Chapter 4
Elena – Present Day
IPOKE AROUND AT THE FRUIT ON MY PLATE; I HAVEN’T EVEN TOUCHED THE pancakes yet. I place the fork down and take a sip of the orange juice Evie gave me. I feel so much better after the pills she gave me but I don’t have much of an appetite.
“So, you’re not going to eat this delicious breakfast I made for you?” Evie is looking at me with a fierce stare.
“I’m not really hungry.”
“Hun, you’ve got to eat something to keep your strength up.
” I nod at her and take a bite of my pancakes.
“Our flight leaves in a couple of hours; do you still want to go? It’s okay if you don’t, it’s not a major event and considering how everything turned all kinds of fucked up, I really wouldn’t mind.
We could hang out here at my place, make it fun like roomies? ”
I laugh at her, genuinely laugh. “Roomies? Really? What are we, college students?”
“Come on Ellie, think about it, it could be fun. We hardly have time to hang out because you were always with that dumb fuck. Now he’s out of the way, we could catch up on girl time.” She looks at me again, a question in her eyes. “You are leaving him, right?”
I take a deep breath and let it out in a huff, blowing my bangs out of my face. “Yes, Evie. I could never trust him again. Whatever we had, it’s gone, it’s tainted now. I could never accept cheating; it’s a hard line for me.”
“Good. You deserve so much better anyway; I’ve always told you that, never liked the smug fuck. He always had you on the back burner like those damn games meant more to him than you.”
“You’re right, I know that. I’m actually not sure we would have reached our wedding day even without Heathers interference.
Looking back now, there were so many things I ignored, the lack of attention, the lack of concern.
He’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong but I think we lost our fire.
I’m hurt, I’m angry but I don’t want him to know that I know – not yet.
So, we are going to Chicago and we are going to have the time of our lives. Fuck Matt!”
“Yeah! Fuck Matt!” Evie happily cheers. I know she’s never liked Matt and he’s never liked Evie. He said she was a bad influence. I roll my eyes at the thought.
“Fuck Heather too!” Evie snorts as I hold up my orange juice and shout out cusses at Heathers expense.
We’re giggling like high school girls when Evie’s expression suddenly turns serious and I look at her questioningly.
“Oh my God Evie what’s wrong?” She clears her throat as if unsure if she should reveal what’s on her mind but she eventually relents.
“Uhm, now that you and Matt are done, there’s something I need to tell you.” Oh, holy shit buckets what could it possibly be?
“Uhm, okay, go ahead, you know you can tell me anything.”
“You promise not to get angry?” She looks genuinely concerned as the question slips out.
I’m feeling nauseous again, my stomach is battling to keep its contents contained as a feeling of dread washes over me.
Evie leans forward, cupping her hand to the side of her mouth so that no-one else can hear, strange, considering we’re alone. I brace myself as she starts to speak.
“Ellie, that ring -”
“My engagement ring? What about it?” I look down at the ring on my finger and my eyes open wide with terror.
“Oh my God, did he steal it?”
“No, it’s just that, uhm you know it’s…. It’s fucking ugly okay. There I said it. That is the most hideous looking ring I’ve ever seen in my life and I could never understand how he could think that that monstrosity would suit you.”
I blink at her brutal honesty and glance down at the ring on my finger again. When I look up at Evie, her expression is one of remorse and regret.
“Ellie, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said…” She stops mid-sentence and looks at me confused. I’m keeling over in a fit of giggles. My tummy hurts from the force of my laughter and my eyes are tearing. Evie is completely dumbstruck, clearly not the reaction she expected from me.
“I know right? What was he thinking?” I look at the ring again and once more I burst out into laughter, this time a relieved Evie joins in. We both manage to calm down enough to wipe away the tears from our faces and hug each other.
“Thanks Evie, I needed that.”
“Don’t thank me, for a moment there I was worried. The look on your face, shit, I thought I’d broken your heart all over again.”
“Nah, it’s all good, I actually only realised yesterday how truly awful it is. I think I just wanted to like it because of what it represented. Well, what it represented at the time anyway.” With that, I take the ring off and put it in my purse, feeling a sense of freedom at having done so.
Chicago, here we come.