Cassidy Meadows looked across the booth at the man seated on the opposite side. Although she had dated him for five years, at that moment, Cassidy thought that Brad Frazier looked like a complete stranger. And, in a way, Cassidy had to admit, at that moment, perhaps he was.
It had taken all of Cassidy's courage to work up the nerve to confront Brad. Although they had dated for so long that people often thought that they had always been together, Brad had yet to ask Cassidy to marry him. As a matter of fact, for the duration of their dating years, Brad had yet to ask Cassidy to do anything. It had taken him over a year to work up to their first kiss, and in the subsequent four years, there hadn't been any further progress in their physical relationship.
At first, Cassidy had told herself that Brad just was shy. But after having spent countless hours with the man, watching him fish, play pool, kick back at the lake and shoot the breeze with his buddies, Cassidy just couldn't convince herself of Brad's shyness anymore.
And tonight, she had decided to take action. When Brad had asked her to meet him at the diner for supper, she had agreed, although doing so bothered her. It had been forever since Brad had stopped picking her up at her house and making an effort to appear to be "dating" her. Now, he just assumed that she would show up when he asked. Tonight she had agreed, but it was because she had an agenda for the evening.
"Well," Cassidy repeated, "Are you going to tell me where this relationship is going, Brad?"
Cassidy watched as Brad's face flushed red in his anger and embarrassment. "Now, Dee, this isn't the time or the place . . . "
"Brad, I'm tired of looking for the right time and place. Just lay it on the line for me. Do you have any intentions of us getting married?"
If she had suspected Brad's reaction, Cassidy would have ducked. As it was, the sweet tea that suddenly spewed out of Brad's mouth, across the table and into her face, came as a complete shock to Cassidy. Stunned as she was, it was the laughter that hurt the most, though.
Brad didn't seem to be amused about having just sprayed her down with his dinner drink, he seemed to be roaring with laughter about her question. As Cassidy picked up her napkin and began mopping the tea off of her face, she looked at Brad in confusion. If the tea incident wasn't enough to draw everyone in the diner's attention to their table, the volume of Brad's next question would have done it.
"Where the hell did you get the idea that I would want to marry YOU?" Brad bellowed.
It was at that moment that Cassidy suddenly realized the man's callousness. She sat in stunned silence as he continued.
"Hell, Dee, I was doin' you a favor, taking you out all these years. What the Sam Hill do you want to go and mess it all up by getting all serious and crap?"
Cassidy felt the blood rush to her face. Doing her a favor? Trying to remain calm, Cassidy said, "Brad, what do you mean, you were doing me a favor?"
Brad didn't seem to care that everyone in the diner had stopped eating and was turned in their seats, watching the unfolding drama. He loudly continued his explanation, "Well, Dee, it ain't like there's anybody else been wanting you. You ain't exactly the kind of girl that guys are chomping at the bit to date. Don't act so all fired high and mighty. You're just lucky I took pity on you and been taking you around. At least you weren't sitting at home, wasting away. Course," Brad stopped talking for a moment to scratch out his ear canal before he gave her plump body a meaningful glance then continued, "With a body like yours you could stand to stay home a few nights and do a little wasting away."
If Cassidy could have melted into the woodwork, she would have done so at that moment. Cassidy had always known that she weighed more than Brad thought she ought to. But, in the big picture of their relationship, she hadn't let that bother her too much. It had been more important to her to take care of Brad's needs and wants. And there had been plenty of them to focus on without leaving a lot of time to worry about her weight. When he had brought up the subject before, Cassidy had just shrugged it off, figuring she would deal with it later.
But now Brad had made his opinion public. He had not only embarrassed her, she was humiliated. And he had done it on purpose to put her back in her place because she had made him uncomfortable.
Cassidy had always struggled to handle situations in her life with integrity and poise. Cassidy knew that this was a defining moment for her and she had to handle this in a way that she could live with. With a heavy heart, Cassidy realized that there was nothing she could say to salvage her relationship with Brad at this point. It was best to leave quietly, while she still had some dignity remaining.
Standing up, Cassidy calmly reached down and picked up her purse. She first turned to face Brad, then, shaking her head, pivoted on her heel and started to walk away.
But suddenly, something snapped inside of Cassidy. She had lived her whole life in the shadows because of her desire to never be inappropriate. But in the blink of an eye, her whole life had come down to this - a man who thought that he could belittle and insult her and still have her give him a lift home afterward. The fire of humiliation shot to her very core. And from her core, she felt a response. Like a lightening bolt through her body, she realized that her life as she had known it was over. Nothing inside of her would ever be the same again. And it was time to let a few people know that - starting with Brad Frazier.
