Vehement Love!

Chapter 9: Emily(no-saint)Georgia

A hand clutched mine in a comforting way, I looked up from my hand to see Layla smiling at me dolefully.

"You cannot lessen the pain Reed, neither can I. You cannot erase the reason behind your fake smiles and you certainly cannot change your past. Let's just have faith in each other because we cannot dissipate each other's mistakes, but I promise, I promise that I'll be there for you in all your pain and heartbreaks, I'll be there for you as your friend, to support you. I cannot make this pain go away, but I promise I will always be there for you even when our marriage comes to an end after 2 years. And I most definitely promise that after this conversation you won't be sad, ever again." She smiled brightly as she said the last line and I smiled with her, not the fake one this time.

"Thank you so much for understanding Layla. And who the heck said that you're ruthless, you're the biggest softie I've ever seen." I chuckled and she joined me.

"Enough about my past, so how are you planning on making me happy?" I asked all capricious.

She laughed as she talked again, "I won't tell you now, you'll get to know eventually. Anyway tell me that girl's full name." She asked cluelessly.

"Emily Georgia"

"Oh my God, tell me you are not talking about that Emily Georgia from that movie 'Yours lovingly'." Her baffled voice pulled me out of daze.

"Yes, she's the one I'm talking about, anyway, how do you know about her? A fan or what?" I asked.

"No-freaking-way!" She scoffed and looked away but continued to speak again, "I know her since Kindergarten, she was my best friend till high school, then we drifted apart." She said as if it's not a big deal.

I looked at her flabbergasted, "I thought Charlotte was your best friend since kindergarten?"

"Trio! It's a funny story how Emily and I became foes." She said casually in her English accent.

"Care to explain how you guys went from being friends to foes?" I asked getting more interested in the conversation.

"Yes so, I was born and brought up in England. I studied in a convent school with Emily and Charlotte. I met both of them at kindergarten, and since then we all were best of friends. And for your very kind information Emily St.Georgia is no saint. She also removed St. from her surname after entering the film industry.

"Anyway Emily and I were closer because we were high school sluts. I mean it was funny seeing, how Emily changed boys like her clothes. I did too but I used to flirt more, I had a lot of sex with my boyfriends though." She laughed thinking about her memories.

"Charlotte was a nerd, so she wasn't interested in these things but I remember how we used to give her every detail and how she used to make a face full of distaste. There was a boy I used to like, what was his name...yes Tristin. So after much efforts I asked him out and he said yes. After sometime he asked me to become his girlfriend and I gladly accepted." She took a sip from her milkshake and continued again.

"After three months I caught Tristin cheating on me with Emily and I was incandescent." She told this part in a surprisingly calm voice, like that incident did not happen.

Listening to Layla's story, saying that I'm shocked is an understatement. I never thought Emily could do something like that to her best friend but I cannot judge her by her past, she is a different person now, I guess so.

Layla began speaking again, "I was very angry at my boyfriend and best friend so I did the next best thing, I slept with Emily's boyfriend. And boy was her expression hysterical." She laughed throwing her head back and slightly clapping her hands and seeing her laugh made me laugh too.

"So what happened next?" I asked utterly riveted to the story.

"She yelled at me on the field where we practiced, in case I did not tell you this before, I was the captain of the cheerleading squad. All the boys who played soccer had also listened to her yelling while everyone else had circled us. I just laughed at her, showed my middle finger and said, 'in your face bitch.' Our school was missionary so we weren't allowed to make out or swear in corridors or hallways as you Americans call it. So physical education was the only class where we got the time to yell at each other.

"Anyway from then onwards Emily and I became enemies, it was our senior year so in a few weeks we were already off to college and after that I never spoke to Emily. I came to Connecticut and my parents also came to America and settled in New York. That's the end of the story and it's already 5pm and we have been talking for two hours, so now I should ho before mom beheads me, I had to go for cake tasting." She said guiltily as she hurriedly paid for her lunch and my coffee.

"Why did you pay Layla, I was supposed to do that." I said angrily.

"Don't be dramatic now Reed, last time you paid for lunch. Consider it as my treat. Next time you can take me out for ice cream, happy?" She said like it's a trivial matter.

"At least let me drive you home." I asked out of respect. She agreed after much persuasion. I also got to know that she did not bring her car, Charlotte gave her a ride to the office.

The whole ride we talked about the wedding dress she chose yesterday and how in three days we're going to get married and that her mother is a chef and she's making our wedding cake.

I never knew I'll find a friend in Layla, I always thought this marriage will bring grief and sorrow, but never in a million years I would have thought that this marriage can make me happy. Layla is the kind of person I always wanted in my life. Cheerful, caring, blithe and relaxed, these are all the traits of Layla and seeing her like this makes everyone around her as serene as ever.

After dropping her off, I drove to my house.

After having dinner when I was alone in my study, I was constantly thinking about Layla, how she comforted me, how she understood everything and even after knowing what happened between Emily and her, she just listened and did not react. She promised me to be my friend even after our divorce and that meant so much to me. And when she said she'll support me no matter what, that just felt so...heartwarming.

Never knew, sometimes you can find peace within chaos.

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Here's the new update, enjoy guys. 💕
And one more thing
Pronunciation of Layla is : Lie-laa