Scorned

                        He sat at a table diagonal from where they were sitting. He could see him staring at her while she placed the order for them. As if catching his gaze, the guy turned towards him. Quickly he hid himself behind the menu card. The guy ignored the man ducking and carried on with his date. 
                        The waiter came on to his table. The waiter was a young man who did not miss the fact that this man came to dine whenever the couple on the earlier table visited. This man always ordered what the man on the other table ordered. He thought it was strange how he eyed the couple every time but never once strike a conversation. It appeared that the man knew them but he was a waiter and he had no business interfering.
                         He saw them holding hands and talking. She blushed every few seconds when he spoke something. She touched his arms as they bantered. Pangs of jealousy rose in him. She pulled his cheeks when he gave a puppy look and acted upset. Acid bile came up in the throat of the man sitting across. He gulped down the glass of water in front of him. His eyes full of hatred and hurt was blurred with tears. He was addicted to the pain that unleashed each time he saw them together. He came back to savor the suffering every time, wanting for more. He lay awake at night, relieving those moments of hurt. The film reeled in this mind all the time, all week, until it was time again to get a fresh wound. He came to get an eyeful of his love. Like his love, his pain refused to end. He refused to let it go. 
                         She knew he was staring. She was wary of his presence. What could she do? He never talked or gestured or did anything to provoke her. He just watched them in silence. That isn't a crime right? Yet she felt uneasy being aware of him. What did  he want? Why wouldn't he just leave them alone? She felt her partner squirm. So he noticed too! Would he confront him? Would he create a scene here? She worried about the consequences. Her man was far too well built to take on the guy on the other table. It calmed her a bit even though she did not want any violence.
                         He thought about the older days. When they would spend hours with each other. They were best friends. They would always be there for each other. They would understand each other without ever saying it out aloud. He hesitated to let his feelings known. Afraid of being shunned by the only person he loved so much. His love had  become an obsession. He started getting possessive and did not like to share his friendship with anyone else. It created tension, yet they always stuck together. Until a third person came along and swept his love away from him. He hated the intruder. 
                        He was getting infuriated. He had tried his best to ignore the man on the other table. The man was relentless. He had been tailing them for last three months. He was aware that his girl was finding it creepy but he had been putting it off for too long. Not anymore. This was getting out of hand. He had thought he had it under control but sense seemed to be evading the man. If he continued to act resilient then this man would take it as a license to keep spoiling their dates. They kept a show of being cool but they both were getting bugged by his intrusion.
                      He had been drunk that night. He had stood outside the house of his love. Waited for a glimpse of that face which blew all his worries away. Instead he had seen silhouette of two people kissing on the terrace. One of them was his love. He knew the contours well enough to get that right.
                                                  
                    He was mad with rage. He had thrown the beer bottle at the window. They both withdrew from each other's arms. They looked at him in shock. He had shouted out his love. They had closed the curtains and ignored him. He stood there all night  like a fool. In the morning, they had him driven out. 
                    " I think we should leave" she said
                    " No. Why should we?" he asked
                    " Because you have been staring at my head all this while. I know he is distracting you."
                    "What nonsense!" he frowned
                    " Admit it, he's been bothering you. It feels scary."
                    " I will set it straight then." he got up saying.
                 
                     "What the hell is your problem?" he asked banging on the table
                     "She is my problem." he replied coolly pointing at their table
                     "Leave us alone. I will report you to the police!" He shouted at him
                     " What for? For dining at this restaurant?" he asked curtly
                     "You know what? You are sick." he turned back.
                      "That bitch is sick. You will realize soon." He shouted back.
               
                     That moment spelled doom. The people at other tables stopped eating and had their eyes glued on the two men. The woman he was referring to left her chair and picked her bag. She wanted to pull her man out of a scuffle and head home. The enraged man turned back and slapped the other man hard. The impact of that slap was fast and unexpected. The man who had been still as a rock all these days was a volcano within. A volcano with a loaded gun.
                     He pulled out his gun and shot at the woman . She was just about to hold her man's hand and collapsed on the floor right away.
                     "You sick bastard!!! What have you done?" he was hysterical.
                   
                     They had driven him out. He had pleaded to be given one chance to talk but they had refused. The woman had been nagging her man to cut ties with his friend. She was uncomfortable with the friendship. So much possessiveness was unhealthy. The night's events had convinced her that there was more than what met the eyes. 
                     "I love you.. I love you very much. Please don't do this to me." he had begged
                     " You are sick and you need a doctor. Don't you ever come to me again. You disgust me." His best friend had said. His best friend had closed his door on him.. For a woman..
                     " One day she won't be between us!" He had promised him.
                     "Get lost!" He had taken it lightly.

                       "I told you, one day she won't be between us" he smiled like a maniac..