ALMOST A YEAR AGO
Eleanor was content. She felt this way for the first time in what felt like a while. Although she was happy with her life and where she was, she was never really able to describe it as content up until now, when she sat with her wife in her arms on the couch as they watched some shitty Netflix movie.
Using the word "wife" to describe Dinah still felt so fresh and it was. Eleanor had been using it as often she could or she'd even just slip into conversations. Like the other day, she was having a discussion with the guy taking her order in the coffee shop and was ordering drinks for both her and Dinah. When the guy asked for names for the cups, she just had to say "That is one for me, Eleanor and the other one is for my wife Dinah" and although the barista carried on with his day like normal, Eleanor could not wipe the smug grin off her face.
And even Willa seemed to be in a good place right now which was helped with her content feeling. In a matter of weeks, Willa would be getting married to Max Emerson. Eleanor had never really liked Max (she gave off a vibe) but Willa was happy with her and that was all that mattered. Max's bachelorette party tonight was the second of the two parties and when that was over, it made the whole wedding thing feel so real. It was actually happening. Willa Thacker was going to be a married woman.
Eleanor's thought process was interrupted by a nudge in the stomach by Dinah. "El baby, there's someone at the door. Can you go get it?"
"Why can't you go get it?" Eleanor asked as she shifted out of her comfortable position on the couch.
Dinah grinned at her wife. "Our cuddling was going to be ruined one way or the other but at least I still get to stay comfortable on the couch."
Eleanor shook her head with a smile. She really just couldn't get over how insanely lucky she was to have met someone so amazing as Dinah and to be now able to call her her wife.
She made her way to the door with the smile still attached to her face but once she opened it up and saw the sight in front of her, it dropped instantly. "Willa? What're you doing here? Did something happen? What's wrong?"
"Sh-she left me, El." Through sniffles, Willa was able to get out a coherent sentence. "She's left with another wo-woman." Giving into the emotions that had already cracked through, Willa threw herself at Eleanor for a hug, who accepted it as she desired to comfort her best friend in her time of need.
Eleanor wanted so badly to say that she knew this would happen, that she had told her time and time again that Max was bad for her and that it wasn't going to end well. But she didn't. This was not the time for lectures on bad choices and falling too hard for the bad girl. Willa knew that her deepest flaw was falling too hard and too quickly for the wrong people and although she claimed that she had learned her lesson before, she kept dating the wrong people. The type of people who weren't worthy of dating the amazing, the kind and the brilliant Willa Bellamy Thacker.
This however felt different to all the other heartbreaks, especially as they stood on the top step of the staircase to Eleanor and Dinah's townhouse apartment holding onto each other as Willa sobbed on Eleanor's shoulder. This was the first time that Willa had shown up at a late hour of the night. Maybe this would be the worst heartbreak of Willa's life and this would be the one to smack some sense into her so she could go after the right girl for her.
But none of that mattered right now.
All that mattered is that Willa was a friend in need and Eleanor was willing to help so she simply let Willa go, took hold of her hand and lead her inside the apartment. And when Dinah perkily asked who was at the door, she was met with a somber look from her wife and Willa's teary eyed face. Dinah didn't say anything else as she went into the kitchen for what Eleanor only assumed was alcohol, coffee or comfort food (turns out it was all three). Willa got herself settled on the couch and when Eleanor sat beside her, wrapping an arm over her shoulder, the tears burst out again as she leaned on her best friend's shoulder.
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Hero called the next day. She had received a quick text the night before briefly explaining what had happened from Dinah but as she had been asleep at the time of the message being sent, she had woken up the news of her older sister no longer getting married.
She had called Dinah in the morning while breakfast was being made. Eleanor was wandering around while Willa, who had stayed the night, slept on the fold out couch bed. She didn't want to go back to her place as it held too many memories. It was also filled with packed boxes as she was intending to move into her new apartment in the next week or so. The new apartment that she had intended to live in with her new wife.
