I know what that bitch wants to do-she just wants to drive a wedge between Henry and me by making him believe I want to abort our child. I acknowledge that she has changed, and I know she’s not the same girl I loved in high school, not even close to being my best friend. But I never thought she would stoop to this… She went too far, and maybe I’ll do the same tonight. My body seethes with anger, rage.
She put those damn pills to back up her lies, and now I’m ready to rip a couple of strands from that miserable, sick head of hers. I enter the house again, grab a coat, close the door, hating to leave Jeremy, but I won’t endure this-I won’t.
“Stay here with Jeremy,” I tell him, putting on the coat slower than I should. I don’t lift my eyes to meet his because even though someone has implanted thoughts against me in his head, he, nevertheless, didn’t trust me and preferred to believe something that would direct his anger at someone, whether it was me or not.
“No, Anna, what are you doing?” He grabs my wrist, preventing me from taking a step farther away from him and the house. I barely touch him, forcibly freeing myself from his interference.
“Just stay,” I tell him as I turn around to go to Demetria’s house.
“I won’t let you go alone to where I think you’re heading.”
“I’m going, you’re not my father.”
“No, but I’m your fiance.”
Now he cares? When I was in the hospital, he was a cascade of shouts and displeasure. Now I’m his fiancee-how quickly things change, right? I completely ignore what he said because I’m only going to fight with one person at a time.
Henry stayed by my side after I took several steps to distance myself from the house completely. I looked at him inquisitively, questioning why the hell he’s not with Jeremy right now.
“He’s asleep, and I’m not leaving you alone. I don’t know what she can do, and I don’t know what you might do-right now, I’m capable of biting your neck.”
When we arrived at Demetria’s house, no one was there. Was she out partying? It’s not the weekend, and I hated sleeping at other men’s houses… On a miraculous whim, I walked a bit further until I reached the house where I lived less than a month ago. The living room window was uncovered, and I could see almost completely burned-out candles on the table. It seemed strange to me because the entrance light was on-why the candles?
With a fixed idea in my mind, I hurried to the entrance and opened the door. It was obviously open; Dave never closed it. I could hear moans from the room, and everything fell into place even before entering the room. It made sense why Demetria had been acting like a bitch with me since I returned from England.
I entered the room I shared with Dave, and what I saw again left me in a daze, with questions I thought were all answered and settled. Everything I thought I knew a few seconds ago was wrong. Everything was wrong.
“Damn it,” I whispered more to myself than to the two people who froze upon hearing my voice. She got off him, and Dave grabbed his pants instantly. I didn’t look at Henry because he would probably be even more bewildered than I was. I can’t believe what’s happening, not from her.
“Anna, I’m sorry! Please forgive me!” she began to shout with teary eyes… Alison.
I couldn’t say a word; I couldn’t… What is this? What is happening? I’m waiting for all of this to be a hidden camera prank, but I know it’s not. Did Alison want to unite me with Henry to be with Dave? Did Dave manipulate her into this? Did he drug her? Is she drunk? None of my possibilities fit with Alison being the one to blame for this.
“Ann, it’s not what it looks like!” the jerk shouted from the bed. He began to approach me, but Henry clearly stepped in, and if he took one more step, he would probably end up with a punch in the face.
Alison tried to touch my shoulder, but I moved away. “You were my friend…”
“I am your friend, Ann. I’m your friend. I just… Ann, let me explain things properly, please.” Tears began to run down her cheeks, and I felt an ache in my chest. I thought about everything, every detail of our friendship, and never, not for a moment, did she give me an inkling of what I’m seeing today. It feels like an illusion.
“For how long?” I asked her with barely a whisper. She didn’t answer but just cried. At this point, I don’t know if she’s pretending or genuinely feeling it. “For how long?”
Her face contorted, and she looked at me, her cheeks were red, and her whole body was covered by a simple, thin white sheet. “There were… there were a couple of kisses and touches since the second year I came to visit here, and this only happened since you’ve been with Henry. Nothing happened before, I swear.”
“No, no. You were just making out with my fiance, nothing happened,” I said sarcastically. She covered her mouth to stifle a sob. Only one tear fell from my cheek; I had to hold back from having a sea of them. “Okay, Alison, nothing surprises me anymore from anyone.”
“Listen to me, please, I beg you. I never wanted this to happen.”
“I don’t care about what happened now because you have the right to do whatever you want with him since we’re nothing. But this started before I had Henry, I was with him as his fiancee, and you… Acting like nothing. As if you weren’t betraying me.”
Though she might not have loved him, she didn’t know. Perhaps she loved Dave as much as I loved Henry, and yet she continued with her little game. Out of all the damn people, it had to be her betraying me when she was practically my sister. My mother, Demetria, Dave… No one to trust. She was the only one, and she sank the lowest.
“Anna, I love him,” she says amid her pitiful whimpers. I genuinely felt bad for her. I believe her; she loves him. But that doesn’t excuse what she did with my fiance behind my back, throwing a dagger at me.
“Well, I don’t love you,” Dave spits, and I slapped him as soon as he approached. I still have some respect for Alison, and I can’t stand to see such a detestable human being denigrate her like that, even though she did something that shattered me.
He looked at me with wide eyes, and Henry took hold of my arm, pulling me away and positioning me behind him in case Dave reacted.
“Anna, don’t listen to her. It was just a mistake, nothing more than that…” he begins to say, and I want to pounce on him like a wild beast. He had been deceiving me all these damn years, and I didn’t realize it. We were about to get married, and I had him on a damn pedestal. I’m aware that I did something worse, but all of this was before Henry. It was before I knew I still loved him and realized that what I felt for Dave was much less than love.
“Both of you, shut up… Look who you were screwing over our friendship for. I don’t care about what you might have done today, Alison. I care that while I was telling you that I loved him, while you accompanied me to every wedding arrangement, you were playing with him… I can’t believe it.”