"So do you like your birthday present?"
That male voice was too familiar for Samira's comfort. But it could be someone else, right? There was no way it was him, right? Right?
"Oh no, you are not getting away with just this," Chloe's voice floated mixed with her soft giggles. "I want you for all of my birthday. Cancel whatever you have today. Today is my day and so are you."
"I'm always yours, Sweetheart," said the guy and probably did something that brought more giggling and squealing out of Chloe. "But Dad asked me to have dinner with him and Mom today, and you know I can't cancel it."
Samira was still standing in the doorway of her best friend's apartment completely rigid. Not a single muscle of her body was ready to move, her brain just didn't seem to comprehend or maybe she didn't want to believe that it was his voice.
"Not even for me?" Chloe complained. "It's my birthday, Nate."
Nate. Short for Nathan.
Samira's feet slowly led her toward Chloe's bedroom. The door wasn't exactly closed as there were many pieces of clothes on the floor. Samira glanced at the clothes and shoes even though she didn't want to, she just wanted to delay the moment she actually had to look into the room. She wanted to believe that this "Nate" was a completely different guy.
"Stay for me, please . . ." Chloe's voice dragged as Samira hesitated at the bedroom door.
Finally, she gathered her courage and peaked inside the bedroom. That was how her world started to crumble.
Samira's best friend Chloe was on her bed with Nathan Davenport, Samira's fiance. They were not only naked but the way Nathan was kissing Chloe, there wasn't much room for misunderstanding. Samira felt like someone had doused her in ice-cold water.
"You know I want nothing more than to stay right here with you. I have many interesting things to do with you than in that boring family dinner," Nathan muttered kissing Chloe's neck and again she giggled.
"Then why don't we do those things?" Chloe trailed her French nail tips over Nathan's chest.
"If I do then I have to make excuses and ask for her help," Nathan mumbled shivering at Chloe's touch. "You know you wouldn't like that."
"Ugh, why do you have to mention her on our day," Chloe pouted. "Even her thoughts drive all good feelings away from me."
"I know," Nathan laughed. "But I would rather have her take the blame for why we couldn't make it to the dinner. My Mom is going to blame her anyway, so what's the point of saying otherwise? I will just text her, make some excuses, and have her call my parents to say she could say it's her fault we couldn't make it. I find it so funny how quickly she believes whatever I say, at this rate, I can even skip our wedding night and spend it with you, without her having any clue."
Nathan laughed out loud as if he said the funniest thing in the world and Samira's eyes burned from holding back tears. But she wasn't the only one, Chloe's perfect face also turned sour at Nathan's words.
"Don't remind me of that," Chloe said coldly. "I can't believe you are still planning to go through that and marry that stupid bi*ch."
"Aww, don't be upset, my sweetheart," Nathan sweetly pulled Chloe closer and spoke wrapping his arms around her. "I have told you multiple times, why I have to go along with this for now. Please don't be upset over her. You know very well I don't to marry her."
As if the scene in front of Samira's eyes wasn't destroying enough, their words clearly showed what they thought of her. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes but she blinked trying hard to not cry. But the birthday cake box slipped from her hands and touched the ground with enough noise to startle Nathan and Chloe.
"Samira?" Nathan jumped away from Chloe as she tried to cover herself with the bed sheet.
Samira felt like she was in some old telenovela or drama series where the guy got caught with another woman because there was no way this was real life, let alone her life.
"What are you doing in my apartment?" Chloe said in a reflex, but as soon as she said it she realized how absurd the question was compared to the situation they were in.
Nathan looked for his clothes and spotted them near Samira, so he just grabbed a towel or something from nearby and wrapped it around his waist.
Samira just watched her fiance and her best friend without saying a word. There were a thousand questions she wanted to ask, a thousand things she wanted to say to both of them but she couldn't, words seemed to be stuck in her throat, while a storm of emotions destroyed everything inside her. Her cheating and lying fiance and best friend stared at her. The two most important people in her life.
"Samira, listen, it's not what – I can explain," Nathan took advantage of Samira's silence and walked towards her. "Just come here and sit down. We can talk."
"Talk?" Samira finally managed to utter in disbelief. There was no way he was trying to explain what she saw. "You wanna explain what, Nathan?"
"You are not in the right head space right now, Samira," Nathan's voice took a patronizing tone as he tried to touch Samira's shoulder but she jerked back.
"Not in the right head space? Of course, I am not in the right head space. What would you have done if you had found me with another guy . . . like this?" Samira screamed gesturing around him and Chloe.
