Razorblade (An Aaron Ramsey Story)

Chapter Fourteen

"Just friends?" The woman snorted "That's what you want me to believe? Just friends."

It was funny how Bouchra Van Persie could look incredibly elegant even with a look of total disgust on her face.

"I'm telling you the truth, now, if you believe it or not..." Vanessa tried on a pair of Christian Louboutin's hidden on the back of her friends' closet, groaning at the sight of them on her feet "Are you sure you don't want them?"

Bouchra waved her hand – a perfect "What? Those old things?" in form of a hand gesture, looking at her reflex on the mirror.

"You and Aaron were never friends when you started dating and you never will be friends. You two are just too dumb to see it." The Dutchwoman threw her a beige Chanel button up "I got this thinking of you, then I remembered you were miles away and I had no one to share my closet with." She said dramatically, sitting down on the loveseat that the Van Persie's had on the middle of their closet.

"Where are the kids?" Van put the shirt on front of her frame. Yup, definitely her size.

"With the nanny." Bouchra explained "Me and Robin decided to get one from this exclusive agency with highly educated nannies or something." She shrugged "It took them ages to find someone who fit our profile" She made quotation marks with her perfectly manicured fingers "But paying three thousand Euros per week, she better not drop Dina from her crib." Bouchra teased, a small smile on her lips "So... I may have prepared a surprise for you..."

"Surprise?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow.

Bouchra's surprises weren't regular ones. To her, a decent surprise would be hiring Adele to sing Happy Birthday whilst Elton John played the piano and Beyoncé danced the Single Ladies.

"I'll give you five minutes of free access to my closet" Bouchra looked at her watch "Look presentable and get downstairs, okay?" She winked.

Vanessa sighed – Bouchra's closet was like freakin' Narnia. Unlike most people thought, Bouchra wasn't a crazy shopper or anything, most designers just felt like sending her stuff for free.

Those past two weeks had been crazy – with Christmas arriving, Eduardo going back to Spain and the league fixture changing with every single match, she felt like her old life was almost back.

Almost. Because she still had the big white elephant on the room – an elephant called you can't be just friends.

Vanessa was really trying to make things work, but there was always an extra look, an extra touch, an extra meaningful word that screwed everything up.

They watched movies together – but every time it had a kissing scene, things got awkward.

They played videogames – but as they fought over the controller, all that physical contact turned into something else and things got awkward.

They shared the same kitchen, the same living room and God, the same closet – how many times had she seen Aaron on his underwear just this week? But still, when night arrived, they both marched towards their separate bedrooms, a big thick wall of awkward between them.

And of course, there was also her.

Rachel normally arrived after midnight and left before eight – just like a cheap (you fill in the blank), Bouchra said. And for Vanessa's sanity, she never heard anything. But still, she wondered if Aaron thought of her when that little minx was all curled up on his bed.

Picking up a mini-skirt full of sequins, a silk loose tank top and those gorgeous Louboutin heels, she put her hair up on a messy bun, with strands falling on her face and she cursed herself for bringing no make-up. Her Spanish tan was fading and now all that was left was those annoying freckles on her face.