Page 104 of Running from Drac
“You’re not welcome here.”
She tsks me, lazily stumbling toward me with a few inebriated steps, tripping slightly over a paving stone that’s higher than the others.
“And why is that, Amber?” She smiles, but it isn’t friendly.
“Because of what happened at my bachelorette party, and all the shit you’ve tried to sabotage me and Eddie with.”
She scoffs. “Me? I sabotaged you? More like you sabotaged me!” Her glare intensifies as she staggers towards me, her body reeking of alcohol.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I question as she plops onto another bench, too intoxicated to hold up her head. She looks up at me, and behind that drunken haze, I see animosity, maybe even misery.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet? No, why would you? You’re too busy stringing along two men in your twisted web of lies.”
What in the hell is she talking about?I haven’t been lying to anyone. Eddie knows Ryder has turned back up. I even was honest with him about what happened backstage. I have never lied to Eddie. I love him too much to keep anything from him. Especially now, with the wedding looming on the horizon. And besides, I just shooed Ryder away.
“What are you talking about? I haven’t lied about anything.”
Pippa laughs. “You don’t deserve him, you know?” she exclaims, her drooping, bloodshot eyes meeting mine as she frowns.
“I don’t deserve who?” She’s speaking gibberish; nothing she’s saying makes any sense.
“I did everything I could to drive you two apart. For years, I thought the way he treated you would be enough to make you run away. He’s never really understood how to show you his feelings. Most girls wouldn’t be able to handle that. But not you, not perfect little Amber. You stood by his side. You stayed with him even after he took your virginity in such a lame and thoughtless way. Even after you found out he cheated on you with Jinafer. I sat there and listened to you cry over him, over and over, and over again. I’ve stayed by your side trying to help you through it all. He’s broken you, never really treating you the way you should be treated. Sometimes like you meant nothing to him at all. And yet… you stayed.”
“That’s what you do when you’re in a relationship worth saving.”
“Is it though? Is it really worth saving, Amber?”
She’s wearing one of my bridesmaid dresses, the same one she bought before I told her she was uninvited to the wedding.
“Do you know how selfish it was of me to stand by your side, pretending like I gave a fuck when all I wanted was to destroy and burn everything you two have built? I’ve beenslowly working my way in between you, hoping that once you finally decided he wasn’t right for you, that I would be there to pick up the pieces and make him whole again.”
Is she really saying what I think she’s saying?
“You were too good for him. Always have been. But you also don’t deserve him. Not like I do.” Tears fall down Pippa’s face as she wipes them sloppily away with her hand, her movements too chaotic to make it one fluid motion.
“He was mine, Amber. Nobody knew how I felt about him, but I loved him even before you even came into the picture. I claimed him! Then I made the stupid move of introducing him to my best friend, telling him how much he would love you, because I loved you! I thought by introducing him to my friends that maybe he would make us official. Then the opposite happened. Eddie fell for you! He stopped calling me as much, pushing me into a friend zone I dreaded being in. He told me that the minute he saw you, he just knew that you were the one.” She chokes on a sob.
My heart aches for her. Had I known she was in love with him…
“You’ve always been self-absorbed, Amber. If you had just opened your eyes for five seconds, you would’ve seen how much I loved Eddie.”
“I would have stopped seeing him if I had known. Why didn’t you just tell me? I even asked you before if you and him were something. You said no.”
Pippa jumps to her feet.
“I shouldn’t have to tell you! Being my best friend, you should’ve just known! God damn it, Amber, do you know how much I’ve struggled over the last few years? I tried to stop loving him. I really did. Especially when I knew his heart belonged to you. Even when I attempted to walk away, I just couldn’t do it. My heart’s been his for the last six years, eventhough he’s trampled over it time and again without a second thought. But that all changed this last time you broke up. That’s when he finally saw me, and accepted me and all my flaws.”
My mouth drops.
“That’s right, bitch, the girl he slept with the night of your break-up, that was me! I finally got him right where I wanted him, and you couldn’t do anything about it.”
My eyes widen, the thought of Eddie sleeping with Pippa turns to bile in my throat. “You slept with Eddie?”
She grins proudly, revealing the torturous truth she’s kept hidden from me. “Damn straight. And we haven’t stopped, since that night either. Once he got a taste of my pussy, he was hooked. I told you Jinafer wasn’t the first, and she won’t be the last either. I don’t care how sweet Eddie has been to you. He's a cheater, and a womanizer. And he’s fucking mine!”
“You’re insane! How can he sleep with you when he’s been with me almost every night?”
She smiles smugly. “I’d tell you all the dirty things we do when you’re at work, but I’m afraid it would only make you sicker. You’re looking a little green, my friend.”