"Calm down!" Nathan shouted. "Or else I'm not talking to you right now. I won't talk to you if you keep acting like a crazy woman."
Samira couldn't believe the audacity of this man. She just found him cheating on her with her best friend, no less, and now he was acting like she was the crazy woman.
"How could you?" Samira asked ignoring his words, and looked at Chloe before repeating her question. "How could YOU? You are like my sister, Chloe. I loved you. I trusted you. I trusted both of you. How could you do this to me?"
"Because you don't deserve him!" Chloe yelled with seething hate in her eyes. "A gold digger and moocher like you never deserved him. That's why."
Samira's outburst suddenly halted and she blinked staring at Chloe, even after everything she couldn't believe that her best friend, someone she loved so dearly was saying those words to her. But the hurt look on Samira's face didn't stop Chloe at all, she kept going,
"What? You thought we didn't know? We didn't know why you wanted to marry in the Davenport family so badly. Why were your parents so eager for the wedding? Oh please, keep that bullsh*t for people who don't know the real you, Samira. We both know the truth."
What truth? What truth was she talking about? The only truth was Samira had loved and cherished Nathan Davenport for all five years they had been together. She had been the perfect girlfriend and fiance by his side for every step of his life. Yes, he was from a big family, which was the reason her parents said yes so quickly to their relationship but Samira had nothing but good intentions for him. She really loved him.
But in that moment as Samira looked at Nathan and Chloe, she realized there was no point explaining herself to them. If they didn't understand her in all these years they had known her, then they were not going to believe her now.
"You have until tonight," Samira spoke with an ultimatum in her voice. "Tell your family the truth about you and Chloe or I will."
It took a moment for Nathan to understand what Samira was saying but as soon as he did, he looked at her in disbelief.
"Of course not, Samira. You are not doing anything like that," Nathan said sweetly as he came close to her. "You know how this will affect my family, you know how my family's reputation could take a hit from this if people find out about it. You won't do that to me. I know you."
Samira's shoulders dropped as she realized how Nathan had been using his sweet and caring tone to manipulate her for years, how she had caved every time thinking about him and his family's well-being, how she had gone along with everything Nathan had asked her to do for years without any questions. And how he still thought he could continue doing it even after she caught him in her best friend's bed. But most importantly she hated the fact that she was actually worrying about how it would affect him and his family's view of him.
Was she always this easy?
"So what do you want me to do? Just pretend like nothing happened?" Samira's voice wavered as she spoke, stepping back further away from him. "You want me to pretend that I did not just see you naked with my best friend? You want me to just forget that I heard you say that you don't want to marry me and how you would rather spend our wedding night with Chloe?"
Nathan's face twisted at Samira's last words but he kept trying to fix the situation.
"Samira you are misinterpreting the situation," Nathan tried to hold Samira's hand but she pulled back.
"Don't! For God's sake, don't!" Samira was trying extremely hard not to cry and break down at that very moment. "Tell our parents the truth tonight."
"You are not telling anyone anything," Nathan's face changed as it finally dawned on him that Samira was serious but he still ordered her as if he had control over what she said or did even now.
"Tonight," Samira glared at Nathan. "Or tomorrow I will and I don't care if you don't like it."
"You b*tch!" Nathan tried to grab Samira's arms but she turned around sharply and marched away. Nathan ran to catch up to her while yelling. "You better not do anything, Samira! I am warning you!"
But Samira didn't stop to listen, she ran out of the apartment, and without waiting for the elevator she directly went to the emergency exit staircase. She stormed down the stairs and the damn finally broke. Tears started to stream down her face and her vision got blurrier and blurrier. She couldn't breathe and she had to stop before she fell down the stairs. Samira wanted to believe all of it was just a big nightmare but it wasn't, it was real, all of it was.
"It's real . . . it's real. It's real," Samira kept muttering clutching her chest. Every word firmer than the previous one, "It's real!"
Samira's arms were still heavy because of all those birthday decorations and gifts for Chloe. She threw them down while sobbing. Chloe's words were still ringing in her ears. Samira wondered where she had gone wrong for this to be happening to her. She always cared about the people around her, especially her loved ones, so how could they do this to her? She went through all of her life choices since she met Chloe and Nathan to find anything that may have upset them or made them hate her. But was there really any reason for them to do this to her?
Was there really any reason for anyone to hurt someone like the way they did?
Samira let her emotions take over completely and cried her eyes out for a few more minutes sitting right there as she was sure Nathan wouldn't come looking for her on the stairs, he hated stairs. But what she didn't know was this was just the beginning of the things that were about to go wrong.
[To be continued]