She flips her glossy hair back, revealing a sparkling set of jewellery on her bare neck. \'\'I didn\'t think you\'d be able to recognize me. And, yes, it has been forever since we last saw each other.\'\'

Last saw each other?

Who is this woman?

Moreso, why is she looking at me like she wants to strangle me?

Patricia is a statuesque woman, the type that everyone envied, and why wouldn\'t they? She looks like a model with her hazelnut eyes and red hair that cascades down her waist in fine curls. With her short, oxblood form fitting dress matched with black thigh high boots, she might as well be going to a Vogue photoshoot not a restaurant.

Why is she talking to my man?

She smiles brightly at him and pops her cherry red lipstick. So much for my nude one! \'\'Last I saw you, we were in Paris and you broke up with me on my 20th birthday."

I look up at Bob, asking him for some sort of explanation with my eyes, but he has his eyes trained on Patricia. "This is really not the time nor the place to discuss that.\'\' he seethes. His knuckles are sheet white now and I could tell that with one more provocation, he\'d blow a gasket.

"Why not?" she asks tauntingly. "After all, we both know you\'re into younger women. It\'s your type."

Her gaze falls on me and she scoffs like I\'m beneath her and not up to her standards. Sure, I may not have on a million dollar dress on, but I have dignity. She reminds me of the adult version of Mariah and I don\'t like it one bit. "I assume this is your latest conquest? Is she supposed to be my replacement?\'\'

Rude much?

I haven\'t known this disrespectful witch for five minutes and I already want to punch her in the face. If it\'s one thing I\'m not afraid of, it\'s confrontation, and she\'s going to get it this time. I\'ve been quiet because I wanted to study her and see the type of person she really is. Now that I know she\'s a snake, I\'ll treat her like one.

"Listen here Malibu Bitch, I don\'t know who you think you are or what sort of pedestal you\'ve placed yourself on but get off your high horse because you aren\'t all that great. You have no right to judge me or talk smack about me because you don\'t know me and vice versa. Trust me, I\'m not the person you want to mess with."

I didn\'t realize we have drawn a crowd till I\'m done with my little speech. Adults are literally worse than highschoolers! It wouldn\'t kill anyone to mind the business that pays them. Patricia scans the crowd that has formed a circle around us and grins. "I like her, Bob. She has spunk and a backbone which you seem to lack."

\'\'Says the woman who cheated on me.\'\'

She places her hand firmly on her hips and looks him directly in the eye. Bob nudges me a bit to his side, and I move without complaint. \'\'I cheated on you for a reason and you know that all too well.\'\'

Since when is there a justification for cheating?

"You really haven\'t changed after all these years, Patricia. You\'re still full of yourself.\'\'

\'\'You were never there so I found solace in the arms of another. You can\'t fault me for that. What did you expect me to do, huh? Wait for you when you\'d be gone for a month?\'\'

I feel like I\'m listening in on a conversation that is not my business. Maybe the crowd feels it too, I don\'t know, but I\'m getting uncomfortable and I don\'t like it. There are deep issues that they\'ve obviously not gotten over and Patricia seems to be real proud of herself right now. She\'s confessing that she cheated with no fucks given and it\'s making me sick to my stomach.

She reminds me of my father and that\'s not a good thing.

Bob looks at her, gobsmacked. Hell, I\'m shocked too but I reserve my comments. \'\'Go to hell, Patricia.\'\'

\'\'I\'d see you there too, right? After all, I\'m pretty sure the devil has space enough for both of us.\'\' Her hazelnuts take him in. \'\'Wouldn\'t you agree?\'\'

The only one going to hell is you, Patricia.

He takes in a sharp intake of breath and is about to retort back but she interrupts him. \'\'Seems like we\'ve drawn some unnecessary attention to ourselves. Anywho, Bob, I\'m back in town permanently so I guess we\'d be seeing ourselves more often, Si?"

He grabs me by my waist. "It was nice to see you again Patricia, hope we never meet again. Also, don\'t you dare disrespect my girlfriend again or I would ruin you. Remember, I have leverage over you. Have a wonderful evening."

We side step the speechless redhead and the crowd parts. Bob opens the passanger\'s side for me with one last look Patricia\'s way. Getting into the driver\'s side, he speedily drive\'s off and the image of the disrespectful lady fades into view.

"Care to explain to me who that disrespectful bitch is and how you two know each other?"

His knuckles grip the steering wheel, upset. "Once upon a time, Patricia and I used to date till she cheated on me with her co-worker. I caught them having sex in her apartment. It hurt like hell you know, but then she begged me to take her back and apologized. I forgave her and we started to rebuild our relationship but then I found out about her...dark secret and I just couldn\'t take it anymore."

I knew there was a reason why I didn\'t like her!

I rub small circles on his free hand and he continues. \'\'The lying, the cheating, the scamming...I just couldn\'t handle the secrets so I broke things off with her. She only loved my money not me but I realized that later. I guess she has some sort of vendetta against me and now against you too. I\'m sorry for dragging you into the messy mix."

"Don\'t be sorry. We\'re a team right? Your pain is my pain and I understand that you\'ve been hurt." As he zooms past the busy streets, my mind goes back to our encounter with Patricia. She may be a jealous bitch now that I\'m with Bob, but something seems…off about her. I can\'t place my finger on it, but something tells me I need to stay the fuck away from her. Maybe it was her mannerisms, maybe it was the snarky comment, or maybe it was the aura she was emitting. Something is not particularly right with her.

\'\'What did you mean when you said you found out about her \'dark secret?\'\' I ask out of curiosity. His figure goes rigid again and I raise a brow. \'\'It\'s nothing that you should worry about. Patricia is in the past and she knows better than to cross me.\'\'

\'\'So we\'re keeping secrets now?\'\'

\'\'Babe, I just don\'t want you to get mixed up in Patricia\'s bullshit. Trust me, it\'s for your own good. She\'s a gold digger and the less you know about her, the better.\'\'

\'\'What did she mean by \'you\'re into younger women?\'\'\' Is this some sort of fetish for him? Bob refuses to answer my question and I press him further. \'\'Not answering me is only going to escalate things, Bob. We promised to be completely honest and open with each other with no secrets between us. I\'m not going to judge you. All I want to know is if there were others before Patricia and I.\'\' Other younger women that is.

He sighs and makes a turn on a familiar street. \'\'There were others before Patricia and you. Yes, Patricia is right, I am into younger women. But you\'re the first seventeen year old I\'ve dated. That\'s the past and I really don\'t want to talk about it. I\'m focused on my current relationship with you.\'\' He grabs my hand and kisses the promise ring on my finger. I still wear it like it\'s a wedding band because it reminds me that I\'m committed to someone. If I ever think of cheating, which by the way would never happen, I just look at the ring and all immodest thoughts disappear. \'\'I don\'t want us to fight over my past,\'\' he says in a low whisper. \'\'It\'s the past.\'\'

He\'s right. It is the past, and I\'m not a judgemental person. Also, I really like Bob and I don\'t want this wonderful night that we had to be ruined by his no-good, cheating, Bella Hadid like body, disrespectful ex. She\'s history now and I hope and pray that for the life of me, I don\'t see her again.

"Promise me you\'d never hurt me or lie to me, Mel." I lean a little closer and give him a quick peck on his cheeks. \'\'I promise.\'\'

\'\'You were being honest with me about the Chinese investors, right?

\'\'Positive.\'\'