A shattered world

Lucy’s POV

“This can't be happening … this can't be happening. I must be having a nightmare.” I think to myself as I stare in horror at the sight before me, and tears of disbelief fill my eyes.

That loud, twinkling, feminine laughter that I would recognize any day, any time, comes again, but for the first time in my life, it fills me with revulsion instead of joy.

Different emotions, the most pressing of which are shock, disbelief, and confusion, all battle for their place on my face as I stare at my bestie, Amy, who is the person laughing.

She has just entered the restaurant where I’d been waiting for over two hours for my husband, Austin, or soon-to-be-ex-husband, by the looks of things, to show up.

Amy is arm in arm with Austin, and I just watched them kiss each other intimately on the lips, with tongue and all.

You see, tonight is my first wedding anniversary. Austin and I made reservations at this restaurant to celebrate, but he stood me up without any explanation, and now, I can clearly see why.

As I watch, they settle down in a booth in a corner of the restaurant, and she leans towards him for another kiss, which he returns eagerly. My stomach starts to churn immediately, and I fight the urge to retch.

These are the two people I love most in the world right now, for goodness’ sake! How can they do this to me?

I get up and walk on autopilot to their booth while clutching my chest tightly because it feels like my heart is about to pound its way out of my chest. She is resting against him, and his hand is on her right boob when I get to them.

  “What … what’s going on here?” I ask in a broken voice.

They spring apart immediately, guilt written all over them, and it’s clear that they didn’t expect to see me there. Maybe they thought I would have left by now.

“Lucy, babe! Oh, thank goodness you're here. We were worried that you would have left already. Austin was held up with work, and he was afraid that you’d be mad that he got here late, so he pleaded with me to come along with him to beg you.” Amy tells me, getting up and stretching her arms towards me for a hug, but I shrink away from her, not believing a single word that has just come out of her mouth.

“What’s the matter?” She asks, her forehead creasing in what looks like confusion.

“I saw you just now. You were kissing my husband. How could you? You're supposed to be one of my best friends. And you, Austin, how could you betray me with the person I call my best friend?”

“I don’t know what you're talking about, Lucy. How can you say such a thing? All I did was hug Austin. I didn’t realize it was a crime to hug your husband. You’ve hugged my boyfriend in the past, and I had no issues with it because I know you see him as a brother, which by the way, is exactly the way I see Austin, so hearing you say what you just said is really disturbing.” Amy says, still looking confused, while Austin doesn’t say anything.

“But … but you kissed him …” I insist, but my tone is weak now as I suddenly doubt myself. What if I was mistaken in what I saw?

Maybe the distance from where I was sitting to the booth, coupled with the somewhat low lighting and the fact that my emotions aren't the best right now, affected my vision. Besides, I’ve had a couple of drinks while waiting for Austin, so maybe my judgment is impaired.

“No, I didn’t kiss him. You probably thought so because of the distance between here and where you were sitting, and also because of the angle we were in. The thought of kissing your husband is enough to cause me to retch. Jeez! Don’t ever say such a thing again. It’s so gross.” Amy tells me, echoing my thoughts.

She sounds very serious like she’s telling the truth, but I can’t get the disgusting image of her kissing him, or him fondly her boob right there in the restaurant out of my head.

Before I can overthink, I see proof of the fact that I'm not crazy or drunk and that all of this isn’t just a figment of my imagination.

The proof is Austin’s lips … those lips that I’ve kissed a thousand times before. They’re stained the exact same shade of red that is Amy’s lipstick, and when I look at her again, I can see that her lipstick is smudged.

“I knew it. I knew I wasn’t mistaken. You backstabbing, evil betrayers. Her lipstick is all over your mouth!” I exclaim, and unable to help myself, I begin to cry again.

People are watching us now … I can feel their interested gazes on us, but I couldn’t care less, not when my heart feels like someone has plunged a dagger into it and is mercilessly twisting it.

“Do you know you're embarrassing me? The whole restaurant is watching us for goodness' sake. Sit your ass down and stop making such a spectacle.” Austin says in irritation, and I gasp in disbelief.

This is the first time since I’ve known him that he's talking to me in such a disrespectful tone. As he finishes talking, a waiter approaches us cautiously.

“Is everything okay here? Do I need to call security?” The man asks.

“No, no need for that. She’s just being a drama queen.” Austin replies to him, and he leaves.

“A … are you being serious right now? That’s what you're going to say after I caught you making out with my so-called best friend in public?”

“You know what? I don’t have time for this. You're becoming something else with your constant nagging, and I can't stand it anymore.” He snaps at me and gets up.

“Austin, calm down. You kept her waiting all night. No wonder she’s hurt.” Amy tells him, pretending to defend me, but suddenly I can see right through her, and it is clear as day that she’s enjoying this spectacle.

“No. I’m tired of her and the marriage. Just look at how she embarrassed us in public. I want a divorce, Lucy. I’ll get the papers ready as soon as possible, you’ll sign them, and we’ll both be free of each other. I can't do this anymore. Let’s go, Amy.” Says Austin.

“I don’t understand. You kissed someone else, and probably have been doing heaven knows what with her before now, but you're threatening me with divorce as though I'm the one who’s cheating? Is this a joke or what?” I ask him, still trying to wrap my head around the unexpected events of this evening.

I soon find out that he’s not joking at all. After a few more minutes of back and forth between us, he leaves the restaurant with Amy, who has stopped pretending to be innocent.

In fact, she sneers at me behind his back as they leave, and clings tightly to him as they leave the restaurant, while I sink into the nearest chair and give in to bitter tears of misery, totally unaware of the mysterious man in the corner, who has been watching everything unfold.