Rio de Janeiro
The sea was calm and silent as Betty looked out at it. Having spent the day roaming in the streets of this town, mingling with the revelers who had come to enjoy the carnival, she was now sitting at a table under a big umbrella at the seaside restaurant – The Thatch. But now it was almost two o’ clock in the night and everything had gone quiet. Farther down the beach she could see a lone man walk near the waves, right next to her a waitress was clearing a table and the bartender was closing the bar for the day. There was not much movement around her apart from these few people and the sound of the rolling waves.
She had come here to attend a conference for three days. And at the spur of the moment, she had decided to stay back to see the carnival. This was the first time in two years that she was taking a holiday, and it had been fun so far even if she was all alone. Two more days to go – before she had to return to the real world. Betty smiled as she closed her eyes and listened to the waves. Sometimes it was fun to be single.
“Betsy-girl? Is that you?” asked a male voice. A voice Betty had not heard for the last decade. A voice that belonged to Dave, her first love. A voice that still sometimes featured in her dreams every once in a while reminding her of…
Betty opened her eyes & looked into the eyes of Dave, who looked as handsome as ever. Tall, blonde, blue eyed – Dave had been her high school sweetheart. Once she graduated out of high school, she had opted to study at the local community college to be with him. She had had dreams of someday marrying him and having the perfect life with him. But Dave had other dreams, which Betty came to know when Dave broke off with her to follow them on his own, leaving Betty alone and broken hearted.
“Betty?” said that voice again.
Betty gave a tremulous smile and trying to control the tremor in her voice said, “Hi Dave. It’s been long. How have you been?”
“Good, good! How are ya? It’s so good to see ya after so long, Betsy-girl! You look ever the same!” said Dave with a smile meant to steal hearts. But it no longer had that effect on Betty.
‘Betsy-girl’ – the name, Dave used to call her while they were a couple…. The name she used to love at a point of time, now only gave her the creeps. Betty was in a mind to walk away but Dave was still saying something.
“So Betsy-girl, did ya get that perfect life yet?” asked Dave with a fake cheerfulness that Betty abhorred. He also looked down at her hand where there was no ring. A gleam came into his eyes and he was about to say something, but Betty interrupted him.
“Nearly there. No husband yet. Only a boyfriend, but I hope he will pop the question soon!” rushed on Betty.
“Ah!” said Dave speculatively, “where is the lucky guy? Not left you alone to fend off the late night vultures, I hope!”
His condenscending tone grated on Betty’s nerves and she said the first thing that came to her mind, “Ha, ha! Aren’t you the funny one, Dave! He is just taking a stroll along the beach. In fact, he is…” said Betty as she looked around, “coming towards us.” She saw the lone walker yet again and pointed towards him. This was the best she could do since being interrupted from her blissful state by her nemesis of the past – Dave.
“Oh yeah? Let’s go and meet him. I would like to get to know the guy who finally fulfills your idea of perfection…” said Dave, “well almost!” he added as an after-thought as he pointedly looked at Betty’s ringless hand.
“No, no! you must be getting late. We too have to go. Maybe some other time,” said Betty, a little panicked.
“Oh come-on, Betsy-girl. Are you trying to hide something?” said Dave as a gleam crept into his eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Okay since you so insist to meet him, let me go and bring him here. Give him a heads up of sorts, you know, with what being between us…” trailed off Betty, as a last attempt to thwart Dave in approaching the stranger.
“Oh okay. I understand,” said Dave looking repentant.
Betty felt bad lying to him, but then the gleam was back in his eyes,
“I did break your heart, didn’t I?” asked Dave on an exaggerated sigh.
Betty felt like kicking him in the gut.
“How is your girl – Sam, wasn’t it?” asked Betty, trying to change the topic.
She very well knew it was Sam – Samantha, the blonde bombshell from her college days. She was sent by Daddy dearest to community college so that she learnt a bit about the real world and the hardship of commoners. But there was nothing common about her. From the tips of her strawberry blonde hair to the nails of her polished toes. She had all the guys go ga-ga over her at the community college, except Dave or so thought Betty at that time.
“Sam is fine,” said Dave, “in fact, she is around. Just getting a drink from the bar for myself and her.” Dave pointed towards the bar where a beautiful blonde was chatting up with the bartender, who had just shut down shop a few minutes before. Now he was making puppy eyes at her and giving her the vodka as well as some fancy cocktail. But that’s the effect Sam always had on guys.
Having said her ‘thank-you’s to the bartender, Sam made her way towards them and came right upto Dave with her hand extended – the one with the glass of vodka.
“Here you go, sugar-buns. Did you miss me?” she fluttered her eyelashes, in that way which looked sexy on her, but would have made Betty look silly any day. And she was still ignoring Betty.
“Thanks, honey-cakes. I always miss you, you know,” said Dave in an even more saccharine voice that made Betty feel like gagging.
Dave took the drink from her hand and placed his free arm about her waist. As if suddenly remembering that Betty was there as well Dave said, “Sam, you remember, Betty?”
Sam looked at Betty with a scorn reserved for roaches and then suddenly turned her sweet smile on,
“Oh hi, Betty. We went to college together, right?” Betty nodded with her head and smiled at Sam.
“Dave used to date you then” rushed on Sam. Betty looked from Sam to Dave and back, at a loss of words.
“…but then he got to his senses” continued Sam on a shrill laugh.
Betty felt like doing some sort of physical damage to Sam.
Betty mumbled something under her breath before Dave said, “Umm Betsy-girl. If you do not want us to meet your beau before you warn him about me, I suggest you go to him right now.”
Betty turned at those words and saw that the stranger was just twenty paces away from the restaurant now. She had almost forgotten about her innocent lie.
“Oh yeah! I got to go” said Betty.
“We’ll be waiting here for you two,” said Dave with that annoying gleam and an arm about Sam’s curvaceous figure.
“Yeah sure” said Betty as she rushed off to intercept the dark stranger and make him agreeable to this wild hair-brained scheme of hers. But she needed his consent to keep what little was left of her dignity.
In the background she could hear Sam’s whiny voice, “Do we really need this, sugar-buns? You know, I would rather spend time with you alone than with… her”
Betty ignored the rest of the conversation as the rolling waves drowned it out. But her mind drifted to all those years with Dave as she took those final steps towards the stranger.
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