The Game Of Lust

Then They Were Four

“ The next day, I took the umbrella and went to the restaurant, I saw him run out of, he wasn't there, I described him but nobody seemed to know him, everyday after that , I went to the same restaurant, till I finally found him, and he said “Thank you I hope you didn't catch a cold?, ” she chuckled softly.

“So you're dating him cause he gave you an umbrella? ” I asked lifting an eyebrow.

“No you i***t don't you get it, I'm with him cause I love him, what he did was the nicest thing anyone has ever done, people aren't kind these days Gina and he didn't mind getting under the rain for a complete stranger.”

Vivian's story left me without words. That was the kind of fantasy I wanted in my own life. I had no reason to dislike Chris, I just felt odd seeing him earn so much of her attention, perhaps I was jealous of them and what they had, they'd been together for a few months and they acted like they'd known each other their whole lives and some how it bothered me.

How could I be so hateful of her happiness as a best friend, it would be wrong of me.

With Matt it wasn't a fairy tale, he actually saw me in a convenience store buying different kinds of Yogurt , cause I couldn't decide which to buy, he walked up to me and thoroughly explained the difference in all of them and helped me decide which would be best. I kept seeing him day after day , in that same aisle, that was how we met.

She handed me a plate with a dreamy smile on her face, “Have some pasta and stop being stubborn.”

I snatched the plate and shuffled away into the living room and sat on the floor, resting my back against the couch. “How was your day by the way?” she asked, sitting next to me with a bottle of beer in her hand.

“It was alright, ” I didn't add the part were I was stuck in the elevator with Cole and it turned into a steamy love affair.

“Does your boss still bother you? ”

“Not … since I resumed. ”

“Well if he ever tries something funny, you let me know so I can deal with him ok? ”

“What the hell do you mean by deal with him?” I queried

“I mean I'll staple his balls to his desk or something worse. ”

“No please I can handle him myself.”

“I'm just saying,”

I rushed the food quickly like I had inhaled it all rather than chew, she wasn't wrong about Chris being a great cook.

“Can I have a beer as well? ” I asked, staring wishfully at the bottle in her hand. She rolled her eyes and sluggishly stood to her feet before hurrying to the fridge. The ends of her trouser were so long they covered her feet. They obviously weren't hers, “You're gonna trip over that thing, ” I gestured to the pants.

She looked down and laughed. We spent the rest of the night talking and drinking. “Sharon sent me an invitation card to her wedding,” Vivian mentioned, “ did you get one as well? ”

“No not yet” I answered ,“I actually bumped into her at a boutique this week.”

“Really? ”

“She kept talking as if we're still besties and all that,”

“She's so delusional!,” Vivian scorned. “If I ever bump into Sharon I'm gonna pull her by her hair and make sure I take some of it home with me as a souvenir.”

“You're so violent!” I laughed “Besides we used to be friends, you know.”

“It's been so long … I can hardly remember.”

There used to be four of us at some point in our lives, but no one liked to talk about the fourth person. Her name was Morgan. We made a really good team but Morgan was a jealous backstabber as I often called her. The truth was that Morgan got a really good job and she moved out of town and lost all contact with the rest of us. She was so prideful, and selfish. To Morgan we were her side kicks rather than friends, I often recall when we were teenages and what usually happened during my mother's many parties, I would invite all of my friends, Morgan would be so irritable the entire time, she wanted to look better than everyone and she hated coming over to my house; incessantly complained about everything from the food to the music and how everyone stared at her when really no one noticed her, she also had a massive crush on Alfred, he was the only reason she'd agree to come in the first place but he didn't like anything about her. She saw him with a girl once and that was when she stopped associating with the rest of us. Sharon on the other hand wanted to know what outfits I'd be wearing so she'd wear the exact same thing and we'd look like twins wherever we went. It was frustrating at some point I could no longer tell if she wanted me to look like her or she wanted to look like me. As an adult I think of all the friends I had and none of them were as trustworthy as Vivian. Vivian wasn't after my brother, she found him rather irritating like i did and she loved to be comfortable wherever she went, she stayed us most of the time cause her parents made her life complicated, her father died of cancer and her mother remarried again and again, then got arrested for driving under the influence and also assaulting one of her many ex husbands. Vivian had to grow up before the rest of us even knew what it was like to be adults with responsibilities. Vivian had three other siblings, they lived with their father's elder sister after their mom got locked up and Vivian worked hard to assist her aunt in taking care of her siblings and she wanted nothing to do with her mother. Even before she got arrested, she'd come by to see Vivian and beg for money. By that time it became just two the two of us, cause Sharon found cooler friends but always had a way of keeping my life affairs within her line of view so she would never miss a thing was that was happening.

