Glorious Sunset by Ava Bleu

day.”
    â€œToo bad you ain’t got one,” Jerome countered, leaning over to kiss Violet. Taka’s jaw flexed, as did his fists under the table.
    â€œAh.” Brenda smiled. “That’s sweet.”
    Taka frowned even harder. “Is it supposed to be romantic to grope a woman in public? Where I come from you would have your legs tied to a mule and be dragged through a hill of horse dung for such a disrespectful display with a woman who is not your betrothed.”
    â€œDarn, man,” Gary declared. “Where you come from?”
    â€œWhy don’t you go back?” Jerome followed.
    Violet saw the food coming and interrupted, gratefully. “Oh look, food’s here. Thank God, I’m starving.” The sight of the ribs and fries on the platter made her mouth water. “Where’s my soda?” she asked the waiter. She frowned when it was obvious he’d forgotten it. “If I wanted my drink after my dinner I would have ordered it as dessert,” she snapped.
    â€œShe gets cranky when she’s hungry,” Jerome said.
    â€œI’m paying for service,” she insisted. “I’m not paying for him to walk around with his head up his behind.” She said the last part loud enough for half the restaurant to hear and then turned back to her plate, smoothing her napkin over her lap.
    Jerome looked at her platter and gave her a sideways glance. “Dang, baby, you gonna eat all that! Your girl over there doesn’t eat like you do.”
    â€œI’m. Hungry,” Violet said.
    Brenda prodded her lettuce leaves with a fork. “So am I, but this salad is going to be fine for me. It absolutely fills me up every time I get it and it is so delicious.” The four of them watched Brenda take a bite of lettuce and squint her eyes in ecstasy. Violet flushed as her stomach growled in protest.
    Taka looked at Violet. “Nonsense. Animals were made to be killed and eaten. The body cannot function without protein; it will starve itself into unattractive emaciation, as your tiny friend’s body clearly displays. Eat your fill, woman. But, in the name of all that is holy, you must be kinder to the help. It is unladylike and unbecoming for a woman of your standing to berate them so. You are too decent a person to allow that representation to be all they know of you.”
    All heads looked to him in shock and then everyone at the table burst into laughter; everyone but Violet who looked at him, intently.
    Who did he think he was to call her out like that? She never intended to be rude to the wait staff but she always felt, somehow, that if she didn’t whip them into shape first they would take advantage. She had to show them, and everyone, that she was in control of the situation, didn’t she? She had to show the world she was a force to be reckoned with, right? Then why did she feel the flush of shame? And why was she suddenly offended that everyone else at the table found the prospect of her being a woman of “great standing” so hilarious?
    Taka had stiffened under the laughter assault but he still held Violet’s gaze long enough for Jerome to notice and go on the assault, himself.
    â€œListen to him. Who does he think he is?” Jerome asked. Violet kept Taka’s gaze, also, until the genie dropped his to his plate, picking up his utensils to eat, a flex in his jaw his only sign of tension. She felt strangely disappointed with the loss.
    â€œYou should try the salad, Violet,” Brenda said, after Violet had firmly and resolutely inserted a pork rib in her mouth. Violet looked over at her friend and, not for the first time, wondered at her suspect timing. “Especially since you’ll be my maid of honor. You have to look nice in the dress. As a matter of fact, I brought it.”
    Violet’s eyebrows went up and she noticed the plastic rustling behind Brenda and asked, rib in mouth,