Repeat and Retribution

Chapter 46

“Crystal!” Screams echoed around the whole place the moment her friends arrived.

The moment the door opened, the three women came running towards the table where she was.

“Hey, guys!” Crystal couldn’t help but giggle as she waves at them.

Though for her it’s only been months since she last saw them because of her other timeline. She felt really bad and ashamed knowing how long she hasn’t been in contact with them. But, she was really thankful right now as she can see how excited they still were to meet her. She quickly stands up to greet them.

“It’s so good to see you again,” Elena was the first to give her a hug.

“We missed you so much!” Denise joined in on them.

“Thank god you decided to meet with us this time!” Kathy coming from behind and being the big woman that she was, managed to hug all of them together.

Crystal couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s been so long, how have you guys been?” She was able to say after a few moments. She gestures her friends to take their seats since she really wanted to catch up on old times with them.

Kathy looked at the other two after they sat down. “Good,” she says looking a bit wary.

“How about you, how are you feeling?” Denise added.

“Yes, are you okay? You can tell us if your not,” Elena quickly joined in.

Her friend's eyes grew wide as they all look at her funny. It was as if there was dirt on her face.

“Huh?” That was all she could say, feeling a bit confused with their questions and reaction.

The three women look at each other, giving nods like they had this secret language that only they knew. It was Kathy who was the one who gave her a straight look.

“Clyde isn’t with you anymore is he,” her friend says in a serious tone.

Though Crystal was caught off guard, she was still able to keep her poker face, not showing any kind of remorse as she smiled sweetly.

“How’d you find out about that,” she giggles trying to hide the pain in her chest.

Denise sighed. “We just guess,” she says pouting her lip.

“Yeah,” Elena nodded in agreement.

She could not help but raise a brow because of it. Though that fact was true, there was only one person who knew about their breakup, since she still hasn’t mentioned it and Clyde seems to also be keeping quiet about it.

“I mean. You, suddenly canceling your wedding for no reason after Clyde gets that new and better job, what else would we think,” Kathy explained sensing her thoughts.

She just made her smile even wider as she still felt the sting inside her. Though the pain had a different reason than before, she still could not help but feel anger because of it.

“Yes, we’re not together anymore,” she casually says.

Her friend's faces looked even more devastated now seeing as how Crystal was taking it with a smile on her face.

“We’re sorry to hear that,” Denise quickly grabs her hand.

“Don’t worry about it, we’re here for you,” Elena gave her a pat on the shoulder.

Kathy folded her arms on her chest, letting out a deep sigh before looking at her again. “Was it another woman, the stress of your jobs? What exactly happened?” she says worry etched on her face.

Crystal swallowed hard to hide her pain, not wanting to give in to the comfort that her friends were giving her. She knew that she was past that, as the pain wasn’t as strong as before.

“It was another woman,” she says in a monotone not wanting to give out anything.

“I knew it, I told you guys,” Kathy gritted her teeth as she gave their other friends a slap on the back.

The two women winced after being hit, but they quickly got over it as their attention was entirely focused on Crystal.

“After all you did for him, he does that,” Elena clenched her fist, biting her lips as if she actually felt the same pain.

“I never expected he’d actually be able to do that. I mean, this is Clyde Vancouver we’re talking about!” Denise burst out, knowing full well about the man’s personality.

Crystal giggled since she had the same thought. “Well, I really didn’t have any chance against his ex-girlfriend,” she let out.

Her friends gasped, eyes growing wide as they seem to have become dumbfounded for a few moments.

“You mean!” Elena gaped at the thought of it.

“Oh my god!” Kathy ended up putting both her hands on her mouth.

“They got back together?” Denise could not help her brows from furrowing.

“Yes, they did.” She just sighed.

“After that woman dumped him, he still got back together with her,” Kathy could not help but slam her palm on the table shaking it.

“Wait, are we talking about Dana Johnson?” Denise could not help but say as she seemed a bit confused.

“Who else.” Kathy could not help but hiss.

“Duh, Clyde only had one ex-girlfriend, who else would it be.” Elena ended up rolling her eyes at their friend.

“But, Isn’t she still married to Larse August?” Denise blurted out, her forehead wrinkling even more.

They all ended up looking at Denise with even wider eyes than before, even Crystal was unable to hide her surprise.

“They’re married?” they screamed in unison.

Denise pouted. “Oh, so you guys didn’t know,” she bit her lower lip, suddenly ashamed of what she had said.

“Why didn’t we hear about it?” Elena screamed, unable to handle the shock.

“Yeah!” Kathy followed.

Crystal was lost for words at the news about it. She wasn’t really expecting that to happen, but then she remained quiet when she remembered something from her alternate timeline.

