Whispers of Deceit, Echoes of Love

Chapter 6

Mia walked in with two bottles of red wine in hand. It was in the evening, and Sophia had been mopping around the house all by herself since she returned from Orlando’s. The call from Eric had also soured her mood. Where did he get off? Confessing that he loved her when he was still with her best friend. Who did that?

“Here you go, hunny!” Mia dropped her handbag on the floor next to the sofa before folding her short form on the sofa. “Let’s get hammered, call all men in the world dogs, and curse Eric so that he can’t get it up every time he and Emily want to get intimate!”

Sophia chuckled as she went to her kitchen to collect glasses. “I will drink to that!”

For the next hour or so, the two women drank, chanted, laughed, and cried together. After they were done with the bottles, Sophia decided it was time to sort Eric’s stuff from her wardrobe.

“Noooo!” She cried, holding tightly to the grey and red hoodie. “I love this hoodie. It’s comfortable.”

Mia wiggled her finger at her, “Nope! Put it in the box, it’s going. You don’t want to give him any excuse to look for you.” Mia hiccuped and reached for it.

Sophia did not put much fight to it. With a heavy sigh, she gave it over to Mia. The same thing repeated a few times more when she couldn’t relinquish the clothes and the memories they held. “I will still have to see him when I drop off his stuff.”

Mia frowned. “I thought you said you gave him back his keys?”

“I did,” Sophia ran a finger through the socks. Eric always had cold feet, so he had an insane amount of socks. Warm, woolen ones that Sophia liked as well.

“So why don’t you drop them at his father’s house?”

Sophia laughed, “he and his father don’t get along. I have only seen him about three/four times in the course of our relationship.”

“All the better!” Mia threw her hands up as if she won something. “What better way to tell him to go to hell than to leave his stuff with a person he hates?”

Sophia chuckled, “I would hate to be in your bad books.”

Mia snorted, “you could never end up there. You are too good of a person.” She slumped on the bed, “how I wish it were a Friday today. I would have slept right here.” She sighed as she sat up, “But as it is, tomorrow is yet another working day. I will cover for you,” she stood up, balancing herself before smiling. “You do you, boo. Get all this rubbish to his father tomorrow, and then we are sloshed on Saturday!” She muttered to herself as she requested an Uber.

Sophia nodded as she struggled to her feet. Reaching for Mia, she hugged the shorter woman, “Thank you for coming through. I didn’t know I needed this until you got here.”

Mia patted her back before gently pushing her away, “You don’t have to thank me. That’s what friends are for. See you on Saturday?”

Sophia nodded. She watched as her friend collected her things, and with a slight wave, she walked out. Sophia sighed and sat back down. She looked at the box that held four years of memories. She could recall how every single item had ended up in her apartment. She remembered the when and the how. She could not believe she had to pack all of them away now. She just wished that she could do the same for her memories. Put them all in one box inside her head and push them to the furthest parts of her brain. But that was not a possibility. Sighing, she stood up and walked to her bathroom. She felt sweaty and needed to wash up before she slept.

Morning came too soon. Well, that’s what Sophia thought as the sun's rays penetrated through her light curtains and hit her face. She groaned, cursing Mia for allowing her to drink that much the previous night. Glancing at the flickering table clock, she saw she slept past her alarm. It was a good thing that Mia promised to cover for her because there was no way she would make it to the office in time. Taking a deep breath, she got out of bed. After a quick wash of her face, she put on her leggings, a sweatshirt, and jogging shoes and she was out of the door. She wasn’t a fan of jogging, but she felt she needed it to destress. Taking the longest route, Sophia kept pushing even when her muscles started hurting. She continued to run, zooming around people as they began their day. It was only when she couldn’t handle the stitch on her side did she stop.

Sophia bent over, wincing at the pinch.

“Take deep breaths, and grunt when you are breathing in and out.”

A deep voice stated just from her side.

“Huh?” Sophia looked up but couldn’t really see the person well as the sun was right into her eyes. “Damn it. Sorry, I meant the sun, not you. What was that you said?”

“To get rid of that annoying pain on your side. Just grunt out loud as you breathe in and out. It’ll be gone in a second.”

Sophia took a deep breath and straightened. She could now clearly see the man’s face. He seemed familiar, but she didn’t remember where she had seen him. He had a well-trimmed beard that was mainly grey with a hint of dark hair. His hair was nicely trimmed, with more silver hair on the side, while most of it was dark. His eyes were hidden behind expensive-looking wrap-around glasses. Sophia put his age around fifty because of the greying hair, but he was so in shape. And even though he was in black shorts and a grey sweatshirt, it was easy to see that the man commanded attention. She was doing what the man told her, and soon the pain was gone.

“Thank you!” She smiled.

“Glad to help,” the man gave her a slight nod and went off. Even his running seemed precise.

Sophia shook her head, still trying to place where she had seen him. She made her way back to her apartment, grunting out loud when the stitch decided to come back again. “I hate jogging!” She grumbled as she walked to her bathroom.

Half an hour later, Sophia was bathed and dressed in a floral pink dress that reached just above her knees. Her hair was swept up into a messy bun, no makeup except for lipgloss. She grabbed the box with all of Eric’s stuff, an apple, and her handbag before leaving the house.

The run had sobered her considerably, though she was still feeling the effects of the alcohol. Driving to Eric’s father’s house took about forty minutes. Eric came from money. His father was a well-known figure in the tech world, something that Sophia had no interest in. Being a rich man’s son was a turn-off for Sophia, which was one of the reasons why it had taken her long to fall in love with Eric. She had to ensure he wasn’t like the rest of the rich, spoilt boys who just wanted to play with her and leave.

Only after a while did she find out that Eric did not get along with his father.

Sophia pulled the car to a stop next to the black Mercedes Benz. She got out, picked up the heavy box with Eric’s stuff, and made it to the front door. The guard at the door had told her to go inside without any issues.

She pressed on the doorbell and stood back, waiting to be let in. As the seconds passed, she began to feel curious about the place. She had only been here once with Eric, and they never really stayed long. The door opened and she turned to it with a smile on her face, expecting to find the same person who had opened the door for them a few years ago.

Her eyes widened when she saw the man standing there, toweling his hair. “You!”