The Inevitable |

chapter 1

Fiercely, I wiped my teary eyes with the back of my hand, the hand that wasn't busy lugging a suitcase. Searching for somewhere to sit, I settled on a wooden bench that had paint peeling off, revealing the rotting brown interior.

Normal life continued with cars driving past, people walking, shops still running but for me, time had stopped and everything had changed. Even thinking of what happened brought a fresh wave of tears and my nose began to run. I was too unstable to even care about what I looked like and I could feel people staring. I knew I looked like an absolute crazy woman but honestly, my appearance was something trivial in huge matters. Fumbling in my bag for a tissue, I failed in my search and with frustration, I tipped it upside down only to have all my bag content fall out.

"Fuck! " I cursed, getting down on my hands and knees.

My lipstick, my favourite lipstick, tumbled down the pavement and towards the drain and my heart almost stopped, but it didn't because the lipstick rolled to a stop as it bumped against a shoe, someone's shoe.

"Aria? Aria! "

I instantly recognized the voice and I froze.

The voice neared and I stared the person in the face. Rick.

Face set in a furious expression, I flinched deliberately as he put his arms around me and I knew it hurt him. He deserved every bit of it.

"Aria, come back... I can explain. Please, look at you! You're a mess." he gently took my bag and picked up all the scattered, placing it in. "Okay, come on."

I stood still and folded my arms, face still set in a furious expression.

He glanced at me and sighed. "Forget it, it was nothing okay?"

And God, I wanted to murder him right there and then. He was saying that screwing my best friend is okay? That was disgustingly wrong on so many levels.

So you must be dying to know what happened? Me and Rick have dated for 2 years. We live in a shared house with two other roommates, one of whom is gay and one who has become my best friend. The gay one is called Sam and my best friend is called Rachel. So, I work at Rick's company, and it's a family business for him. They focus on marketing and advertising and growing companies can hire us to create advertisements on television, on Instagram, on web pages and we also book interviews on shows such as BusinessDaily and popular shows such as The Helen Show. The firm is called Showroom Logic and I work as an assistant, a receptionist but I also research the important facts behind marketing strategies and their effectiveness that my colleagues take on board to the meetings with people of higher positions within the job. I was offered a promotion but I declined because I don't really like this job, in fact, the only reason I am still here is because it would hurt Rick feelings. But, hey, I don't care anymore do I?

 Anyway, continuing with the story, me, Rick, Sam and Rachel all became really close and lived together like best friends. Today was Rick's day off because he had a meeting to attend in London but it was postponed last minute and Rick didn't need to come in but I still did because I had to cover for the receptionist who was off sick. Then I was done for the day and I finished earlier than normal so I came home early with a bag of glazed, chocolate doughnuts and fresh coffee (I had a mocha topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, Rick had a cappuccino, Sam and Rachel both had caramel lattes).

To surprise them, I entered discreetly and tip-toed into the house, searching all the rooms downstairs but no one was there. Then I heard a giggle and thuds so I silently climbed the stairs and stood in front of my room then realized that Rachel had a guy in her room. Awkwardly, I didn't know whether to give the doughnuts or not but then I figured she was probably having a lot better than these doughnuts so I went into my room. I froze in my tracks, because I heard Rick's voice, I heard the low undertones that no one else seemed to have, so I went to his room and it was empty. I have no idea why but at the time it felt like a good idea to ask Rachel where Rick was since he hadn't told me and I entered the room without knocking, because God knows how many times Rachel has walked in on me and Rick. To my absolute horror, I found Rachel and Rick naked devouring each other. I took a step back and they both looked at me and I saw the hunger and wildness fade from their eyes into realization and sudden guilt, shame. I remember the tears I shed whilst seeing them, and Rick looked down and smiled then looked up and frowned. He gently got off Rachel and covered her with the blanket whilst he dressed.