Elizabeth Stone had decided to surprise her boyfriend on his birthday. She had made plans for the day and had decided to spend the night over.
They've been dating for 5 years, and he had never disrespected her once nor had he ever asked for sex. He was the perfect boyfriend she could ever ask for; most of her friends had been jealous of her relationship with Andrew Agresta, her boyfriend.
They both worked at the radio station. They had planned to get married that year. She was a religious person and had only planned to give herself to him on their wedding night.
But for him, she wanted to break her beliefs and give herself to him as his birthday present. She bought a sexy two-piece lingerie at the store. Imagining how he would react gave her butterflies; she giggled while skipping as she walked.
On getting to his apartment, she didn't notice the car parked in his garage or the weird looks the neighbors gave her because of her excitement. Opening the door, she saw the mess in the living room.
A lady's shoe was kicked rudely to the other side of the room, and a lady's bag and underwear were thrown in different directions. The weird noises coming from the room were enough evidence of what was going on and what the couples were doing.
Taking slow steps to the master bedroom, she didn't want to believe what she heard; after all, seeing is believing.
Elizabeth's eyes widened as she stood frozen in the doorway, her gaze fixed on the scene unfolding before her. The door, slightly ajar, had afforded her a glimpse of the truth she'd been desperately trying to deny.
As she watched, her anger gave way to a chilling sense of reality, and her heart slowly turned cold.
Elizabeth never expected this to happen; she believed that stuff like this only happened in novels, and that Andrew would never cheat on her. She smirked as she pushed the door harshly, erupting into the moment of the people in the room.
Despite being short-sighted, she could recognize the side view of her best friend, Penelope Garcia. Both of them separated immediately.
Andrew looked shocked at first, but within a few seconds, his face revealed indifference. He didn't care about her feelings since she never considered his own before.
"What are you doing here?" he asked while pulling the covers over himself and Penelope.
Elizabeth's face didn't reveal her true emotions. Instead, she smiled,
"Can't I come to my boyfriend's apartment anymore? Oh, sorry, my fiancé." She questioned sarcastically.
----------------
He wasn't even remorseful, but rather, he asked her what she was doing there. All the time she had been there, Penelope hadn't said a word, making her wonder if she was mute or something.
Slightly turning her head, she stared at Penelope with her ocean-blue eyes.
"I never expected this from you, though." Bowing her head slightly, Penelope smirked, then quickly changed her facial expression to a pained one.
"Lizzy, I didn't mean to do this. I never wanted this to happen. I wanted to tell you when it started, but I didn't know how to."
"I never wanted to destroy your relationship. I kept my feelings to myself because I didn't want to be the reason for your sorrow.
I'm sorry; please forgive me?" she said, crying her eyes out.
"It was all my fault. I knew he was your boyfriend, but I still had feelings for him. Please forgive me, Lizzy."
"I...I never wanted this," she hiccuped.
Elizabeth stayed still and stared at her so-called best friend. They had been friends since kindergarten, while she had met Andrew in college.
They had the longest relationship compared to hers with Andrew. She had thought they understood each other well enough.
"Right now, you look so pitiful, Penelope."
They had clicked the moment they met; even their parents were friends.
After her parents' death, Penelope's parents had asked her to stay with them, but because she didn't want to feel like a burden, she refused and only allowed them to sponsor her education.
Reminiscing about all their memories together, she couldn't understand what had changed in Penelope to make her act like this.
Still lost in thought, she heard Andrew bellowing. She gathered her thoughts and stared at him; pain gripped her heart until she couldn't breathe properly.
"She did nothing wrong; I was the one who went to her. She gave me everything you couldn't offer and more. She helped me build my career, but what can you do? Nothing!" Andrew roared.
"All the time I needed you, where were you? You kept giving excuses and never had time for our relationship.
But Penelope was always there for me, every single time.
"She supported me when you didn't have time." He spat with sarcasm.
"And along the way, I fell in love with her," he said matter-of-factly. "I tried to understand you, not only for myself but for our relationship, but you never understood my needs or our relationship. You were always so busy. Doing what exactly?"
"Maybe you were sleeping with your sugar daddies..."
PAHH! The slap resounded around the room.
