What We Once Were: A Bughead Fanfic

Chapter 24.

Betty sat alone at her desk, the cubicle surrounded by dozens of her other coworkers suddenly didn't feel as normal as it used to. Before she hadn't minded it; yes, she would have preferred to work alone in her own office but she could at least deal with this. But now, it felt overwhelming, the constant flow of people and shouting and chatter was already making her crazy.

She sat at her clean desk, all the pictures she'd taken from it, to Riverdale and back again were placed in the exact spots they were before. Her pictures of Juliet and of the two of them were placed in the back right corner of the oak desk.

Her laptop lock screen was a picture Veronica had taken of Jughead, Juliet and Betty sometime last week. They all looked so happy and complete, the exact opposite of what Betty was feeling.

Was this really what she wanted? To live by herself in the city and maybe have Juliet visit her every weekend? She knew now that, Juliet had a taste of the small town, she wouldn't want to leave it. Betty wasn't sure if she'd gotten that from her or Jughead...or both.

She'd been here for about two hours and she hadn't even started on her assignment her boss had gifted her with when she'd walked through the door at 7:45. Betty had taken it without much emotion or enthusiasm and had walked out of the office and returned to her old desk. She'd been staring at the locked computer screensaver ever since.

"Mira! Look, look, look!" Betty overheard a coworker named Marcy shouted.

Betty glanced over her cubicle and picked out the two women near the water jugs. Mira was a petite woman wearing a pencil skirt that was way too tight for her. She was...promiscuous, to say the least; she was a nice girl, but was certainly not afraid to show people what she looked like. She had pretty blonde hair and striking brown eyes.

Marcy on the other hand, was a petite Asian women who was absolutely beautiful. Her eyes were so dark they almost looked black, and her hair was a shiny black that reached to her mid back. She wore a grey and white dress that reached her knees and wore a soft pink color of lipstick.

"What?" Mira asked.

"Look!" Marcy showed her the brand new, flawless diamond ring on her finger.

Mira squealed with delight, and Marcy did the same. "Aaron proposed?!"

Marcy nodded with a big grin, "yeah! He did last night on our date night."

"How? I want all the details!" Mira grabbed Marcy by her shoulders and shook her.

"We went to a fancy restaurant and when the waiter brought out a slice of chocolate cake, Aaron had the ring on top of it! It was so romantic!" Marcy told, making them both screech with joy.

"Oh my god I love it! I call bridesmaid!" Mira announced, making Marcy giggle. "Oh, and what did his son think?" Mira added.

"He said that Liam gave him the idea. I'm so glad he likes me too, I can hardly wait to be a part of his life too." Marcy said with a smile.

Liam was Aaron's son, he was seven years old and Betty recalled all the times last year when Marcy talked about how much she wanted to become good friends with Liam. He was a sweet boy, it's not like he was a nuisance, he just resented Marcy for trying to take the place of his mom. Betty assumed that now, in the last six months, that he must've learned to love Marcy. And how could he not? She was one of the sweetest people in the office.

"Marc, that's so great! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks Mira, but this is my last week here." Marcy said with a sad tone in her voice.

"What?! Why?"

"Aaron is being transferred to Pennsylvania, his new cancer research diagnosis is taking him elsewhere. He told me this last night before he proposed."