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He leaves. Big smile and blushed cheeks. Tussled red hair. Varsity jacket. Bright eyes. Sweeter than Magnolia cupcakes frosting. More intoxicating than rum. And all hers. Hers.
An excited squeak goes past her lips as she burrows down the bed. Tugging on the shirt’s neck to smell the scent clinging to the fabric. His scent on the shirt she’s wearing and it’s now hers, just like he is. Just like her Archiekins.
She turns on her side and hugs the pillow closer because he’s there too.
This is silly.
This is just like an Audrey Hepburn movie, and she’s finally the star of this romance story with a male lead worthy of a Cary Grant performance. This giddiness she feels is so unusual yet so satisfying. If she ever thought the butterflies in her belly would go away once Archie was with her, well she was sorely wrong.
Just the thought of seeing him again is enough to make her fingers itch. Maybe she should text him – in a few minutes. Maybe in an hour to ask how things went with his dad. Maybe…
She heaves a sigh.
Would she look too eager? She’s never been the one chasing anyone. It’s always been the other way around. This feeling is foreign to her and she’d love to reign over her emotions as she usually does.
A distraction would serve well.
Reaching for her phone, she unlocks it and scrolls through her contacts before typing a message to one of her friends to set a date for coffee and shopping, but instead of a message back her phone buzzes in the bed with a dull sound that makes her frown.
“Veronica Lodge, tell me everything,” Kevin’s voice greets and it makes her giggle in the most juvenile way she’s done since ever. Her heart beats at a quicker pace and she bites her lips to stop herself from smiling.
“What do you mean?” she plays dumb, but she knows the inflection of her voice is off and there aren’t good enough acting skills to hide her giddiness.
Kevin scoffs. “Please. I saw you leaving with Archie.” After hearing some rustling over the phone, Kevin continues. “My turbulent love life doesn’t provide enough sunshine to feed my soul, so I’ve decided to leave romance for others and live vicariously through them. Now, tell me the details, miss Lodge.”
Veronica’s lips stretch in a big smile before she proceeds to tell him not the details about the most marvelous night she spent with Archie Andrews, but of how he made her feel. About the freckles in his eyes and the way his rough hands like to toy with her hair and the little kisses…
“Oh, my God, stop.” Kevin makes a huffing sound like he’s sick. “You two are nauseating and I haven’t even seen you.”
“I’m sorry,” Veronica mutters somewhat sheepishly – as sheepish as she can be while toying with the sleeve of her loverboy’s dress shirt.
“Don’t be. I get it.”
“You do?”
“Well, not really because no boy has chosen me willingly–”
“Kev,” Veronica whines, because she knows he doesn’t have the best record in his relationships. “The lucky boy who will love you the way you deserve is out there and I swear I’ll help you find him. And I’ll chase away all those who are trash.” She eyes the clock on her night table and decides it’s maybe time to have breakfast and only then call Archie. “Meanwhile, how about lunch and shopping to lift those spirits?”
“Are you trying to distract yourself from Archie?”
She sighs. “Am I that transparent? I just don’t want to seem needy.”
“You want him to come to you. And I do need that lunch and shopping, so of course, V.”
They say their goodbyes and Veronica gets off the bed, thinking for a moment about changing her clothes. But why would she hide this? If her mother is shameless enough to have an affair while married, why would she hide the relationship with a boy she’s dating? Why would she let go of the threads that keep her together and sane?
She’s happy. She’s had a blissful moment in her life after months of darkness and uncertainty, so when she finds the bottle of Cristal in the fridge Veronica takes it as a sign for her one victory – and as an act of small revenge against her mother. The pop of the bottle is music to her ears, and the shock in her mother’s face as she sees the mimosa in her hand is priceless.
Unfortunately, reality turns bitter once more. One phone call that says her prince charming needs her, and this princess won’t stay helplessly waiting.