Whispering Obsession.

“The audacity of these men!” Naomi almost screamed shaking. All the words she tried to form failed her and she was relentless in trying or that ball of words stuck in her throat would be just the end of her. “How could he dare?” she asked rhetorically to Penelope who was at this point trying to pull her friend from the middle of the party where her friend’s frantic actions had caused the music to stop and everyone’s gaze was very quickly trying to find where the origin of this commotion was. She managed to swiftly pull Naomi to the balcony away from the glaring eyes as the music slowly came back on inside. “How could he do this to me? The years of disrespect and agony…”. She choked on her own tears She started to calm down. “ I cannot believe how much of a fool I’ve made myself in the eyes of everyone who had to witness the last fifteen minutes” “Girl, it’s way beyond fifteen minutes, we’re talking years but I’m so happy this is the end now”. Somewhere within her, she hoped it would be the end. The genre of women sticking with terribly undeserving men never appealed to her. “How dare HE!!”, she growled again. “He said he was going to be better and he has the effrontery to invite a friend to a party I’d been planning for months!”, with her fingers doing a weak air quote when she said “a friend”. It’s freaking August and I’ve been working to make this such a memorable day since February began”, she collapsed again into the arms of Penelope sobbing heavily. “That man was damaged, damaged, damaged and I fixed him! For years!” She jumped out of Penelope embrace as they both sat on the floor. She ran to the door to the party they just left, sliding the door so frantically the force shattered the glass everywhere and now she had cuts and bruises on her arms and once across the face. The music stops again and every gaze falls on her. This was a room filled with everyone she had toiled and sweated to have present at this party and she had an idea of the sort of thoughts that currently raced through their minds. “Poor girl” “But the signs were visible” “Five years together with no further signs of commitment, what did she think was going to happen!” “You undeserving t**t! I hope you rot and rot.” She scoffed finding her boyfriend, Israel in the crowd and now she was pointing in his direction. “You are nothing! You’ve been nothing but damaged! And you continue to infiltrate and destroy wherever you go!” “Damaged” she yelled again and she took her heel sandals off and into her hands and walked out the party, almost satisfied this time. “Come here” her friend said enveloping her evidently drained friend in an embrace. “We should leave, darling” she said weakly holding her friend’s hand as she led her down the stairs from the balcony. “ I don’t imagine it could ever get lower than this” Naomi blurted after what seemed like such a long and sad moment of silence for a car ride between them. “Thank you so much, Pen” she said laughing and nudging her friend. “I’m not sure what I’d have done without you. I think you gave me the bravery to handle this very gracefully” and now Pen was laughing with her. “You call that graceful? I’d love to see when it’s not” she replied as they got off the cab. “Thank you” they both said to the driver who just drove off. They walked into Naomi’s apartment and it was the coziest it’s ever been. Cozy and in a mess. “These suitcases!” “It appears you never wanted to come back home from Greece!” the stunned Penelope said seeing the neatly packed suitcases. “The trip to Greece honestly was such a last minute decision. Look how much of a mess I made trying to pack for a vacation.”, she sighed. “We were going to spend two days in Mykonos and another two in Santorini. The travel agency just sent my itinerary, our itinerary for the…trip” her voice trailed off. Pen sank into the mattress with her palms on her face. “What’re you going to do now?… you have to take the trip and get your mind off all this. You deserve a break” “C’mon” Pen jumped off again and onto Naomi to shake her body vigorously. “You have to go! Go! You have the next couple weeks off, thanks to your amazing and hardworking self” “I did work so many hours overtime for this break” Naomi agrees. “Exactly! We can’t let it be for nothing. “You know, I could think of a thousand more ugly names to have called him but instead I said the nicest possible things anyone in my shoes would’ve said, urgh” she groaned. “That’s just not who you are! You’re not cut out for this toxicity and the miserable life that most of these men have to offer but I’m sure there’s someone who will tend to all your required softness. I promise”, she reassured her friend as they crashed their foreheads into each other gently. “You’re smart, caring, driven and deserve to wear the most showey…” “Arghhh” Naomi screamed pulling a pillow from underneath her friend making her stop mid sentence. “Bikinis..” she got disrupted again when the pillow hit her face. “Don’t say it! No!” Naomi screamed again laughing and kicking her feet in the air. “On the beaches of Santorini!” She finally completed her sentence and they laughed so hard, it almost hurt their tummies. “You’re so easy to cheer up and I love that. Really it…” “Makes my work so easy!” They both chorused with Naomi mimicking. “Come with me, please” Naomi blurts after a few seconds. “Please”. “You know, I wish I could” “I do”. They went silent again. “This fresh start is for you and I’ll always be one call away my sweet girl. Breathe air. Flirt. Dance on the tables by 2am” Penelope said playing with her friend’s hair now. “You can catch at least two hours of sleep before it’s 2am and we’ll be on our way to the airport, she continued. She rolled off the bed to the floor and her fall was broken by the very soft and furry rugs. Naomi had always had such a soft taste when it came to colors and decor and she picked the most delicate colors on the palette leaving her apartment with a seamless blend of calm colors. “Super grateful for these rugs”, they both chuckled. “You nap, I’ll make sure you’re fully packed and ready to go”. “No idea what I’d do without you”, Naomi said eyes shut and weakly. "Oh My Goodness! How did you go from fixing my luggage to sleeping for three hours. Oh no! I'm gonna miss my flight. Wake up, wake up! Oh no! Oh no!" Naomi was moving frantically and panicking as she checked the time on her phone charging by the bedside table on opening her eyes. She grabbed her coat and ran into the bathroom with Penelope waking up from all the commotion. "What?"