My eyes take in the words, as well as the comments below. And oh! There’s a picture. Lovely. My eyes roll over the large diamond on Mia’s ring finger. I feel a lump forming in my throat.
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.
I scroll down and see a status update from Mia along with a close-up of her gorgeous ring.
The love of my life asked me to marry him today, and I said YES!
I swallow the vomit that has crept up my throat and push the computer away. Before Violet can say anything, I’m chugging the rest of my wine and holding back tears.
He was supposed to propose to me.
He was the love of my life.
We were together just three months ago. I now realize their relationship must’ve overlapped mine… and I have to swallow a few times to suppress the vomit.
“She’s a bitch,” Violet says.
I stare up at her.
“He proposed?” I hiss. I have the biggest urge to call him and tell him how fucking happy I am for him and Mia. His fiancée.
Oh my god…
Before she can respond, I throw my head down onto the couch and cry into the pillows. I was doing so well. For so long, I was broken, but the last couple of weeks, I felt like I was healing. Now… now it feels like I’m back to square one. Violet just sits there and rubs my back quietly, shushing me.
I know the breakup was hard for her and Marcus, too. We were all friends. Violet, Marcus, Dan, and I all met in our very first college class. Mia joined our group about a year before the incident. I’d brought her home. I’d introduced them. We’d been classmates in a comparative literature class, and we’d become close friends. There was always something off about her, though. She and Dan became really close, but I didn’t think anything of it. The idea was too far off, too crazy… until it happened.
So I knew Violet missed them. I knew Marcus did too, and I was grateful that they’d chosen my side. They were loyal, Violet and Marcus, and they’d shunned Mia as well. But I couldn’t deny that it was hard for them. Dan and Mia had shocked us all.
I sit up and chug the rest of my wine. I know my face is going to be puffy tomorrow from the alcohol and the crying.
“You should eat something,” Violet urges, and I shake my head violently.
“Not hungry,” I whisper.
“I should go,” she says timidly, getting up. “Thanks for having me over, Ev. I’ll come back soon, okay?”
“Okay,” I say, getting up to hug her.
“Try not to think about Dan and Mia. Think about Nick!” she says enthusiastically, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Right,” I say, glumly. “The widower who employs me.”
“He’s much better looking than Dan. Hell, he’s better looking than Marcus!”
I punch at her lightly.
“Stop it! I have enough on my mind.”
Her face softens. “I know. Love you, Ev.” She opens the front door.
“Love you too, Vi.”
As the door closes, I feel myself fall back into the couch. I open the second bottle of wine, and before I get too drunk, I set an alarm for seven-thirty.
I don’t recall the rest of the night, but I vaguely remember stalking Mia’s Facebook page.
What does she have that I don’t?
I fall asleep on the couch, wondering if Dan took Mia up to the Wheel and promised her a lifetime of happiness, too.
Fourteen.
Evianna
Hangovers are life’s version of a cruel, cruel joke.