The shock was evident on his face.
"HOW DARE YOU?" Andrew shouted.
Penelope cowered in fear; she had never seen Andrew so angry before.
"I see, you now dare to slap me, Elizabeth?"
Still under the sheets, he couldn't stand up to take revenge for the slap; she had never been like this before. After all, they had dated for years.
Andrew heard her say, "That's for disrespecting me and for cheating on me with my best friend."
"I never knew you were like this. All these years, were you actually pretending?"
Elizabeth questioned curiously. "I never pretended," Andrew retorted, breathing angrily.
Thinking she was pretending to be strong so he would apologize. "No matter what you do, I will never love you, Elizabeth Stone."
Elizabeth thought that was all he would say, but he continued. As she was about to step out of the room, she stopped.
Both thought she wanted to say something weird, but instead, she said,
"Happy Birthday, Andrew Agresta, and enjoy the wine."
As she turned to leave, the smile was wiped away from her face. The only thing she felt at that moment was pain, betrayal, and the pain was so intense, flowing from her heart to the rest of her body.
She felt drained and numb; she couldn't feel any other emotion. She couldn't even walk properly.
During the time she spent walking aimlessly for an hour, she eventually arrived at the largest bar in Snow City.
Elizabeth had never been to a bar before; she was usually either at work or at home with Andrew or Penelope.
Her entire life had been spent surrounded by those two, and she had built too many memories with them.
She decided to enter the bar, and as she walked in absentmindedly, she accidentally bumped into someone. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking," she said half-heartedly.
The person only shook his head, wondering what a beautiful lady like her would be thinking to look so disoriented.
After apologizing, she turned to the entrance and went in. She decided to get wasted, preferring to have a one-night stand rather than sleep with that b*****d.
As she stood there, frozen in a mix of disgust and confusion, she couldn't help but wonder;
"What was she lacking?" She thought to herself, unable to understand why he could do something so repulsive, so disgusting, and still manage to feel so nonchalant about it.
His expression, his demeanor, everything about him seemed so calm, so collected, as if he had simply accomplished something mundane, like tying his shoes or making a cup of coffee.
And then, without warning, a memory almost totally forgotten flashed through her mind.
It was a fleeting glimpse of a moment from her past, a moment she had long suppressed, hidden deep beneath the surface of her conscious mind. But now, as she stood there, it came rushing back, vivid and alive, like a whispered secret in her ear.
Elizabeth's mind wandered back to a day that seemed insignificant at the time but now felt like a pivotal moment in her life. It was a memory that was two months old, but it felt like just yesterday.
♤♤♤Flashback ♧♧♧
Two months before, Andrew and Penelope had walked into her office, beaming with excitement.
"Hey, Liz! We have some news to share," Andrew had said, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
Penelope playfully rolled her eyes.
"Andrew's being dramatic, as usual."
Elizabeth laughed, intrigued. "Try me. What's going on?"
Andrew had taken a deep breath.
"Penelope and I... we're going out."
Elizabeth had smiled, feeling a sense of happiness for her friends. "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you both."
At the time, Elizabeth hadn't thought much of it. Andrew, Penelope, and Elizabeth had been inseparable since college. They had shared countless memories, supported each other through thick and thin, and had always been there for one another.
So, when Andrew and Penelope had started dating, Elizabeth saw it as a natural progression of their friendship. She had been happy to see her friends happy, and that was all that mattered.
But now, as Elizabeth's mind replayed that moment, she realized that she had been naive. She had ignored the subtle signs, the whispered secrets, and the furtive glances.
It wasn't until later that night when Andrew had come to her apartment, that Elizabeth stumbled upon a truth she couldn't ignore. As Andrew had hugged her, She had caught a whiff of Penelope's perfume, drowned on Andrew's shirt. And when she had pulled back to look at him, she had seen a faint red lipstick stain on his collar. She rarely wore bold lip colors, so the vibrant lipstick stain on his shirt was unmistakably not from her.
Elizabeth's heart had skipped a beat as she had processed what she was seeing. But she had pushed the feelings aside, telling herself that she was being paranoid, that Andrew would never do anything to hurt her.
And so, Elizabeth had said nothing, pretending that everything was fine. But the seed of doubt had been planted, and it had been growing ever since, festering in the depths of her mind.
