Strangers With Benefits

Chapter 1: Hot Coffee & Cold Nights

I firmly gripped the steaming hot coffee cup, feeling the heat seep into my hands through my sweater. It helped my body cope with the egregiously cold weather.

I could feel her saddened eyes looking across the table at me, making me feel like a wounded animal. Perhaps I was wounded but the pitiful glances made everything feel even worse. I wanted to ignore it all and just have a normal cup of coffee with her. I didn't want to discuss the elephant in the room and I surely didn't want to look up at her pitiful glances.

"So....how have you been doing?" she quietly asked like the words were too awkward to say.

"Fine" I shrugged, finally looking up at her to give a half ass smile.

She awkwardly smiled back as she nodded her head and shuffled in the booth. She poked at her blueberry muffin, peeling off a small piece and tossing it into her mouth.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Gwen quickly sat down beside me in the booth as she leaned her wet umbrella on the table.

She looked between the two of us and snorted out a laugh.

"Is everything okay...?" she chuckled.

"We were just talking about how Frannie's doing" Heather said as her eyes darted towards me and back to Gwen.

"She's doing fuckin fine! Stop treating her like a cancer patient" Gwen firmly stated.

A small smile erupted on my lips. I felt instantly warmer as I stared down at my coffee.

"I know she's fine" Heather quietly snapped at her, leaning on the table with her elbows.

"But it was a traumatic thing that happened, and I don't want to just glaze over it like it's not a big deal" she explained.

"Oh? A frat boy stuck his dick in another bitch that wasn't his girlfriend. How unexpected" Gwen said while rolling her eyes, "to me it seems like the number one thing I would expect a piece of shit like him to do" she added making a group of older ladies sitting across from us stare in disgust.

I internally shrunk in size feeling like a target. I wrapped the end of my sleeve into my hand wanting to escape.

"Don't be so crude about it. I'm sure she's hurting more than we can imagine" Heather said, her gaze carrying back over to me.

"Guys...I'm really okay. I've been doing better this past week" I softly said.

I felt Gwen's arm wrap over my shoulders.

"Of course, you are baby girl" she cooed placing a light peck on the top of my head.

Our waitress came over with a piping hot container of coffee. She sweetly smiled at me as she poured the dark liquid into my mug.

"Truthfully, if I could offer you any advice, I would say you need to get fucked" Gwen said making the waitress look at her with wide eyes before she quickly scurried away from our table.

I heard Heather scoff as she shook her head in disapproval.

"That is so repulsive" Heather said squinting her eyes at Gwen in disdain, "Minimizing all of her emotions and betrayal into a cheap excuse to sleep with random men. It's such an over sexualization of a complicated situation"

"Hey, I don't judge. I personally am not a fan of getting fucked by men; tried it once, wasn't for me" she said placing a hand on her chest just to emphasize how sincere she truly was, "but I hear it is the way that straight girls move on from being cheated on. Lots of crying, sex and...eventually therapy"