A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 117

A/N: This is just a short filler chapter to get Becca where I need her to go...
I've also started putting dates on it because I was getting confused about what happened when, so I guess you guys must have been confused too! I'll go back and add dates to previous chapters later. Cxx
*****
Thursday 5th December
9.04am
Becca woke up the next morning, face down on her living room floor with her head pounding.
'Urgh.' She moaned.
What the hell? Did I sleep on the floor?
She lifted her head carefully to see her friends similarly sprawled about.
Looks like we all did.
God, I need coffee. And paracetamol.
She walked through to the kitchen and put the kettle on as quietly as possible.
After a few minutes, she could hear groans that meant the others were coming round, and they gradually filtered through to the kitchen and slumped in the chairs..
'Hey.' Becca said, handing the box of paracetamol over to them.
'That was a hell of a night.' Ella said, once the tablets had started to kick in.
'Was it? I don't remember much.' Viv groaned.
'I remember cocktails. Many, many cocktails.' Becca said. 'And whose idea was it to do karaoke?'
'Oh God, I remember the karaoke bar.' Viv said.
'You should - you nearly got us thrown out by dancing on the tables.' Ella chuckled.
'You nearly got us kicked out by commandeering the microphone.' Justin pointed out to Ella. 'I didn't know there were so many angry breakup songs in the world.'
Becca sighed - last night had been wild, and just what she needed, but this morning the cold truth of what had happened yesterday had come flooding back.
Nothing special.
How could I have read him so wrong?
'Does anyone remember what we did after the karaoke bar? I don't remember getting back here.' Viv asked.
'You're such a lightweight.' Ella teased. 'Have a look at your phone - you were taking loads of photos.'
At the mention of phones, Becca looked round for hers. 'Where's my phone? Any of you remember what I did with it?'
She remembered going through it in tears, deleting everything that reminded her of Chris - photos, WhatsApp messages, her Tinder account. Then she'd gotten Ella to delete and block his number, as well as Scotty's and Robert's.
'I think Ella put it in the freezer.' Justin said.
'What? Why?'
'To stop you checking it every five seconds.' Ella said.
'But why the freezer?'
Ella shrugged. 'Seemed like a good idea at the time.'
Becca opened the freezer, and there it was, sitting on top of a packet of fish fingers.
'It's dead.' She said, when it wouldn't turn on. 'Have you killed my phone, Ella?'
'Nah, it'll be fine once it warms up, they just don't like being cold.' Ella said.
'You know what I'd like right now? A proper Full English Breakfast.' Justin said.
'Oh yeah, a bit of grease would be great.' Ella agreed.
'Well, you can't get a Full English, but there's a diner down the street that does good breakfasts.' Viv suggested.
'Sounds like a plan.' Justin said, getting up, followed by Ella and Viv.
'Becca?' Justin asked when she didn't move. 'Are you coming?'
'I'm not really hungry.' Becca said. 'Plus I've got to go into work soon - you guys go.'
The thought of eating right now made her feel sick. Besides, she didn't want to go out - what she wanted was stay home and feel sorry for herself for a bit.
'Well you can come and have a coffee then.' Ella said pulling on her arm. 'We're not leaving you here to mope.'
Becca sighed and grabbed her phone, allowing them to drag her out.

She made it into work a few hours later, but she was really wishing that she hadn't - every time she went into the Children's Library, the huge Marvel display was like a punch in the gut. But it wasn't just that, everything seemed to remind her of Chris - the place where he'd come to find her after their previous fight, the mailroom where he'd sent her the Lindt bunnies.
She jumped a little as her phone binged.
It's not him!
Obviously it wasn't him because a) he'd made it pretty clear how he felt yesterday, and b) she'd blocked him anyway, but she couldn't seem to stop her pulse racing every time.
It was just a message from her mum.

Mum
Hi sweetie. Just wondered when you were thinking of coming home so that I can get a few bits in. Love Mum x

Becca smiled to herself - her mum's idea of 'getting a few bits in' usually involved buying half of Tesco's, and that was on a normal day. Christmas was a whole other level. She felt a wave of nostalgia for all her childhood Christmases, and a sudden longing to see her parents and home.
Maybe I should just go home.
Maybe a break is just what I need. Somewhere that everything doesn't remind me of Chris...

Becca
Don't buy tons of stuff yet! 😁 I need to speak to my boss and find out when I can get time off - but hopefully in the next week or so

7.15pm

As soon as Becca walked through the front door, Ella said. 'Excellent timing. We're ordering pizza - you want some?'
'No thanks, I ate at work.'
Well, it wasn't a complete lie - she'd forced herself to eat half a sandwich from the deli round the corner, despite the fact she hadn't been hungry. 
'Sure?'
Becca nodded.
She saw the concerned look that passed between her friends.
'What d'ya fancy doing tonight?' Viv asked. 'Drinks? Movie night? Dancing?'
'I'm staying in.' Becca said. 'I've decided to go back home for a bit, so I wanna book a plane ticket.'
'You're coming back though, right?' Ella asked. 'You haven't forgotten that we've got my work trip to the Christmas cabins on the 22nd?'
'I haven't forgotten, don't worry. I'm only going for a couple of weeks, so I'll be back in plenty of time for that - I just need a change of scene and to be someplace where everything doesn't remind me of Chris.'
'Sounds like a good idea. So, when are you gonna go?'
'As soon as I can get a ticket, I guess.'
'Are work okay with that? Viv asked.
'Yeah, I talked to my boss and she was really good about it.'
'You should try and get on the same flight as me.' Justin said.
'Isn't that tomorrow?'
'Yeah.'
'Not sure I can be ready that quick.'
'Why? What've you got to do other than pack a suitcase?'
'Well, nothing - I suppose I could go tomorrow. Let's see if they've got any spaces.' Becca said, searching on her phone. 'What're the flight details?'
'It's a British Airways flight - leaves Logan International at about 2.15pm. There's a 3 hour stop in JFK and then we get home about 7.20 the next morning.'
Becca searched for a bit. 'Found it!' She said. 'And they've got spaces.'
'Book it then.' Ella suggested.
'What about you Viv? Am I booking two seats?' Becca asked.
'No, I can't fly tomorrow - I've got that ticket for Wicked for Saturday night, remember? I'll have to follow you out in a couple of days.'
'Okay. One ticket it is then.' She took a deep breath and booked it. 'Done.'