Daphne walked into the café, her stomach churning and full of knots. From the brief walk to the café, she was out of breath, even walking at a slow pace.

  No matter how I feel, this is not going to be easy. It’s only been five days since Gary and broke up the first time, and even though I did everything in my power to avoid it, here it is, about to happen again.

  She took a deep breath. I can do this. She pumped her fists, trying to make herself feel a miniscule amount better.

  Daphne took a couple of steps forward, when suddenly, an arm flashed out in front of her, blocking her way. Her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened and she looked over to where the arm was coming from. It was the cashier, a different one than the usual few that Daphne saw.

  “Wait,” the cashier said to her.

  “Wait?” Daphne asked, furrowing her brow and tilting her head to the side. “Someone is waiting for me, why do you want me to wait?”

  Daphne quickly glanced over at the café’s seating area, and her eyes found Gary. There were only a few other tables filled, making the crowd sparse and easy to search through. Gary’s back was turned towards the cashier and Daphne, meaning whatever the cashier wanted would not be seen by him.

  “Yes, wait,” the cashier insisted. “I wanted to ask you a question,” she said. “If you’d be willing to follow me over here.” She pointed to the alcove that led to the two restrooms. She wrapped her hand around Daphne’s wrist and started pulling her over.

  Daphne followed her, the knot that was already in her stomach tightening further. Did I do something wrong? Am I about to get banned from coming to this café?

  The cashier pulled her into the short hallway. “You said you’re meeting someone, right?” The cashier asked. “Does that person happen to be that guy right over there?” She pointed at the back of Gary’s head.

  Daphne’s heart stuttered as her eyebrows rose. Did Gary do something wrong? Is she about to ask me to pay his tab off or something?

  “Yes…” Daphne replied gingerly.

  “Does he happen to be your boyfriend?” the cashier asked.

  Daphne narrowed her eyes, her suspicion of Gary’s possible debt growing. “He is,” she replied carefully.

  “I thought so,” the casher replied, nodding curtly. “I saw you both walking in the park yesterday when I was on break.”

  Daphne frowned at the cashier. This definitely never happened before. Though I suppose Gary and I have been doing more couple oriented things than we did in the past…I suppose it’s also unlikely that we walked in the park before, and met at this particular café on this particular Friday night in the past as well… She chewed on her lip. What is going on? She wondered.

  “Okay…” She replied to the cashier, attempting to prompt the woman for her reasoning behind pulling Daphne aside.

  “Well, I wanted to confirm you were his girlfriend before I told you something…” the casher replied, chewing on her bottom lip and wringing her hands.

  “Yes, I’m his girlfriend,” Daphne replied more firmly this time. “So, what is it you want to say?”

  The cashier squirmed under Daphne’s gaze, clearly uncomfortable with whatever it was she had to say.

  What could she be so uneasy about telling me? She considered Gary’s behavior. He’s normally pretty polite to servers, waitstaff, and other service workers, so why…?

  It hit Daphne, all of a sudden, like a sack load of bricks. Her heart and body ached under the weight of her realization. He’d told her that her family was rich, he’d never put in all that much effort to find a job, the entire week she’d spent with him after coming back from the future, he had been on his phone, texting constantly…His behavior that was inconsistent with the words he’d said to her when he’d broken up with her the first time, and now that she was back in the past, he’d acted as though it was annoying that she wanted to spend time with him.

  He never wanted a serious relationship to begin with. He’s been playing with me, only after my money this whole time. Our relationship was an ever exclusive to him…he has plenty of women funding his lifestyle. When I became inconvenient this time around, he decided he was done. When he found someone with more wealth than me last time, he was done.

  Daphne swallowed hard, her stomach souring and her knees weak. She put her hand onto the wall to help steady herself and keep herself upright.

  “Well,” the cashier said, still hesitating at the idea of telling Daphne. Her next words came out as a jumbled mess, and it was only because Daphne had just realized what was going on that she was able to keep up. “I normally work on day shift, and he comes here a lot, you know? He’s here a lot during the day, and usually he comes with a different woman. It’s not even the same woman every single time either, sometimes there are even multiple within the same day. I’ve been trying to tell all of them that I can, because they all seem to believe that he’s their boyfriend and that they’re exclusive…” The cashier bit her lip, pausing her words. “There are a few that haven’t believed me, but I promise you, I’m telling the truth. I’m not interested in dating him, he’s way too old for me, so you don’t have to worry about that…”

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  Daphne cut her off. “I believe you,” she said.

  The cashier blinked at her a few times. “You do?” she asked.

  “Yes, I do,” Daphne confirmed. “There have been plenty of signs that something like this was going on. I just…” Daphne swallowed hard, her ego still feeling bruised by the realization of what Gary had been doing to her the whole time. “…didn’t want to accept it,” Daphne finished.

  “I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” the cashier said with a nod. “And he never pays for anything. It’s always the girl who pays.”

  Daphne shook her head, her stomach threatening to release what little liquid was inside of it. That means the money he used for our first dates was actually another woman’s’ money. Daphne tasted bile in the back of her throat.

