The car smelled of a Lattafah perfume, sweet and sensual.
Long, slender, fair hands tapped on the GPS and input an address.
The movements were slow as if trying to seduce anyone watching, but she was all alone.
Tapping on the screen a few more times, a sweet melody of City of Stars by Ryan Gosling and Emma stone from La La Land filled the air, mixing perfectly with the already perfumed air.
She felt like a celestial being, existing in her own world.
Her pink lips lifted into a smile, exposing her pearly whites at intervals.
Pulling up in a driveway, the car stopped near the gate of a grey and white building.
Normally, she would drive in, but she didn't want to waste too much time around. She had things to do and apparently, a job to work at.
...
Silence..
The house was silent, a bit too silent. This made Judith slightly uncomfortable.
"Isn't she here?" She thought to herself.
"Is she avoiding me? Did she find out?"
"How may I help you?" A man dressed in a white and black dress shirt asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Oh yes....umm .... Where is Milan?" She asked in a worried tone.
She had mastered the art of pretense as she had done it for years.
The butler on the other hand was confused.
Weren't they best friends? Why was she asking him this? Did they fall out?
He didn't know and he understood that he would most likely not get to know.
He knew his loyalty laid with his madam and this lady was just an extra.
"She went out and didn't say where she was going" he answered simply.
"You're sure she didn't mention anything?" She asked.
He nodded and she nodded in response.
She turned around and walked out of the house.
"Did she find out??...Oh well, at least I don't have to pretend to care today. Yay free day" she smiled at her thoughts and happily strutted to her car.
.....
Milan didn't know how to feel so she placed her feelings aside and decided to unwrap them little by little when she could handle it.
The one she couldn't shake was the feeling of betrayal.
She was already tired of asking herself why her so-called best friend would intentionally set her up for trauma.
She knew that she couldn't keep it all in and had to confront Judith at some point.
She didn't know when the timing would be and she didn't know when she'd have the mental energy to go through with it.
*Beep beep beep*
Her phone sounded, indicating that she had received a notification.
She opened it and it was from her "bestest" friend in the whole wide world.
It read: "I dropped by your place, but you weren't in. Where are you? Are you avoiding me? Did I do something wrong? Please reply x"
"X"?? She dropped a kiss? Oh wow!
Milan was reminded of the Bible stories she heard when she used to attend Sunday school as a child.
Judas Iscariot literally betrayed Jesus and kissed Him to complete the betrayal.
The difference between the two situations was that Jesus expected the betrayal to happen.
Milan was still recovering from the assault and now also the shock of her best friend planning it out with her evil cousin.
As Milan kept re-reading the message, her anger grew by the second. The audacity this bitch had to pretend to her face for God knows how long.
Her blood was boiling at this point and she tapped on the Reply box and began to type on the virtual keyboard.
"Let's meet at the Arcade"
Then she turned it off.
She sighed knowing she would have to talk about it today.
She eliminated all feelings of sadness and wore her anger like a robe.
She allowed it envelope her as It was the only way she could stop herself from crying again.
Grabbing her purse, she headed for the arcade.
....
Milan arrived at the Arcade and saw Judith dressed like a Hollywood actress, looking out of place in the environment.
She took her sweet time coming to the arcade because she needed to take a walk as well as eat something savoury so she stopped to have some salty bread.
"You're here" Judith beamed at her.
Milan wondered how she never noticed that her friend was her enemy.
She stared at Judith and understood why instantly.
It was the smile, the care she showed.
If Milan was naive, she would question if she heard Judith right about the assault, but she had gone past that already.
She could tell it was a facade now.
"How have you been? It's been a while and you've not been talking to me" Judith said with a worried Expression.
There was no response from Milan.
"What's wrong?" Judith enquired.
"...."
"Mila-" she began when she was cut off.
"Why?" Milan finally spoke.
"Why what?" Judith asked.
Her palms became sweaty, she was nervous that Milan had found out.
"Why did you do it?" Milan asked again.
"I don't uhh understand" Judith's heart was beating fast.
"Did you ever consider us friends?" Milan asked this time.
"What are you saying? We ARE friends, best friends" Judith said annoying Milan more.
"Okay..... We ARE friends" Milan nodded and Judith sighed in relief that she was done with her questioning.
Judith was about to turn around and lead the way to where they would sit when Milan spoke.
"That's weird though...
It's weird that my BEST FRIEND would connive with my bastard cousin to arrange for me to be sexually assaulted".
Judith paused, all sensation leaving her body.
WHAT THE FUCK???!