February Special: Valentines To Go

February 14th, 2019. Vanhoover. Asahi stared at his reflection in his car's mirror intently. He doubted every little thing about his own appearance. His mane wasn't styled perfectly. His suit jacket wasn't tucked in right. He had wrinkles in his dress pants. It's like he came here just to get embarrassed. Worst of all, it was February in Vanhoover, so he couldn't let his car's top down like he loved to. The sound of shoes clacking against concrete catches Asahi's attention. As he looks over he spots a pegasus mare making her way over towards where he was parked. She has a medium length red mane, mute blue fur, and a dress that looks like it was just picked up from a Value Village. Clearly she didn't care as much about her appearance as Asahi did about his. Just who was this mare? As the mare approaches Asahi leans over to open his passenger seat. "Hey Rhonda! Hop in!" He calls out. The mare's face contorts before she steps into the car, and slams the door behind her. The slam causes Asahi to flinch, and squeeze his eyes shut involuntarily. He'd just bought the 1977 Triumph Spitfire, and was already treating it like his own flesh and blood. Here his ex was slamming his baby's doors! She might mess up the paint job! Regardless of the inconsiderate door slamming Asahi starts his car up and slowly makes his way out of the parking lot he had been parked in. As the car pulls out onto a street and begins to accelerate Asahi takes a quick glance at his date. The sight of her in his passenger seat dredges up old memories he'd been working years to forget about. When he and Rhonda were a thing. Back before they had their fight. Before he cried for 3 days straight, and not even his cousin Sue, who was practically a sister to him, could cheer him up. He was young and dumb back then. Then again, he was still young, and he was still pretty dumb. He often found himself lying awake at night wondering how he'd managed to become an Advanced Care Paramedic, or even graduated High School. Asahi decides to break up his thoughts with a comment. "You look nice tonight Rhonda." Her response is a simple. "Thanks." Ouch. She didn't even bother to look up at him. After all the trouble he went through to style his mane too! The memories of their big fight started to force their way into the forefront of his thoughts. How she called him 'shallow', and 'dumber than a brick.' How he did everything he could to support her, and how he ignored his friends and all the warning signs. Why oh why had he agreed to spend valentines with the woman who hurt him so badly? No. That was all in the past wasn't it? Rhonda wasn't the same as she was back then. She still hadn't apologized for what she did, but she at least didn't insult him anymore right? The spitfire pulls into a parking spot in a parking lot next to what was considered a 'fancy' restaurant for the two. A sit down restaurant where most of the items were more than 10 bits. More than the 2 bit tacos they were used to. Asahi tried to make small talk, but Rhonda only gave short responses. She hardly looked up from her phone the whole night. When it came time to order drinks Asahi ordered some soda. He wasn't old enough for alcohol yet. Meanwhile, Rhonda ordered herself a nice fruity cocktail of some sort. Asahi didn't really listen to the name. All he knew was it came in a big glass, and was bright orange. Then when it came time for them to order food he got something light. Cheese fries with bacon, and a side of BBQ sauce. Something about fries, melted cheese, and BBQ sauce was heaven to Asahi. It was just a craving he could never satiate no matter how many sliced potatoes, slabs of melted cheese, and gallons of BBQ sauce he ate. Rhonda however went with something far larger (and more expensive.) A seafood plate with 3 different types of fish, and crab legs. Asahi can't remember Rhonda being that big of an eater, but they'd agreed to split the bill beforehand so he assumed she was just very hungry. The meal itself is quiet despite Asahi's many attempts to start a conversation. Rhonda either gives short responses, or outright ignores him as she plucks at her food from time to time. She's staring at her phone almost the entirety of the meal. Halfway through his monstrosity of cheese fries and BBQ sauce Rhonda excuses herself to the bathroom, but leaves her phone behind on the table. Asahi assumed it was because there weren't pockets in a dress. He sits alone, munching on the cursed fries when Rhonda's phone buzzes. Against his better judgement he takes a peek at the lock screen. There's a text from someone he remembers from high school. "Just arrived. Get me a to-go drink if you can." Odd. Asahi doesn't remember Rhonda telling him someone else was picking her up after their date. He decides against asking Rhonda about it. It's more trouble than it's worth. When Rhonda sits back down Asahi finishes off the rest of his unholy creation, and sits in silence as he tries to focus on the fish in the aquarium to his right. Moments later their waitress enters the scene to ask for deserts. Rhonda orders some sort of fudge cake, but Asahi isn't hungry enough for desert. Once again Rhonda takes a few nibbles of her desert before she stops eating. When the waitress re-emerges she asks for a to-go box for both of her largely untouched items, and packs them away carefully before asking for a to-go soda. Once she has all of her food, and the waitress leaves to grab the checks Rhonda simply stands up, says she needs to talk with someone at the bar, grabs her stuff, and leaves. The move is so sudden that Asahi isn't even able to respond out of shock. The 3 minutes Asahi waits for the checks feels like a torturous year to him. The fact that Rhonda was gone for that long was starting to worry him. Maybe she was just having a long conversation? Yeah. That was it. When the waitress returns Asahi hands her his card, and she asks where Rhonda had gone. He tells the waitress she had gone to talk to someone at the bar, prompting the waitress to go check the bar. She returns 5 minutes later to inform him that the greeter had seen Rhonda leave 7 minutes ago. The realization finally hits him. She just stood him up to foot the bill. She just wanted free food. With a choking voice Asahi tells the waitress to just use his card to pay for both checks. After she leaves his head thumps against his table and he uses all of his might to avoid breaking down into tears. He doesn't even see the waitress when she slides him a single check back. Upon finally lifting his head Asahi grabs his card in defeat to find a note scribbled on a blank piece of receipt paper underneath. "I'm so sorry about what happened to you. Call me an hour from now." Followed by a phone number, and a little heart. For a moment Asahi is stunned. Then, he begins to smile. He may have lost his ex, but maybe, just maybe he'd scored a new date.