Can I meet you tonight?
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Rachel POV
I sensed the withdrawal effect. It occurs way sooner than I thought it will be. Getting back with Derek feels like buying a Hermes Birkin. At first, the waiting kills you, once it arrives, you practically appreciate the bag so hard that you even want to sniff the smell of the leather before you sleep. And after sometime, the exuberant effect became what we called as anxiety.
The anxiety of getting your bag dirty, the anxiety of putting too much stuff inside that you are afraid it might went out of shape (but, it's Hermes, it is suppose to last three generation), and lastly, you are afraid of losing it.
Secretly, I am annoyed and insecure with the fact that Derek is still married to Grace. I know I am being evil for wanting them to get a clean break soon, but this is how I felt, honestly. I should get a consult with Angelina Jolie on how she dealt with Brad Pitt while they are having affair, did she push him to get a divorce?
However, if its going to give us peace for a while, I'll gladly deal with it myself. I'm afraid of injecting too much pressure into us, yet.
He was right when he said that the meeting with one of the World Bank guy is going to take most of his time, sorry practically, it is in fact, all of his time. His message is getting shorter and taking longer to reply.
Again, I had to use an alternative way of stalking him which is the social media and the television news to get a view of him. There are pictures showing him sitting in the Oval, with Levy. It was a candid shot and nevertheless, my hot ass boyfriend still flips my stomach even when he is a thousand miles away.
After a week, I am finally back to the capital. My apartment looks happier than few weeks before I took my leave. Even the pile of unwashed clothes looks like a piece of divine art in the gallery.
I didn't tell Derek I will be back, I don't know what was I thinking when I decide to keep it from him. I wasn't expecting to give him a surprise, or him to give me surprise. Maybe I am afraid of being thought as clingy. That's kind of a stage one of a cancer to relationship.
I made myself a bowl of Ramen for dinner, thank God for Ramen, and whoever who created this three minutes meal. While slurping this goodness, I remember that day Derek took me to the bunker, where Ramen is their emergency food. That is where everything begin, I became his girlfriend slash mistress, bearing all uncertainties to ride his roller coaster.
My work begins tomorrow and I might have to travel again without meeting Derek at all. I printed my schedule out and true enough, I have a flight to Vancouver tomorrow, it will be three days before I am back to D.C again.
I suddenly regret about turning down Derek when he mentioned about what we can do inside the Presidential suite.
My door bell rang.
Right now When I heard a bell ring in the evening, I have two very distinct reaction. One, heart throbbing, it could be Derek, he might have stalked my movement whenever I go, thus he knows I am back. Second, what if that wasn't Derek?
'Rachel! Thank God!'
I opened the door and a woman rammed towards me, giving me a little experience of what is it like to be knocked by a truck.
'I thought I came to the wrong house!' She squealed and hugged me hard. I couldn't breathe.
'Are you Sarah?' My body is still, I can't move a bit because I was clamped inside her.
'You can't recognize me?' Sarah seems offended as she move herself away from me, her face awash with mild disappointment.
I look at her carefully. She is indeed Sarah, but she became an upgraded Sarah in terms of weight.
'What happened to you?' I was shocked with her increase in body weight, not that I judged physical appearance, but Sarah was a person who is dead strict about her diet. Imagine someone chanting to you a whole list of dietary information from Google when all you are trying to do is eat a fucking subway sandwich.
'You mean my body? Is it that obvious?' Sarah makes a disgruntled face, as if I am the first person on Earth to break the bad news to her. Of course it is obvious, you can differentiate a deflated balloon versus an inflated balloon.
'Uhm, do you want to come in?' I tried to avoid answering her question because she is likely to have a breakdown soon if I terrifies her again.
'I need tea, please, Darjeeling, Rachel, if you have.' She walks, nope, she storms inside my house and the wheel of her suitcase rolled over my feet.
Fuck, she is not going to crash here tonight, is she?
'Nope...' I slurred the word while thinking of what impossible request she would be asking next, 'I have only tap water.'
'Right, that's better than the filtered water I had to drink in Polynesia.'
'That place where you live, I don't even know where it is in the map.' I hand her a bottle I took from the fridge.
'I thought you only have tap water?' She asked, deeply touch by my kind gesture.
'What happened to you, Sarah? Where is your husband?' I sat down on the armchair, crossed my leg as I see her gulping the whole bottle of Evian.
