a journey of self-discovery, independence and learning that maybe, just maybe, being single isn't so bad after all
HOW TO BE SINGLE
SIDEMEN
(SIMON, CHRIS & LEWIS)
DEATHLIES 2017
(inspired by the movie how to be single)
t h i r t y e i g h t " a girl who was falling in love " -
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Adela didn't think much of it when Lewis said he didn't want to cook with her that afternoon and that he wanted to take her out for lunch instead. His company had just released its new season of clothing and he'd said he wanted to celebrate.
Adela couldn't say no to him. Not when he begged her with those puppy-dog eyes, deeply brown and dangerously awe-capturing. The way he would look at her as she spoke to him about whatever book was going through the publication office that week made her want to talk to him for the rest of her life.
No one else. Not even Alice. And that was bad. She adored Alice, but she was definitely a girl falling in love and a girl who just couldn't help herself.
That didn't have to be a bad thing. She deserved this after the heartache she'd endured, the heartbreak that was only just beginning to mend.
Stitching her heart together would've taken years and years on her own, but with an extra pair of hands she was met in the middle by a man.
A man who just had the right hand to pull her back to her feet and whisk her away into the next chapter. Maybe it was only the second chapter, but deep down she hoped it was the last chapter. She hoped this was her happy ending as she fastened her necklace and pulled her hair free. Every part of her wanted this to be it and every part of her felt that it was.
There was no denying the pull that grasped her every time he walked in the room with his bright smile and protective nature.
"You look amazing," Lewis said from the doorway to her bedroom, leading on the door frame with his signature smirk plastered across his mouth, just how she liked it.
He crossed the room towards her in long strides, towered over her as he pressed an unnecessary kiss to her cheek. Adela blushed beneath his lips, still tingling at his touch and wondered whether it would ever get old to feel beautiful again.
"And you look as handsome as ever," Adela replied, leaning back into him as he wrapped his arms around her. She looked at him in the mirror and realised that they fit together perfectly. His chin rested on her head, arms around her, her hands held his wrists, and the fattest grin on her glossy mouth.
"Save the flirting for the date," Lewis joked, but he gazed into the mirror at the sight of them too, looked into her eyes through the reflection of everything she'd ever hoped for.
"You started it," She grumbled in response, faking a pout as she turned to face him, the real him, hands pressed on his chest. He lifted a hand to her cheek, brushing the stray hair from her face.
"You're going to need to bring a jacket," He said, cutting short off the moment she'd thought had been building where he either asked her a very important question or ruined her meticulously applied lip gloss.
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Cora had sat alone for the rest of the night until Rosa came upstairs, making a bee-line for her room. She came barging in, bottle of wine in each hand and plopped herself down on the bed next to Cora.
"Rough night?" Rosa asked, handing her the bottle, which she'd already opened for ease.
"You could say that," Cora admit, taking a long gulp of the red wine, letting it lie on her tongue before sending it down her throat. "But I'll get over him."
"Him? You mean Chris, right?" Rosa pushed, readying her own bottle to take a drink, holding it so close to her mouth it was almost torture.
"I don't want to talk about it. Can we just drink like nothing's happened, please?" Cora said, not looking to her life-long friend.
"Okay," Rosa said, knowing she meant it. "Do you want something stronger?"
"Wine is fine," Cora replied, downing another gulp.
"Cora, I don't think this is the best thing to do right now," Rosa said meekly, shrinking away when Cora's dark eyes turned on her in a flash.
"What else am I supposed to do? I haven't felt like this in a very long time and the one time I do, he gets a girlfriend right as I think I'm ready to tell him how I feel," Cora snapped and then sighed heavily, rested her head against the backboard of her bed and drank. "Fuck this."
And that that was the end of that. They sat together drinking for a while before Rosa said she wanted to go to sleep. Cora agreed, and that was the first night the two best-friends had shared a bed since they were teens with a thousand words of gossip to share in one eve.
When she woke the next morning, she gently shook Rosa awake. With a groan, she rolled her face into the pillow and tried to sleep again, but Cora wouldn't let her.
With her head still on the pillow, Cora said, "I think it's time to delete them."
"Delete who?" Rosa's voice was muffled through the pillow.
"All my contacts. 'Derek, married', 'Shawn, average', 'JJ, rich'. You getting the picture?" Cora explained, pushing herself up on her elbow and looking down at her friend who turned over onto her back.
"You're serious?" Her eyes shifted suspiciously to Cora, not quite having the heart to believe the words that were finally coming from her mouth.
"Yeah," Cora replied, "I thought about it a lot before I fell asleep and I think it's the best way forwards. Besides," she shrugged her shoulders, "you're right. Drinking isn't going to magic me up the love of my life."
Rosa laughed softly. "Am I dreaming or is Cora's cold heart finally melting?"
"Bloody hell," Cora said with a laugh, head falling to the side, resting on her shoulder. "I'm turning soft, aren't I?" Before she could dwell on it anymore, she reached her arm back and felt for her phone. Finally, she found it and pulled up her contacts.
First on the list was 'Atlas, very hot'. Cora held her breath and clicked delete.
With every contact she deleted, it felt like she was flicking through the pages of a book, rapidly approaching a new chapter. She was ready for that new chapter, she realised when she'd been half a bottle of wine deep and falling asleep. And she was coming for it, arms open wide and a grin on her face. Her heart might ache, but that didn't stop her legs from propelling her into the next phase of her life.
The phase where she would rebuilt herself, putting the years of partying and leisurely sex behind her and readying for the commitment she was looking for.
