I'd been dismissed. It was Valentine's Evening. It had happened to me before, several times. The first time I had felt devastated. I felt a slow anger rising.
Tonight is too perfect to throw away.
There are enough restaurants in this area, I knew I'd find another one quickly, maybe a quieter one. As I walked along, a little faster now, I told myself I would never go back there. I remembered going into almost vacant restaurants other times where I'd been led to an undesirable table, near the kitchen. I would gesture towards a better location and say I wanted to sit there. They usually moved me, but if they wouldn't, I'd leave and go elsewhere.