"So I wake up to a text saying very matter-of-factly that Max ran off with another woman and left Will and she showed up on your doorstep crying her eyes out." Hero said as soon as Dinah answered the phone. "What the fuck happened!? Do I have to fly to New York, hunt down Max Emerson and kill someone because I will! I have the flights to New York opened up on my screen and I am willing to go to jail for someone hurting my sister."
"Well hello to you too, Hero." Dinah stated as she tried to lighten the mood a little but felt just as pissed off as Hero was. "And that's essentially it. Willa stayed the night on our couch after crying all of last night. I wouldn't be surprised if she stays a little awhile until she can move into her new apartment."
"Oh shit, the new apartment." Hero said. "She had just signed the lease and paid her first few months of rent. Her and Max were even starting to look at furniture."
"Pretty sure they already brought a couch." Dinah stated.
"A couch? Oh man." Hero then sighed. "Do I need to come to New York or what?"
"I think it's fine right now. She's got us and Elias is always on call if need be too." Dinah said. "Thanks though, Hero."
"Has Will let mom and dad know?"
"I think Eleanor sent them a text."
"What did they say? I bet they're reacting the same way I am right now."
"Not sure yet."
"What's Will doing right now? Is she okay?"
"She's sleeping on the foldout couch. Took her a while to get to sleep last night. El stayed up with her for a long time."
"Where's El? I want to talk to her."
Dinah poked her head into the living room to see Eleanor sitting in the arm chair beside the couch. It looked as though she was waiting for Willa to wake up. She looked exhausted already, her head resting in her hand while her elbow leaned on the arm of the couch. She had bags beginning to form under her eyes but her eyes were set on Willa's sleeping form.
"Babe?" Dinah whispered, grabbing Eleanor's attention. The blonde turned her head to look at her wife, who simply held the phone out for her. "It's Hero."
Eleanor nodded and stood up out of the chair, circling the living room chairs and heading into the kitchen where Dinah was, taking the phone from her wife and pressing it against her ear. "Hey Hero."
"How is she doing? Has she made you watch Superman yet? Do mom and dad know? Are you going to fight Max or am I going to have to?" Hero asked, her questions all coming out so quickly and without any pauses between them. For anyone else, it would have overwhelmed them but Eleanor knew Hero too well and was too used to the quick paced tone she often took on when she was stressed or angry.
"She's getting through. No, she hasn't but I've fished out my DVD copy of it that I keep on me. Yes, they know. Not sure yet on that last one but I am willing for us to both go after her, even though I'm quite against violence." Eleanor explained, going through all the questions one after the other.
Hero deeply sighed. "I just can't believe this happened."
"I can believe it." Eleanor's voice was low, as not to let Willa hear it if she was awake yet. "And as much as I want to tell Willa that I told her so, I can't. Not right now at least. Maybe not ever if the way she's been is anything to go by."
"But you were always against Max. You always held some sort of grudge against her. I think I never saw you not wear a scowl whenever you looked at her." Hero stated.
"That's because I knew that Willa deserved a hell of a lot better than Max. She just fell for the first girl that paid her more attention than anyone else had and Max was willing to play the part." Eleanor felt as though she had been able to see through Max's act. Whenever they had a group dinner or karaoke session, Max hardly ever came and if she did, she would always look like she wanted to be somewhere else. Then, if someone wanted to talk with her, she'd make no effort in getting to know them better or letting them get to know her better (it took Eleanor a long time just to know Max's last name and even just basic information like her birthday, what she did for a living and where she lived).
Max made no effort. She put no work into developing the relationship and she probably only proposed to shut up her parents or even shut up Willa. Willa would always be complaining about how they hardly went out on dates, especially further into the relationship when they had gone on dates constantly and were always hanging out. She didn't get involved in any of Willa's interests while Willa at least made an effort to seem enthused about Max's love for art and music (maybe that's why Willa only listened to music from the 70s and 80s while not knowing anything that played on the radio today).
