High Heels in New York (5 page)

“You’re already doing it here. All of the East Side is watching you do it.” She could feel the bile rise up in her throat. For a moment, he looked as if he wasn’t sure whether to walk toward her or stay at the table. He was dressed in a gray Armani suit that fit him perfectly. The same Armani suit Melissa purchased for him as a Christmas gift last year. It took Melissa an entire
paycheck to be able to afford that suit. She remembered trooping it on the Subway to Fulton Street and spending hours at the overloaded clothing racks at a large discount clothing retailer trying to find the perfect suit. Now her fiancé and her Armani suit were both cheating on her.

Fuckers!

“I don’t…
” Valerie began to say.

“Don’t even!” Melissa yelled at her.  No matter how fancy and glammed up Valerie looked, she was a dirty little bitch in Melissa’s eyes. Melissa didn’t care if she was Valerie Clark. She was a home wrecker and that was all to it.

“I think it’s time you nick off,” Jonathan said in a low voice, “You’re embarrassing yourself.” His Australian accent caused shivers to trickle down her spine. Quickly, she pushed her admiration for him to the side.

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed at him, pushing his hand away as he tried to grab her arm.

He placed the white dinner napkin that was in his hand, on the table. “
Don’t act
like a wanker.”

Yuck. If there was one word Melissa could live without ever hearing again for the rest of her life, even from that hunk of a man, it was Wanker. She didn’t know why but it reminded her of ‘whacking’ as in ‘whacking off’. And right now, it was a visual she
could do without. “I should act a
little crazy ‘
cuz
I feel crazy,” s
he told him, trying her hardest not to stab hi
m with the nearest sharp object.
“Crazy for loving a no good two timing
bastardo
!”

“Beg yours?”

“No, please don’t beg,
” Melissa said, hand over heart. “It doesn’t become you.” She was in shock
and everything up until that
point felt more like an out of body experience.  With the luck she was having today she wouldn’t be surprised if some idiot was recording this tragic episode of her life and within seconds it’d be up on YouTube. She wouldn’t even blame them. It looked as if she were on an episode of Cheaters. She just hoped she didn’t resemble one of those pathetic girls who should’ve walked away before making a complete fool of
herself
.

“Melissa, we were going to tell you.” Jonathan continued to explain himself. All it was doing was making Melissa angrier.

“We?”
Melissa screamed, pushing away the tears that were brimming behind her eyelashes. Was he serious? How long had this been going on? And when did he begin referring to themselves as a couple?  “When were you going to tell me Jonathan, after you got tired of putting your tongue down her throat?”

“It not
like
that.”

“Not like what?” By now her stomach was in such a tight knot that she was sure she’d hurl right on their dinner plates.

“I don’t know,” he said as he looked back at her, then Valerie and then back again.

Just hit him.
Once.
Real hard, she thought.

He shook his head. “I’m- I’m.”

Was he seriously struggling with those two little words? They were supposed to get married in a few weeks. How could he struggle with an apology to the woman he’s supposed to spend the rest of his life with; the woman carrying his unborn child? (Okay he didn’t know that part but still.) How could he do this?

Valerie stood up and began to make her exit when Melissa spotted her choice of footwear, a pair of sparkly pink Giuseppe
Zanotti
platform sandals. That bitch! She wanted those shoes from the first day she laid eyes on them. They hadn’t even officially been seen off the runway.

“Mel,” Jonathan said, trying to get her attention.

“Don’t bother. I’m the one who’s leaving,” Melissa said to Valerie in the sweetest voice she could muster.

“Mel,” Jonathan pleaded again.

“Stop saying my name like it’s a bloody tranquilizer!” Melissa shot at him.

“Let’s go home so we can talk.”

“Talk?
You had enough time to talk Jonathan. You could’ve talked to me um, let’s say, before you embarrassed me in front of all of Manhattan.” It was getting really hard to keep her rage at bay. “And believe it or not, I’m the one
who has major celebrating to do,” s
he
yelled
, grabbing the champagne bottle.

The waiter, who had been standing off to the side was about to protest her thievery but stopped midway when he saw the evil look she shot at him.

“Mel,” Angie said, grabbing her arm. “They’re not worth it.”

She was right. They weren’t. But since
Melissa
had already been made a fool of, and was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, she wasn’t surprised what came out of her mouth next. “And by the way, I lied, it doesn’t happen to every guy and I faked it every time.” She looked over a
t Valerie. “Every. Single.
Time.”
S
he turned on her heels and walked out of the restaurant.

She expected him to run after her.
A little pathetic.
But wasn’t he supposed to? Wasn’t he supposed to run after her, beg for her forgiveness and then cry (just a little) when she didn’t? Yes, it’s a little Lifetime Network but isn’t that every woman’s’ version of what love should be like, a movie? At least, that’s what Melissa thought.

She pushed back the tears when she realized the only person walking behind her was Angie. Then she began to retrace her steps back home in the hopes that doing so would allow her to go back in time, a time when she was certain of her life and the people in it; a time when Jonathan loved her – and only her. But she couldn’t. All she could do was accept the fact that there was another girl about to walk down the aisle in her fairytale wedding with her fairytale man.

She threw the bottle of champagne in the first garbage receptacle she spotted and began to cross the intersection of Fourteenth and First Avenue.

Never again
will I ever fall this hard ever again
, she told herself
as she stepped into the street.

“Mel! Watch out!” Angie screamed.

