Page 6 of Reeling in Love

God, I hate her so much, but I like her too much to really hate her.

“I’ll talk to you in a bit, okay? My suggestion, tell Paula about Sophia before your dinner. I’d love to know later how it went,” she says and disconnects.

“Hi babe. I was about to call you,” I say switching the call.

“Uh-huh! Your number was busy. Who were you talking to?”

I don’t want to say ‘Nora’ because she doesn’t understand our relationship. She is one of those who strongly believes that a guy and a girl can never be good friends.

“Mom called. Her friend’s daughter from Paris is visiting Boston, and she wants me to take her to dinner tonight. She was worried about how you’d take it, but I assured her you’re a cool, modern gal and not the jealous type.”

I specifically used cool and modern because that’s how she identifies herself.

“Yeah. Okay. Whatever. Who is she?”

“Donno. Never met her before.”

“Why do you have to take her to dinner? Why not get it over with lunch or coffee or something?”

“I asked Mom the same thing. But you know moms, right? She’s already made the reservation at some place. You’re cool with it, right?”

“Um. Of course. Yeah. Call me once you’re back home and maybe,” she continues in a lower, huskier voice. “Maybe we can do some stuff together later on. Some new experience for you.”

The word ‘experience’ reminds me of the meeting in France and all I want is to get drunk. Even the prospect of Paula giving me some ‘new experience’ isn’t exciting.

“Ooh. I’ll try to keep the dinner short. See you tonight, babe,” I say, feigning some modicum of excitement.

I hear some kissing sounds, but I’m not in the mood, which is weird. I’m usually always in the mood especially when I’ve not had sex for so many days.

“What happened? You okay?” she asks.

“Um. Not really. The meetings for which I’d gone to Paris didn’t go too well. The person—”

She interrupts in between. “Hey, Celine is calling me. I’ll talk to you later, yeah. Be well.” And she’s gone.

I let out a sigh. Be well?

That’s my girlfriend’s reaction when I tell her I’m not okay. Wow! But I’m not surprised. We never really talk.

On top of all her craziness, she’s lately become obsessed with animal sex. Now, I’m all for trying new things, but her ‘animalness’ involves a lot of biting and it can be a bite anywhere. I mean anywhere.

“Embrace the animal within.” That’s her new mantra. And trust me, it’s scary.

I think I need to break up with her.

Chapter 3

Nora: #DestinedToBeAlone

I leave the office soon after my call with Gabriel. He sounded so down. I’ve known him for years, and I can tell he’s really feeling the weight of all these meetings, no matter how much he tries to play it cool in front of everyone else. It’s still early, so I figure I’ll swing by and check on him before he heads off for his dinner date.

To be honest, going to meet him isn’t entirely to uplift his spirits. I don’t want to go home, to Rick’s apartment, for as long as I can avoid it. So yeah, there’s a bit of selfishness there as well.

Once I’m settled in the taxi, I dive into my phone to check further reactions to my posts. A grin spreads across my face when I see TruthSeekerBob has deleted his original post. I don’t know who he really is, but I don’t like him. He’s one of those self-obsessed men who thinks that getting into other people’s business and life is their raison d’être. I mean, his viral posts are mostly dirt on other people’s personal lives. There’s no originality in his content, no class. It’s all just trashy drama that people seem to eat up. I am one of the few who sometimes get under his skin, so obviously we don’t get along well. Digitally, that is.

Carla’s name flashing on the screen snaps me out of my thoughts.

“Hi sis,” I say, picking up her call.

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