CHAPTER 53: A BORING NIGHT

Myla.

“What the hell crawled up her cooch and died?” Sophia asked as soon as Grace left.

I had no idea but it was very upsetting to see someone I once called a friend treating me like that. There was so much venom and viciousness to her words and actions. Old Myla would have been so filled with terror that she would have just completely shut down. I didn’t shut down but my body was still reacting harshly to the experience. I wanted to shake it all off and put it out of my mind but apparently, it was still too fresh.

That face of hers, I thought to myself. The rage twisting it was unreal. To think I was the cause of someone being that angry was…

Ridiculous!

What did I really do but just try to live my life? I’m not perfect and I will admit that pretty much to anyone with ears, but at the same time, there was no call for her to behave like that. It’s not my fault her marriage was terrible and it was definitely not my fault Fabian chose me over her. I don’t think she was even in the running if I’m being perfectly honest. That might make me sound cocky or whatever, but it was true.

“You okay?” Sophia asked. I hadn’t commented on her previous question and realized that I must have zoned into my inner thoughts again. I snapped out of it.

“Y-yeah,” I said, hesitant at first. “I mean, yes. She just took me by surprise.”

“Okay, because the last time she did that, you went and had sex with a woman you didn’t even know,” Sophia said.

My mouth dropped open and I turned to look at her, dumbfounded. But she hadn’t said that with anger or anything like that. When I glanced over at her, all I saw was humor in her eyes and a grin spreading across her face. She shrugged at me nonchalantly.

“What?” she asked. “Too soon? And before you ask, the answer is yes. I will absolutely hold this over your head for the rest of your life.”

Well, that’s good at least. She can joke about it now, I thought, once again, to myself. Out loud, I said, “I suppose I deserve that.”

“You do indeed,” she replied. Then she got out of her chair, threw on her suit jacket over her blouse and gathered up her things.

“Where are you going?” I asked. “We have like a little over an hour left of work.”

“I think having Bitchy McBitchpants come storming in here qualifies us for early release. Also…” She leaned toward me and started to whisper conspiratorially. “You’re fucking the big boss man. I think we have eternal immunity from any and all discipline.”

“Oh my God, don’t say things like that,” I said with a gasp of shock. Part of me almost wanted to look around to make sure no one overheard her but then I remembered we were in our office and no one else was around. “That’s not the kind of thing HR likes to hear about and definitely not the kind of thing that should be said out loud. Gossip and rumors like that could do a lot of damage, Sophs.”

"Yeah, yeah,” she said, waving off my worries dismissively. “I promise I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Then she looked at me, a sadistic twinkle in her eyes. “But I do have a great idea. Su is bartending tonight at the hotel. Why don’t we both go pay her a visit?”

Almost immediately, my face got heated again and a surge of embarrassment started to run through me.

“Are you serious?” I asked, hoping she wasn’t.

This will make me sound a lot like a coward again, but I had no intention of ever interacting with Su at all once the night we…uh…spent together was over. She was an amazing person and very lovely, but what we did together happened at a really low point in my life for me. I was feeling sorry for myself and wanted someone to help me feel better. Su had been there and that, along with a lot of drinks, mixed together to create a huge mistake that could have cost me so much. And before you ask, no, I do not blame Su. It wasn’t her fault. I had been the moron, not her. Like I said, she was a great person and I actually think she and Sophia would probably make a cute couple. But being there with the two of them alone felt like a nightmare situation.

“Yeah. Why not? You obviously like her as a person. I really like her. We need to unwind. What better way than this?” she asked.

“Uh…I…um…don’t think that’s such a great idea,” I replied nervously. Would she take that the wrong way or something and get mad? I had no idea but hoped that she wouldn’t.

“Oh come on,” she urged. “It won’t be that bad. Probably.”

“I think I just want to spend some time alone in my hotel. Or possibly finding Fabian to see what he might have done to make Grace so angry.” I obviously didn’t look like I wanted to do either of those things but both of those were safer options than what Sophia was proposing. She might be okay now with everything that happened but I had a feeling she might not be if I hung around with her and Su too much. Truthfully, I don’t think I’d be if someone I was seeing had sex with Sophia. Most likely. Obviously, I actually never came even remotely close to anything like that ever happening. I’ve had sex with exactly two people and Sophia was sort of seeing one of those people. So I guess it kind of was the same? Maybe? I don’t know, the math gets tricky there but you get my drift, right?

“That sounds incredibly boring,” Sophia said and I expected her to keep pushing and pushing me until I finally gave in. After all, that’s always worked in the past. It’s practically a rule of our friendship. If I said no, she would keep asking and nudging and begging and annoying me until I finally agreed.

