"Jeff, sweetie, what time are we leaving?" Haley asked, walking out of the bathroom and down the hall to the living room.
"Leaving to go where?" Jeff questioned from his place on the recliner in front of the TV
She stopped walking and stared at the entrance to the room, "You forgot, didn't you?"
Jeff stuck his head up over the back of the chair and looked at her, "I guess so."
"Jeff! It's our anniversary! You said we were going out for dinner tonight! We had reservations!" she cried, walking over to him and glaring down at him.
"Well, I forgot."
Haley shook her head and gave him a little shove, "If you hurry, we can still get there in time."
He turned back to the game he was watching and shrugged.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked and stepped in front of him so he couldn't watch the game.
"I have plans with the guys."
"What? We were supposed to go out!" she whined.
"I have plans," he said once again, "now move, you're in my way."
"Haley stood her ground and crossed her arms, "But WE had plans!"
He turned away from the TV and glared up at her, "Too damn bad! Now move!"
She wanted to yell but all that came out was a soft squeak. She turned around and walked back to their room. She shut the door and sat on the foot of the bed, doing nothing but just thinking.
"I'm going out now! I'll be back in four hours!" Jeff announced.
Haley heard the door slam shut and his car pull out of the driveway. She slowly got up and walked into the kitchen.
"How could he just forget?" she asked herself.
She opened the fridge and looked at what was inside. Not much of a choice. She pulled out the loaf of bread and packages of cold cuts, then decided against it.
"You're on a diet, remember? You're way too fat, even Jeff says so. He wouldn't lie to you," Haley thought and put them back in.
She pulled out a head of lettuce and got busy making a salad.
A few minutes later, the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Haley. What's up, man?" Justin asked.
"Nothing. Just making a salad," she sighed.
"Is everything okay? You sound funny," he said, concerned.
"No, I'm fine."
"You sure?" he asked.
"I'm sure," she assured him.
"Okay. I was wondering if you wanna come get some pizza with me."
"I dunno..." she began.
"Oh, come on, Haley! We never hang out anymore! Please?" Justin begged.
"Fine," she said, giving in, "Come pick me up in 10 minutes, okay?"
"Sure. See ya then. Peace," he said and hung up.
Haley hung up the phone and sighed.
"Pizza...just great," she thought.
She walked out of the kitchen and went upstairs to get ready.
"She has to think about everything these days." Justin said as he hung up the phone.
He ran his hand through his hair and grabbed his keys off the bureau. He left his room, walked downstairs, and out to his car. He got in and drove to Haley's.
When he pulled up on front of the house, he beeped the horn and waited for her to come out. When she didn't come, he leaned over to see out the window and beeped again. The door opened and she walked out.
"Hey, Hal. You ready?" Justin asked.
"I guess," she said and climbed in.
"All right," he said and drove out of the drive way.
"So, how has Jeff been treating you?" he asked, trying to start a conversation as they drove down the high way.
Haley looked up at Justin, "Just great."
"Good."
They drove in silence again. She jumped in surprise as her beeper started going off. She looked down and recognized Jeff's number. She sighed and reached into her pocket book for her cell phone.
"Do you mind ignoring the calls? We haven't talked for a while so I wanted us to be able to just talk and not be interrupted." Justin requested, glancing at her then back at the road.
"Okay..." she said uneasily and put it back in her bag.
Haley picked up the beeper and switched it to vibrate. The beeper went off at least 5 times while they were driving to the restaurant. Each time it was Jeff. She was beginning to get worries, she hoped it wasn't an emergency.
A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of the restaurant.
"I hope you're hungry." Justin said with a laugh.
"Uh huh," she answered, even thought she really wasn't.
He recognized the tone in her voice right away, "Is everything okay?"
"Jeff keeps paging me and I'm starting to get worried," she confessed.
"He'll be fine, don't worry. Can we please eat now?"
"Yeah."
They got out of the car and walked in. The waitress offered to seat them immediately before everyone else, but Justin said they could wait their turn. They got seated in a booth near the window.
"Do you plan on eating today, unlike last time? I don't feel like wasting my money." Justin said, sliding into his seat.
"Yes, I'm going to eat." Haley said, rolling her eyes, "It's not like you're short on money though."
He laughed, "Yeah, yeah. I know."
The waitress came over and they gave her their order. Haley flinched as her beeper went off again.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing. It's the beeper again."
He sighed and took a sip of his water, "Just turn it off."
"I can't," she said, folding her hands and looking out the window.
"Why?"
"Because Jeff said-" Haley began.
"Jeff this, Jeff that," Justin mocked, "just shut up about Jeff!"
Haley looked at him, surprised, and so did everyone else around them.
"He IS my boyfriend."
"So? You never shut up about him!" he cried.
She sighed and threw up her hands, "Okay, I'll stop."
The waitress brought the pizza over and they started eating. They didn't say much, they didn't want to start arguing again.
When they finished eating, Justin paid the bill and they left. They got into the car and started driving home.
"We still have some time to kill, what about a movie?" he asked.
She looked at her watch, "I guess that's okay."
Justin turned the corner and headed for the theater.
This time, Haley's cell phone rang. She opened it and put it up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Where the hell are you?" Jeff asked, angrily.
"Nice to talk to you to," she joked.
"Answer the damn question! Where the hell are you?"
"Well, you didn't want to go out so I went out." Haley said.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Jeff screamed.
Justin jumped and looked at Haley, Jeff was so loud that even he could hear him.
"I went out for pizza with Justin."
"That little blonde punk?!" he asked.
"Yes, and for your information, he isn't a punk."
"I don't give a crap what he is. Get home NOW!" he hollered.
She heard something smash to the ground as he kicked something in a fit of anger.
"But..."
"Now!"
Haley hung up and looked at Justin.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said and put the phone away.
"What do you mean 'nothing'?" he questioned.
"Nothing," she insisted, "just take me home."
"Home? I thought we were going to the movies." Justin asked, disappointed.
"I can't go. Take me home."
"All right." Justin said, shaking his head and turning around to go home.
They pulled up in front of the house. Haley looked up at it, worried. She opened the door and got out.
"Thanks for the pizza." Haley said and shut the door.
Justin nodded and drove away. She turned towards the house and started walking up the stairs, slowly. Before she could reach for the door knob, the door flew open to reveal a red-faced Jeff.
"Get in here!" he screamed.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside the house. He slammed to door shut and whirled around, glaring at her.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Jeff asked and started walking towards her, forcing Haley to back up against the wall.
She raised her hands in front of her face in self-defense. He pulled them back down again.
"Did I say you were allowed to go out?" he asked, lowering his head so he could be eye level with her.
"No." Haley replied meekly.
"That's right."
He straightened up and smacked her across the face. Haley slid down the wall so that she was now sitting and starting crying. He grabbed her shoulders and made her stand up again.
"That was for going out when I didn't say you could. And this is for going out behind my back with that punk-ass kid," he said in a threatening voice and smacked her once again.
Haley started sobbing even harder. Jeff glared at her and reached for the door to the closet, pulling it open. She could tell that by the look in his eyes that he was going to hit her again. She raised her arms to shield her face. Jeff swore at her and kneed her in the stomach. Haley let out a gasp as she bent over to hold her stomach. Jeff hit her and shoved her into the closet.
"And that's for pissing me off," he said as he shut the door and locked it.