“I don’t think we should confront him here. I think we would be better on just moving on to the next place so we can keep having a good time.”
That’s a fair argument, right? And a pretty solid one too. It has to be the booze making my idea slip through the cracks because Olivia doesn’t seem to hear me at all.
“I have a thing or two Leon needs to hear anyway.”
She shakes me off hard.
“Things I wanted to say during the breakup, but he wouldn’t hear me then. I can make him listen to me now.”
Uh oh.
She slips through my grasp and out of my control entirely. There’s nothing I can do but stand back in absolute horror as she stomps angrily towards him with steam pouring out of her ears. The whole bar seems to fall into a terrible silence as the accusations tumble out of her mouth at the speed of light.
“What thefuckdo you think you’re doing here, Leon? Why are you trying to ruin my one night of Goddamn freedom and fun now that I’m away from you? Can’t you let me have anything?”
I know the context of all of this, so it makes perfect sense to me. But if I look at this through the lens that everyone else must be seeing it from, it’s not a good look.
Olivia is drunk and angry with red irrational looking cheeks. Leon is standing tall with a smart looking shirt on, looking smug as all hell. Manipulative assholes like him always know how to play it so they end up looking like the victim.
I need to step in, to do something to help my friend, but I can’t find the words. It’s as if the sight in front of me has stolen my voice, rendering me completely mute. I hate this, I’m supposed to be jumping to my friend’s defense, but I’ve fallen apart at the seams at the very first hurdle.
The same can’t be said for Olivia though, she is on a roll.
“...you think that you can just manipulate people to get whatever you want out of them? You think I’m just going to take it forever? There’s no way. I tolerated it for far too long, and I guarantee you won’t get anyone else to do it for you.”
“I already have,” Leon interjects calmly. Far too calmly for my liking.
“Huh?” Unfortunately, Olivia is way too drunk to play it cool.
“I already have someone else.” His lips turn up into the nastiest looking smile that I have ever seen in my life. My gut twists and coils, I want to break free from this ice encasing me, but I just can’t do it.
I’m frozen and useless.
“You didn’t think I’m alone, did you? That I don’t have someone wanting me already? Surely you can’t be that naive, Olivia, of course I do. I’m meeting her here tonight.”
“But... but...”
Hurt radiates across her expression. My heart bleeds for her. “You’ve already moved on? We haven’t even been broken up for that long.”
“Are you not here for your first night of freedom without me?” The sweeping gesture that he makes with his arms crushes my best friend’s spirit even more. How can a person want to do this to another human being? It makes no sense, especially when he loved her once, or told her that he did anyway.
“So what does it matter to you what I do?”
My fists curl up by my side as a red mist descends in front if my eyes. He’s making this worse now, forcing Olivia to play the role of the crazy ex-girlfriend and that isn’t fair.
Heneedsto pay.Ineed to make him pay, just like I’ve wanted to for a very long time. I take a step closer to Leon, barely even noticing as Olivia backs away. He’s in my eye line, the only person who I can see as I bubble and bowl with rage. He might be tall but these stilettos give me all the height that I need to swing my already balled up fist back, and slam it into his cheek as hard as I possibly can.
Thank God I’ve recovered from not being able to move. This prick deserves it. It feels good to finally give him what he deserves. Even if it does hurt my fist like hell…
“Argh, bitch!” he howls with rage as he clutches onto his cheek like I’m heavyweight champion of the Goddamn world. “What did you do that for?”
“I see you,” I snarl back, a finger pointed at his face. “I know who you are. Fuck you, keep away from Olivia.”
“We live in the same city. She’s going to have to get used to seeing me and Vi together.”
The mention of his new woman’s name emits a wail from Olivia. It’s all too much for her. She spins on her heels and rushes outside. Far too fast for someone in those shoes.
“Olivia, don’t fall!” I’m pretty sure that my cries are falling on deaf ears as I try to follow her, but I stand no chance against her speed. “You will break your ankles in those shoes. Just wait for me and we will…”