The Single Ladies Club

20. Eva

It was really hard to comport myself in Katie's presence and act like Victor and I had no history but I did, the last thing I wanted was for Katie to find out. "Nice to meet you Eva, Katie here has told me a lot about you, it's good to finally put a face to the name." The idiot said, extending an arm towards me, smiling mischievously. I took his arm and returned his handshake but Victor, being the asshole he was, wouldn't let go. Katie who obviously saw it paid no attention and that only made me feel worse.

"Nice to meet you too and happy birthday," I said, when he finally let go. With the 'introductions' out of the way, Katie and Victor left the kitchen to go entertain their guests while I sulked and drank at the kitchen table.

As the party progressed, I found myself getting more and more tipsy, while everyone partied and had fun, I was in the kitchen drinking away my sorrows. I just couldn't get over the fact that he was here, the only guy I had ever loved, the only guy I gave myself too without holding anything back.

I was on my third raspberry mojito when Stephanie showed up.

"Hey, you okay? What are you doing here all alone? You're missing the party, they're playing 'truth or dare', it's so funny, Katie dared Victor to "dance to no music for sixty seconds," she said, excitedly.

I pictured that in my head, it must've been hilarious, Victor was such a terrible dancer and singer. It was not just his thing, I always made fun of him back then because anytime we went to a party, he'd always embarrass me with his lack of dancing skills. He never flowed with the beat, he either moved too fast or too slow.

I pulled myself together, this was a party and I should be celebrating, not the opposite.

"Really? I'll be out soon, had to take a call from work," I lied. Thankfully, she bought it, or I hope she did.

"Oh, ok. Well since you're here, hope it's a good time to tell you about my club?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm curious, what sort of club is it?"

"Don't freak out but it's called 'the single ladies club', " she said.

"What? Is it that obvious?" I asked. Don't tell me everybody here knows my status, I felt like such a loser.

"No, just hear me out," she said and I nodded.

"Well, it's basically a club for ladies who have being tossed around by men, you know, we let them mess with our feelings, give them everything and they just throw it back at our faces, like all that time we spent meant nothing at all to them. So my friend and I came up with this crazy idea to reach out to other ladies who have been through the same thing, we wanted to hear everyone's story. Then we had our first meeting which turned out really great. At the meeting, we all decided to take a break from them for a while, just to heal and of course, have fun."

"It's really nice Stephanie, I love the idea but if I'm being honest with you, I haven't really being played by a man, I've only ever had one boyfriend, my high school love," I said. If only she knew he was right here, I thought to myself. "And while I'd like to say he cheated on me, he didn't, it's a totally different story, even if I'd like to join your club, I'm not qualified."

"But you're single right?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said. Didn't she just hear my story?

"Then you're very much qualified but if you don't want to join, that's fine. I'd really love for you to attend one of our meetings at least. I know you're wondering why I'm being persistent but Eva, I've noticed you all night and I can tell you've got a lot on your mind, that's why you won't let loose and have fun, my bet is it's got something to do with a guy and I'd just like to help. This is our flyer, if you make up your mind please give us a call, I'll let you get back to what you were doing," she said. She then took a beer from the fridge and left.