3

“I have no idea what flavor that is,” Angie said, spitting out the chocolate cupcake into a napkin. After seeing her best friends’ love life fall apart right before her eyes and having to rescue her from being run over by a speeding car, she was drained. Luckily, the ambulance came right away and within minutes they were at St. Vincent’s Hospital. That was one upside to living in a crowded city, the authorities and rescue workers were always on high alert.

“Exactly!”
Melissa screeched. “It looks like chocolate, smells like chocolate and even the frosting resembles chocolate. But it isn’t! It’s false advertisement!”

“Are you sure you’re talking about the cupcake?”

“I know that I like cupcakes a little more than the average person but, it doesn’t mean I’ll let it get away with walking around pret
ending to be something it’s not,
” Melissa said.

Angie knew that she was trying to convince both of them that she wasn’t talking about Jonathan. But who the hell was she kidding? She knew perfectly well that she was talking about sneaky-cheating-good-for-nothing Jonathan.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Angie asked, looking her friend over.

“I’m fine,” Melissa said.

“I wrote the license plate number down,” Angie said, handing Melissa a piece of paper.
“Freaking asshole!
I know he saw you!”

“It’s okay Angie,” Melissa shifted on the examination table, “I’m okay.”

Angie rolled her eyes. “You don’t know if you’re okay. The way you hit the sidewalk you could have internal bleeding!”

“Exaggerate much?”

Angie pouted. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Angie thought that Melissa should have been more careful. It’s not like she didn’t know New Yorkers drove like maniacs. But, she could also understand how Melissa didn’t see the car. When Melissa stormed out of the restaurant she was consumed by such a rage that she was blinded by it. Angie knew that being in that much pain caused people to react in unusual ways.

And, now there she was, trying to keep calm herself while Melissa nervously fiddled with the unflattering and very sterile, white and blue checkered hospital gown she was instructed to wear. She had never seen Melissa this nervous before and she wasn’t sure if she was actually being as supportive as she should be. She never liked Jonathan but hadn’t the courage to tell Melissa. It would have crushed her. Melissa was like a lost puppy that needed to be loved and who was
Angie
to ruin someone else’s happiness. Deep down, Angie knew eventually their relationship would come crashing down so she just remained tight lipped and tried her best to convey otherwise.

While they waited for the x-ray results, however, Angie couldn’t help but think about the call she missed earlier from Carlos. Maybe she should have sex with him one more time. She had to admit that it was a lot more fun being naked in a bed with a man than with a piece of plastic. And unlike Andrew, Carlos knew exactly what to do. Just thinking about Andrew made her want to call Carlos right then and there. She tried being in a relationship with
Andrew
. She even tried doing the date night thing once a week but,
he
was as much fun as a nail on a wall. And in bed he was worse. It seemed as if Carlos came along just in time to rescue her from the obscurity of a bad decision and reminded her why she thrived on one night stands and meaningless relationships, they were just better.

Just as she was about to check her cell phone a delicious looking man with graying hair entered the room wearing a white lab coat.
“
Hello
Ms.
De La Rosa
.
I’m
Doctor Bernard,” h
e
said
.
“I have your test results.”

“Give it to me straight,” Melissa sat straight up, listening.  “I can take it.”

“Is it okay to discuss this in front of your friend?” He asked, signaling to Angie.

“YES!” Angie interjected without letting Melissa answer.

“Okay.” H
e looked down at the chart on his clipboard, “Everything seems perfectly fine. You have a slight sprain on your right ankle so just take it easy for the next two weeks and ice it when you ge
t home,” h
e said, handing Melissa a prescription and an ankle brace.

Melissa tilted her head, examining the brace.  “What’s this?”

“An ankle brace. You have to wear it for two weeks. After your two week checkup if it’s healed you won’t have to wear it anymore,” Doctor Bernard said.

“A sprain?”
Angie screamed and covered her mouth with her hands.
“Oh my God!”

Melissa grabbed her arm, trying to console her. “It’s okay. It’s just a sprain.”

“How are you going to walk and you
know…
do stuff?”

“I’m sure I can walk.
Right doc?
I really don’t need this,” Melissa said, handing the ankle brace back to him.

“Technically.
Yes. You can. However, if you want to walk in those things ever again, you need this,” He said, pointing to her
pumps
, and handing her back the ankle brace. “And I don’t recommend you walking for more than a few minutes at a time. You need to let your foot rest so that it heals properly.”

“There’s no way I’m wearing this...this thing! Just look at it. It’s horrendous,” Melissa shrieked. Having someone tell her that she had to give up heels for two weeks was like telling  Britney Spears she could put a piece of gum in her mouth and not chew.

Angie stood in the corner trying her hardest not to laugh. She knew Melissa was about to have an emotional meltdown. “Don’t worry
Mel,” she said through giggles.
“Manhattan is full of those yellow things on wheels. If you give them money they can
take me anywhere you need to go.”

“It’s not funny.”

“Does that mean she can go home?” Angie asked.

“Yes. As long as she wears flats for the next two weeks she’ll be fine.” Doctor Bernard continued to scribble in his clipboard.

“Great,
” Angie said, grabbing the ankle brace from Melissa’s hand as she tried to throw it in the garbage.

“What?
Flats?
Hell no!”
Melissa crossed her arms in front of her chest like a little child.

“The most important thing is that there doesn’t see
m to be any injury to your baby,” h
e added, creating an uncanny silence in the room.