'The taste of heaven, you guys really got to appreciate little thing in life, not just complaining how bad the wi-fi signal is.'
'Sarah?'
'Yeah? What did you say?' She close the bottle cap and place it on the table.
'Where is your husband?' I frowned, she looks absolutely pathetic than before she left this country for God knows what small island she decides to resides.
'We divorced.' Her eyes avoided me, and she doesn't look a bit remorse or sad about that.
'Why?' I asked, although I have a bad feeling about this when she broke the news to me that she is getting hitch and her ring is not even made of diamond, human with eyes can see that it is a plastic ring, and her husband-to-be claimed that it was their engagement ring passed down from their ancestors.
She kept her lip pursed, her eyes is blinking constantly. I can see that she is struggling to burst out whatever suffering she had prior to this.
'Did he abused you?' I asked softly.
'No.' She throws a hand at me.
'I heard that man in a more rural part of the world can get really abusive with their wife.'
'No, Rachel.'
I remained silent, getting even impatient. I settle down at my armchair, leaning against the backrest, waiting for Sarah to confess herself.
Finally, she gave in. 'I left him, alright? He is a liar, he isn't any prince, let alone rich!' She burst out.
Good, because I have been waiting for this chance. When you wish upon the star, your dreams come true.
'I told you, Sarah! I told you in the beginning not to marry a fuckboy you know for three days, and claimed that he is a prince from a country without wi-fi. Even Disney realized their "happily ever after" quotes has ruined life of many girls out there, and you still fall for the royal trap.'
'He is so romantic, patient and handsome.' She said whimsically.
I'm getting worried about her preference. A man, who had a centre parting hair, silky slimy hair from hair gel overdose could be called handsome? Maybe she had a fetish, I don't know what's gotten in my best friend's head.
'Have you told your parents?' I asked her.
'No, of course not, Rachel, I had a fight with them for marrying Afu. By the way, did I told you that Afu means "hot" in their native language?'
'Does it matter now?' I asked with a deadpan face. 'Anyway, I suppose you will be crashing at my house tonight?'
'Well, I guess so, can I?' She smiled widely and flash a puppy eyes at me.
'As long as you promise you are going to move out as soon as you get a place to stay.' I didn't wait for her reply, because that wasn't a question, that is the term and condition for crashing at my place. I left the living room and head inside my room, locked it straight after I got in.
I had to give Derek a call, anyway.
'Hi, boyfriend?'
'I've been expecting a call from you, girlfriend.' He sound relax from the other side.
'How are the big things with Levy? I've been watching the news and I was expecting the press to shoot a glimpse of the socks you wore.'
'Big things are settled and I don't think think you want to hear about the topic, since you know nothing about politics?'
'I'm glad you remembered. Anyway, I need to tell you something very important.'
'That your Hello Kitty room is being invaded by Pokemon?' He is being dramatic.
'What? No, come on, do you have to repeat that?' We laugh, it is good to be laughing with him. 'Anyway, you are not allowed to come to my place until I say it's safe.'
'Rachel, you are having affair behind my back already?'
'Yes, with a girl actually.' I rolled my eyes. 'She is my good friend, Sarah, recently divorced and have no place to stay, I gotta adopt her for a while.'
'You are such a kind soul, no wonder I fall so badly for you.'
'Nope, I wanted to kick her out the moment I realized it was her. You can ask Joe to do a background check on her if you want, I'm not going to stop you.' I walked around my room, searching for the Superman socks I bought for Derek, it's still neatly sorted on my drawer.
'I missed you.' He remained silent after that. It wasn't a casual "I miss you" that we often heard, he sounded like he mean it.
'I'm back to the capital, and I'll be flying starting tomorrow.' I gave him hints indirectly, probing him to meet me in all sort of secret way he can arranged.
'When are you coming back?' He asked, I wonder what he might be planning.
'After three days.' I mentioned it.
'I don't think I can hold for that long, Rach, I haven't touched you for weeks.'
I chuckles. 'Learn to love yourself, Derek, you can touch yourself without me.' I teased him.
'Can I meet you tonight?'
'Yes.' I snapped, without a second thought. That's the only thing I am afraid he won't ask.
'I'll get Joe to fetch you.'
Dedicating this chapter to Hedwigal , thank you so much for the votes!