7| How did the slap go viral ?

LISA

It was morning already.

I didn’t even need a mirror to know I looked like a raccoon after a flood.

I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, unknowingly letting everything from yesterday slowly crawl back into my mind.

Adrian.

The slap.

Mira’s Garden.

Monica.

Her words.

People staring.

My chest burning.

And then Brian.

Movie night.

His silly comments.

I exhaled shakily.

“Great,” I muttered to myself. “Now I’m embarrassed about two different people.”

My phone kept buzzing violently on the nightstand.

I didn’t even need to check, I already knew who it was. Only one person called this early and this aggressively.

Raya.

I reached over and grabbed the phone.

“Hello…”

“DON’T ‘HELLO’ ME!” she snapped so loudly I jerked the phone away from my ear.

I winced. “Good morning to you too..”

“LISA CASTILLO.”

Oh boy. Full name. That’s never good.

“What the hell did you do yesterday?!”

I blinked. “…define ‘what’.”

“YOU SLAPPED ADRIAN. TWICE.”

Ah. She found out.

Of course she did. The woman has information channels like she’s running the CIA.

“Okay,” I said quietly. “So you know.”

“KNOW?! GIRL I GOT A VIDEO. A FULL VIDEO. HIGH DEFINITION. WHO SLAPPED HIM? YOU. WHO SWUNG LIKE SHE TRAINED WITH BRUCE LEE? YOU. WHO LANDED TWO PERFECT COMBO-HITS? YOU.”

I groaned loudly and rolled onto my stomach.

“Why is there a video?! Who the hell recorded that?!”

“Half of the city apparently!” she yelled. “It’s going around like free popcorn! You’re practically a celebrity!”

I covered my face with the pillow.

Fantastic.

This is how I die.

Not from heartbreak,

From public embarrassment.

“Raya,” I muffled into the pillow, “I want to move to another country.”

“Well too late,” she said. “You’re famous here now.”

I sighed and sat up, leaning against the headboard. “Can you please not yell?”

“Can YOU please not assault your ex-husband in public like you’re auditioning for a telenovela?”

“I didn’t assault him!” I shouted back. “Okay, maybe a little…”

“A LITTLE?!” she practically choked. “Lisa, you slapped him like you were trying to get a demon out of his soul.”

I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t too exhausted.

“Fine. I slapped him. But he deserved it.”

“Oh I agree,” she said immediately. “He deserved more than that. But why now? What triggered it?”

I closed my eyes and suddenly I heard her laugh.

“ Why you laughing “ I asked feeling weird.

“ Oh boy!! I really wish I could see your face right now Lisa… do you even know how satisfied I was seeing the slap you gave him.”

I knew she was like this… I thought with my hands on my head and my phone on the bed.

Her voice softened.

“Lisa… what happened yesterday?”

I swallowed.

My fingers curled around the blanket.

“I ran into Monica.”

Silence.

“…Where?” Raya asked, voice low.

“At Mira’s Garden.”

“Your new favorite restaurant?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh I’m putting that place on fire.”

“Raya…!”

“No. On fire. Flames. Chaos. She ruined your new comfort space. Unacceptable.”

I rubbed my temple. “Please don’t commit arson on my behalf.”

“I’ll think about it,” she muttered. “What did she do?”

I hesitated…

And then the words poured out, messy and fast.

“She sat at my table. She said I stole Adrian from her. She reminded me that she’d been dating him for five years. She said I was the snatcher. She embarrassed me in front of strangers. Everyone stared. I just… I couldn’t breathe.”

I felt my throat closing again just thinking about it.

I hated that feeling.

The choking.

The burning and

The humiliation.

On the other end, I heard Raya inhale sharply.

“That bitch.”

“Yeah.”

“That bitch.”

“Yes, Raya.”

“That motherfreaking bitch…”

“Okay, you can stop repeating..”

“NO I CAN’T STOP, THAT BITCH! Lisa, why didn’t you call me?! I would’ve dragged her by the hair across the parking lot!”

A weak laugh escaped me. “You were at work.”

“I don’t care! Work can wait when my best friend is being harassed by a glorified homewrecker.”

“She said I stole him from her,” I whispered, staring at the blanket.

Silence again.