Hero sighed again. "I have to go now, El. I got to get to work. I'll talk to you and Dinah later and maybe then Will might be up for talking on the phone." There was a pause. "Tell her I love her and that I called." Another pause with what sounded like a sniffle. "Take care of her, please."
"I'll let her know and of course I will." Eleanor glanced out into the living room. "She's taken care of me when I was in my lowest spots so I got to take her of her too. Talk to you later, Hero. Love you"
"Love you too, El." Hero said back. "Bye."
Eleanor could never not feel her heart warm over a Thacker sibling saying that they loved her. It made her feel like she was truly part of their family because she was. She had been ever since they took her in over ten years ago. Her last name might be different and she might not be genetically the same but she always felt like a Thacker. "Bye Hero." She then hung up the phone, passing the cellphone over to Dinah, who now sat at the living room table with a coffee mug in hand. A mug filled with fresh coffee waited in front of the seat across from Dinah and Eleanor took that seat.
As soon as Eleanor sat down, she rested her elbows on the table and put her forehead in her hands, combing her fingers through her hair. She then removed her hands and picked up the mug, taking a sip at the hot liquid.
Dinah reached out a hand across the table, taking hold of her wife's hand. "You okay, sweetie?"
Eleanor sighed. "I'm not sure." She glanced towards the living room. "All I want to do right is go and find that bitch who broke my Willa's heart but I have to be the better person and I have to stay here to support my best friend."
"I know, El. I want to hurt Max too." Dinah said as she lifted her mug up and blew away the steam off it. "Willa's been through so much heartache. Like I remember the times in college where she'd be crying or venting about how the girl she'd hooked up with the night before or just been on a date with had only been experimenting." She sipped at her drink. "I just wish that she'd find someone who would stay with her, like we've stayed together all these years."
There was movement out in the living room and Eleanor quickly perked up, standing from her seat to peak into the living room through the door way to see if Willa was up and judging by how the woman on the foldout couch bed was slowly lifting herself up, it looked as though she awake.
"El?" Willa mumbled, brushing her shoulder length out of her face as she yawned.
"Morning Willa." Eleanor stated, heading into the doorway and leaning on it with her own mug in hand. "You sleep well?"
Stretching out her arms, Willa tried her best to smile. "Yeah, I guess so." She rubbed at her eye with a closed fist. "I feel like shit now though."
Dinah, who had stood up from the table, joined Eleanor in the doorway. "Do you want something for breakfast? I'm sure that I can whip something up for you before I head off to work." Always the natural in regards to caring for someone, Dinah knew that the perfect thing for someone in this state was comfort food and she loved to make it. She already knew Willa's comfort foods in time like this.
"Um, yes please, if that's not too much of a bother." Willa tiredly stated, pushing the sheets off of her. "I can come help."
"No, no. You can sit down." Dinah said as she turned and headed back into the kitchen. "Chocolate chip pancakes will be made and delivered to you, my dear friend-slash-sort of sister-in-law. Come and sit at the table though. I'm sure El can make you a drink."
"Is wine on offer at this time of the morning?" Willa jokingly asked as got off the foldout bed and then stretched out her limbs. "Or how about something strong like vodka?"
"No alcohol for breakfast, Willa." Eleanor sternly said, sounding like a mother telling off her child while failing to keep her laughter hidden. She then cheekily grinned. "Maybe a little later though." That seemed to make Willa smile, even if it was just a little upturn of the corner of her lip.
Once Dinah was finished her cooking, she served up the pancakes on a plate and place them in the middle of the dining room table and placed two plates down for Willa and Eleanor. She then kissed her the top of her wife's head. "I have to head into work. We're doing a massive stock take before organizing a busy afternoon and dinner service so I'll see you two later." Rounding the table, she wrapped an arm Willa from behind her neck and hugged her from there. "Enjoy the pancakes."
"Thanks Dinah." Willa said with her voice muffled by a mouthful of chocolate chip pancakes.
