Chapter Eighteen
even though I kept making a mental note to invite her out more, I never got the chance to do it.
And yet, when I needed to disappear and abandon my life in the states, she was the first person that came to my mind. And as soon as I called and explained what I was going through, she immediately told me to come over.
Three years later, and I was starting to adjust to life with Rachel. With her help, I was getting adjusted to life in England. She’d introduced me to her friends, and we quickly hit it off. I thought I would feel lonely and miserable when I moved here, but so far everything was going great. had a place to stay, friends I could depend on, a decent job working at a small magazine that paid well, and I was slowly adjusting to the English lifestyle.
But even after all these years, despite everything I’d done, a shadow loomed over me wherever I went. It followed me everywhere, and sometimes I would wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and Rachel would rush into my room and try to calm me down. Three years, and I still hadn’t gotten rid of my demons yet.
It wasn’t fair. I’d seen Marcus and Emily several times over the last few years, always at some sort of gala or dinner party, where they would smile and dazzle the cameras like they were America’s sweetest couple. Even though I tried to stay away from the news, I always saw posts of them all over social media, and how ‘happy and peaceful the new Reynard couple were‘. Marcus had proposed exactly six months after I left the US, and they got married six months later. They looked so happy together, and I saw that her wedding dress was exactly like mine, I lost my mind.
Those fucking assholes did not deserve to be this happy. They did not deserve this much peace of mind, while I was over here battling with my demons. Emily had slotted into my old life so perfectly, like she had been planning it all along. And yet here I was, desperately trying to pick up the pieces and move on with my life.
“Hey,” Rachel suddenly said as we pulled up near a small cafe, “are you alright? You’ve been quiet for a while
now.”
“I’m fine,” I replied as we hopped out of the taxi. “I was just thinking.
“Please don’t tell me you were thinking about Marcus and Emily again,” she said with a groan. “It’s been three years, Liv. If you don’t stop thinking about them now, then when are you going to do it?”
“I’m not trying to,” I said. “It’s just impossible to completely shut them out of my head.”
Even as I said that, I prepared myself for the speech that Rachel always gave whenever the topic of Marcus came up. She spent the next fifteen minutes reminding me of how he had betrayed me, how my own best friend had turned her back on me, and how happy they were now. She reminded me of the hell I went through during the early days of moving here, when I would spend most weekends locking myself in my room and crying until I fell asleep. By the time she finished, we’d almost finished our tea, and I was already feeling exhausted.
“Rach, I get it,” I said. “And believe me, I’m trying so hard not to think about it. But I can’t help it. Sometimes, I just look back on my life and wonder where it all went wrong, y’know? I know I shouldn’t think about them, and I know that it’s only going to bring more pain and anguish, but I can’t help myself.”
“Listen to me,” she said, grabbing my hands over the table. “Your past doesn’t define you, Liv. Fuck Marcus and that two–faced bitch. I bet you whatever image they’re projecting for the world to see is not what is actually going on behind closed doors. Come on, we both know the kind of person Emily is. Sooner or later, he’s going to realise that she has absolutely nothing to offer, and he’ll kick her to the curb. Trust me, they’re not going to last another six months.”
I knew she was just saying that to cheer me up, but I appreciated it nonetheless. At least I still had her in my life, and I could focus on that instead of looking at the past and wondering how things could have gone differently.
“Thank you, Rach,” I said. “I truly don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Just remember that when we get home and find out everywhere is covered in dust,” she said, and we both laughed as we finished our tea. I felt so much lighter, and I pushed all thoughts of Marcus to the back of my
mind.
+25 BONUS
Chapter Eighteen
So what if lie and Emily were in Paris at this very moment for fashion week? So what if he had gotten her the pearly necklace that I knew he had bought for my birthday long time ago, before he decided that I wasn’t worth It? I’d suffered enough heartache at his hands, and I wasn’t going to deal with that anymore.
“You know what it is?” Rachel asked. “We need to get you laid.”
“Rach, what the hell?” I gasped, looking around to make sure no one heard her.
“Yeah, that’s it,” she said, folding her arms across her ches. “You’ve been single for far too long. That’s the problem. You’re still hung up on Marcus because you haven’t been able to move on yet. But once you get your back blown out by a random stranger with washboard abs and a sexy French accent, you’ll forget you were ever married.”
“I highly doubt that,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“You don’t get to say no to this,” she said. “Next Saturday, we’re going to a rave that my friend is throwing. I’m sure there’ll be lots of hot guys there who are dying to get a taste of all this.”
I threw my head back in laughter as she gestured to all of me, and I couldn’t stop laughing over how absurd it all sounded. As if I would ever drop my panties for a random stranger. It was all just harmless fun, but we both knew I would never do that.
Unfortunately, I would soon find out how wrong I was about that.
+25 BONUS
Chapter Nineteen
