BETH:

"Did you see the photo I sent you?" That was the first question my mother asked after I picked up her call and put it on speaker mode.

I couldn't use my hand to hold the phone because of how busy I was. I had my clothes littered on the bed with a big box with it. I was doing a lot of folding and unfolding and I knew it was going to take me a long time to finish up.

"What photo?" I asked in return. I may or may not have received a notification about two minutes earlier but I didn't even bother to check.

"Of Richard. I sent it to you a little while ago," she said.

"Oh," I muttered and was forced to finally pick up the phone.

Richard was the name of the man my mother has been trying to set me up with. She has been speaking highly of him to me for such a long time before I finally agreed to whatever it is she was planning.

I clicked open the picture mother sent and scanned the face of the man that she was ever so pleased to talk about. He wasn't that bad of a man. From the picture, I could deduce how tall he was including his good looks. However, it didn't do much to harbor any sort of interest in me.

"I've seen it, mother," I said, closing the picture and dropping the phone back on the bed.

"That's all you have to say? Not even a talk of how handsome he is because I know for sure that he's really good looking," Mother said, her tone filled with an ounce of tease.

I shook my head. "He's not bad. Not like he catches my fancy anyway," I told her.

"I'm so glad you're planning to come home after all these years. Although your father is still mad at you for leaving the way you did, I know he will come around when he sees you. I think he just misses not hearing from you over the years."

The sound of relief that exuded from mother's tone told me just how much she felt knowing that I was going back to them.

I left home about three years ago to go be with Troy after my parents totally disapproved of it. They claimed that he was not fit for me and I disregarded that idea. Since they didn't want us to be together, I had no other option than to run away without letting them know my whereabout.

Meeting Troy then felt like a jackpot. I thought I found the answer to it all. Not that Troy had everything that a man should possess but I stood by him because of how much I loved him.

I didn't think he would betray me like this. Didn't see this coming. I busted his ass out of the station after he and his so-called sister had been caught at a hotel during a raid gone wrong.

I should have asked him what was he doing in a hotel with a woman that he claimed he only saw as a sister and was only caring for her because her brother, his best friend, died.

I shook my head to take out the thoughts. "Yes, mother?" I said when I heard my mother's voice on the other end. I was completely zoned out to even know what she must have said.

"I asked when you were planning to show up," she obviously repeated what she said before.

I shrugged. "I haven't fully decided yet but it should be nothing less then next week. I'm trying to sort a few things out here. Once I do, I'll be home."

The idea felt so good that for the first time since I left home, I was actually eager to go back. Never felt this way before and I knew it was the right call for me at this point.

"I can't wait to have you home," Mother said in agreement.

"I'll call you later. Have a nice day," I said.

"You too."

The call got hung up from the other end and this gave me the chance to continue with the packing of my clothes.

I must have gotten lost in it to not realize that my boyfriend who didn't even bother spending the night here was finally back.

"What are you doing with your clothes?" was the question he asked from behind me that actually made me realize that he was in the room with me.

I stood frozen on the spot, to stunned to even turn around to look at him. I had the answer to give to him but the suddenness caught me completely off guard.

I had to say something before he got suspicious...

BETH:

"I'm trying to take out some of my old clothes," I stuttered but was finally able to say the words that I needed to say in order to remove any form of suspicion.

I was going to leave but I wanted to do it discreetly. I did not have it in me to actually explain the reason for my leaving which was why this was my resort.

I don't think he sensed anything amiss because he said, "We'll move into a bigger space soon when we we get married so you don't have to do all that sorting."

If I wasn't trying to stay serious, I would have laughed at what he said. Why? Because I couldn't believe my ears.

Troy was really talking about us getting married like he meant it. Like he was seriously talking about our future together. I should be elated hearing that. Probably over the moon. But I, for one, know that was a lie.

I have brought up the topic many times to him in the past and he always pushed it aside like I was bugging him for even bringing such up.

"It's too soon." That was what he never hesitated to say whenever I asked him the question before today. I guess he never really envisioned us together. And if he was now, it was too late for me.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said later after I basically ignored him while I tended to my clothes. I can't believe that he refused to say anything about what he did to me last night after I saved him.

All of a sudden, his phone started buzzing nonstop. Why didn't he put it on silent, bloody hell?

I scanned around the room to notice that he kept it on the bedside cabinet. The sound was driving me crazy already and I needed to shut it off. I cannot afford to be irritated while I plotted my way out of this shit hole of a relationship.

The screen of his phone revealed notifications of pictures from a certain somebody. And it was none other than Ariana.

I was curious to know what she must have sent to him repeatedly that would actually disturb my peace. And so I clicked on her message only to reveal something that I didn't expect to see.

There... Right there, I could see pictures of Ariana in a wedding gown clinging on to him. Yes, Troy was in the pictures she sent to him looking all happy as he held on to her like she meant the whole world to him.

