"So which cheese should I get; cottage or parmesan?"Maya asked holding up the two cheeses to my face
"Well the recipe said parmesan", I told her, gently brushing her hands out of my face before cheese met eyeball
"Hmm..." she studied the two and then promptly dropped them both into the shopping basket I was carrying along.
I raised a brow at her and she shrugged, "What? You can never have too much cheese"
I nodded absent-mindedly and followed her along the aisle as we inspected vegetables before dropping them into the basket.
Maya had asked me to go grocery shopping with her, she was in the mood to cook a big fancy Italian dinner and as her best friend, I had to make sure she didn't burn her beautiful new kitchen down.
"So are you sure you don't want to invite Rob? There'll be more than enough food", Maya said to me half heartedly.
I smiled at the lack of enthusiasm in her tone. "Why would I? I know you can't stand him"
"True", she said, always her honest self "But if he's going to be your boyfriend again, I can be the bigger person and try to like him"
"Slow your roll, Maya. We're taking it slow; we're just friends for now"
"Mmhmm", she gave me a look as I dropped some red bell peppers into the basket "We all know it's going to get there eventually"
"You know, I'm not so sure about that," I confessed quietly
"For real? You seemed all over the idea some time ago so why?"
I let out an aggravated breath and looked at her. "You know why"
"Look, I'm not about to join the Rob fan club anytime soon but if this is because you're still holding out hope for Noah, I suggest you stop right now", Maya said bluntly
"Don't you think I would if I could? I just... don't know how to"
"Ellie", Maya placed her hand on my arm stopping me from reaching for the sticks of celery on display "Girl, this is some serious stuff. Noah has a girlfriend and from what you've told me, they aren't breaking up anytime soon. Noah is great, but you really have to move on"
"Okay... I get it", I grumbled at her
"I know I don't say this often enough, but you're an awesome person and you deserve to be happy and have someone who really cares about you", Maya told me sincerely
"Aww, thank you Maya but You don't have to go all Dr Phil on me now", I smiled at her "Don't worry, you know I don't do drama"
"I know", Maya replied
"I'll be over this soon enough", I assured her
"Alright, if you say so", she squeezed my shoulder "Let's go get some wine"
We walked down to the aisle where wine was stocked. Maya was the expert on wine, so I let her peruse through the brands of white wine while I looked around.
A glimpse of familiar long blonde hair caught my eye as someone walked past.
Could it be?
Yes, it was. I didn't have to look hard because Shannon walked right into the aisle Maya and I were currently in. She looked as beautiful as ever, dressed in white shorts and a floral top, her blonde hair framing her face as she stooped to pick up a bottle of red wine from the bottom shelf.
"Maya... Maya", I tapped her on her arm, a tad desperately
"What?" she tossed me an annoyed look over her shoulder
"Don't look now, but the girl over there, down the aisle is Shannon, Noah's girlfriend", I half whispered to Maya
Her eyes grew wide and she immediately whirled around, despite my efforts telling her not to.
"Oh my goodness, that chick looks like a freaking supermodel" Maya half whispered back
I nodded, it was hard not to be enamoured by her beauty.
"So do you think she saw me? What should I do? Pretend I didn't see her? Wave?"
"Better than that", Maya chirped, her eyes twinkling "Let's go over and say hi"
She grabbed my hand and tried to pull me along, but I slapped her hand away.
"What? Have you gone bat shit crazy?"
"C'mon let's go. I want to meet your competition"
I scoffed and crossed my arms. "No way"
And then I heard my name, being called out from down the aisle by her summery voice. "Ellie! Is that you?"
Maya gave me a victorious smirk. "Let's go"
I had no other choice than to oblige. I followed Maya down the aisle until we got to Shannon.
Shannon was all smiles, as usual. "Ellie, I thought that was you. Small town, huh?"
"Yeah", I plastered a polite smile back, unsure of where to take this conversation. Maya nudged me. "Uhh... this is my best friend, Maya. Maya, this is Shannon"
"Nice to meet you", Maya flashed her a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes
"Oh, nice to meet you too" Shannon told Maya "Are you friends with Noah as well?"
"Well not really", Maya glanced at me "I've only met him once"
"Okay. Well I'm really glad he has a friend like Ellie here, she seems really nice"
Nice... that was what I was to Noah.
"Well, he has a lot of friends at the office, you know, I'm just one of them", I chipped in for lack of something better to say
Maya sent me a look that said I should stop talking. Now.
"Yeah but he talks about you all the time. I guess you guys are really close", Shannon said, her voice taking on a weird vibe as she looked over me.
Okay... What was that?
Maya seemed to notice the change in the atmosphere as well because she changed the topic.
"So Shannon, red wine. What's the occasion?" she asked, raising a brow at her
Shannon's face tinted pink as she giggled. "Ah well I haven't seen Noah in quite a while and I planned on having a real romantic evening with him tonight", she leaned in closer and whispered coyly "I even got some new lingerie"
They were going to have sex tonight. I felt like someone had plunged a serrated knife right into my chest.
"Umm well that sounds like fun", Maya said quickly, she didn't have to look at me to know this news must have hurt "Well Ellie and I should go pay for all these now. It was great meeting you, Shannon"
"Oh uh, Ellie can I actually have a word with you... alone?" Shannon said, looking straight at me
What? Why? My heart beat accelerated as I looked at Maya, but she looked like she didn't know what could be going on either.
"Yeah, sure", I nodded at Shannon and then turned to Maya "I'll meet up with you at the counter"
She nodded once and then turned around and left. Shannon watched her retreating back until she was out of sight, then she turned to me. Her eyes were not as friendly as they usually were and the atmosphere suddenly felt... cold.
"Look, I don't really know how to deal with this kind of situation", she started, her voice taking on a steely edge "So I'm just going to come right out and say it"
"Say what?"
"I want you to stay the hell away from my boyfriend"
"What?" I was shell shocked, the spite laced in her voice felt like she had slapped me right across the face.
"You heard me"
"Look, you've got it wrong. Noah and I are just friends and co-workers", I blubbered in my defence
She scoffed. "I may be blonde but I'm not stupid. I saw the way you guys looked at each other"
Had we been that obvious?
"Shannon, I assure you nothing is going on"
"You might have Noah fooled looking all sweet and innocent and everything, but you don't fool me. You could be an opportunist for all I know"
I was taken aback by her words, was this really the same girl who was all nice and bubbly just the other day? Bitch was showing her claws today.
"Hold up, Shannon I've done nothing wrong and I don't appreciate you calling me an opportunist"
"I'm just letting you know, Noah and I have been together a long time, and he might be a little bored and his eyes might wander a bit, but rest assured, we are never breaking up. Much less, over someone as simple as you"
The shock gathering in my brain made me unable to formulate a reply.
"I'm done here", she told me stepping back from me "And I really don't want to have this conversation again"
With that, she whirled around, flowery scent and all, and walked away, her gorgeous blonde hair flowing away with her.
It took me a few seconds to snap out of my daze and I walked away to meet Maya, a little pissed and guilty at the same time.
So much for drama-free Ellie.
A/N: Hi guys, finally updated lol. This is kind of a filler chapter. More drama to come. So do what you do. Votes, comments and shares all welcome. Xoxo