Forget-me-not

Cynthia

Cynthia couldn't remember the last time she had something this lavish. The ribeye steak was medium rare and melted in her mouth with every bite. Broiled asparagus had been cooked with lemon butter. The added citrus gave an unexpected zing that she appreciated. 

The one thing she couldn't get over was the hasselback potatoes. The upper half of a potato had been sliced half-way through. Garlic butter and herbs had been pressed into the fanned out folds. Slow roasted to perfection in the oven, the inside was soft and mushy, but the outside was crisp and tender. 

She kept brushing her metal fork over the upper char. Seungmin chuckled and shook his head. "What are you doing over there? Remember what you said about playing with your food? It makes you look like a toddler." 

"Do you see this? This is so cool! Can we try and make these at home sometime?" 

"You haven't even tried it yet, so what if you don't think it tastes good?" 

"It's a potato! How could they possibly mess up a potato?" She dug her fork into the soft flesh and dug in. After swallowing, her eyes widened in shock. "Woah, that's better than expected. I need to learn how to cook like this. Do you think it's wrong to ask for their recipe?" 

"Trust me, they wouldn't give it to you. This place is known for having secrets. I'm sure you can find an identical recipe online. Do you like it that much?" 

"You have no idea. I could eat this for every meal during the rest of my life. You don't get it, this is phenomenal!" 

"It's just a potato." 

"A hasselback potato!" 

The two continued to talk, but after a while, Seungmin kept shifting in his chair. Over and over again, he moved his body in an attempt to get comfortable. His nerves were rising again because there was something he wanted to discuss. 

He didn't know how to bring it up. Eventually, the two of them finished their food. As their empty plates were taken away, Cynthia leaned back in her chair and shut her eyes. Her hands went to her stomach. "I think I'm going to blow." 

"Really? What a shame. I guess I'll have to eat all the dessert then." 

"Why didn't you say that in the first half?" She shifted and sat back up. Her hands rubbed together. "There's always room for dessert." 

"I thought so." 

Silence fell over the two of them again. Cynthia reached over and took a sip of her ice water. The two of them had been sipping on red wine. After she felt her head starting to get fuzzy, she shifted to water. She didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of Seungmin. Not tonight and not in a fancy steakhouse. 

"Cynthia?" 

"Hmm?" 

"I want to say that I'm sorry." 

"For what?" 

"For everything. For Flora's bullshit. For not saving you sooner. For leaving you alone with an unhinged bitch. We've already talked about this before, but the guilt tends to eat me alive at night. I still feel like a huge dick." 

"I hope you know that I don't blame you." She set the glass of water down. "Flora is a lot and I do remember you saying something about her threatening you or whatever. Please don't feel awful about it. I don't blame you for anything, I blame her." 

"You should blame me too." 

She shook her head. Her top teeth bit into her bottom lip and her nostrils flared with a sigh. "Did I ever tell you about the argument that Flora and I had before the accident? It was pretty much my final breaking point. I remembered that the two of us had a falling out before the accident." 

Seungmin's eyebrows narrowed and he leaned closer to the maroon tablecloth. "What do you mean? What falling out and what argument?" 

"I realized that Flora was messaging the sasaengs and giving away our location. She'd ask where we were going or what we were doing and then she'd leak it in a Twitter group chat. She threatened me that morning and said I'd regret it."

"Holy shit. I can't believe she truly planned it. I know I didn't really like her and when the two of you were friends, she rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't have the heart to say something because I didn't want to offend you."

"She's a mystery. She also mentioned that she had a crush on me and-" Cynthia frowned. "I can't imagine trying to get back at someone who wasn't crushing back on me by causing a car accident." 

Seungmin had been sipping his wine, but the moment that sentence came out, he choked. The bright wine dribbled down his cheek and rushed down his neck. It burned as it funneled up through his nose. He sat back coughing and sputtering. 

Cynthia's eyes widened as she took in his distress. She leaned forward, poured a glass of water from the ice water pitcher, and handed it towards him. "Are you alright?" 

"Why?" He mumbled while sucking in a deep breath. "Did you say it so nonchalantly like that?" 

"What?" 

He shook his head and waved her off. Gulping down the ice water helped immensely. His throat burned from the wine rejection. The cool ice was nice slipping down his throat. He sucked in a full breath through his nose and began to relax again. 

"Do you want to go see something exciting after this?" 

"What is it?" 

"I'm not spoiling the second surprise." 

"Can you ruin dessert?" 

"I suppose, but only because you saved me from choking to death on wine. It's a triple chocolate cake with fancy chocolate. They get the chocolate imported from another country and-" He waved his hand, "they bring it here to make magic." 

"Woah." 

"Wait until you taste it. It's one of the best things you'll ever taste in your life. It's like a once in a lifetime moment." 

"Tastier than you?" She asked. 

Seungmin's mouth opened, but no words came out. His lips moved, but his vocal chords stopped. His cheeks heated up and he slightly shook his head. He couldn't believe that she caught him off guard like this. 

Maybe she really was the same old Cynthia.