This time, she didn’t do that.

“Suit yourself,” she said with a shrug. “But seriously, come on. You should still ditch the rest of the workday with me at the very least. We can catch an Uber back to the hotel together so I won’t have to ride alone. How about it?”

I looked over at my computer screen. There were several programs up and maybe five or six projects with several pages worth of data each staring back at me. I wasn’t that swamped, I guess. The work I did have, I could easily get through before lunch tomorrow. And not only that, but there were no hard deadlines on the reports I had to make anyway. I guess I could skip out on the rest of the day. I mean, I’d practically skipped most of the day already anyway considering I’d spent a huge chunk of it having sex with Fabian.

I felt a flutter in my stomach as those amazing memories went rushing through my head and a flicker of pleasant sensation spread upward from my pussy. I forced myself to actively stop thinking about all the sex we’d had, otherwise I was going to be looking very flustered, very quickly.

“Yeah, okay,” I said. “I don’t have anything pressing at the moment so I should be good. Besides, it’s only an hour.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sophia replied with a smirk.

****

After I finished gathering up my things and shutting down my computer, we made our way through the offices and to the elevator. I tried to catch a hint of Fabian but his office was dark and Adrianna was also gone. I wondered if he had decided to head out early as well. If he had, I also wondered why he hadn’t let me know somehow.

What if he needs some time alone too?

Oh God, why would he need that already? Wait, why do I need that? Are we doomed to fail? Is this stupid to even pursue? Are the two of us just going to end up hurting each other?

“Wow,” I heard Sophia say. We were in the elevator now and I blinked a few times to clear my head before looking at her.

“What?” I asked, confused for a moment.

“I said ‘wow’ and meant it. You looked like you were about a dozen lightyears away. What were you thinking so hard about?” she asked.

“Uh…,” I stammered. “N-nothing.”

“Bullshit,” she shot back immediately. “I’m guessing it was Fabian-related and probably not anything sexual. I’m pretty sure that face of yours would’ve had an entirely different expression on it if it had been. So what was it?”

“Just…in my head again,” I told her. “My stupid brain doesn’t like me being happy apparently.”

“Brains are bitches like that,” Sophia said right as we got to the lobby and the doors opened. “Just try to ignore those annoying thoughts. They won’t do anything good except to drag you down. Focus instead on the things you know for sure, like the fact that Fabian has gone WAY out of his way to be with you. A man just doesn’t put in that kind of effort for just anyone, Myla. What kinds of things are messing with you?”

“Just noticed Fabian wasn’t here either. But he didn’t tell me he was leaving. Then my brain started yammering at me about it being a bad sign. Etcetera etcetera. It’s been a problem my whole life,” I said, somewhat sheepishly.

“It’s nothing. Trust me, if that man doesn’t want to be with you anymore, he’ll let you know real quick. I don’t think he’s the type of guy to keep carrying on with someone he isn’t interested in anymore,” Sophia said. “And besides, I do think you worry too much, You need to relax. Are you sure you don’t want to come with me to the bar? I promise I won’t get you drunk.”

I thought about it a little, wondering if maybe it would be better to have some company instead. But then I remembered that company would be Sophia and Su together. The potential for awkwardness was just too high. It didn’t sound like a good idea even if it was Sophia’s idea and she was on board with it.

“No, but thanks. I think I’m going to go ahead and do something I haven’t done since coming here,” I told her.

“And what would that be? I bet it’s something boring, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes. Very boring and probably just what I need right now. I’m going to just sit in my room by myself and just unwind. Maybe I’ll binge a show on Netflix or read one of the books I brought along.” Saying it out loud made me sound even more boring than I thought it would but it really did sound so good to me. And I’ll order a pizza too! Or something like that. It would be just what I needed. Alone time. “I might even take a bath. I don’t know. I just know that everything’s been hectic and scary and crazy and exciting since we got here. It’s time to just take a minute to relax and not think about all of that for a few.”

“You’re right,” Sophia told me as we pushed through the doors of Roseforce and out into the fading light of the day. “That does sound very boring. But you know what? I think you’re definitely right about that too. You’ve been through a lot and maybe sitting in your room in a nice bath is just the thing you need. I will not stop you, my ever-so-boring best friend. But, just in case you change your mind and you want to actually have some fun, shoot me a text or give me a call. I’ll let you know where I’m at, unless where I’m at happens to be naked on a bed somewhere with an also naked Su.”

“Thanks.” I laughed at that. “I’ll take that into consideration.”