Page 8

It was a picture of Joseph’s feed. The first picture there was of him and a pretty brunette girl. She had thick brows, freckles and a natural tan glow. It was a selfie and she was wearing a simple blue flannel shirt with a black blazer over it- I’m assuming it’s his.

While he was in his usual button up white shirt and I could bet he was wearing a matching pair of black slacks and loafers.

He probably used the same perfume he has used for the last five years and I am certain he had a laptop or his briefcase in front of him.

I blinked the image out of my head and turned my attention back to the picture.

He was sitting on a chair and she had her hands wrapped around his shoulder from behind as she pressed a kiss to his cheek bone. He was smiling, wider than I have ever seen him smile, and he captioned it with a red heart.

There were over ten thousand comments and over a hundred thousand likes. Everyone was talking about how pretty she was and how they were probably in a long and committed relationship because he had always kept his private life private.

I wanted to snort, I wanted to scream, I wanted to say that it was a lie, but I simply stared at the picture until I had practically memorized it.

I ignored the way my chest seemed to constrict and instead focused on breathing and keeping my voice steady.

“She’s pretty,” I said finally, “And they look good together. ”

Dad just shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket, “I saw that the day after you told me what happened. I was going to unfollow him on social media.”

“You didn’t have to-”

“Of course I did,” he cut me off, “Back to what I was saying; he wasn’t good for you, and he didn’t deserve you.”

I just wanted the conversation to end so I didn’t respond. I just shrugged and went back to my food.

The table was quiet for a few minutes before dad spoke up again.

“You’re not in any rush Adira,” he said softly, “You have your whole life ahead of you, and you definitely weren’t made to settle. What happened was for the best.”

I wanted to tell him that he doesn’t know what happened. I wanted to tell him what seeing that picture did to me. There were so many things I wanted to tell him, but I didn’t want him to feel bad, and most importantly I didn’t want to admit that Joseph had hurt me, so I just smiled and nodded.

My eyes fell to my mom and she gave me a knowing look. The intensity of her gaze was too much for me so I looked down and focused on the food on my plate.

After eating, I helped my mom clear the table and do the dishes. As soon as I was done, I made up an excuse about how I had some work to do and left.

My dad knew I was lying, it was in his eyes and even in the way he hugged me as I said goodbye, but he didn’t say anything. One thing I have always loved about my father is that he knows when to push and when to leave me alone.

“I’ll try and visit when I can,” I assured him, “And even if I can’t, I’ll send a text. ”

He gave me a dirty look that I knew held no malice, “You have been saying that for the past five years, yet you don’t come home unless I call or threaten you.”

“This time will be different.”

“Let us hope it is.”

He waited until I got into the car before he turned around and made his way back into the house. I could still see him watching from behind the curtains as I drove off.

He has been doing that ever since I started going out, I don’t know if he thought someone would steal me from my car. I secretly found it just as cute as I find it annoying, but I know he was just trying to watch out for me so I have never let on that I knew what he is doing.

I was about twenty minutes into my drive when I got a call from Olivia. I made sure my phone was connected to the Bluetooth before I answered it.

“Where are you?” she asked as soon as I answered it, “I just got to your office and you aren’t even there.”

“First of all, hello to you too Olivia,” I said sarcastically, “Second, why are you in my office, its two in the afternoon. You should be at work.”

“I just took my lunch break; now where are you?”

“I went home to have lunch with my parents.”

I was barely done with my sentence when she started screaming and swearing.

“You are such a snake,” she exclaimed, “How dare you not go with me? I haven’t seen them in ages. ”

“It was a split second decision, relax,” I fought to keep the smile out of my voice, “Besides, I thought I was in trouble, my dad pulled the full name card.”

She gasped, “You definitely did something.”

“Not this time,” I sing songed, “He just wanted to see me and pry into things; especially what happened between Joseph and I.”

“Did you tell him? I’m sure he was so mad. I actually noticed that he unfollowed Joseph on social media.”

“I didn’t tell him.”

She went silent for a full second after that. I would have thought she hung up the call if not for her steady breathing on the other side and the fact that the call time was still showing on my car screen.

”Why didn’t you tell him?” she asked finally and I shrugged before realizing she couldn’t see me.

“He didn’t need to know,” I responded vaguely, “He already said he didn’t like Joseph in the first place, there was no need to make matters worse.”

“Are you kidding me? He broke off your engagement without any explanation. He most likely che-,”

“I know what he did,” I cut her off. “Like I said, it’s not important.” She clearly didn’t agree because she huffed and stayed silent.

I was going to end the call when I remembered what she said about Joseph’s social media.

“Did you see the picture?” I asked. Her initial gasp and followed silence told me everything I needed to know, “Why didn’t you tell me? ”

“I didn’t want to rub it in your face.” She admitted, “How did you see it?”

“Dad showed it to me; he wanted to prove a point about how he didn’t like Joseph.”

“I didn’t like him either.”

“Liar,” I teased, “You absolutely loved him.”

“Maybe I did love him a little,” she said finally and I hummed so she knew I didn’t believe her for one minute, “But I am allowed to hate him now because he is a jerk.”

I shook my head to myself. Olivia is quite literally the definition of a ride or die friend.

My friends are her friends and my enemies are her enemies.

She doesn’t need an explanation or a reason to dislike someone other than I don’t like them or they have hurt me.

As cute and bubbly as she is, she would go spitfire on their ass if she thought I needed it.

I should have known that she would try to protect me from it. If she had her way, she would have never let me see it. The thought brought a suspicious burn to my eyes.

“She’s really pretty,” I said finally, “Does it make me a shitty person if I wished she was ugly?”

“No, it makes you human,” she corrected, then added, “I secretly wished she was ugly too.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me, that in turn made Olivia laugh and soon we were both wheezing for air on the phone. I wiped a stray tear out of my face and sighed after I got myself under control.

“I’ve got to go Liv,” I told her, “I’m driving and I don’t want to crash. ”

“I need to call your mom anyways. I would’ve come to see you today but I’m working late.”

I was shocked; Olivia never worked late, “Why? Is everything okay?

“Relax, everything is fine,” she assured me, “Some of us have to work overtime because we don’t have a seven figure income.”

She said it teasingly but I have known Olivia long enough to know when something is wrong and something is definitely wrong now.

“If you need anything, I am more than willing to help you out.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” she cut me off, “I’m just saving up so I can splurge on a gift for my birthday. It is just me trying to be- what does your mum call it again? A long throat or something,”

“Do you mean longer throat?” I asked.

She snapped her fingers, “Exactly that; I just want something that’s out of my pay grade and I’m saving up for it.”

“Okay then,” I decided to let the topic drop, “I’ll talk to you later then; bye, I love you.”

“I love you too bitch.” She said as she hung up the call.

I stared at my car screen for a few seconds after the call and couldn’t quite shake off the feeling that she was somehow lying to me.