Whispers of Deceit, Echoes of Love

Chapter 9

Time did not matter to Sophia the next day. She had slept where she lay the day before, surrounded by the items Eric had dropped at her house. She had no idea how she fell asleep. Only when she woke up her apartment was in darkness. With little energy she had, she carried her exhausted body to her room. Throwing herself on the bed, sleep took her without much trouble.

She slowly turned her head to the flickering curtains. She was curled to her side, her face facing the light that shone through her curtains, but she couldn't feel its warmth. She wasn't even sure what time it was or where her phone was. All she knew was that she was unprepared to get out of bed. Today would have been their anniversary. And even though they would have gone for the dinner date on Wednesday, Sophia had planned a gateway for when Eric returned from his business trip.

Sophia scoffed at that. She wasn't sure anymore if it really had been a business trip. He had probably decided spending time with Emily was more important than them celebrating their relationship. How cruel could two people she considered part of her family be? How stupid had she been not to notice that her man and her best friend had been in a relationship of their own?

The banging of her door brought Sophia back, and she blinked, trying to focus.

"I know you are in there, Soph! Please open up so we can talk," the muffled voice made it to her bedroom. A loud knocking followed this.

Sophia rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the curtain movements. Guess there really was no business trip after all.

"Baby, please open up. We need to talk about this!" Eric’s voice came through. "Please!"

"Get out of here! You are making too much noise for the rest of us!" An elderly voice called from the corridor, and Sophia knew it was her neighbor, Mr. Belfast.

There was mumbling before she heard footsteps walking away. A few seconds later, there was a gentler knock on her door.

"Better come to the door, sweetheart. You got my wife worried about you."

Sophia closed her eyes for a few seconds before she swung her feet off the bed and walked to the door. Cracking it open, Sophia tried to offer the older man a smile.

"I am fine, Mr. Belfast."

Mr. Belfast shook his head, "I don't know what constitutes to fine these days, but you look far from it. Is it to do with that young man of yours?"

"He's not mine anymore," Sophia replied softly.

Mr. Belfast nodded his head in understanding, "I will leave you to it then. At least I will tell my Mary that you are still alive. Chin up, girly."

Sophia nodded and closed the door. She looked around her apartment, wincing at the scattered items. This wasn't going to work. She walked to the box and started replacing the items back into it. When finally she reached the photo, her finger gently swiped their faces before placing it in the box. She did a quick job of cleaning up her apartment, taking her mind off what the day was meant to be.

Her phone ringing broke her cleaning mood. Reaching for it, she saw Mia’s name flashing on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Finally!" Mia’s relieved voice floated to her. "I was about to call the police to do a wellness check. I called you six times!"

Sophia moved the phone away from her ear and checked on her screen. True to her words, there were six missed calls from Mia, three from Eric, and one from her brother. She also saw that it was way past noon.

"Sorry about that. I was cleaning my apartment. What's up?"

"Are you ok?" Mia’s voice gentled.

Sophia bit her lip, remembering what Mr. Belfast said. "That's a tough question to answer at the moment."

Mia sighed, "I knew it. Listen, you finish up doing what you are doing, soak yourself up in that nice bathtub of yours, and I will swing by at around seven. We eat first before hitting the club.”

“Bu-”

“Nope!” Mia interrupted her. “I am not taking no for an answer. Seven o’clock sharp, Sophia!” She hung up before Sophia could answer her.

Left with a disconnected tone, Sophia decided to call her brother back. The phone was picked up after two rings, “did you have that phone in your hands or something?”

“Is that the first thing you said to me after I tried to get in touch with you?” Her brother’s sarcastic reply came back to her.

Sophia sighed, “I am sorry, Enzo.”

Her brother was quiet for a few seconds before his deep voice returned, “Apology accepted. Look, I know you, and I have never seen eye to eye on a lot of things. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you, sis. All we want to do is be there for you, but you keep shutting us out.”

Sophia blinked rapidly. Her older brother had never said those words to her, ever. Hearing him say them now felt overwhelming.

“Whatever you need, you let us know. You got it?” Enzo asked, his voice low. “If you want us to break his legs, we know people who know people. It’ll never come back to you.”

Sophia chuckled. She could not imagine her brother being violent to anyone. Now, if it were Seth, she would have known he meant it.

“That is what I wanted to hear,” Enzo stated. “You let us know, ok?”

“I will,” Sophia wiped the tears that fell unchecked on her cheeks. “Thanks, Enzo.”

“Anytime, Jewels. I have to go, but if you need anything-”

“I will call you,” Sophia smiled.

“Good,” Enzo disconnected the call.

Sophia threw the phone down and walked to her kitchen. Opening the fridge, she did a quick scan of what was available for her to eat. She settled for a cold meat sandwich, which she cleared while still standing.

After washing the dishes, she decided it was time to start getting ready for Mia’s planned night out. She wasn’t really in the mood, but she knew that staying inside the four walls was not going to help her, not if she kept on going back and forth in her head about how her whole relationship was a lie.

She started with a hair wash before moving to a mani and pedicure. A glass of wine was not far from her hand. It took her two hours to get both her hair and nails done. She was standing in front of her opened closet when there was a knock on the door. Checking her time, she frowned. It was a full hour before Mia was supposed to show up. Ignoring it, thinking it was someone she did not want to speak with, she continued going through her clothes. The knock sounded again. Groaning with frustration, she walked to it, pulling the silk robe closer to her body. She yanked the door open, ready to bite the head of whoever was on the other side. “Ah-can I help you?” She stared at the delivery guy with a bouquet of white roses and another box.

“Got a delivery here for a Sophia Collins?” The delivery boy who wasn’t above the age of eighteen, asked.

“That’s me,” Sophia frowned at the gifts. “But I don’t want them.” Her mind went to Eric.

The boy chuckled, “he thought you might say that. Said to tell you it wasn’t Eric but the guy who helped you with your stitch yesterday.”

Sophia could feel her eyebrows raising. Steven Fowler sent these? She dazedly signed the document handed to her before collecting the flowers and the wrapped gift and walking back into her apartment. She walked to the kitchen counter, absently sniffing the flowers. Placing them down, she turned to the wrapped gift. There was a card on top of it. Flipping it open, she read the note.

Hello

Thought I would cheer you up on your not-anniversary day.

Steve.

The thought of Steven thinking about her warmed her heart, and she felt her cheeks heating up as well. There was something about that man that made her heart beat a little bit faster.