Now, as Elizabeth looked back on that moment, she realized that she had been blind to the truth. She had ignored the signs, and she had paid the price for her ignorance.
****** Back at Andrew's apartment ***
He didn't expect her to remain calm; her face was so calm that he felt guilty, but he decided to push the guilt feeling away to the back of his mind.
He was no longer in the mood to do anything. Just as he was about to get up from the bed, he heard Penelope's silent sobs. Then he turned and said, "Don't cry," while wiping her tears away and trying to console her, but it only made her wail louder.
"She would forgive me, right? I never wanted her to know like this. I wanted to tell her myself," she said, bawling her eyes out.
"Don't worry, she will. After she has calmed down, you can go meet her," he said. He was sure she wouldn't even want to see their faces after this.
To him, Penelope was the nicest person; she had been there for him every single time, while Elizabeth had always been busy and whatnot.
He knew penelope valued her friendship with Elizabeth, even though he liked her; he also liked her family, who treated him well.
A sly smile threatened to spill onto her lips as she savored the triumph of manipulating Andrew into falling under her spell. His genuine feelings were of little consequence to her; all that mattered was that she had successfully driven a wedge between him and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth had been sincere about Andrew, trying to be there for him, but Penelope had told her father to increase Elizabeth's workload, pretending to be the good friend while secretly trying to create a rift between them.
It wasn't easy to change Andrew's opinion about Elizabeth, especially after they had been dating for years. But he was gullible enough to believe her, and she used his trust in her as Elizabeth's best friend to get what she wanted.
That night, she continued her act, keeping Andrew wrapped around her fingers.
A few hours after she was sure he had fallen asleep, she quietly left the bed, taking her phone and one of the blankets with her.
Tiptoeing to the door, she opened it gently, ensuring no sound would wake Andrew. In the living room, she shut the door quietly behind her and called her dad, knowing he would still be at the office.
After several rings, the call connected. Making her voice as low as possible, she asked, "Hi Dad, how's work?"
"Hello, my princess. Work is stressful as always, dear. How are you doing?" her dad replied.
"I'm fine, Dad. I did it. I finally separated them; the plan worked. Elizabeth came over today and saw us together; they've finally broken up," she said, smiling.
"That's good, my dear. This calls for celebration," her dad said, looking at the city from the glass door at the top floor of the company.
"But, Dad, Lizzy's expression was weird today; she wasn't angry. Her expression was so calm, it was frightening. And she even seemed happy about the breakup. I got scared because I thought she found out about the plan."
Mr. Garcia frowned, thinking, "This girl doesn't seem to be someone who should be underestimated."
"Okay, dear, don't be scared. Daddy's got your back. Just be careful around her, princess. Make sure you have Andrew wrapped around your finger," he said.
"And also, don't underestimate Elizabeth. She shouldn't be trifled with," he added.
"Okay, then. Take good care of yourself and bring Andrew home this weekend, okay?" he asked.
"Love you,". He said
"Okay, Dad, love you too," she said, giggling like a kid.
After the call disconnected, she tiptoed back into the room, getting under the sheet and making sure Andrew was still sleeping.
She wouldn't be able to explain what she was doing up at that time.
************************
Two hours later, Andrew's eye flew open. all the happenings of earlier that day resurfaced in his mind. It was so difficult to sleep, because sleep was so far away from his eyes at that moment.
He was suspended into a state of emotional limbo, where the sting of loss lingered like an open wound, yet his ego refused to acknowledge the pain. It's as if he was trapped in a dense fog, unable to see the reality of the situation.
The ache of longing and the weight of grief are muffled by a stubborn sense of denial leaving him feeling disoriented and disconnected from his emotions.
His heart felt heavy, yet his mind struggles to accept the truth, like a puzzle with missing pieces that refuse to fit. Time seems to lose meaning, and the present moment became blur.
The tension from the earlier argument made him feel paralysed emotionally, leaving him feeling lost, alone and uncertain about how to move forward.
But still, he decided to shake off the feelings weighing him down and tells himself that he wasn't alone and he had Penelope.
Even after affirming that, he couldn't fill the hole in his heart.