Returning to stand in front of Brad, Cassidy leaned down to look him in the eye. Using a tone that sounded genuinely sympathetic, she said in a quiet voice that grew louder as she continued, "Brad, after you told me about your little "problem", I have been trying to lose weight. I realize that having a penis so short that you are afraid you won't be able to penetrate me because of the extra inch of flesh that I have can be somewhat embarrassing. But, honey, after you finally showed it to me last night, I realize that it would only be by an act of God that I could ever get skinny enough to get close enough for you to stick that tiny, little nubby thing in me. I hope your next girlfriend is small enough to squeeze really close, so she can at least hump the damn thing."
And with that, Cassidy took her own glass of sweet tea and poured it over Brad's shocked face.
Cassidy quickly walked out of the diner and to her car. Everyone inside the eating establishment was roaring with laughter, and she wanted to make a rapid get away before anyone noticed her absence. Popping the trunk on her car, Cassidy hurriedly emptied it of all Brad's sporting equipment - his prized fishing rod, his custom made pool cue and his box of hand tied lures. There were also some coolers full of God only knew what and at least one dried up box of bait.
Brad had always stored his fishing gear in Cassidy's car, claiming that it was safer there than in his truck. As the smell of rotting fish guts hit Cassidy's nostrils, she realized yet another truth about the man. He was a compulsive liar!
Cassidy put the equipment on the ground behind her car and jumped into the driver's seat. She figured that Brad would see his stuff on his way out to his own truck, which was parked nearby, and pick it up. Cassidy's car was pointed out of the parking lot and Cassidy wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. Taking the time to carry Brad's stuff over to his truck would take up precious moments.
But fate has a way of changing even the most well made plans, and Cassidy's plans weren't that well made. Just as she cranked the car, Brad burst out of the restaurant and yelled across the parking lot, "Well, Cindy Ann sure as hell thinks what I've got is enough to satisfy any woman - and she would know a hell of a lot better than you, bitch!"
Shock washed over Cassidy. Brad was sleeping with Cindy Ann? Cindy Ann Chambers? Her best friend? Well, duh! Of course they were sleeping together - how could she have missed the signs. They had been making eyes at each other for months.
With her mind spinning with this new information, Cassidy was not really paying a lot of attention to her actions. She automatically put the car into reverse to back out of her parking spot and to get away from Brad. As soon as she heard the loud crack of wood and the crunch of plastic, she realized that she had just backed over Brad's most beloved possessions. At first, she felt a wave of remorse, then she was overwhelmed by self righteous anger. Brad had taken five years of her life - always holding her in limbo, waiting to see if he would offer her what she most wanted.
Cassidy decided then and there that she would damn well take a few things from him. She threw the car into forward, inched up a few feet, then slammed it back into reverse. Brad was looking at her like she had lost her mind, because he had no idea what she was running over. Cassidy repeated her actions twice more, then sped toward the exit. As she left her parking spot, Brad caught sight of his equipment, smashed into the asphalt. He started screaming and running - first toward his stuff, then toward Cassidy's car.
The exit was up a slight hill, so Brad was having to put effort into catching up with Cassidy, but he was fueled by his anger and he looked determined to tear her from limb to limb. But Cassidy was just as angry. Looking around the inside of her car, Cassidy spied Brad's bowling bag. She paused at the exit of the parking lot, and waited for Brad to get closer to her car. Working quickly, Cassidy maneuvered the bag and rolled down her window. When Brad got about 25 feet away, she threw his bowling bag at him.
Without thinking, Brad lunged to catch the bag and it fell lightly into his outstretched hands as he hit the concrete. He looked momentarily confused, but then his face turned ashen when he looked up and realized that Cassidy was holding his custom made $250 Storm Bowling Ball in her hands.
Cassidy cocked her eyebrow at Brad and said, "So you don't want me, but you want it, baby? Well, here you go!"
Then she tossed the ball out of her car window.
Brad's scream of "No!" echoed into the growing darkness as the ball rolled down the hill, just out of his reach. Cassidy knew that the rough pavement of the parking lot had just ruined the polished finish of Brad's beloved "Stormy". She laughed out loud as she laid rubber pulling away from the diner's parking lot.
