Affliction | ✓

viii | her | 2

1 month before NYE, 2016

things had settled. the merger had been approved a little over a month ago and she had gone back to her company which was now officially part of The Dell. elio and her relationship thrived because elio had gotten that promotion which meant more Elio Time. they constantly went on short vacations; with each other and friends. friends who were outwardly grossed out by how cheesy the couple could be but screw it, she was freakin' happy.

and him? he was there, too. slowly re-entering her life, tiptoeing through conversations, carefully treading around hers and elio's life as if worried he'd break it.

soon, he and elio were laughing loudly whilst they were all hanging out. they had inside jokes too and there were times he third-wheeled them and it didn't feel awkward in the slightest. he laughs quietly, a little shy but he looks beautiful, less haunted. andrea joined in on their drinking endeavours until one day, she pulled her into the restroom of a noisy club.

"i'm gonna bang Mr. Cold & Aloof." she said, her voice was all breathless.

"woah, what?" she replies, she tries to laugh about it but it sounds strange. hollow. fake.

this was good, right? this was great. andrea was attractive, he was attractive. they'd be a good match. personalities meshing well, andrea being loud and cheerful and him being witty and quiet. andrea would talk, he would listen. they'd be great, one for the books yet here she was feeling weirdly empty about it. she didn't like it and it made no sense. why shouldn't she like it?

"yeah, he just grabbed my waist on the dance floor and we grinded for like, 3 songs? he just went to grab me a drink so I have another," she consulted her watch and then continued, "45 seconds, give or take to inform you and ask you if I look fuckable tonight." here, andrea does a little twirl. "what do you think?"

she racks her eyes across andrea's slim body, perfectly curved in the right places. she didn't have too much baggage on top but she still looked beautiful. she had only applied a light layer of makeup and a shimmering gloss on her pretty pink lips and she felt weirdly jealous of andrea, weirdly jealous that this girl did the bare minimum and still looked so gorgeous.

"you look like the most expensive prostitute ever." she says, it sounds oddly resentful but andrea, thankfully doesn't pick up on it. her friend beams brightly, squeezes her arm like she's grateful and waltzes out of the restroom.

things seem to escalate from that. andrea tells her weeks later that she had dumped all her sugar daddies for him because he's everything she's dreamt of in a guy and she's happy and oh yes, he fucks her so well. they start dating soon after that and their hangouts seem more like double dates. elio couldn't care less and she shouldn't care either, she should feel happy...right? yet, her mouth felt bitter like she wasn't completely okay with the situation.

***

they were grabbing dinner at a karaoke bar when elio stands up and announces that he was going to sing 'bad bitch' by rihanna featuring beyonce and would anyone, please like to join him in his tomfoolery?

andrea stands ramrod straight, places her palm rather dramatically on her chest and says very seriously, "I would love to be the beyonce to your rihanna."

"honey, you know i'm the beyonce in this," elio gestures between the two of them, "duet."

they do a ridiculously complicated handshake and bow to their respective significant others. she sees her friend grin stupidly as her boyfriend hoots rather boisterously. elio and andrea turn towards the stage, grim look on their faces as if they were heading to war before marching towards the line.