  “Thank you for telling me,” Daphne said. “Is there any chance you’d be able to get me a water?” she asked.

  The cashier looked a bit taken aback. “A-a water?” she asked.

  “Yep, a water for me tor drink,” Daphne confirmed. “Also, keep up the great work telling all the women he’s trying to scam,” Daphne added.

  “Thanks,” the cashier said with a nod. “Then I’ll be right back with a water.”

  Daphne bit her lower lip as she watched the cashier walk away from her, her shoulders slumping, and her face and ears feeling hot. All this time… For the entire six months I was with him before, he had been cheating. When I was complaining that he wasn’t paying attention to me in person earlier this week…he was texting other women. Daphne felt her chin tremble a little. He made an absolute fool out of me, and I was too consumed by the idea of him…of being in a relationship…to notice.

  Gary began looking around the café for her. I don’t want him to see me like this. She turned away from him to face the wall. I probably look like a weirdo. But that’s better than what I actually am. She chewed on her tongue, biting back the stinging in her eyes. I know he should be ashamed of his actions, and not me, but still…

  “Ma’am?” Daphne heard the cashier’s voice again. “I’ve brought you some water.”

  Daphne slowly turned back towards the cashier, eyeballing the back of Gary’s head as she did. He seemed to not be looking for her…for the moment at least.

  The knots were tightening up again in Daphne’s stomach. She took the cup of water from the cashier and took a small sip, hoping it would calm down both her stomach and her nerves.

  “Are you going to be okay?” the cashier asked her.

  “I’ll be okay,” Daphne confirmed. “Feel free to go back to your post.” At the cash register, there were a couple of customers who were beginning to look around for the cashier.

  “Thanks,” the cashier said with a grateful smile.

  As she walked away, Daphne took another sip of the water. Well, on the bright side, we were going to break up anyway, so at least I get to know the truth of the matter this time around.

  She took another small drink of water and began her journey across the café towards Gary. I vowed to myself to try to be happy on this second chance I was given. Her footsteps each took her close to her fate, and her journey to happiness.

  She reached the table, and she stood off to the side of him. “Gary,” she said, trying to imitate the way he had said her name when he had broken up with her. This time, she did a much better job.

  Gary began to turn to look at her, and Daphne took the water cup in her hand and threw all of the water in it at him. The excess liquid slapped onto the floor, and Gary’s hair was wet and dripping.

  He cleared his lips of the fluid before he cleaned his eyes. Daphne slammed the cup down on the table in front of him.

  “What the fuck, Daph?” Gary asked, clearing his eyes enough to look at her.

  “I’m done,” she replied, her voice firm, and still cracking a bit. “You can get money from all of the other women you’re dating. I don’t want any part of this anymore.”

  Daphne turned to leave. She heard him say, “The fuck Daphne?” again, but she kept walking away.

  She walked up to the cashier, whipping her purse off of her shoulder. “Sorry for the mess,” she apologized, pulling a five dollar bill out of her wallet and putting it on the counter in front of the cashier. “Here’s for the trouble,” she added.

  The cashier looked as though she was holding back an enormous smile. “That was so bad ass,” she murmured softly to Daphne. More loudly, she added, “It’s not a problem, miss. Thanks for the tip.”

  Daphne smiled back at her. “My pleasure,” she said, turning away from the desk, towards the door to leave. She heard the cashier gasp, and then felt Gary’s hand grip down on her shoulder hard. She grimaced, having to hold back a small yelp.

  “You don’t get to break up with me,” Gary said, his voice next to her ear. Shivers ran down Daphne’s spine. “That’s now how it works.”

  Daphne began attempting to shrug him off, having to resort to nearly elbowing Gary in the stomach to get him off. “I guess a new chapter of your life gets to begin today,” she replied, not looking back. “Don’t worry, there’s a new chapter for me today, too.”

  She began walking towards the door again. “Sir, sir!” The cashier exclaimed at Gary behind her.

  “What?” he shouted back. “Can’t you see I’m busy right now?”

  “Sorry,” the cashier replied in the perfect customer service voice. “But you can’t leave without paying.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Gary asked as Daphne opened the café’s door to leave. “I’ll literally be right back!”

  The door shut behind Daphne. I’ll have to come back in the day sometime and give that cashier a special gift. She’s really taking a bullet for me right now.

  Daphne began briskly walking to her car, only a block away, in hopes of getting out of sight from the café as quickly as possible. She didn’t take the time to look back and see if Gary was following her until her car was in sight. Only then did she look back to ensure he wasn’t behind her. He wasn’t.

  Breathing out a huge sigh of relief, Daphne pulled her phone out of her pocket, and dialed Maggie’s number. Daphne was unlocking her car when Maggie answered.

  “Hello?” Maggie said.

  “Maggie,” Daphne said as she sat down in the driver’s seat. “Would you be available to go out for a drink or two?”

  There was a pause. “Let me see if Michael can watch the kids,” she answered. The phone’s speaker was filled with sounds of shuffling and then muffled voices. Only a beat or two later, Maggie’s voice came back clear through the speaker. “Where should I meet you?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about coming here,” Daphne replied, starting the car’s engine. “I’ll come to you.”