RomCom Cliché

Chapter One

Clamping the phone between her shoulder and ear as she stirred the fresh cup of espresso, Rebecca turned away from the coffee machine and padded over to the tall arched window overlooking the smoggy city spread out below her home. 

Morning sunlight streamed in in yellow swathes on the old stone floor of the nave and Rebecca grabbed her phone and straightened up as she sipped her coffee and the call was connected.

"It's eight o'clock. Why aren't you sleeping?"

Rebecca let out a loud laugh, grinning as she squinted her eyes and turned her back on the window. "Good morning to you too."

"Please, enlighten me on what's so urgent that it couldn't wait until a decent time," Nam crabbily replied.

Sighing as she rolled her eyes, Rebecca knocked back the rest of her espresso and clicked her tongue. "I was calling to see if you wanted to go out tonight?"

"Out? You want to go out tonight? Don't you have a date to go on?"

Wincing, Rebecca's mouth turned down at the corners and she drifted back over to the coffee machine, silently allowing the beans to grind into the portafilter as she delayed answering the question. 

Tamping it down, she jerked the handle as she attached it to the machine and then turned around to lean against the counters, brooding and silent.

"She dumped you, didn't she?"

"Did Irin send a message to everyone?" Rebecca snapped, scowling as her lips twisted with annoyance. "Besides, she didn't dump me - we weren't actually dating."

"You said you were in love with her!"

"I didn't say in love," Rebecca heatedly protested, her pale cheeks turning pink. "I said I loved going out with her. Like on dates."

"You did not make that distinction," Nam snorted.

Scowling, Rebecca turned around and snagged her cup from the machine, bristling slightly as embarrassment slowly threaded through her. Setting the tiny cup down on the marble countertop, she ran a hand through her hair and cleared her throat.

"Anyway, will you come out with me tonight? I need to get drunk."

"I can't. You know I would but Heng's parents are in from London and we've got dinner with them, so--"

"Oh, yeah, right. Well, that's fine. Have fun."

Nam sighed faintly on the other end. "Are you going to be alright?"

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Rebecca's mouth thinned and her shoulders slumped. "I'll be fine. Nothing gets me down for long, right?"

"What're you doing on Tuesday? We can do brunch."

Looking down at her carefully filed maroon nails, the nail beds grown out slightly, Rebecca hummed, "I've got court in the morning and then I'm getting my nails done."

"Perfect. I need a new set as well. I'll book a table at Saxon's for two."

"Fine. Don't be late; you know I hate it when you're late."

"Stop being so uptight."

Scoffing, Rebecca smiled wryly, "don't be an ass. And try to convince Heng to have the wedding here. I can't bear the thought of flying back east for it."

"That's not going to work, babe, and you're Maid of Honour - suck it up."

"Fine," Rebecca curtly replied, "but I'm going to complain the entire time. And I'm throwing you a trashy bachelorette party."