Eye of the Beholder
Copyright© 2025 by DB86
Chapter 2
“Time to eat crow,” Annabella muttered under her breath and pushed open the door of the restaurant.
“Looks who’s here. The rumors were true. The beauty queen is back,” Kat, one of the waitresses, said to no one in particular, as soon as she spotted Annabella entering the restaurant.
Kat turned her head to the kitchen and voiced, “Tony, we have a celebrity in the house.” Her voice was full of sarcasm.
Tony, the restaurant chef, stopped his singing and stuck his head out of the kitchen. “Ohhh, sounds like a juicy story,” He went back inside for a moment and commanded his sous-chef, “Keep an eye on the sauce and don’t let it burn, or I’ll hang you by your toes.”
“Yes, Chef,” the man answered in a very military manner.
Tony went out of the kitchen and stood beside Kat. “Who is she and why do we hate her?”
Kat pointed at the girl walking towards them.
“Meet Annabella Reed, former beauty queen in person. She was part of Janice Cooper’s elite group. Being as gorgeous as she is, the elite group was like her natural place to be. The last thing I heard, she won a beauty pageant and went to California to work as a model.”
“Well, she looks too thin even for a model,” Tony opined, taking a look at Annabella.
Kat rolled her eyes. “Everyone looks thin for you, sweetie.”
“What can I say? I’m Italian, I like some meat in there, not just bones. Was she a bully too?”
Kat shook her head.
“Not really, but she was part of the bullies’ group and laughed at the poor victims.”
“In which groups were Red and you in high school?” Tony asked.
“Red was always a misfit. He never fit in any group. He had this ‘dark and mysterious’ vibe, that drove girls crazy,” Kat explained with dreamy eyes.
“Red was a heartbreaker? I’d have never imagined him as a ladies’ man.”
“He could have been if he wanted to, but he also had this ‘go away’ vibe too.”
Tony and Kat laughed.
“What about you, Kat?”
“I was briefly part of the elite, but I was mainly a misfit like Red.”
“You part of the bullies? That’s hard to imagine, sweetie.”
“Yeah, not my brightest moment I must admit. I was there because it was better to be part of their group than being bullied. When they intended to play a cruel joke on Red, I couldn’t take it anymore and left the group to save him.”
“Was that the occasion when Janice pretended to be interested in Red just to get him naked and leave him stranded at the lake?” Tony asked. He had heard the story before.
Kat nodded. “Yep. That was the night we rekindled our friendship.”
“My beautiful wife saved me from walking back from the lake completely naked and humiliated,” Red explained, giving Kat a very loving kiss. “Which is the reason why we’re walking down memory lane?”
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