The Death of Me

13

I whipped around, my arms crossed and my eyes narrowed at his stupid smirk. His stupid smirk that always triggers me.

"Shut up." I coldly said as I walked away. Men are trash and he just proved that to me.

We arrived at the cruise's restaurant and met Giovanni Mancini. He looked about 40 years old. His tan skin glistened with sweat and his long black hair curled down to his shoulders. He seemed like an overall good man, because of his genuine smile.

"Ah Mr and Mrs Forrest, nice to meet you." He kissed my hand and shook hands with Ricardo as I repulsed at the thought of being a Mrs.

Marriage was something I had admired since I was a child. The idea of falling in love with someone and trapping them into staying with you forever, allured me. That and I watched many fucked up romantic movies that affected my already twisted mind. But I never wanted to be called a Mrs.

Miss suited me just fine.

Ricardo tightly grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him while I plastered a smile on my face until we sat down and I threw his arm off of me.

The waiter came up to our table to take our orders.

"I'll have the Rissoto with a water." Ricardo said. "My wife will take -"

"I can order for myself." I took the menu out of his hands. "Lets see. I'll take the lamb steak with a side of broccoli and tossed salad, and the lemonade. Make sure its cold yeah?"

I folded the menu and handed the waiter it as Ricardo stared at me,  blank faced before looking away.

Our parents started talking with each other and Jett and Daniella joked around.

Irina and Rocco shared kisses and whispered into each others ears while giggling like children. Even I'm convinced they're a married couple.

Meanwhile, the tension between me and Ricardo was obvious to everyone. I stared at my clutch purse and traced my fingers around the design as Ricardo huffed and puffed while staring at nothing.

Jett and Daniella played around with a small bouncy ball - you wouldn't believe their ages of 20 and 19. The ball rolled under the table between my uncles feet, and Jett asked my uncle to get it for him. My uncle put his head under the table to get the ball, and bumped his head when he tried coming back up. This caused the waiter behind to trip over and fall back, spilling the tray of refreshments over me and Ricardo.

We opened our mouths as the cold liquid dripped down our clothes. I could already feel the stickiness.

"Idiot." I whispered across the table at Jett who was breathless from laughter. The rest of the table lightly chuckled and tried to distract Giovanni.

I could have strangled Jett myself right there, but I contained myself, threatening him with my eyes. He gritted his teeth uncomfortably and handed me a few tissues. I tried dabbing the dress dry but it was fucking useless.

I felt somebody kick my foot and a gasp escaped from my mouth before I aggressively kicked back.

"Sorry, that was meant for Rocco." Irina whispered.

After the drink fiasco, our food finally came. I indulged in my juicy steak and sipped my fizzy cola, almost getting lost in my own world.

"So, tell me Mrs Forrest, how did you two meet?" Giovanni asked, probably purely trying to make small talk. "I bet it was love at first sight." He smiled.

I choked on my cola and coughed for a while as the table silently waited, knowing about me and Ricardo's complicated relationship.

"Well, uhm..." I looked at him in panic, but then soon knew what to say. "He was a scrawny teenager who worked at a hot dog cart when we met, its quite complicated actually. He asked me for my number, I never called him back, so he stalked me and made me marry him in a courthouse. And here we are now, one happy couple."

Everyone sat with their mouths hung open while Irina clapped and cheered.

I cheekily smiled at Ricardo, knowing I won this.

"You know, I could use a kiss right now from my loving wife." He pointed at his lips as I looked at him, unamused.

"Of course." I faked a smile and kissed his cheek. "Not like that, like this." He grabbed my chin and kissed me before I kicked his foot under the table.

He reached down in pain and clenched his jaw as I smiled at him.

At the end of the chaotic dinner, we all said our goodbyes to Giovanni. "Well, I'll see you all next time, enjoy your night." He smiled at us before leaving.

"Oh we will, my wife's got a few plans." He laughed in my ear as I smiled, until Giovanni left and I threw a punch at his jaw.