"It might be that they were just having a friendly conversation." Elsa said.
They were in a cafe opposite her workplace, seated beside the windows, hidden from plain sight.
Lacey snorted as she toyed with her straw in her cup, " I know a friendly conversation when I see one. She was running her hands down his chest as they whispered sweet nothings to each other. How embarrassing is that?" She responded.
Elsa hid her smile behind the cup as she sipped the coffee gently, " So, you mean to tell me that you are upset about him talking to someone. I believe that you're probably blowing this thing out of proportion and that is not the way it actually went."
Lacey speared her with an angry look as she finally took a bite of her cookie.
" It's just funny that he's making me attend that godforsaken place to suit his stupid fornication ass. Does he think that I'm a fool or something? How can you be cheating yet expect me to be faithful, isn't that insanity?" She spat, her chest heaving slightly as she spoke the words.
" I still think that we need to be calm about the situation," Elsa advised and Lacey snorted in anger. " So, what are you going to do about it? Cuss him out? Maintain the notion of divorce?" She inquired and waved at a waiter who was staring at her. " What?"
Lacey craned her neck to see who her friend was waving at and frowned when she saw the man, " Don't tell me that you're tripping for that man because that's a failure. It's going to end up in premium tears."
Elsa snorted, " not everyone is going to have the same reality as you, Lacey. The faster you know that, the better for you."
Lacey drank her coffee and sighed, "My bad for trying to save you from being stuck in a loveless relationship." She said, "You can go ahead and get shackled with an everlasting pain, don't come crying when it happens. Do you hear me?"
" I won't come crying to you, darling. Moreover, this divorce had made you bitter, this is not the Lacey I knew."
Lacey scoffed angrily, " Don't take that tone with me, I've been a very good wife and friend to everyone but what did I get? Being siphoned. Now that I've refused to continue that way,it has become a thing of being different, forgive me if I refuse to be normal!"
Elsa was shocked by the outbursts but kept her cool she would pass it off as Lacey being frustrated. "I understand how you must be feeling."
"No, you don't, you only see what I want you to see. I'm a victim in that marriage can't you see? My money is used to fund everyone, I can't even tell Alistair off because of the fear of losing my job and now I have to go the extra mile of bending over and pleasing those greedy bastards so that I can keep my job, so no, it's not acceptable. I don't like it. I am bruised." Lacey panted.
Elsa looked around, lost for words to say, she reached for her friend's hands over the table, " I can only say that I know that you'll be fine. I can assure you of that. you'll rise above this. That I am sure of. Do you believe me?" She asked.
"No, I don't want anyone who is on Mark's side"
" But I'm not..."
A stern glare from Lacey cut her off immediately, " Well, maybe I might sound like I'm on Mark's side but trust me, I know what I'm doing, I just want the best for you."
" The best thing is for me to leave his broke ass. I won't be pressured to remain in a marriage with a cheating man all in the name of being enduring. It's impossible." Lacey said.
" Okay, then. No one will pressure you. I assure you that we'd leave you alone completely so that you can focus on the new things instead of the past."
"Now, you mean well," Lacey said and Elsa chuckled.
"I'm with you, babe." She said.
"You better be."
"Excuse me, I need to use the loo."
Elsa made sure that the locks were safely fastened, " Hey, what were you doing with that strange woman?" She accused Mark.
Mark moved away from Amelia, " Hello to you too."
"ignore the pleasantries and let's focus on the main issue. Why have you decided to entertain another woman? I thought we already had a plan."
" I still don't follow."
" Mark, please don't play dumb with me. You were with a lady today, who was busy stroking your beards like her life depended on it and at the end of the day, Lacey saw you. Why are you shooting yourself in the foot?"
" Lacey was here earlier? She didn't tell me she was coming!" Surprise coated his voice.
Elsa rolled her eyes at the denseness of this man, " So, she was supposed to blow a trumpet to announce her arrival? What's the deal with the lady?"
" Oh, she's a friend who helps out in the store. She is trying to get me into a competition and stuff." Mark paraphrased.
" I don't believe that, but cut off whatever it is that is festering between both of you, a woman can smell another woman's interest. Call it intuition or witchcraft, it's ingrained. If she says that you are about to cheat with that lady, I believe it completely." Elsa said.
" Amelia is just a friend."
" That strokes your beard? How rich?!"
" There's no need to shout, I'll do something about it." Then he heard the front door open. Thinking that it was Amelia.
"Let me call you back." He told Elsa before hanging up.
She stared at the phone in surprise, " He hung up on me?" She muttered.
" Amelia?"
He didn't hear any sound so he decided to go check it out. When he got to the door he saw Amelia behind two men at the door.
" What are you doing here?" He asked