Riot time in Paris // Billie Eilish G!P

twenty-two

“She’s gone?” Alain frowned as he put the espresso on the bar in front of Kai. “But I thought she had another couple of weeks left?”

“Job interview,” Kai said. She felt hollow and full of regret. It was unlike her to behave in such an emotional manner and she was angry with herself for doing so. She always knew she was going to be hurt, she’d seen it coming from miles away. And still, she’d opened up her heart to Billie, let her in. But that wasn’t Billie fault, and she didn’t deserve to be treated the way Kai had treated her.

“I’ve been so stupid,” she said, knocking back her expresso. “I should have said goodbye. I don’t know why I walked away. I guess I felt hurt and I thought it would be easier that way.” Alain gestured for one of his servers to take over, walked around the bar and sat down next to her.

“And she’s not coming back?”

“What difference does it make?” Kai scraped her spoon over the bottom of the empty cup. “If she gets the job, she’ll be moving to Singapore. And if she doesn’t get it, she’ll go somewhere else. Either way, it’s not going to be here, Is it?” She sighed. “So it’s best if we don’t see each other again. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“She really got to you, didn’t she?”

Kai kept her gaze fixed on her empty cup. “Yeah, she did.” She turned to Alain, resting her elbow on the bar. “Go on, say it. I got exactly what I deserved for messing with all those other women. Isn’t that what you’re dying to tell me?” There was a silence.

“No.” Alain shook his head. “I don’t think you deserve it. Nobody does.” He sighed. “Samantha is leaving next week, so I know how you feel.”

“Samantha?” Kai studied Alain’s face, but nothing indicated that he was joking. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“We’ve been on a couple of dates since that first one I told you about,” Alain said, with an awkward smile. “She’s nice and funny, and she doesn’t let me get away with any crap. She’s one of those women who says what she thinks, all the time. Do you have any idea how great that is? There’s no ambiguity, no guessing with her. And she’s so beautiful.”

“Wow.” Kai cocked her head.

“Who are you and what have you done to my womanizing friend?”

“I could say the same for you,” Alain bounced back at her. “Magic Kai got tricked.”

Kai gave him a sad smile. “No, I didn’t get tricked. It was real, all right.”

Alain nudged her as he got off his stool. “Then why did you let her go?

-----

Packing up her life was a tedious chore. Although Billie had a team of seven professionals helping her, she still had to go through each item and decide if she wanted to keep it or not. Tristan   had already gone through his stuff, leaving the apartment half-empty. He hadn't taken any of their expensive furniture, apart from his favorite designer chair and the art he’d collected over the years that they’d lived there.

Billie had no idea what to do with everything, so she’d hired a storage unit for three months, until she figured out whether to sell it or relocate it. It was sad, seeing the remnants of a life she’d lived not even that long ago, when she was still unaware of Tristan  infidelity and her own desires that were buried deep down. Wasted time. So much wasted time.

“What do we do with all of this?” one of the movers asked her, pointing to the pots and pans cupboard.”

Billie shrugged. “I only need a couple.” She randomly picked three pans and put them aside. “The rest can go in the charity section. Or keep them for yourself if there’s anything you need. Most of them have never been used.”