with a small hug.

"Hi." Mariana flushed a little.

"How are you guys?" Miguel asked.

"Well..." They exchanged some awkward glances, their lips remained sealed shut as if they didn't know how to answer the question. But they didn't want to keep them waiting to arouse suspicion so they quickly answered:

"Good!" They forced with the fakest smiles. But Leilani and Miguel weren't that fooled and they were slightly concerned as they communicated their thoughts to each other with their eyes. They wanted to question them more but leave it to later, at least after everyone has had something to eat.

"So you do guys have an idea of what you're getting?" Leilani asked as they got given menus.

"I don't know, just anything really," Mariana said.

"Yeah, same here," Micah said.

"Okay because I pre-booked the table and we will get a variety of dishes coming our way, like a buffet sort of thing," Miguel said.

"Oh, wonderful!" Mariana said in delight.

They began chatting and soon a waiter came over with some drinks. He put down some tap water, coke, and Fanta in a can. Another waiter then came by and gave them their appetizer. It was chole bhature which was chickpeas, mixed with coriander and curry, cooked chopped onions, chilies, and tomatoes. It was put in an ice cream cup and they got one each to share.

Mariana tapped the glass, and she was unsure if she should try it but she took a small scoop with her fork and then plopped it onto her plate. She tried a little bit and to her surprise, it was quite nice.

"Mm!" she hummed with satisfaction. She got more another plate and tasted much better than she expected. "This is good, it kinda reminds me of ice cream," she said as a white substance slid off the chickpeas, which gave it that sweet taste.

They had more starters brought onto the table, which were some small portions of grilled meat, on top of onions and another piece of meat that had an orange coating. Micah decided to take some and took a small bite, it was very spicy but it felt good the way it burned in his mouth.

"This is very hot but very tasty and juicy," he said, spinning it in the air.

"Is it? Let me try," Mariana said and took some off his plate. She tried it and it was indeed very delicious. She drank a bit of water and took more. Even though it was a bit early, this was her favorite so far.

"So have you guys been up to anything interesting lately?" Miguel said.

"Um, well we made s'mores," Micah said awkwardly.

"Oh great, how did that go?"

"Great, just great," she said as she dropped the fork and knife hard on the table. Her fists were slightly clenched and she stood up more straight. "Since we had to listen to when Electra and Micah were together, doing all that stuff that he may have certainly enjoyed." She scowled and crossed her arms while looked away from him.

"Why are you bringing that up again?" He asked in confusion.

"Because it's probably true. You probably think of her while you're with me since I'm too broken for you."

"Mariana you know I don't think of you like that. Your perfect to me just the way you are."

"Yeah right." She rolled her eyes with a disgusted look. "Tell me, Micah. Do you like the way she kisses you?" She asked, jealousy seeping out of her mouth like vomit.

"Mariana I don't want to talk about it." He sighed as his stomach started to rumble and he felt queasy. He tried rubbing it to calm down.

"I don't care. Does it make you happy to know that you betrayed me like that? How you can sleep with that skank and have the nerve to kiss me with those same lips." Her tone became sharp and aggressive with a hidden mood of slight importance, as her eyes suddenly blinked with their glare.

"What..." Leilani muttered and her whole face twisted in confusion.

Suddenly, Micah didn't feel so well and he quickly got up and ran outside. Mariana and Leilani just watched him in bewilderment until he came back and grabbed a napkin from the table. There were some stains around his cheeks and a bit of saliva dripping.

"Micah did you just... vomit?" Leilani asked.

"Yeah..." he muttered before sitting down and wiped his face.

"Damn, imagine your ex being so horrible that thinking about them makes you throw up," she said and started laughing.

"I know but anyway, Mariana." He turned to face her. "This happened three years ago... I wish I can change the past but I can't. I was infatuated."

"Infatuated or not it doesn't matter, it's still the same," she angrily said.

"Okay, guys that's enough!" Leilani intervened before they could go further.

Soon the main course came in. The waiters brought multiple dishes. There was Pilau rice which was yellow, Lamb Daal Gosht which was spicy cubed-shaped lamb with lentil leaves mixed into a curry, and Chicken Balti murgh which was a chicken curry dish.

Mariana got a bit of everything on her plate. She eagerly started eating everything and the tangy flavor of the curry made it even better. She could taste the tomato in the sauce and the spiciness of it made her cheeks go deep red as she started to sweat. She blew air out like she was trying to cool herself down.

"This is so delicious," she moaned and gobbled down more of the chicken curry. It tasted so well with the rice. She didn't even feel like talking anymore because she was enjoying the food too much.

"Yeah, this was the most top-rated restaurant I saw on Google," Miguel said.

"I definitely wanna come back here in the future," Mariana said, "the food is so so good." She felt like she hasn't had something this delicious in a long time.

"Yeah, and also, it's really spicy but just right you know? Not enough to have you burning up like a volcano," Micah said as he had more of the lamb.

The waiters then brought everyone samosas. It was a triangular-shaped pastry that was filled with spiced potatoes, onions, and chicken. Micah got one and then began devouring it. Mariana looked over at him with contempt as she began grumbling. 

"I bet that's how you used to eat Electra out isn't it?" She scowled in annoyance.

Micah completely spat out his food and Leilani choked on hers. What Mariana said took them off guard.

"Mariana, does it bother you that much that I'm enjoying my food? Where did that ridiculous statement come from?" he demanded in annoyance.

"No but it bothers me that my boyfriend was with that-that-" she huffed and puffed like she was going to erupt.

"Why does it bother you so much now? It never did before so why now?"

Mariana just grumbled inexplicable words. She didn't know why she felt so heated at this moment but Electra was at the core of it. She didn't know why she just felt like complaining about her.

"I don't know..." she mumbled like a toddler who had just been told off.

"Then stop complaining and let's just enjoy ourselves!"

"Don't talk to me like that, who do you think you are?" she said, getting annoyed again.

Leilani and Miguel kept exchanging glances as the two fought. They quietly drank their coke and didn't know when to intervene because it seemed to be getting worse and more fierce.

"You know what I think?" Mariana shouted as she stood up. Her whole face became red like she was about to explode. "I'm glad Electra cheated on you with Mason, I would've done the exact same thing!" She spat out in the epitome of her anger.

That sentence broke him to pieces as it left her mouth. He couldn't believe she would actually go far as to saying something like that, even knowing every bit of that story and how much it affected him.

He stood up as well so that he remained taller than her, picked up his clothes, and stared down at her with his eyes burning like a rain forest had been set on fire.

"I knew my mom never should've told you about that! Your no different than everyone else!" He shouted and then stormed off.

Leilani and Miguel looked at each other worriedly. This evening had not gone the way they planned, instead, it seemed to have ignited things when it could've been a good chance to talk it out.

"Oh, dear..." Leilani muttered as she saw them both walk out.

A/N: Hey I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Whew, Chile! That was insane!

Imagine having an ex that was so bad that the remainder of when you guys were together *literally* makes you throw up 🤣🤣🤣.

And damn, Mariana losing her temper at the wrong person😭😭.