Silver Fox - Unedited

20 || A Woman Unravelled

Fabiana was having the time of her life suffering the consequences of eating too much chilli and a hangover. She'd imprudently gone back for another coney dog and it was wreaking havoc on her body, along with her desire to constantly puke.

"Tómate esto." Mama placed a glass of chilled ginger ale in front of her, engagement ring glinting in the sunlight of the kitchen. Fab peered up from where her forehead was plastered against the wood and groaned.
(Drink this.)

"I told you not to eat another one if we were going to keep drinking," Rhea admonished from where she was munching on her breakfast like everything was normal. Not a hair out of place for her and Fab was suffering immensely.

"Shut up, you." Fab pointed a finger at her and squinted. She was sure she had alcohol poisoning. "You're the devil."

"Indeed I am." Rhea grinned, passing a plate of freshly made tamales in front of her face before taking one. The brunette groaned in emotional anguish, downing the soda in a few gulps and sighing.

They'd come home close to midnight the night before, drunk and giggling. After eating their fill, they'd walked around the city until their stomachs were a little emptier, then proceeded to fill it right back to full tank by bar hopping.

Thankfully, the two had the common sense to Uber from and to the house, so when they stumbled into the foyer and shushed each other loudly, they hadn't done any real damage. Rhea woke up to the smell of breakfast tamales and rushed down to help mama, while Fab spent the morning heaving like a sailor.

"The soda will help settle your stomach." Mama placed a plate of food in front of her daughter. "Eat."

"I can't eat a single thing and it's breaking my heart, ma." Fab wiped fake tears from her eyes. "I'll have it for lunch."

Mama sighed and put the plate away, sitting back down to eat.

"So," Fab began, eyeing the ring. "You said yes." She wasn't particularly pleased, but she wasn't upset. She'd given her blessing, after all.

"He's a wonderful man and he loves me." Mama sighed happily, causing another wave of nausea to engulf Fabiana. "What about you, Rhea? When are you getting married?"

"When Jaxon learns to stop being a cunt." Rhea scoffed. "But apparently I sent him a message last night telling him I'd give him another chance. Can't imagine whose idea that was."

Fab grinned with a shrug, not looking at her friend. "Jaxon's an attractive man, Rhea. Lalie Gibbons has her sights set on him and I'll be damned if I have to hear her wendigo wail for the words 'I do'."

Rhea smirked, shaking her head. "Now all we have to do is get you and Isaiah back together."

"Absolutely not. It was meaningless sex and it's over. I'll just find someone else."

"He gave you the most romantic twenty-four hours of your life and you were glowing afterwards, Bia. I've never seen you look so happy."

Fab paused, considering her friend's words. She had been happy after that first experience, but she'd thought it was just because she wasn't a thirty year old virgin anymore.

There's no way you like Isaiah.

"What was it you always said you were looking for to consider marriage?" Rhea pursed her lips. "He needed to make you feel. You told me last night that you couldn't think around him. You said he reduced your brain to an idiotic mess. That is what you have been looking for, and you're running away from it."

Another wave of nausea crashed into her stomach, but she refused to let it win. She sat and she considered and she thought like she always did.

"Admit you love him and I'll let it go." Rhea seemed determined to make Fab confront herself, and if the woman was being honest, she was a little relieved. Rhea had always been her rock to make sure she didn't delude herself into thinking something different from the truth.