With a last wave, Dinah headed to the front door and left for her work day. That meant it was now just Willa and Eleanor in the apartment, one of whom was shoving pancake after pancake into her mouth while the other slowly ate the two she was able to grab while taking a moment to pause and drink her coffee. It was very clearly which description applied to which woman.
Eleanor spent her coffee sips studying her best friend. Willa's eyes still looked a little puffy from all of the crying last night, especially when mixed with how tired she must be as the bags under her eyes were already beginning to look more predominant than they already had been lately with the wedding planning. Her hair was a mess from what Eleanor could only guess was the frequent tossing and turning when trying to sleep. The clothes she wore weren't hers as she had shown up to the apartment in only what she wore and they weren't comfortable sleeping clothes so she had borrowed one of Eleanor's sleep shirts and shorts. What truly surprised Eleanor though about the sleep deprived, emotional woman across the table from her was the sight of the engagement ring still on her finger.
"What're you thinking about, El?" Willa asked then took closer notice to where Eleanor was looking then nervously gulped. "I just got used to wearing it. I don't really know if it feels right to take it off."
"She left you, Will. You should be throwing that ring in the trash." Eleanor stated, sounding the bluntest she's been in the last twelve or so hours since Willa showed up on the doorstep.
It seemed to have taken the younger woman by surprised as she was slightly taken aback by it. She proceeded to twirl the ring around her finger. "I know, El. I know. Everything has just happened all so fast though that it still feels like I'm getting married." Her eyes began watering up. "Oh God, I still need to call mom and dad. And the wedding planner. And all of our guests we'd already sent invites out to." She put her face in her hands as she gave into her emotions, her body shaking with each sob that wracked through her body.
Although Eleanor had began the conversation with every intention of slowly becoming the bad cop, she couldn't help but soften at Willa's crying state so she was quick out of her seat and became the good cop. She sat down in a seat beside her, pulling it close and taking Willa into her arms, letting the heartbroken woman dampen her shirt with the large quantities of tears falling from her eyes. All Eleanor could do help was rub Willa's back and soothe her reassuring words.
Once Willa had seemed to have calm down, Eleanor still held her best friend and they had become relatively comfortable. She thought back over the ring and decided on another resolution to it. Another way to get rid of it and the most significant trace left of Max. "Sell the ring."
Willa lifted herself away from Eleanor, wiping at her red eyes to remove the remaining traces of her tears. "What?" It seemed as though she was surprised and found it hard to believe that Eleanor suggested what she just said.
"We could go to that pawn shop nearby and sell the ring." Eleanor said then saw Willa open her mouth so she raised her hand to pause the brunette. "I just think that because she left it in your possession, selling it off will give you compensation for the heartache this breakup has caused you. You'll also be getting money back from your wedding plans."
Willa rubbed the back of her neck out of nervousness. "I'm not sure, El."
"You deserve the money. It'll help you with your new apartment and perhaps to get the next chapter of your life started up." Eleanor said.
Taking a pause to ponder the suggestion, Willa thought over it all. She needed the money. It'd help her out a lot. She remembered that store that was underneath her apartment and how it was for sale. Perhaps she could do something with that. She wasn't sure what but she could do something there. Quit her job as a personal assistant and start a new career path.
So Willa nodded in agreement to Eleanor's suggestion. She would sell the ring.
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They went to a pawn shop a few days later. It was Willa's first outdoor excursion since going to Eleanor and Dinah's place. She felt like this was her first step towards getting out of their way (although they constantly reassured her that as she was family, she wasn't a bother on them) and with her being able to move into her new apartment in three more days, she would be out of their hair as soon as she could.
Walking up to the pawn shop, Eleanor stop outside and when Willa went to question why she wasn't coming in, Eleanor answered before she could ask. "I want you to go in alone and make sure that you come out with no ring and the money that that ring is worth." She then pointed at Willa's left hand. "And it would be great if you actually took the ring off."
