POV - Landon

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1550

-Begin Chapter-

I wrestled in my mind for a long time as I subconsciously kept eating, trying to figure out what to do. What to say to Josh. How I was supposed to handle this situation delicately.

I kept on thinking and eating until I had no food left, my hand coming to an empty plate. I was shocked and thought nothing of it, looking across the table to ask Rob how his food was when I realized that he was still not back. 

I turned and looked around the restaurant, scanning to see if I could see him but I had no luck.

I turned back towards my table, reaching for my drink and taking a small sip before turning my attention back to my phone, deciding to check out the messages from the unknown numbers while I waited. Rob shouldn't be gone too much longer, his food is getting cold. 

I clicked on the first one and was surprised.

Unknown Number to Landon: Hello Landon! My name is Kaila. I am Josh's secretary and life saver. He gave me your number, well more like I looked onto the website where his phone backup is saved and got it, so I can send you mine. This way, if you need Josh for anything at all, you can contact me and I can get ahold of his old butt and make sure he contacts you. I know this seems out of the ordinary and possibly a little creepy, but since I am going to probably going to be seeing a lot of you when I come in a few weeks, I figured it would be a smart idea. I hope you have a wonderful day and feel free to contact me if you need anything. :)

Unknown Number to Landon: Oh, do me a favour. Please don't tell Josh. I don't want to hear his stupid lecture about invading his privacy and blah blah blah. Trust me when I tell you, those speeches get old, quick. Just like him. Lol

I chuckled at the message, a smile coming to my face.

I like her already. I wonder why she felt the need to contact me though? Has Josh already told her about me?

The thought itself warmed me and confused me. Why would I be on his mind so much already that he would tell people about me? Especially his secretary? I mean, I am nothing special, so why?

I couldn't come up with an answer so I decided to respond to Josh's secretary.

Landon to Kaila: I won't tell Josh. I promise. Yeah, it is a little creepy, but I understand why you did it. Thank you. I hope I won't have to bother you or Josh though. I know he has important business things to do and I don't want to be a nuisance.

I sent the message and then looked around the restaurant, scanning for Rob but not spotting him. I did notice how a few of the waiters and waitresses had gathered up at the podium, all them looking worried and whispering to each other, on occasion glancing at me.

This made me frown, a queasy feeling settling into my stomach.

What is going on? Where is Rob?

It was then that I noticed one of the waitresses nod her head to the group before she turned, walking over to me, a sad smile forming on her face, her eyes meeting mine.

What is going on?

I maintained eye contact with her as she walked to the table, stopping to stand next to me chair, looking down at me.

"Hello. My name is Sarah. Um, I know this is really awkward to ask but the gentlemen who you came with, were you aware that he left?"

I felt a wave of sickness wash over me.

"What do you mean he left?" I asked, my voice small, tears threatening to form.

Sarah gave me an apologetic smile.

"I am so sorry sweetheart but about 20 minutes ago, my co-workers and I noticed him outside, pacing, talking on his phone before he screamed loudly and hung up on someone. Then, before we could go outside to make sure he was okay, he just got in his car and, left."

"Oh," I said in a small voice, a tear forming and falling.

Why would Rob leave me?

"Oh sweetheart." said the waitress kindly, squatting down by my chair, her hand reaching out for mine and grabbing it, trying to comfort me. It wasn't going to help though. I felt so abandoned in this moment. I couldn't believe Rob just me here without any warning at all. Why? Why would he do this to me?

"Sweetheart?" called the waitress gently, causing me to focus on her again. "Look, I'm sorry this happened. Some men are just jerks. You'll find a better one, I'm sure. Now, don't worry about yours or his meal. It's been taken care of. We have a special fund set aside for things like this, plus my boss is really nice and he probably won't make us worry about it anyway."

"You don't have to..." I started but Sarah interrupted me.

"Don't worry about it, dear." a bright smile lit up her face making me smile slightly too, even though I was breaking inside. I felt like Rob had betrayed me in one of the worst ways possible.

"Thank you," I said, my voice small.

"No need to thank me, dear. Now, can you call someone for a ride home or do you want us to call a Taxi?"

"Would you call me a Taxi?" I said quickly. The only person who I could even remotely call was Preston and I did not want to have explain this to him. I wonder if I contacted Josh if he would send someone to get me to take me home. 

Maybe, but I don't want to bother him...

Sarah nodded her head, "Of course. Go ahead and stay here at the table and we will let you know when it gets here. Our busboy will come by and clean up all the plates and stuff. Would you like any dessert while you wait or to take home?"

I opened my mouth to object but Sarah interrupted me again.

"Trust me, sweetheart, after going through something like that, a dessert is the best thing to help you feel better. Now, do you know what a Tim Tam is?"

I nodded my head, "Yeah, I actually had to pick up some today for my job. It's a chocolate biscuit cookie thing, right?"

"Yup. Have you ever had one before?"

I shook my head.

"Well, that's a shame. They are so delicious. How about I box a piece of our Salted Caramel Tim Tam Cheesecake?" (A/N: The fact that this actually exists makes me want to cry tears of joy)

"Sure." I said, "That sounds really good."

Sarah smiled at me, her eyes kind and understanding. Despite what happened with Rob, I really liked this restaurant. The food was really good and the staff was so friendly. Maybe when Josh comes, we can go here for dinner one night.

"Okay, I'll get that all taken care of for you sweetheart. You just sit right there and let any of the staff know if you need anything."

"Okay. I will. Thank you so much." I said, squeezing her hand.

"I told you, there is no need to thank me, darling."

With that she squeezed my hand once more before releasing it so she could get up and walk away, heading back to the group that stood by the front podium.

I smiled before turning back to my table, looking across to where Rob should have sat the whole night, trying to get me to taste his nasty Asparagus.

I let out a sigh, my smile falling as I looked down at the table, sadness washing over me.

I wish I knew what I had done to make him leave.

I looked over at my phone again, picking it up and noticing that I still had that one message from the other unknown number and an email. I decided to ignore both of them and I opened Josh's messages once more, reading over them again.

Well, I guess since I will be home in the morning. I finally typed him a response.

Landon to Josh: Sure, I would appreciate that very much. You don't have to, though. I don't eat in the morning normally.

I received a response instantly as if Josh was waiting by the phone, staring at it until I replied.

Josh to Landon: I want to send you breakfast though. It will make me very happy to be able to take care of you, even though I am not there. Just tell me, when you do eat breakfast, what do you normally eat?

I felt a warmth begin to form in my chest and I replied.

Landon to Josh: Thank you so much, Josh, I really appreciate it. I really do. I hope there is some way I can repay you when you are here. I normally eat a bagel with cream cheese, only flavoured though. I don't like plain cream cheese at all, or plain bagels for that matter.

I sent the message, looking down at my phone to see if he was going to reply right away but he didn't. I sighed and set my phone down before moving to put my head in my hands, feeling emotionally drained.

Well, at least I still have one person who apparently really cares about me...

-End Chapter-

I hope you enjoyed reading this and may your day be filled with love, smiles, and laughs.