BETRAYAL

11

Katherine walked in the restaurant that she was supposed to meet Martin for lunch and looked around. She immediately was able to spot him since the restaurant was empty. She was a bit confused as that one was also a very famous restaurant, it was always hard to reserve.

Martin was sitting on the table at the far end near the big glass window, his table was the only one set. He waved when he saw her looking his way. Katherine smiled and walked towards his table and sat down.

"Why is this place empty? Is it falling out of business?" she asked him as she sat down. She looked around still confused.

"No," he laughed "It's not running out of business. If anything it's doing pretty well."

"Then why is it empty at lunch hours like this?" she asked him.

"Because I cleared it out," he answered nonchalantly.

"You did? Why??" she asked, her eyes widened. Martin smiled at her expression.

"So that if you decide to beat me up, I won't have to be embarrassed in front of customers of my own restaurant."

"Are you crazy?? You could have chosen a quiet place instead! What did you do with all the reservations people made?" Katherine asked in astonishment. While Katherine was flabbergasted, Martin found the situation amusing and he was all smily.

"Don't worry. I told my employees to call all of them and tell them they were chosen for our offer of a free barbecue on our Sea Breeze restaurant and if they would like to take the offer. Well you can imagine what their response were. So my customers are happy, I'm happy. All is well. Relax." He assured her.

"You're really crazy," She declared.

He just laughed. Katherine shook her head at his craziness, she couldn't help but smile. He used to be crazy even back then, she shouldn't be surprised.

"Would you like some champagne?" he asked her.

"Why are we having champagne?"

"To celebrate our reunion of course." He signed his hand and the waiter immediately came and poured some champagne in their glass and left.

Katherine took a sip and closed her eyes to savour it's sour sweet taste.

"It's alcohol free. One of my best. It tastes amazing, doesn't it?" he commented as he puts his glass down after taking a sip.

"Yeah it tastes amazing," she replied to him. She noticed the same waiter approaching their table, he then proceeded to quietly placing some appetizers dishes on the table. Afterwards he bowed a little and left.

"So how have you been?" he asked her.

"I have been alright," she told him "And you? I read about your wife's death five years ago, I'm so sorry about her."

"Yeah, but I'm fine now," he gave her a small smile to reassure her. "I'm surprised you remember it has been five years."

"I do remember, I saw on news that your wife and son got into an accident. I could tell you even the date. It's a crucial date for me too," Katherine smiled trying to hide the sadness that was starting to fill her eyes.

"Oh I see," he remarked. "I saw in your business card that you are a painter now. You finally became one, it was your childhood dream. I'm so proud of you."