My head eventually clicked what was going on. So, Troy always thought that it was too soon to get married to me but here he was, already married to a woman that he just got close to after the death of his best friend, her brother.

So I never meant a thing to him. Not even a bit.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Troy's voice got my attention as I looked to the side to see him only dressed in a towel wrapped around his still wet body. There was anger written all over his face as he rushed up to me and then yanked the phone out of my hand. The force he used was so much that I fell to the bed immediately.

"Don't you understand the concept of privacy anymore? Why would you be going through my—" He stopped when he realized what I was going through on his device.

I looked down at my hand to see that there was a scratch on it. The way he had forcefully collected the phone from me really did something and I only hoped I didn't bleed because of it.

"I won't touch your phone again," I said softly, my tone a bit apologetic.

I expected him to scold me or confront me again but instead, he began to explain himself.

"I– I was only helping Ariana out with some type of modelling. It does– doesn't mean anything at all. Don't get the wrong idea."

"You two don't look bad together," I said with a straight face when I looked up at him.

My statement actually made him mad. A deep frown etched on his face as he stared at me and it looked like he wanted to get a go at me.

"Why would you even say such a thing? There's nothing going on between me and Ariana and you know that. She's more like a sister to me. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

I didn't say anything to that. And the next thing, his phone beeped, making him look down at it.

A few seconds later, he said, "I've got to go. Ariana needs me."

But what about me, Troy? What about me?

BETH:

I thought I was going to start the day completely normal. But tell me why I woke up to workers moving in furniture to the building across from mine?

"What in the world is going on?" I grumbled as I forced myself out of the bed which I found difficult to sleep on the night before. Apt, I even slept alone without Troy beside me.

I stepped out of the apartment to take a look at the activities going on outside only to see that there was a moving company doing their job to the apartment across mine that had been vacant for some time after the last couple moved out.

I was going to step back inside and act like it didn't mean a thing until I saw Troy standing there. And to my surprise, he was there with Ariana, his arm over her shoulder as they both stood there inspecting what the workers were doing.

Comprehending the situation didn't seem too difficult because I saw Troy directing the workers on what to do. That was one area he liked to focus his strength on as he always stated that everything needed to be just right.

I wanted to head back inside and pretend like none of that was happening but it was too late because Ariana caught sight of me. She suddenly waved to me and it made Troy look up. He sure didn't look any pleased to see me.

"Hi, Beth," Ariana said after she crossed the road to come see me.

"Uhm, hi," I managed to say in return. It was really forced because I was in no mood to actually have a conversation with her if that was what she wanted.

"We are going to be neighbors now. Isn't that great?" She declared out of excitement but it didn't do anything to make me okay to see her. And to know that she was this close was going to be even a bigger problem for me.

"That's nice," I said.

"Troy is such a nice guy. He bought this place for me when I kept complaining about nightmares. Now that I'm closer to you guys, it's going to feel safer for me."

The more she spoke, the more the thought of ripping her head out of her body invaded my mind. I was finding it hard to gauge the level of dislike I had for her at this point and I only wished she would leave my front.

I nodded as if I understood her and then turned around to leave. The instant I did that, I heard a loud thud that actually forced me to look back at Ariana only to see that she was sitting on the ground like she had a fall.

I noticed the twist in her face that suggested she actually fell but how come? How did that happen?

Troy was suddenly running toward us looking all furious. He wasn't actually running as if he wanted to come to see me. He was running down because of Ariana.

"What did you do to her?" Troy barked at me firstly as he bent to help Ariana up from the ground.

I was confused. Did he just ask me what I did to her? Like he was really insinuating that I was the one who caused her fall?

I found myself completely speechless as I stood there transfixed on the spot. Nothing was making sense at the moment to me and I could not even bring myself to understand it.

"Don't blame her, Troy. It's all my fault," Ariana said to him after but it only increased my confusion further.

"Apologize to her this instant!" Troy told me, pointing a finger at me.

"For what?" I had to ask.

"Stop being so petty, Beth. Apologize for what you did."

It was there that I got a hang of the situation and even myself.

"Why the hell would I apologize for something I didn't do?" I asked, my anger laced with a bit of anger.

"Please, don't fight her because of me. I wasn't standing properly," Ariana used her oh-so-sweet voice to try to calm him down and it was actually making me mad because it was more like she was attempting to manipulate the whole situation.

"I never knew you were like this," Troy started to say, his eyes boring into me. "You are a vicious human being. You know what Ariana is going through yet you always find a way to make her feel like she is less important. You need to fix up."

Those words actually hurt me even though I acted like I cared less about what he was saying. Why would Troy say such a thing to me? I was supposed to be his girlfriend yet he was talking to me like I worth nothing in his eyes.

"Let's get you to a hospital," Troy said to Ariana and then carried her on his back.

I watched as he took her to the car we both owned and then drove off. It wasn't a good way to start the day.