But this time, soft.

“Lisa… don’t you ever believe that,” she said firmly. “You didn’t steal anything. Adrian is a grown man. He lied. He cheated. He betrayed you. That’s not on you.”

My chest tightened.

“I know,” I murmured. “But hearing her say it again… like I was the villain… it just…”

“It hurts,” she finished quietly.

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me.

“Yeah.”

I heard her sigh deeply. “Okay. I’m coming over.”

“No!” I sat up straight. “Don’t come over. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Well that sucks,” she said. “Because I’m already putting on my socks.”

“Raya.”

“Yes?”

“Stop putting on your socks.”

“Not happening.”

“Raya!”

“Socks are on.”

“Oh my god…”

“I’m grabbing my keys.”

“RAYA, NO…”

“See you in twenty minutes. Make coffee.”

She hung up.

I dropped the phone on my lap and groaned so loudly I nearly scared myself.

Great.

Exactly what I needed.

Raya storming into my misery.

I sent her the location. She knows I’ll send it anyway.

***RAYA ARRIVES***

“LISA!” she shouted like a mother yelling for a child who put the cat in the washing machine.

I poked my head out from the kitchen. “Stop screaming!”

She marched inside, her hair wild, her eyes hot. She removed her mittens and her jacket, leaving it on the couch.

“Where is she?” she demanded.

I sighed. “Raya, you took off your jacket and mittens and forgot your shoes.”

“Done.” She kicked them off dramatically. “Now talk.”

“We already talked,” I muttered.

“No,” she said, marching toward me. “Yesterday you panicked and today you summarized. I need DETAILS.”

I groaned. “Why?”

“Because I need to know exactly how close I am to beating someone up.”

I rubbed my face. “Do you want coffee?”

“Yes. And details.”

I poured her coffee and sat beside her at the counter.

She stared at me. I stared at my mug.

“So…” she began. “Start.”

I sighed deeply.

“Monica said it in pubs that she’d been dating Adrian for years. Even while he was with me. She said he never left her. She said I was the thief. And everyone at the restaurant heard it.”

Raya’s jaw clenched so hard I heard her teeth grind.

“I swear,” she whispered murderously, “I will pour hot coffee on her anywhere I see her… she just has to pray I’m not with one.”

That made me laugh unexpectedly.

But then the laugh broke halfway, turning into a soft, shaky exhale.

Raya noticed immediately.

Her voice softened.

“Hey… what’s that face?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I just… I felt so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.”

“I believed him, Raya. I believed everything he said. And the whole time he was with her. Five years. That means he was cheating on me from the start.”

Raya’s eyes softened.

“That man was broken before you met him,” she said. “And he broke you too. But listen to me, listen carefully none of that is your fault.”

A tear slipped down my cheek.

Damn it.

I didn’t want to cry today.

Raya reached over and pulled me into a hug, squeezing so tight my ribs complained.

“You are not a snatcher,” she whispered. “You are not the bad guy. You loved someone who lied. That’s all.”

I pressed my face against her shoulder.

“Then why do I feel so ashamed?”

“Because you’re human,” she said softly. “And because she said those words to hurt you.”

We stayed like that for a moment.

Then she pulled back suddenly.

“Okay, enough crying. Let’s fight back.”

“What?”

She clapped her hands. “Step one: you’re never going to that restaurant alone again.”

“Raya—”

“Step two: if Monica ever approaches you again, you call me IMMEDIATELY.”

“Raya, I’m not calling you to fight..”

“I SAID CALL.”

I groaned. “You’re insane.”

“Yes,” she said proudly. “But I’m your insane.”

I finally laughed again.

A real one.

She smiled triumphantly.

“There it is,” she said. “Your human face. Much better than the dead-eyes-from-yesterday look.”

I shoved her shoulder lightly. “Shut up.”

She grinned wider.

“Oh! And speaking of men,” she said. “How did things go with Brian?”

My face heated instantly.

Raya smirked.

“Oh? Oh?? Why are you blushing?”

“ You really look like a tomato right now “ she said and I hurt into laughter.

MONICA

“ Adrian what is this “ I said showing him the viral video of the slap.

He puffed a cigarette off and took my phone.

“ What the hell ?.”