“Can I see the wedding invitation card?” I asked. She put down her bottle of beer and stood up carefully as she shuffled to her room. Vivian came back shortly and handed me the card.

“What the heck!? ” I uttered, dumbstruck by the invitation card, it looked as though it was an invitation to fairy land, it was purple with glitters on it, touching it left glitter on both our hands. I opened the card slowly, hoping there would be no more surprises. It had their names written in beautiful fonts, “ you are invited to celebrate the wedding of Matthew Westler and Sharon Jefferson sunday the eighteenth of August,” I read out loud “It's just a month away. ”

“Have you seen matt recently? ”

“No he's been avoiding me for a while now.” since the day I pushed him away and told him off. Why did it bother so much that we were no longer in talking terms, when he was all over me I wanted him away but when he finally stayed away I wanted to see him, I was sure I didn't have feelings for him but then why did I feel strange, perhaps it was the ridiculous wedding card or the fact that his name was in it along with Sharon's and not mine. Marriage had always been in the picture for me, I often imagined myself with him, standing at the altar in a wedding dress and swearing my body, heart and soul to one person just like Alfred did with Margret, though we all knew it would only be a matter of time before Alfred ruins his marriage. I imagined myself pregnant with Matt's baby and picking out clothes and strollers. That was my dream and sharon took that dream away. It was easier to blame her for all of it though it was really Matt who turned his back, he talked endlessly about not being ready and a few months after he dumped me decided to marry Sharon. It was not that he didn't wish to get married in truth he didn't wish to marry me.

The next day I found it difficult to look at Cole and every trip down the elevator was a trip down Memory Lane and all the graphically s****l events that occurred on one rainy day. I was haunted by it but not in horrifying manner. I could think of nothing else. The week after was far more interesting as we celebrated the launch of a product we had been working on for a while, finally it was time to celebrate. The space was filled with people and invited guests, I was a major part in the design of the product, I had many unwritten roles in my job, I often told people I was part of the video production team but I was also part of design as well. There was a giant posters of the product hanging around and a model of the product for everyone to stare at. There was food being carried around by servers and enough wine in circulation, I had to caution myself. The large posters hanging said, “What can preserve your food better than Haricool?” it was lame and it was also my idea. Cole asked me to give a speech in front of all the guests. I was terribly nervous, he could have just handed the speech to Joanne or Denis or Mike, luckily I was already getting use to him and his insatiable need to humiliate me and I wasn't angry this time. Thankfully I wore a dress that was picked out by my mother who heard about my speech from my loud mouth brother, he was blessing indeed. It was a green body fitting gown with tulip sleeves and and a cross neck, showing a little bit of cleavage. I conditioned myself to ooze with intelligence, confidence and to ignore Cole, who was standing with some guests. Before my speech I had to look busy in order to keep Cole away from me, having him around me would only incite more wiery and anxiety in me. I joined a group of guests who were discussing with wine glasses in their hands, I had no clue what they were talking about, “There is so much to put out there, I mean with each coming century there's an impact in some aspect of our society, ” said the man which a mustache.