No Strings Attached

Chapter Two

Looking back, she should've seen the signs. She just didn't pay attention to them. She should've took notice of every little thing but like the over trusting girlfriend she was, she let every gesture fly over her head.
 
 She decided to voice her thoughts to Mya a couple of weeks later when she showed up at her work to take Alex to lunch. "Why aren't you eating?" Mya questioned as she dug into her sub, watching as Alex idly fingered her salad. "Better yet, why did you order the salad anyway? That's not even food, that's like-." Alex gasped, cutting off the rest of Mya's sentence. "What? What is it?"
 
 "6 months ago, June at Mrs Moore's BBQ little shindig thing, I-... Oh, my God! I thought nothing of it but I should have been watching more carefully. His hand was-." She ripped off her chic glasses and slammed them down onto the table.
 
 "His hand was what? Alex, what the hell did you see?"
 
 "At Mrs Moore's BBQ, you remember the one? When Alexis showed up wearing the exact same dress as me, right? I mean you remember why I wore that dress in the first place." She spoke, finally taking a bite of her food.
 
 "Yeah, because you thought that Jonathan was acting weird so you wanted to make sure everything was still okay between you. Now what did you see?!"
 
 "I went out to go and grab some more beers for the guys when I walked in on those two hugging, I stayed quiet and they obviously didn't hear me because that hug lasted a bit way too long. That's when I saw his hand go down to her ass and do this cupping thing he only does with me. I cleared my throat and they pulled apart, instantly reassuring me that it was just a hug. Nothing more. Alex anticipated Mya's reply but was shocked when all she got was laughter.
 
"I'm sorry. I'm still tryna imagine him grabbing her ass... All that bone." She fell into hysterics and Alex couldn't help but joining in.
 
?"You know, Jonathan called me yesterday." Alex spoke, finally eating her salad. When Mya's eyebrow rose in question, she continued. "He called just to apologise again and ask whether we could still be friends because he didn't want any awkward situations between all of us," she chuckled bitterly, "Perfect timing considering my mom's 55th birthday party is fast approaching."
 
Just as Mya's mouth opened to reply, Alex cut her off. "How could I not have seen that he's just like the rest? I guess I was blinded by love."
 
"Take it into-."
 
"All men are dogs, period. I hope Alexis has her fun because if he can cheat on me what's stopping him from cheating on her? Nothing, that's what." She put her fork back down.
 
"Chile, please. You're only sa-."
 
"You know what, I ain’t even mad. He's done me a favour cos now I can see who he really is. And who he really is is a downright dirty, cheating liar!" By now, Alex's voice had grown louder and the pair had drawn in an audience. "I wasted 5 years on my life on that man! Cleaning, cooking and LOVING him! Those are five years that I will NEVER get back! Wasted. On him!" She finally looked up at Mya. "Are you just gonna sit there eating, or are you gonna say something that agrees with my statements?"
 
Mya sighed and took another bite. "Honey, I've already told you, the only reason why you're acting this way is because you still love him." She'd already explained this and was now awaiting the moment Alex would break down and get all of her emotions out. "No human being gets out of a loving five year relationship and doesn't still have any feelings for the other. Look at it this way, now you can explore in all the stuff you've been missing since you two got together."
 
"You're right. I mean, I'm a young, attractive woman! Thank you Jonathan, because now I realise that..." Her face crumpled up, "that I'm gonna end up alone forever!" Her best friend bursting into tears was not how Mya expected lunch to go. Alex stood, wiping furiously at her eyes. "Wow, is that the time? Ah, I have to get back to work."
 
Mya shook her head because she didn't approve of her going back to work. Lately, Alex had been throwing herself fully and completely into her job at the popular advertising company 'McKinley&Co', working 13 hour shifts on most days. The dark lines under her eyes were her tell-tale signs that she was stressed... That and her lack of appetite, weight loss and constant mood swings. "Take the rest of the day off."
 
Alex stopped her movement and whipped her head round to stare at Mya as if she had just insulted her. "And fall behind on the Crunchy Pops project? Hell no. I still have to do the budget report and-."
 
"Haven't you already done that?"
 
Alex shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing wrong with going over it. Call me later."
 
Mya watched as her friend walked out of the restaurant. There was a noticeable difference in her new walk. Before, she used to be confident and she would always stride into the building but now? Now she walked as if she was sorry for ever being born. What used to be long strides were now short steps. Mya was brought out of her thoughts by the vibrating of her cell.
 
It was one of her close friends. She browsed over the message and suddenly, she got an idea.
 
She knew exactly what to do to de-stress her friend.