AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But unlike with Bernadette, I had actually had the courage to ask her out. She had said yes, and now I couldn’t help but wonder if her objective for making friends with my friends was to get into my field of vision.
After all, it had been no secret that I was well off. A lot of girls had tried to date me for that, but I had rejected most of them. I hadn’t thought that Camellia was like that and the two of us had been happy for a little while.
But then her claws had shown.
She started being more controlling, trying to tell me who I could hang out with and when. She worked to isolate me, tried to make me feel worthless without her by my side. It was only when I saw her doing a similar thing to Rachel that I realized what she was doing and that something had to change.
So, I had cut her off and encouraged all of my friends to do the same. The inner circle had, but it appeared that maybe she had gotten some of her claws deeper into others. And she had used that influence to come back to get her revenge.
I sincerely hoped that she wouldn’t be the ruin of this relationship. I didn’t think that I could stand that, especially knowing that I probably should have just organized a small dinner get-together to eliminate that possibility altogether.
But how was I supposed to know something like that would happen? How was I supposed to be able to protect Bernadette when she just kept getting hurt?
17
Bernadette
The next day we both went back to work like normal and pretended like everything was okay.
I kept telling myself it would be okay. It had to be.
I knew that Lucas could tell that something was off with me. I could see it in his eyes as he watched me when the two of us worked and I could hear it in his voice when he asked me what I wanted to eat for lunch each day.
But he didn’t pry, and I was grateful for that.
Finally, I decided that I needed to talk to someone else about everything that was going on. So before one of my breaks I went up to Lucas and asked him for Vanessa’s number.
“You want to call Vanessa?” he asked, looking a little bit confused.
I nodded, one hand on my belly. Several weeks had passed now and it got bigger with each one. I knew that I would need to go shopping for maternity clothing at some point soon.
“Yeah, I want to talk to her.”
We had hung out a bit more with his close friends since the party, but I still hadn’t gotten any of their numbers. And I still wasn’t necessarily close to any of them. But Vanessa seemed sensible and kind, and I knew that she wouldn’t mind listening to me talk about what I was going through.
"All right, of course,” Lucas said, handing me his phone open to Vanessa’s contact info. I copied down her number into my phone, then thanked him and headed out.
“Where are you going?” he asked before I could get to the door.
“I’m going on break,” I said over my shoulder. “I’m due for one.”
“Ahhh, of course. Have fun.” He smiled and waved at me as I left, and then turned back to the work on his desk.
I couldn’t really think of a better place to call her, so I headed to the women’s restrooms and locked myself in one of the stalls. Then I took a deep breath and texted Vanessa’s number.
Hey, it’s Bernadette. I was wondering if we could talk.
It took a few moments, but a reply soon came back through.
Sure. Did you want to just text? Or would you rather call?
Can we call? If that’s okay with you.
Of course. Go ahead.
Taking another deep breath and listening to make sure that there was no one else in the restroom, I dialed Vanessa’s number and waited for her to pick up.
It only took one ring, and then she was on the other end of the line with her no-nonsense voice. It was comforting, reminding me a bit of my mom.
