RomCom Cliché

Chapter Nineteen

"What the fuck?"

Rebecca didn't even move as Nam's bewildered words cut through the screams blaring from the TV. She tipped her glass back, finishing off the wine, and set it down on the floor beside her, clearing her throat. 

Tugging the blankets up further, she glued her eyes to the screen and then let out a squawk of complaint when the lights flared to life, too bright after the blanketing darkness.

"Oh. You're back. How was the honeymoon?" Rebecca asked, her voice a low grumble.

"Yeah, good. Thanks for answering my calls."

A faint wince of guilt rippled Rebecca's face for a moment as her lips turned down at the corners. She could feel Nam's eyes on the side of her head as she stood on the other side of the sofa, taking in the scene before her.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Nam's voice was uncharacteristically soft and full of worry. 

Exhaling fully, Rebecca rubbed at her forehead and then sniffed, an emptiness inside leaving her dry of any tears. She hadn't been able to cry since Freen had walked out and she'd been too hurt and proud to follow after her.

Moving over to the sofa, where Rebecca could see her, Nam looked down at her for a moment and then moved towards Rebecca's feet, tapping her legs to get her to move them before sitting. She kicked off her heels and curled her legs up, her face wrinkling with disgust.

"Horror movies aren't your scene, babe. Put something else on."

Rebecca didn't move and Nam softly sighed before leaning over her to pluck the remote from the sofa. She paused the movie and Rebecca continued to stare at it as if she hadn't even noticed. 

Her face was brooding and a little sullen as she chewed on her lip for a moment before sitting up and reaching for the bottle of wine perched on the edge of the coffee table.

Pouring some more into her glass, she hesitated and then held it out to Nam.

"Want some?"

Letting out a scathing sound, Nam tore it from her grasp and frowned. 

"What are you doing?"

"Watching the third Saw movie," Rebecca replied, her face furrowing slightly as she paused, deliberating, "no, the fourth."

"I'm going to pour this over you in a second," Nam warned her. "What are you doing?"

"Living the potentially single and unemployed life."

"What?"

Rebecca's laugh was strangled as she smiled unevenly, the sight pitiful and sad. "I quit my job on Tuesday."

"Okay, you love your job but... fine, whatever. What do you mean potentially single?"

"Oh. Yeah, so it was, uh, it was her family," Rebecca hummed. "The people he killed."

"I don't... understand."

"Rich."

There was a pause before Nam let out a meaningful exhale, full of understanding.

"Oh. You- you didn't know?"

"No. No, but... she did."

"Oh."

She didn't speak for a moment before she hummed dubiously and Rebecca met her eyes.

Shrugging with a pained look of dismay, Nam softly sighed.

"I guess it pays to do a background check."

Rebecca scoffed, running a hand over her face. "It's invasive; you know I don't like them."