Whispers of Deceit, Echoes of Love

Chapter 5

Emily watched Sophia walk away before turning to the still-standing man before her. His eyes were also fixed on the woman walking away. “What? You want to go after her?”

Eric turned to her, his face blank. He sat down and leaned back on the booth seats. Crossing his arms, he fixed his gaze on Emily, “why was she here?”

Emily shrugged, “it’s a popular place, Eric. She probably thought she would come here and drown her sorrows or something.”

Eric knew Emily probably better than Sophia had ever known her. Looking at the woman before him, he could not help but think she had something to do with Sophia being here. She had called him earlier, asking him to meet her for lunch, saying she was still upset about what had happened the night before. Either he came to her, or she went to his office. Not wanting drama, he opted to meet her instead.

Eric glanced at the key lying on the table. “I hope you had nothing to do with her being here, Em.”

“Baby, don’t you trust me?” Emily pouted. “The only thing I did was try to apologize to her. We never meant to hurt her, but she has to know that you and I are in love.” She reached over and placed her hands, palms up, on the table.

Eric sighed and took hold of her hands, “We had agreed that I would break up with her. Even if we are in love, Em, I have been with her for four years.”

“And you have been with me for the past three!” Emily could feel her anger increasing. She had always hated it when Eric took Sophia’s side.

Eric shook his head, “look, I came like you called. Can we have lunch so I can get back to work? Then we can talk about all this when I get off. Ok?”

Emily smiled, “of course, baby.” She reached for the key that was in between them. “I am keeping this.”

Eric shrugged but did not say a thing. His eyes wandered to the entrance, but Sophia was already gone. He had thought she would look broken from all this, but she actually looked good. Her eyes were clear, her voice firm. He did not know how to feel about it.

Sophia had always been the emotional one. She cried when she was happy, she cried when sad, and all her emotions were always written on her face. Looking at her earlier, her face was void of any emotions. And that scared Eric.

Looking at the woman before him, he remembered their first time together. One drunk night, they all had a party at Emily’s house. Sophia, being a lightweight, had already passed out by the time all those invited left. Only Eric and Emily had remained. It was Emily who made the first move—rubbing against him as he helped her clean up. She openly flirted with him, slow dancing on him as he stood by the table watching her.

By the time she had placed her lips over his, he could not resist her. They had done it right there in the sitting room as Sophia slept in the next room. After they were done, Eric had gone to Sophia, holding her close throughout the night.

When morning came, Emily had acted as if nothing had happened, and so, taking his cue from her, so did he. Though the guilt ate at him, he could not bring himself to ask Emily about it, opting to forget that it ever happened.

It would have worked if Emily hadn’t cornered him two days later at his apartment. He was working from home that day. Emily showed up early in the morning, stating they needed to discuss what had happened between them.

Eric was ready to take the blame for it but was utterly surprised when Emily confessed her feelings for him. According to her, Emily had been in love with him for the past two years. She fell in love with him even before he started dating Sophia. She fought her feelings because Sophia was her friend. What happened was not a mistake but something she had wanted to do for a long time.

Eric had been speechless. Yes, Emily was and is very attractive, but he never harbored feelings for her apart out of mutual respect. He tried to explain to her that he was in love with Sophia and could not picture his life without her, but Emily had challenged that. She had asked him if he believed that he and Sophia would end up together. Or that he didn’t feel anything during their time together the night of the party. And that day had been the start of their affair.

“Eric?” Emily’s slightly annoyed voice brought him back to the present.

“Yes?”

Emily rolled her eyes. She sat back, and crossed her arms with a pout on her face, “you were not listening to me.”

“Sorry, a lot is happening at work,” Eric leaned forward. He folded his arms on the table and smiled at her, “what were you saying?”

Emily stared at him for a few more seconds before asking, “Do you know what you will do with Sophia’s stuff? I want to bring in my stuff.”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Eric replied. He had not thought about it until Sophia mentioned it a few minutes ago. Getting rid of her stuff felt like erasing all the years spent together. Eric frowned. He loved Sophia, he really did. But he also loved Emily.

“Well, she did give you three choices,” Emily shrugged. “I can come over tonight to help you sort them out if you want.”

Eric shook his head, “No need. I think I will just hand them over to Mrs. S. Come on, let’s eat. Thanks for ordering for me,” he smiled as their meal was placed in front of them. For the next twenty minutes, they ate with little conversation going on. Eric’s mind kept going back to Sophia, though. And as soon as they were done, Eric settled the bill and walked Emily to her car. With a quick peck on the cheek, he sent her off before he also walked to his car. Getting there, he could not make himself drive off. Instead, he reached for his phone. Scrolling over his contacts, he came to the one he wanted. He drummed the wheel as he waited for the phone to be connected.

“What do you want?”

Eric heaved a silent sigh of relief. The phone rang for a while before it connected, “Soph, can we meet up and talk?”

“No,” Sophia’s voice sounded harsh.

“Please. I need to explain,” Eric stated.

“Not necessary,” Sophia’s answers were short. She sounded so foreign to the girl he knew could spend an hour talking to him on the phone.

“Soph, please. All this was not meant to hurt you,” Eric tried again. “I need to explain what happened, why it happened.”

Sophia laughed, “So what did you expect of me? Congratulate you and Emily for screwing behind my back? I don’t know who you think you have been dating for the past four years, but I am not into the sister-wives thing. You and I have nothing to talk about. You cheated on me for God knows how long with a person who was supposed to be my best friend. What is there to explain?”

“I love you, Soph,” Eric blurted out.

Sophia’s chuckle was full of hurt, “you have a very funny way of showing that. Look, I am kind of busy right now, and any time you want to call me so please don’t bother me.”

“Soph, wait-damn it!” Eric slapped the steering wheel when the disconnected tone replaced Sophia’s voice. He threw the phone on the passenger seat and held the steering wheel with both hands. Gr . pping it tightly, Eric let out a frustrated shout. This was definitely not the way he had wanted to end things with Sophia.