1 - She's mine

"Susan, let's break up for now," her boyfriend Xavier said. Susan was stunned, and then she relaxed. It was the first of April. She picked her glass of wine elegantly with her slender fingers and sipped. Xavier had a good sense of humor.

"Good one Xavier, playing April fool on me? Please don't joke with something like that next time. It's too scary," she sighed. Being with Xavier for two years, she had grown to love him even though they didn't quite agree on many things but he was understanding. Seemingly, his next words shattered her heart, throwing them into a bin. He pressed his hand onto her free hand on the table, as he looked around the luxury restaurant. The couples around seemed to be in love but he couldn't say the same for himself.

"I'm sorry Susan but I'm not joking. I'm in love with someone else and she's pregnant for me." The wine in her hand dropped, and the glass broke. Her cream dress was stained with red wine but it was her heart bleeding.

Her left hand underneath his, shivered, moving swiftly as the warmth emitted burnt her. Another woman was pregnant for him. It would have been better if he killed her because the pain was unbearable, her voice shook, her expression in utter dismay. Warm, transparent liquid, descended from the corners of her eyes and she wiped it quickly.

"All this while when you accepted my no sex before marriage principle, I thought it was because you loved me," she recalled, realizing that her perception of him was all wrong. She was willing to change because of him but with a woman carrying his child in the picture, she didn't see a way. She was broken.

"I'm sorry but you weren't the only one. I was testing the waters and I'm convinced that you aren’t the one for me," he spoke slowly, his voice apologetic. Susan was a game for him. A spare tire. She didn't utter another word but Xavier left the restaurant covered in food. She didn't make it easy for him.

When she got home that day, she tossed the dress into the bin because she didn't want anything that would remind her of that night. She went to the bathroom and scraped her skin from the wine and food particles, till her skin became unbearably painful, and then she broke down and allowed her tears to freely fall.

That was three months ago but everything seemed like it happened yesterday. She was still in a daze as she watched her best friends arguing. Charlotte threw a towel at Amelia. The latter dodged and it fell to the floor. "Drop it into the washing machine right away," Susan yelled, feeling disheveled, just by seeing the towel on the maple wood floor.

Charlotte glared at her with an unreadable expression. Susan has always been weird but this was overboard. "That's a clean towel. Besides, your floor is cleaner than my washed coffee cup. I'll keep it in the closet," she said and sauntered towards the bedroom.

Susan lost it. If that towel came in contact with any of her things, she would have to wash them all. She yelled. "No, toss it into the washing machine."

Charlotte stopped in her tracks, seeing how serious she was. "If you continue like this, all men will run away from you. I mean no offense but girl, you have to slice this neatness shit," she turned around and headed to the laundry room. Susan was hurt. Charlotte just rubbed salt in her wounds but could she be right? This was the second time she had been dumped and she felt like a fool but not anymore.

"I need a rebound," she said in a daze, a transparent tear descending from her eyes down her cheeks.

"What did you say?" Amelia's voice brought her out of her trance, and at the same time, Charlotte returned.

"I need a rebound," she repeated, this time with certainty as she wiped the tears quickly. Susan wasn't vulnerable anymore and Charlotte was right. There was no man out there for her. She was pretty but different and was through with this shit. Thus, she wasn't going to allow any man to break her heart anymore.

"No, don't do this, Susan," Charlotte discouraged her. Unlike most people, Susan wasn't just attractive but very wonderful and kind to the core. She didn't mind giving her last even if it was going to kill her. Charlotte felt that Susan might regret it later and end up worse but Susan was determined.

She needed a man to make her forget the pain and give her great pleasure. Having her hymen intact at twenty-five was no longer a great trophy, but a huge burden. She didn't want any form of commitment. It was better this way. "You can either go with me or leave me to it. My mind is made up," she said in self-mockery.

She had kept her virginity for her wedding night but since that wasn't going to happen, she couldn't die with it. She was eager to enjoy the pleasure her friends kept speaking about. How she imagined it to be after she had exchanged vows with the one she loved but she didn't deserve anything like that.

