Shock
1270 Words
Chapter 9
Shock
(Maya’s POV)
I arrived early to meet Jeesica. I needed to escape the house that no longer felt like my home.
Avoiding David was the only goal I had now days… aside from finding his mistress.
At least, I would get to tell Jessica all about it today.
I sat at the corner table of our favorite little bistro, the one Jessica and I used to swear had the best truffle fries in town. It was small, cozy, with ivy hanging from the ceiling and tables packed a little too close together. But it had history. We’d spent birthdays here, heartbreaks, career wins, random Wednesdays. This place had seen it all.
And now I was about to blow it all up.
I checked my phone again. No new messages. Just the text from Jessica confirming she was “five minutes away” twenty minutes ago.
I took a sip of water and stared out the window. The people on the street looked so... calm. Normal. I wondered what it felt like to live a life that wasn’t quietly falling apart from the inside out.
I’d spent the last few days going back and forth in my head. Part of me wanted to tell Jessica everything—about David, about the affair, about how lost I felt. She’d always been the one I turned to when we were younger. She had been my person.
But now… I wasn’t sure.
Something in me was telling me not to say anything to her. But I brushed it off as nerves. My life was changing, and Jessica had gone through something similar. I didn’t want to reopen old wounds for her, that was all.
Then I heard the door chime.
Jessica.
She breezed in like she always did, with a smile on her face and a silk scarf tied neatly around her neck. She spotted me immediately and hurried over, wrapping her arms around me.
“Maya!” she exclaimed. “I’ve missed you!”
I hugged her back, the familiarity of her perfume hitting me like a memory. I forced a smile. “Missed you too.”
We sat down. She waved over the server, ordered a glass of white wine without even glancing at the menu, then turned to me, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Okay, I can’t wait any longer,” she said, leaning in. “I have to tell you about him.”
I blinked. “Him?”
“The guy I’ve been seeing!” she said, eyes sparkling. “Oh my god, Maya. I swear he’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met.”
I paused, my throat suddenly dry. “Wow. That’s… fast. Things must be going well?”
She nodded eagerly. “Beyond well. He’s smart, successful, ridiculously charming. The way he talks, the way he treats me …like I’m the only woman in the world. It’s been a long time since I felt this seen.”
“He’s good to you?” I asked.
“The best,” she said with a sigh. “He buys me flowers, books surprise dinners, he’s thoughtful. And Maya…” She leaned in like we were schoolgirls again. “The s*x? Mind-blowing.”
I smiled tightly. “I’m happy for you, Jess.”
“He sounds amazing,” I added, trying to keep my voice light. “What’s his name?”
She hesitated.
Just for a second. But I saw it.
Then she waved it off. “I’ll tell you later. It’s still new, you know? And complicated. I just want to keep him to myself for now.”
Complicated.
Of course it was.
I nodded slowly. “Fair enough.”
We were quiet for a beat. The server returned with her wine, and she took a long sip, eyes dancing over the rim of the glass.
Then I asked, “How’s your son doing? You mentioned something about him last time.”
Her expression changed immediately. The sparkle in her eyes dimmed. She set the wine down a little too hard.
“That’s… complicated too,” she said quietly. “He doesn’t really speak to me anymore. His father has him brained washed! He thinks all I want is his money, but I just want my son. I swear William’s ‘new wife’ has Axel enchanted!”
“Why?”
She exhaled, rubbing her hands together like she was cold. “His father poisoned him against me. Said I abandoned him… that I walked away. None of it’s true. I tried, Maya. I tried so hard. But by the time I was allowed back in his life, the damage was already done.”
“I’m sorry,” I said gently, reaching across the table. “That must be so hard.”
She nodded, her eyes suddenly glassy. “I don’t know how to fix it. He’s a grown man now. He sees the world in black and white, and I’m the villain in his story.”
“You’re not,” I said firmly. “You’re his mom. That matters.”
She gave me a sad smile. “Thank you for saying that.”
For a moment, I believed her. For a moment, I let my guard down. This was Jessica. My friend. My sister in everything but blood.
Then she reached up to untie her scarf, and my world stopped spinning.
The necklace.
Diamond. Teardrop pendant. Platinum chain.
The exact necklace I had seen in a blurry surveillance photo. The one David had placed on another woman’s neck. The one he said he designed just for me, months ago, and never gave me.
I froze.
The color drained from my face. The room dimmed around the edges.
Jessica kept talking, completely unaware of the war now erupting inside me.
I nodded along, pretending to listen, but all I could hear was the blood roaring in my ears.
It couldn’t be.
It couldn’t be her.
She was my best friend.
Was.
The urge to confront her rose fast and hot in my chest. I wanted to scream, to rip the necklace off her neck, to ask her how she could betray me like this. But something stopped me.
A voice. My voice. The one that was cold and calculating and knew better.
Not yet.
You need proof. You need a plan.
You’re a doctor. Be precise.
So I smiled.
“That’s a beautiful necklace,” I said, letting the words settle like poison in the air.
Jessica beamed, her fingers brushing over the diamond. “Isn’t it? He gave it to me last week. Said he saw it and thought of me immediately.”
I bet he did.
“Does it have a brand?” I asked casually, sipping my water.
“Custom,” she said. “One of a kind.”
I nodded again.
Of course it was.
“Well,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. “He has great taste.”
She laughed. “He really does.”
And I sat there, listening to her talk about the man I had shared a bed with for the last ten years. The man I had cooked for, sacrificed for, believed in. The man who was sleeping with my best friend.
A part of me wanted to walk out right then and never speak to her again.
But the other part, the stronger part was already making a list in my head. Of everything I was going to do. Of every move I would make.
Because she didn’t know who she was playing with.
Not yet.
But she would.
And they both would regret it all.
- Writer