Denise ended up sighing. “I think it’s because the wedding didn’t take place here in our country, plus the fact that it was an exclusive event, only family members. And I don’t think Larse or Dana ever came out with it, since they both remain quiet about it, both in their real life and social media accounts,” she explains.

“Then how’d you know?” Kathy pointed out.

Denise gave their friend a mischievous smirk. “I was working as an intern for the wedding videographer that they hired a few years ago. So, I was accidentally there, though I don’t think the two of them recognized me,” she tells them.

“How long exactly are these few years?” Crystal could not help but ask as she was now quite interested in the new developments she had found out.

“Almost three years I think,” Denise shrugged her shoulders, not being thoroughly sure about it.

“I see.” Crystal could not help but nod her head, hand on her chin as she was trying to piece things together.

“Why’d you ask?” Denise looked quite curious at her sudden question.

“I found out that Clyde’s been cheating on me for five years with Dana Johnson.” Crystal just looks at her friend with a sweet smile on her face.

That made all three women gasped once more, their faces had a mix of utter shock, confusion, and disgust.

“Oh my goodness!” Elena could not help but say as she started fanning her hand to her face.

“Then, that means the two of them were going out, all the while Dana and Larse we’re still married!” Denise couldn’t help her own anger at the thought.

“Didn’t Larse even notice anything? I doubt he’d be the kind of man to not know things like those,” Kathy quickly stated, knowing how observant and conniving the man was.

“Oh, Oh! I heard rumors about this,” Elena squealed, excited about finally having something to add to the gossip that they were all sharing.

“Spit it out then!” Kathy could not help but hiss at her in anticipation.

“I didn’t actually know who it was until now, but I’ve been hearing that there’s this batch mates of ours that were forced to get married because the girl got pregnant about three years ago! They say the guy was from the basketball team and the girl was from the cheerleading squad,” Elena cheerfully said, clapping her hands at the juicy rumor that she had shared.

“They have a child!” Denise could not help but raise her voice.

“Yes! And from what I’ve heard, the man didn’t have a choice since his family threatened to disown him if he didn’t take responsibility for it,” Elena happily added as she even made her playful wiggling movements.

“How can you be sure that they’d be Larse and Dana?” Denise could not help but ask still a bit doubtful.

Elena raised her head proudly. “With what you said to us now, who else do you think it would be! I mean, it’s not like there’s any other girl from the cheerleading squad that got hitched with someone from the basketball team except Dana,” she says in full confidence.

“Isn’t there?” Kathy turned to Denise as she was looking back and forth from the two unable to keep her composure from the excitement that they were having.

Crystal could not deny that even she was quite taken by all the things that she was finding out right now.

It took Denise a while as she thought of it before answering, “No, there isn’t.”

“Poor Larse,” Elena could not help but put her hands to her mouth again.

“I knew that woman was promiscuous, though no one ever actually admitted it,” Kathy could not help but snort, feeling quite annoyed.

“And it seems she hasn’t changed at all,” Crystal finally joined in, letting out a grin.

“The nerve of that woman, can you believe it.” Kathy slammed the table once more.

“Wait, if he’s married to Larse, why is he still going out with Clyde?” Elena couldn’t help but asked their friend.

“Well, it may be because she wants to get even with her husband. From what I’ve heard, Larse hasn’t changed at all, he’s still a complete womanizer and hasn’t stopped fooling around with different women, even after getting married,” Denise was quite sure of it.

“Well, she deserves to be with him, it’s like they’re a match made in hell!” Crystal could not help but chuckle at the thoughts of Dana getting cheated on.

Though she did feel guilty about Larse since she knew that the man wasn’t really that bad.

“Do you think Clyde knows about Dana’s marriage,” Denise turned to her.

“I doubt since this is also the first time I’ve heard about it,” She smirks, knowing full well that even though the man knew about it, she knew Clyde wouldn’t really mind.

“Maybe you should tell him, I mean, it might not be too late to work things out between the two of you if he finds out about it, right?” Elena sweetly says, her voice seemed so full of hope.

Crystal ended up letting out a half-smile towards her friends as she knew they were unaware of her reality.

“No, it’s already too late, the damaged has already been done.” she just says not wanting to add more wound to her ego.

“Oh Crys,” Denise gave her another caring path on the shoulder.

Crystal just chuckles at the worried look of her friends. “Besides, I’ve already moved on, so I’d like to focus on my new priorities in life,” she tells them.

The three women look at each other again, seeing as their friend seemed to have really moved on. Looking much better and having a genuine smile, it was hard not to see.

“Then that’s good,” Kathy finally says after a few moments not wanting to leave a sour after taste from the fun gossip that they had just shared.

“Why don’t we order, I’m starving.” Crystal finally called on the waiter.

Feeling very, very satisfied right now to the point that she even ordered some champagne. She put it as a guise in celebration for their little reunion but in truth, there were so many things that she wanted to be happy about right now.