Both Charlotte and Amelia knew that when Susan spoke like that, no one could discourage her and neither could they leave her on her own. They sent messages to their boyfriends to change their date location to the club. It was better for them to all stick together.

Susan took her time to dress up in her mini red shiny bareback dress with red stilettos. They were both gifts from Xavier. The day it was delivered to her, the note had a different name. Yes. Cristabel. When she asked Xavier, he said the attendant must have mixed it up with somebody else's gift. She was just realizing that he lied to her. She received it wrongly and he must have bought it for the other woman because he never took her to the club.

Remembering everything, felt like an act of perfect revenge. Wearing the dress he bought to entice another man. She had a slim figure, her full dark brown hair cascading down her back. Her make-up was flawless, her perfume alluring. Charlotte and Amelia gasped when she stepped out of her closet. They were dressed for a decent outing before coming to check on her so their dresses were just a little above the knee.

It was no use competing with Susan because she always stood out no matter what she wore. It was just a pity that she couldn't hold a guy, suffering a break-up twice.

They drove in Susans' car to the club since they would be going home with their boyfriends.

Susan walked to the counter through heavy dancers and heavy music and sat on a barstool, ordering two glasses of wine. She made Charlotte and Amelia know she was fine as they located their boyfriends and gave her some space. She gulped down the first glass of her favorite red wine, then the other, suddenly feeling good, as she ordered two more.

Her eyes caught a hot guy walking in her direction, seemingly interested in her. Susan smiled, throwing her head backward, making her hair seductively fly in that direction. This is exactly the kind of guy she had in mind. Too bad she was on pills. It wouldn't have been a bad idea to have his child. All she would have done was relocate to another country and raise the child as her own. The guy was hot and that was all that mattered. Whether or not he was responsible, she didn't care. The guy swallowed tightly, swung by her beauty. "Can we dance?" He held out his hand to her, his lips curling upwards.

"Of…" Before the word of course left her mouth, a deep, sensual, and yet domineering voice echoed through the club. Eyes turned in the direction of the voice.

"Stay away, She's mine!"

Susan was startled, as she swapped her head in the man's direction. Her breath caught in her throat. His shirt hung perfectly on his broad sexy body. His honey blonde hair was neatly combed and his light brown eyes sparkled. He stood out from the crowd, his attraction permeating through her but she soon came to her senses. She didn't like the way her breath caught up at the sight of the man. She didn't want any entanglement, just a rebound.

"No, I don't know this man," she yelled in a panic-stricken voice, many eyes turned in her direction. Her friends quickly rush to her side.

"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked worriedly while hugging her as Amelia stroked her hair. Their performance had attracted a lot of attention but the man was unmoved. He grabbed her by the arm, lifting her from the barstool, and stared into her light hazel eyes lovingly, she froze. Then he turned to the crowd, "we are just a couple having a misunderstanding."

Sighs were heard as the attention died. Susan as well as her friends were too stunned to speak but when she saw the hot guy's retreating figure, she knew that she had to do something. Maybe this sexy guy was mistaking her for somebody else and she didn't want to lose the hot guy. She needed this.

Before she said a word, his lip found hers without permission, as he took his sweet time, exploring her mouth passionately, his aura saturating her. When he pulled away, her eyes were still closed, her lips parted, as she stood dreamily, desiring more.

"I'm Andrew," the voice brought her back to reality, as she quickly composed herself, seeing his hand stretched towards her.

"Susan, Susan Stack," she yelled to dominate the loud music. A shiver spread through her when their hands collided.

"Andrew Brown, you wanna dance?" He asked hopefully, not taking his eyes off her. Her friends returned to their boyfriends.

"No, I just want to have sex. Are you up to it?" She asked hastily. The wine had given her the needed confidence. She could see Andrew taken by surprise but she waited for his response. If he wasn't up to it, she would just chase after the first guy. She was so determined.