"Oh." Willa then gazed upon the shining ring on her finger. "Kind of forgot that I even had it on. It just felt like part of me." She raised her right hand and hovered her fingers over the ring, reluctant to remove it from her hand. But she knew that this was her first true and proper step to move on from it all so she took it off, slipping off her finger and holding it tightly in her right hand. With a proud grin towards Eleanor, she reached for the door handle to the shop. "See you soon, El." She then went inside.
Eleanor leaned against the building wall, putting her hands in denim jacket pockets as she gazed out onto the street, looking at those across the street from her. She noticed the hotel across the street and how extravagant it looked. But although she admired the building itself, a figure getting out of a cab truly was the thing that caught her eye.
Getting out of a cab across the wide, busy street was Max Emerson herself. The very woman who had broken the heart of Eleanor's best friend-slash-pretty much sister. Just the sight of her made Eleanor's fists clench up in her pockets. Oh how badly she wanted to run across the street and punch Max in the face for not only Willa but for herself as well. To feel some sort of pride over a bitch like Max.
Eleanor kept her eyes locked on Max, hoping that she would not spot her staring from across the street. As Max left the cab she arrived in, she approached a gorgeous, model like woman waiting by the hotel. She looked like the perfect combination of Charlize Theron and Naomi Campbell. Once Max had reached Charlize and Naomi's love child, the two women shared a kiss before joining hands and heading towards the hotel entrance with the largest smiles on their faces.
Lifting herself off the wall, Eleanor stepped forward to make her move across the street and confront Max and the woman that she'd left Willa for but that all escaped her when the door to the pawn shop swung open and Eleanor was met with a grinning Willa, a sight that she found herself missing these last few days. "Wow, I got more cash for this than I thought." In the younger woman's hands was a stack of cash that she was looking over as she put it into her wallet that had been in her back pocket. "But then again, maybe they felt sorry for me being a recently jilted bride who was selling off her engagement ring."
Taking one glance across the street to see if what she had seen was still there, Eleanor saw Max and her new lady love enter into the hotel. Although Eleanor had lost her chance to get to confront Max, she had a happy Willa with her that was something that would be a hell of a lot different if there had been a confrontation. So Eleanor simply put her arm around Willa's shoulders and the two best friends started walking down the street. "Yeah, I think they just felt pretty sorry for the girl who has spent the last few days crying."
"Hey! I didn't just cry." Willa stated. "I also watched Superman." She then paused. "I think I'm ready to move out into my new apartment. I have the money now to get in there and I just feel like I'm kind of ready to put this whole shitty event behind me." That was semi true. Break ups always effect Willa and any future relationship she'll have. It makes her feel not wanted and not loved. She will likely not entirely get over it until she gets some sort of closure over it all. Or until she meets someone new.
"Are you sure about this?" Eleanor asked.
Willa nodded. "Yup, I think I am."
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PRESENT DAY
With Dinah out at work for the day, Eleanor was working on some freelance design work in her office space. It was where she spent most of her weekdays, sitting in front of a computer screen with some software like Photoshop or Illustrator opened up on the screen.
A knock on the door followed by the door bell being rung three times brought of her work state. She thought over who it could at her front door as she went and answered it. When she opened the door, the person standing there was at least her third option. It was Willa, with eyes still tearing up. Eleanor was immediately met with flashes of memories to the last time this sight was before her but this time around, Willa was holding onto Archie's hand.
"She's gone, El and I don't know if she'll ever come back." That was all Willa could say before she released Archie's hand and flung herself at Eleanor, sobbing onto her best friend's shoulder.
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A long sidetrack and I'm not sure if you guys will like this one but I really like this chapter as it delves into Willa and Eleanor's relationship a little more.
On another note: this story will officially be 30 chapters long. I don't want to draw out the story too much and feel as though 30 is a really good endpoint All of the stories that I have planned for this series will be 30 except for one at this point (but that is because that story will be set over one night).