Her whole life was going all over the place, much like the contents of her stomach she just threw up all over the floor. She had been drinking scotch for the past two and a half hours, pouring her life story to the barkeeper. By now, she had quit using shot glasses and was chugging down the liquor bottle.
"Alright, that's it, you've had enough," the barkeeper said, waving over to the two men standing by the door. "You've got to go home, buddy."
She rolled her eyes, wiping her chin. She smiled provocatively to the two men coming towards her, stood up, and without warning, fell back towards the barstool.
She woke up the morning after, vaguely remembering getting into a cab and handing her address. She remembered drinking two bottles of scotch, driving furiously to the bar, and before all that, finding out her boyfriend was going to get married to her sister.
She scoffed, and cringed as she felt the telltale signs of a severe hangover.
Maybe she would be less distressed if he was marrying anyone but Vera. At least if the marriage did push through, she wouldn't need to be a part of that married life. To think that of all people, it had to be her sister was simply adding insult to injury.
It didn't help at all that Vera was the better of the two sisters. She was kind, compassionate, and uncontemporarily beautiful. Anna was definitely more stunning than her older sister, but Vera is pretty and gets prettier every look. Anna was more of a one-hit wonder. Sure, she could get boys to take a second look, but Vera can get them to stare for hours. She was Anna's most trusted friend and at the same time her fiercest competitor.
Of course, it can't be helped. After all, Vera got to Andrew first.
She was fourteen and Vera was seventeen when she first introduced Andrew to their parents. Needless to say, Andrew was Anna's first crush. She spent many Math classes scribbling Mrs. Anna Avery on her notebook. Two years later, Vera and Andrew's relationship grew stale and they were on the verge of breaking up. She could hear Vera from the other room crying and she looked out the window to see Andrew walking away. At that point she ran out of the house and followed him.
They've been seeing each other secretly since. Andrew did eventually fix his relationship with her sister, and Vera did not suspect anything of their clandestine affair. For a while, Anna was happy, and so was Vera. Andrew and even she had herself convinced that he would break things off with her sister, and he promised her the day she left for college that he will be waiting for her return.
To be fair, he did wait for her. But she wasn't expecting there to also be a wedding invitation in the process.
"Faye, come over," she muttered over the phone, before hanging up. She lagged towards the kitchen cabinet, reaching for the teabags. Two cups of earl grey later, her best friend came over.
"Oh wow. We spent four years together in an apartment and I have never once seen you touch alcohol. What gives, Dormer?" Faye exclaimed, raising one eyebrow.
"Well, for four years it never occurred to me that I may have a lying bastard for a boyfriend," she muttered. "Until one day, I hop off a train and I get a wedding invite for hello."
Faye was beside her in seconds, patting her on the back. "If it helps, I did tell you to get your hands on as many fratboys as you can."
"Not helping, Faye!" she glared. She sniffed at the thought of how many suitors she warded off, all that dedication wasted on a stupid, heartless jerk. "I already feel bad as it is."
Faye softened at the sight of her best friend crying. She had her arms on her shoulder in an instant. "So tell me who I got to kill."
She giggled childishly at her question, before responding. "Thanks, but I don't think killing my sister would make my life any better." Faye gasped. "Or would it?"
"Vera? Andrew left you for Vera?" Faye asked in horror, eyes huge.
"Yes, well. You know how I told you that I made out with my sister's boyfriend once? That boyfriend is actually Andrew. And I'm pretty sure he was still her boyfriend at the time," she chuckled, taking a sip of her third cup of tea.
"No," she cried in disbelief, "so you stole your sister's boyfriend? I can't believe we've been BFFs for four years and you're just telling this to me now!"
"Hush your horses, Gilbert. I'm not done with the story yet." Faye quickly silenced her mouth. "They were in a big fight at the time, and I was sure they were about to break up then. But Andrew insisted that it would be bad for Vera if he ended the relationship abruptly like that, so he suggested we keep 'us' a secret for a while, while he tries to break it off gently."
"Gently?!"
"Gently," she nodded. "Apparently gently meant never in his vocabulary. Bastard promised me we'd be together when I get back."
Faye thought for a moment, before talking in a hush voice. "You know what we have to do, right?"
"What?"
Faye grinned diabolically. "Revenge. Teach him a lesson he won't soon forget."
