Mars

Alenia sat in her bedroom, her heart broken and her eyes filled with tears. She was looking through old photographs of happy moments together. Each image of Jacob's smiling face was like a nail in her heart. She was halfway through her tub of ben and jerry's when her best friend Gloria appeared ot the foot of the bed taking the box of photos from her, placing them on the ground and her ice cream on the nightstand. "Carmen's a skank, Lenia. We've always known that. As for Jacob, you deserve better than that piece of s**t. I can't believe he was ever allowed in my house. No good two timing...." Gloria broke off into a string of muttered insults Alenia couldn't comprehend. They probably weren't even in english. Her heart was still fractured, but the warmth and love she felt as her best friend hugged her was uncomparable. "I love you, Glory. Thanks for coming." "I love you too hun. I just wish I could do more. That asshole should be the one crying. He deserves to feel worse than you do." Alenia hadn't considered this. She had been taking all of the blame. On the bed, there were still a few scattered photos she picked one up. The picture wasn't hers. It shouldn't have been in her memory box, yet it somehow made its way into the mix. It was a photo of Jacob and a friend from shortly before they met, years before they ever dated. She ran her fingers over the picture, tracing the curve of his smile and the twinkle in his eyes, and for a moment, she felt a glimmer of hope. But then, she remembered why she was here. He, her boyfriend of three years, had cheated on her with her coworker. The pain was unbearable, and Alenia felt like her world was crumbling around her. Her eyes welled with tears again, and Gloria was getting ready to swap the chunky monkey for tequila. Her girl needed something stronger for the pain. As a best friend, she was here for all of it. Ready to be by her side and help her get over this in any way she could. He deserves to feel this way. That thought was playing over and over in her head as she stared at the photo. The other man in the photo. Familiar, yet a stranger. Jacob had told her many stories about the tall, dark-haired man laughing next to him in this photo. His best friend. He was the oldest friend he had. The one who went through school and college with Jake. In her grief, she came up with an idea: revenge. She wanted to make her cheating boyfriend feel the same pain she was feeling. He deserved it. But how? She thought about it for some time, and then the perfect plan came to her. She knew how to hurt him as bad as he hurt her. She had never met Jacob's childhood best friend, she didn't even know his name, she had only ever heard him referred to as Mars. No mother she knew would name her son after a planet known for little green people, but she still had his photograph. Jacob had always talked about Mars as though he walked on water. He was the perfect choice. If she could sleep with him, her now ex-boyfriend would be devastated. Gloria saw a smile forming on her friends lips. Alenia had an idea. She grabbed the photo from her friends hand. "Why are you smiling at a photo of this lesser lifeform?" Gloria asked, anoyyed to see Jacob's smug face smiling up at her from the photo. "Not him." Aleina answered. The second man in the photo was taller and broader than the one who deserved to have his manhood removed. Gloria had never seen this other person before. The photo was older clearly from college football days from the jerseys they were both wearing. "Who is this?" "The key to my revenge." Alenia answered. Alenia put the photograph down and wiped away her tears. She closed her eyes, determined to make it happen, as she told the woman perched on the other side of her bed her plan to make her ex hurt even worse than he made her. Alenia didn't know exactly how she was going to find him, but she was determined to find and seduce Mars. Gloria was more than willing to be her wingman in this operation. She hadn't liked Jacob from the start. The girls spent the day cleaning the apartment and getting Alenia freshened up. When they were finished, the hard part began. How do you find a man whom you've never met, and the only information you have is an old photograph and a college nickname?