ELIZA

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: RECONCILIATION

"What's going on?" she asked shakily. "How can you--" she broke off as a tear rolled down her cheek.

I shouldn't be ashamed because I hadn't done anything wrong. I started dating Tom when he was no longer in a relationship. And yet... I couldn't bring myself to look at Barb. I couldn't help it but deep down I felt I had betrayed my friend. I met Tom thanks to her. Had it not been for this meeting, Barb and I would have never had an argument, because I wouldn't have fallen in love.

Discomfort and embarrassment hovered in the air. Tom took matters into his own hands again.

"It's not Eliza's fault," he tried to justify me, and I was really grateful for it. I looked at him as my savior. "I'm the one who insists on meetings. In fact, I'd like to get your approval..."

"WHAT?" her crying turned to pure anger. "You want a blessing from me?! You're backstabbing me and now you're asking for my approval?! How am I supposed to know when it started?!"

"How could you..." I stammered, but she snapped back.

"And how could YOU?!" she screamed in retaliation. "You're a two-faced bitch!"

"Okay, that's enough," Tom interrupted our quarrel.

He pulled Barb brutally out of my apartment, whispered to me goodbye, and with her swearing and waving her hands by his side, walked towards the stairs.

I didn't know what they were talking about. I couldn't fall asleep for a long time and for many hours I wondered if I should write to Barb or Tom. I even picked up my mobile phone a few times, but every time I wrote something and read it again, I found it pointless, and then deleted the message.

In the morning, a text message was waiting for me. To my surprise, it was not from Tom, but from Barb, and was written in a friendly manner.

"Hey, sorry for yesterday, can we meet?"

I could think of only one solution - Tom. He had to talk to his ex-girlfriend yesterday. Otherwise, I couldn't explain how it was possible for her to change her attitude so dramatically. Barb rarely apologized.

I wrote back "okay".

I was very nervous when I took the bus. We made an appointment in a quiet restaurant, which we often stopped by after class. It was a twenty-meter-high diner bar with the scent of shisha smoke in the air. Whenever I went in there, I always felt relaxed, which made me think that someone was distributing some drugs in the kitchen.

But when I got there to meet Barb, my theory failed. I didn't feel relaxed at all, what's more, I got a bad pain in my stomach.

Barb was late as usual, but I wasn't surprised. I got used to it. She always used to say that the most important thing is a good entrance.

I tried to make good excuses in my mind, but none seemed to be good enough. I hesitated between leaving the pub, and staying.

Barb showed up after fifteen minutes. She was very neatly dressed. Strangely, she didn't seem angry or offended. She even smiled at me in greeting.

"Hey," she said, taking the seat across from me. She didn't apologize for being late, but I'd known her too long to make a scene for it. I just regretted coming earlier. Deep down, I was hoping that Barb would be sorry for the words she said yesterday, about the fact that I am a two-faced bitch, but she ignored it.

"Hey," I said, trying not to sound harsh or upset.

"What's up?" she asked, beckoning the waiter over with a nod of head. She was acting like yesterday's meeting didn't take place, and I was shocked at how easy it was for her.