"We're dating now."
The words rang in Aubrey's ears. Only then did it register to her that the pair were actually naked in bed together.
"Oh…" Aubrey said dumbly. "Congrats."
She added before she turned around, placed the groceries on the countertop and wordlessly exited Beverly's apartment.
"Wait… Bree!" Beverly called out from behind her but Aubrey did not turn back.
'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.' She thought to herself. Why didn't she text Beverly before coming over? If she did, then she wouldn't have to see that. Aubrey felt a pang in her chest.
Beverly with Ricky.
Her first love of over 10 years ended just like that.
He never even knew how she felt.
Aubrey sobbed. If she had acted earlier. If she had confessed, would things have been different? No. It probably wouldn't, seeing as Ricky had fallen for Beverly. Beautiful, rich, and smart Beverly. Why would he even spare Aubrey a glance when Beverly was by his side?
How long has this been going on anyways? A month ago Beverly had been seeing a guy named Chad. Was this why the two have been disappearing so often lately? And the classes! It all made sense now that they would have 2 classes together despite being engineering and international business majors. The woman gazed up at the dark night sky and laughed bitterly.
Aubrey mulled over these thoughts through her tears. She never stood a chance. She must have looked like a fool walking in on them like that. Aubrey thought of all the times Beverly had asked her what her type was and she wondered whether she should have told her friend the truth. If she did, maybe things would be different. She had been so afraid of losing Ricky's friendship that she never made a move or tried to change the status quo; however, Beverly was different. Beverly was brave. She was fearless. She goes after what she wants, damned all the consequences.
At that moment, Aubrey was envious of her best friend. Beverly seems to always get what she wants.
Aubrey didn't know if Beverly had bothered to think about the consequences to the trio's friendship should that romantic relationship fall apart. Once they break up… would she have a chance then? This thought suddenly popped up in her mind and Aubrey felt horrible. She was already looking forward to the pair's breakup. She knew that Beverly was a serial dater. She's never dated someone longer than three months. Does this mean that Aubrey can expect them to break up by then?
'What will happen to Ricky? Poor Ricky.'
No. It's not for certain that they will break up. Ricky breaking up with Beverly didn't mean that he would date Aubrey. And she shouldn't wish for such a thing if she was truly their friend.
Aubrey knew she needed to apologize. Tomorrow. Yeah it should be fine tomorrow. For now, she needed time to organize her thoughts.
Aubrey shook her head and looked at her surroundings. It took her a while to realize where she was. She had basically walked herself home in that sorry state. Aubrey quickly wiped her tears dry and took a quick glance at her appearance on her phone camera. She looked like a mess and not to mention she was hungry as heck.
Since she didn't want her nana to worry about her, Aubrey decided to turn around and find someplace to eat dinner. She ended up in a Chinese restaurant a few blocks from her house. Thankfully the place was busy so nobody paid attention to Aubrey who very obviously looked like she'd just been crying.
After a filling meal of orange chicken, fried rice, and hot and sour soup, Aubrey was able to calm herself down.
In fact, her situation now was not that bad. Yes, walking in on the pair as they were doing the deed was embarrassing but at least they had not been aware that Aubrey liked Ricky. Things would be much worse if that were the case. She didn't know how they could continue to be friends if things got complicated by her feelings. Aubrey was certain that both Ricky and Beverly would become awkward around her and she could almost see their pitying gazes in her mind.
'Yes, They should never know about this.'
......
"Oh my gosh! Bree! I'm so sorry you had to see that." A fully dressed Beverly gushed beside an unusually solemn looking Ricky as they met up for coffee the next day.
"Yeah. We wanted to tell you. But we were looking for the right timing." Ricky chimed in. Beverly beamed at her new beau and intertwined her fingers with his. She looked beautiful, like a woman in love.
Aubrey winced. Beverly has always been very public about her relationships. It crushed Aubrey inside to see how quickly Beverly and Ricky were progressing knowing she can't truly be happy for them.
"When did this start? I thought you were seeing that Chad-something a month ago." Aubrey asked, trying to keep her voice level.
Beverly scrunched up her beautiful face before she responded. "Ugh that man was a complete douche. I don't know what I ever saw in him."
"They broke up three months ago." Ricky quietly interjected. "We started seeing each other around that time. Bev, just kept mum about things since we didn't want to make our relationship public before we were sure."
"My baby was so patient with everything." Beverly cooed before giving Ricky a kiss on the cheek. "He had to listen to all sorts of rumors about me and Chad while we dated on a downlow."
"How did you guys… I mean how did you two come to?"
"How did we realize we liked each other?" Beverly piped up after a sip of her frappuccino. Her upbeat and jovial tone matched the cozy cafe's surroundings.
Aubrey saw several patrons glance admiringly at Beverly. At that moment, She didn't know how to feel. Beverly seemed to be able to get everything so easily. Money, good grades, people's attention, Ricky…
Ricky gave Beverly a doting smile.
Seeing this, Aubrey's chest tightened.
Jealousy is a bitch.
"Yeah." Aubrey nodded.
Beverly, who remained oblivious to Aubrey's conflicted emotions, nudged Ricky.
"I've liked Bev since the beginning." The man admitted honestly.
"Since… the beginning?" Aubrey's voice broke, she hid her expression by taking a sip of her hot cocoa.
He nodded. "Yeah since we were young."
Beverly leaned over to Aubrey as if she were telling her a secret.
"And this fool didn't confess to me until I broke up with Chad." Her friend giggled as she reminisced about that time. "Took you long enough." Beverly added.
"I'm glad I finally did." said Ricky, his eyes were solely set on the lovely woman beside him.
Aubrey gazed at the happy couple and swallowed a lump in her throat.
She just experienced her first heartbreak.