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shook off the cold, and started dabbing himself dry with the napkin. It was useless, he was drenched. Renee was rocketing through a list of insults aimed directly at the poor girl who was starting to shake as she held the tray in her hands. The three of them had the attention of the entire restaurant, including the manager. When he approached and saw what happened, he hurried to the back to grab Markus a few towels. While he was gone, the server started stammering apologies again.
     
                “Really, it was my fault,” Markus said, “It's okay, just a little bit cold...” He smiled at the girl, trying to assure her everything was okay, but Renee didn't take that well. She popped one hip out and stood with her arms crossed against her chest. She glared back and forth between Markus and the server. When the server glanced at the subtle muscles showing through the wet, white shirt Markus wore, Renee snapped.
     
                “What?” she almost screamed at the waitress, “Did you get him all wet just to check him out some more?” When the young girl looked at Markus in horror while shaking her head, Renee continued her verbal assault. “Stop looking at my date!” she yelled. Markus was just as surprised by her outburst as the server was, and stepped between them, still dripping water from his brow.
     
                “Renee, please,” he begged. “It really was my fault. I threw my arms out like a jack ass and hit the tray. If she didn't have such good balance, it would have landed all over the guy behind me.” Markus glanced at the gentleman seated at the table behind them who, like everyone else, was staring at the chaos. “I doubt that she was trying anything underhanded,” he continued. Then, he looked at the server, “I'm sorry, really. I'm very sorry.”
     
                By then, the manager had returned with towels, but Renee was far from over with her tirade. She glowered at Markus, “Are you calling me a liar?” Then she looked at the manager and wagged her finger at them all when she spoke, “I saw this girl trip on the carpet and dump that pitcher of water all over him.” The manager began a speech-like apology, but Renee just wasn't hearing it. She shook her head in disbelief at Markus for being such a push-over. She yelled a few more insults their way, and then picked up her glass of water from the table. Without warning, she looked at the waitress, sweetly but with malice, and said, “Here! How do you like it?” With that, she threw the water into the girl's face. She didn't skip a beat when she turned to Markus and tossed the glass towards his face. He caught it from careening to the floor, but not before it made painful contact with his lip.
     
                Markus stood astounded along with the manager, server and other patrons. Renee continued spewing venom as she pulled out her cellphone and pulled up a screen which she showed to Markus. It displayed his phone's signature, and she said, “I'm sending you Maritess' home info. Call her there and tell her not to set me up with wimpy lawyers anymore. You people are pathetic!” When she walked out the door, Markus was left to deal with the awkward mess that had been their date. He paid the bill, tipped the server outrageously and set off for the bus stop, angry, dejected and in pure shock from the evening's events.
     
                When he boarded the bus and sat down, he looked at his cellphone. He clicked on the message Renee had sent. It was Maritess' home phone number, but also all of the information in her contact file. Apparently, Renee's phone wasn't smart enough to differentiate which fields to send, and which not to. Markus stared at her address. It wasn't too far away from his home. An evil laugh chuckled out of him as he considered just stopping by to let her know how the date had gone. His lip was throbbing, and he tasted blood when he licked the modest