I had imagined a brighter start for my comeback era. But so much for that.
Not only do I feel like shit, I also look like shit. I should've known after all that I'd done last night.
Thank God it's Sunday. A weekday would've been mortifying, for I might have ended up getting married looking like a wronged goldfish.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I hesitate whether to call on Rina. If she shows up with me looking like this, she may end up calling the police for domestic violence.
But then, if I don't tell her now and she finds out that Lucian's assistant found out before her, then there would really be domestic violence.
Ugh. I ended up calling anyway.
The line rang for a while before I heard a clearly sleeping voice, "Eli, it's seven in the morning. Is someone dying?"
"Ri. It's worse. I'm getting married." I just went out with it; maybe she'll mistake it for a dream.
Silence-
I couldn't help but ask her, "Ri? You there?"
"Eliana, you shut the fuck up right now. Don't you dare move! I'm coming over." and then she hung up the line.
Uhhh, what are the chances that she's not mad?
I was an obedient goldfish who stayed in bed as told. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for a woman in her fuzzy pajamas, complete with an eye mask, to barrel through my door.
"You! Explain!" She immediately accused, and as the guilty party, I acquiesced.
"Oh, by the way, I didn't get to say it. I'm marrying Lucian."
Rina looked like she needed to brace herself as if hit by a personal earthquake.
"Girl! Are you being threatened? What kind of dirt does he have on you!?"
Probably deciding that this would take a long time, she flopped onto the bed, and then I began re-telling yesterday's crisis.
With the way her head was bobbing, she looked like a confused chicken, but I'd rather keep that thought to myself.
"So you're telling me that you got a boyfriend and a fiance in a day?"
I nodded before adding. "Had the Bureau been open yesterday, I would've gotten a husband too."
"I get how he swayed the adults. Frankly, he was born a negotiator, but how did he convince you?"
"Chester." Pursing my lips at the memory.
"Oh God, no wonder you're fucked." she exclaimed with both her hands clutching at her face.
Pouting at her while slumping back onto the bed, I ended up telling her, "We're getting the certificate come Tuesday morning."
"Bitch, are you pregnant? Did he also manage that in a day?!" Rina screeches, suddenly hooking my arm while looking me up and down.
I roll my eyes at her, snorting at how that's even possible.
"I had the security camera footage for yesterday taken because I figured you'd want to see everything for yourself."
"You bet your ass. But Eli, why do you look like that? Did you get bullied? This little gossiper managed to actually think about me.
"Tended to past grievances, Lucian did not mince words."
Scooting a bit to look at my best friend's scrunched-up face, I asked her, "Remember how angry you were when I pulled the plug on your revenge plan?"
With a very sour face, Rina looked like she was remembering something distasteful. "Even now, I still don't understand. Normally, you'd have ruined them already, but it's been a whole six months, and those cheating and conniving snakes are still raring to go."
"Because I'm pretty sure I partially blamed myself for it. So, like an ostrich, I just wanted to bury my head or sweep it under the rug. Because the moment I do something, I'd have to acknowledge my mistake too." I confessed.
"But now I realized that my mistake was letting them go that easy. So now they're terrorizing more people."
Gazing at me gently, she patted the bed, "At least now you're actually able to talk about it. You walked around looking like nothing happened but flinched every time I brought them up."
"Who wouldn't? At that time, I kept on remembering Jasper's claim that it was because I was too frigid and had never allowed him to get any action."
Rina blanched at remembering how the Orwells tried standing on that ground, blaming Eli for not doing her part, forcing Jasper to seek "comfort" elsewhere.
If her eyebrows could go any higher, they'd be flying now. "Are you telling me that you actually believed that?"
"Of course not; I haven't gone that unhinged, you know? But I did think that maybe something was up. He went all out trying to seduce me, and it wasn't like I shied away from it. I've never been big on virginity after all, but nothing!"
Suddenly laughing at my statement, Rina added, "Remember when you said he kissed like a janitor fish? I thought you were exaggerating, but it seemed like he was really that bad."
Jasper tried making advancements, especially during the anniversary of our flimsy engagement. Nothing worked; it felt like going through the motions, and that was only making out.
It was after realizing that intimacy with him wasn't going to work out that I started subconsciously ignoring signs of cheating. They weren't as great as they thought in keeping it under wraps. I just didn't bother to call them out until I had no choice.
My bad.
"Hmm. So are you concerned that the same thing would happen this time?"
"Not really. Though I did threaten Lucian Jr. to stay in his pants just for good measure."
"Eli, I'm not saying this because he's my cousin, and frankly, talking about this is already my limit, but Lucian's saving grace has always been his appearance. After having such people near us for most of our life, our eyes have gotten used to it." Rina expressed her woes.
"What a stellar evaluation of your own cousin!" I joked.
"Haaa! But you gotta admit when he left to study abroad, the view suddenly worsened. Maybe Jasper could've compared to Lucian's face if you had actually loved him. Because then you'd be seeing him differently. But without actual affection? He'd be lucky to compare to his foot."
"Wouldn't be too bad. Lucian's foot is at least capable of getting endorsements."
"And so what if you're actually frigid? With Lucian's personality and disdain for anyone else but Chester, he must be a walking ice cap. So you two can just compete it out. At least the view won't be too bad while you're at it."
She's right. The view wouldn't be too bad, provided he keeps his mouth shut.
"If anything, we'd be relatives! So, I will swallow all my grievances first before you end up jilting your appointment. I need to be your relative, you know?" Rina said with a shit-eating grin.
So I threw a pillow onto her face. "So much for our friendship!" I laughed and continued to attack her.