Falling in Love + other Conditions of Living

Chapter 16

© kelliekook

The first few rays of sunlight peeked through the shutters that hung over her window. On her bedside table the alarm clock read half past six and Rachel knew it was time to get up.

Instinctively, she snuggled in even deeper under the covers.

Was her pillow always this soft?

Her sheets always this silky?

Her doona always this warm?

She smiled before burying her face into the pillow, it helped to muffle the long sigh she proceeded to make.  Rachel couldn't afford to waste time any more, she'd been working so hard not to. 

It had been nearly a week since her kiss with Nathan, and she felt like she'd made some kind of progress in putting her life back together. 

For starters, she'd cleansed herself of all-things romantic, either giving away or throwing out any relevant magazines, books, CDs or movies she owned. Anything that belonged to Madison she gave back, making her best friend promise to keep them within the confinements of her bedroom. 

Gone too were the scraps of free time she had previously spent wasting away on him – in were the endless fitness, art, instrumental and writing classes. If she was not in a class, she was at the library, working on her article or reading up on E. E Cummings for her poetry assignment. If she was not at the library, she was out planting trees or doing voluntary work for Oxfam. If she was not out to do that either, she was busy finding something else to distract her. Whatever the case, she made sure she was never home alone.

Rachel knew she was doing the very thing Brianna had made her promise not to do -- taking the task of getting over him to the extreme. But how she chose to move on was just that, her choice. Even so, she still made an effort to stay as far away from Brianna as possible. Just as a precaution.

Yet with the wedding loomed closer and closer, this effort was becoming increasingly difficult. There were only so many outings she could miss out on as a bridesmaid. Eventually she would have to see Brianna again, and face her deadly wrath.

The idea of deadly wrath had her thinking again about getting up, she had an appointment this morning she couldn't miss. Today was the day Rachel handed in her completed article.

Today was the day she finally moved on from all this.

An exciting prospect, or at least it should have been. Rachel didn't feel particularly excited, if anything she felt mildly ill. With another sigh, she pulled herself up and out of bed to stagger over to her chest of draws. 

Having read somewhere that nice undergarments made women feel more confident, she chose her best pair of matching underwear and picked up the outfit she had ironed the night before from where it hung on the door handle.

Carting the clothes down the hallway, Rachel was not surprised to see Madison's door firmly closed, she considered for a second then shrugged.

Skilfully kicking the door with her foot, Rachel yawned. "Come on sleepyhead! You have work in two hours and since your car is still at the shop you will have to take the train – it leaves in an hour!" There was a groan and some muttered swearing in response.

Smiling to herself, Rachel ambled down the hallway and into the bathroom. It was looking like a good day after all, the sun was out, the birds were singing and there was a distinct sense of promise in the air. As if the nice weather somehow predestined new beginnings.

Either way, Rachel felt rather happy as she slipped into the shower, her stomach was just unsettled by nerves. She had to stay positive.

As she let the warm water soothe her, Rachel thought of Madison again and smiled. No doubt she would be banging on the door any minute now. She'd look at the clock, realise the time and hate herself for her stupidity. Serves you right, she thought, staying up all night on the phone to that new guy your seeing. She grimaced.