ELIZA

CHAPTER FIVE: EXPECTATION

He didn't write. Cosmo didn't write to me for two days and I was in agony. Ever since we said goodbye on Sunday morning after having breakfast together, I was wondering if I could have done something wrong. He didn't write text messages or call although we exchanged numbers, and we didn't even set a date for the next meeting.

Yeah. He got laid. Why would he want to see me again?

The thoughts I was considering were absurd, but I insisted it was all my fault. That I was probably too nosy on Saturday, that I was too little experienced in bed (I was still blushing from the mere mention of the night), that I asked for his phone number in the morning.

I didn't want to make the next move, because I didn't want to seem desperate, though in fact I wanted him to write to me. I glanced at my phone every five minutes, hoping to see a text.

"He hasn't written, has he?" my sister asked as I looked at the mobile phone again.

Even though Camila was in a relationship with Leon, I knew that she wanted nothing more for me than finding happiness with a man. I smiled rather artificially.

"No, but I don't regret it anyway," I said, making my sister smile as well. I really didn't regret it. I wasn't a naive girl, I knew how this world works and how guys behave. After all, there are those who don't think about a future with a woman for the rest of their lives. This vision terrifies them. Cosmo didn't want a wedding even when his girlfriend was pregnant, the more so I didn't expect that we would stand at the altar. But even if I qualify the night with Cosmo as a one-time stand, it seems to me that I could allow myself a bit of excitement in my boring life.

The smile didn't disappear from Camila's face because Leon entered the room. Every time I looked at them, I was amazed at how they found themselves in the world.

Camila was as thin as an anorexic. She had bulging eyes, black hair, and a tiny nose. Leon, despite his young age, already had a big belly, which the malicious ones (including me) called pregnant belly. He wasn't tall, he was as tall as Camila, so he looked like a ball with protruding legs. He had green eyes and short hair the color of mice.

They weren't ideals, but they loved each other very much and one would jump into fire after the other. They got engaged quickly and planned a wedding for next year. They both had to earn money for the wedding, so they didn't make it this year, which was fine with me. I was supposed to be the bridesmaid, so I was already collecting money for the hen party, which I was organizing. I had a year longer to gather a considerable amount. Due to the fact that I was Camila's only friend and the only person taking part in the hen party, I thought that I would take my sister somewhere to the island. We'll be only the two of us somewhere in Greece or Spain.

For a moment, my thoughts were focused on my sister and her fiancé. I was wondering what I would do when they decided that after the wedding they would take a mortgage and buy a flat and we had to leave the current place. I would probably find a studio apartment, take a cat and I would grow old alone. My depressive thoughts were interrupted by Leon.

"Oh, I saw Tom" he said aloud both to Camila and to me. He made a mischievous face. "I invited him to the evening."

"What?" I asked angrily, casting an almost basilisk glance at my future brother-in-law. "Barb will be furious... "

I was about to call my friend, explaining that I had nothing to do with this idea, and inviting her to our apartment. Actually, I rarely invited Barb to our place, but for a very simple reason - Barb and Camila didn't like each other. Camila considered Barb an audacious and insincere person, while Barb called Camila noisy and vulgar.

"I invited him with a girlfriend," clarified Leon, waving his hand at me so I wouldn't worry about it. "But imagine my surprise when he replied that he doesn't have a girlfriend anymore."

My mouth remained open for about two minutes.

How is that possible? I thought frantically.

"Are you sure?" even Camila seemed to disbelieve  her fiancé.

"Yeah, I asked him how that happened," Leon began. Thank god Leon was acting like a woman when it comes to gossip. He knew all the rumors faster than I did. "He said they hadn't got along in a long time."

Did Barb forget telling me about it? I thought, wondering if she could have concealed this fact on purpose. Sure, she was jealous of Tom, but wouldn't she tell me that they already broke up?

"I always said she was a liar," said Camila brusquely, shrugging her shoulders.

I didn't even have time to think about Barb more, because my thoughts were absorbed by my phone. Suddenly it vibrated, signaling I got a text. I threw myself on the phone that was charging on the couch, making sure there was a message waiting.

Yes, it was from Cosmo.

I took a few seconds to see the text. What would be better - if he invited me on a date or wrote that he was going somewhere to the end of the world and we would never see each other again? I swallowed loudly. No, I wouldn't want that. However, Tom was free. Tom...

"What are you waiting for, you silly?" I noticed that Camila is also staring at my phone. "If you don't read it, I'll do it..."

I nodded my head. My heart was pounding loudly.

I'm waiting downstairs. I hope you're in the apartment. Cosmo.

My eyes widened. I didn't expect such a message.