Chapter 3 ENEMIES ON A NARROW ROAD

"...Can you believe him? Such a prick. I want to punch his handsome face with his suitcase, goddammit! Who cares about being a respectful lawyer when you have to put up with a jackass for a principal?" Hailey was saying.

Hailey picked her up later that evening and took her to a bar. Hailey said she was a VIP member, so they got to stay in a private room.

Diane knew that her friend was drunk. Tipsy and infuriated. It just happened that her boss was a hot and incorrigible person.

It's been an hour since they were in the room, talking about everything and anything, and Diane was basking in the contentment of having her friend by her side.

Her arrival at home was not as bad as she had thought. Yes, her father may have flown in rage, her mother may have been spitfire, and her brother may have rubbed her head like she was a golden retriever, but one thing was sure: they were glad she was back, that she was better, that she was happy.

She knew they still moved around eggshells with her present, but they only did it with concern, which warmed her heart.

When she explained her reason for not joining the company immediately, her father had mellowed down. "Of course, you are our princess; we will treat you as such!" He had grumbled.

But she needed to grow independent. To be capable of the position she would take at their family business before joining the company. Her brother, thankfully, had helped her escape their mother's wrath. She kept looking at Diane with murderous eyes that could kill. But her family had been settled. She had only driven to her apartment when her best friend came around to 'give her a life. '

Getting her a life meant sitting in a room with beer and coke and gossiping all night. Diane filled her friend in on how she spent her last year- the good part, though. While Hailey spilled premium tea on the happenings in their social circle, now Hailey was ranting about her strict boss nonstop.

"...are you even listening?" Hailey called in distress.

"Yes, yes, of course. Your boss is a hottie and should be canceled for that!" Diane replied.

Hailey rolled her eyes, "That too, but that was not what I said; I want to pee."

"Ohhh," Diane grinned sheepishly.

"What to do with you." Hailey snorted.

"Let's go then; I want to ensure you don't hit your head on a sink. You are wasted."

"I'm not, unlike someone, I can hold my liquor."

"Ehhh, whatever." Diane nudged her friend up, and they walked outside their private room only to bump into a couple.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, my friend is..." Diane's voice trailed as she looked up.

"Diane!" A shrill voice cried before them.

"Oh shit. Was her luck just this bad?

"H-hi, Chloe," Diane forced a smile. "Austin"

Her hand ran cold. She finally looked up at them, and her breath hitched momentarily.

"Fancy seeing you around!" Chloe purred in a high pitch. She never really noticed how loud Chloe was till today.

Her heart for a second had stopped beating; Austin was looking very well, even more refined than before, and for him to frequent this bar, he was more loaded. In his arm was Chloe, who looked rather dainty and delicate. They were quite the couple.

Diane had thought she was over it, but the way her breath hitched, and a forgotten pain pressed down on her chest, blocking her airways, she knew that she wasn't totally over it. But she wouldn't show it, so she plastered a polite smile and turned to leave.

"Anne, what are you doing in this kind of place," Austin asked with concern dripping from his voice, concern that she so wanted to shove back up into his arse. She could see Chloe stiffen at Austin's concern. Maybe she should have felt triumphant, but it felt like dirt being shoved in her face.

"It's none of your business." She replied coldly. She turned to leave with her friend, whom she knew was holding it in from blasting at the couple.

That's progress, Hailey, keep it in.

If Hailey had an outburst, it was going to be over. She was going to raze the entire bar down in anger

"Maybe it is not, but if you are doing this to spite me, you don't have to. It's been a year now, and we all should move on," Austin said with a very self-righteous tone. Diane did not know whether to cry or laugh.

She could see him glancing at the room they were coming out from in suspicion, and Diane knew that all the concern bullshit was to feed his stupid ego.

Diane just scoffed, "I really can't do this. Hailey, let's go."

"Anne, I know you must have snuck or, worse still, followed some uncle to come here to look for Austin, but it's not you, and it's not right; please let us help you. We can get you out of here without the bouncers embarrassing you or the uncle disturbing you anymore." Chloe moved closer to Diane, intercepting her exit.

Diane's lips twitched as her eyes narrowed down on Chloe. Chloe was eying the private room she and her friend had just exited, and it dawned on her.

Austin and Chloe must have thought she wasn't fit to be in such an exquisite establishment, so it was either she sneaked it or she was prostituting an older man.

She was speechless at this. Ha! The audacity.

She looked at Chloe and Austin from the hood of her eyes and opened her mouth, but her friend, who seemed to have had enough, beat her to it.

"If it isn't the Adulterous couple!" Hailey scoffed. "If you don't get out of our way, I promise I will. I'll tear your pretentious face off your head."

Chloe bit her lips like a wronged person and shrunk into Austin's embrace. "Anne, who's this rabid dog?"

"You and your entire family are rabid-"

"Hail, let's just go." Diane held Hailey's hand and pushed her way against Chloe.

"Honey, why is she upset? I just wanted to help!" She heard Chloe cry.

"Do not mind her; she will regret it..." Austin's voice trailed behind her as she dragged Hailey away and into the restroom.

Hailey's face was beet red with anger. "What. Was. That." She bit out.

"That was Chloe," Diane sighed and slumped against a sink.

"That thing? I know, alright? I may or may not have stalked Austin to beat him to a pulp." Hailey snorted. She never met Chloe throughout. She never met Austin's family, just Austin. She didn't bother; she didn't like the man anyway. But after she heard what he did to her friend, she wanted to comfort him in the heat of the moment and had seen him once or twice with the lady in his arms.

Diane let out a breath she did not know she had been holding. She had always imagined meeting those two, but she hadn't imagined feeling pathetic after meeting them. Their pretentious concern was vile,

So disgusting that she bursted into self-deprecating laughter. The picture of the last time she saw those two became fresh. Austin, naked and pleading, and Chloe, waiting to spill whatever was to spill, but now, time had given them audacity.

They were looking down at her with a self-righteous approach. The guts of them. But she could see the guilt, the embarrassment that Austin tried to hide. He didn't look her in the eyes still. She made him!

To whatever he was today, he owed her every single dime.

"Oh, didi." Hailey hugged her when she noticed Diane spiraling. Her laugh had morphed into silent sobs.

"It hurts, you know." Diane sniffed.

"I know, if you'd let me, I would have given them a taste of their medicine and would have thrown them out; the owner of the bar owes me a favor or two." Hailey sighed, exasperated for not scratching the woman's face earlier as she consoled her friend.

"Nah." Diane chuckled amidst her tears and embraced her friend tighter. She felt a little better now. "I thought you wanted to pee."

"Oh, yeah, my bladder!" Hailey exclaimed.

Flushing came from one of the cubicles, and a young, skimpily dressed lady walked out, giving the two friends a weird look before scampering away.

The ladies burst into giggles at the weird look.

"We left the room with our stuff in there, remember? We have to hurry; I don't feel good about it. Diane cleaned her eyes with the back of her palm.

"Aye, Aye, Captain!" Hailey gave a mock salute and hurried inside one of the cubicles while Diane stared at her reflection in the mirrors. There was one thing Diane was very sure of: she knew that she was still not over the betrayal. She was still hurting, but she was sure she no longer loved Austin.