Chapter Text
Splash!
The moment the man sits down on the chair at the diner, he got splashed with an iced chocolate drink along with its whipped cream and sprinkles and cherry on top. His mouth agape, hands in their on his sides, stunned by the surprise attack. Chocolate drink mixed with whipped cream drips from his face, now it kinda looks like he has shit thrown at him. The other customers and workers in the diner stop what they are doing and turn their heads at the table by the window near the entrance. This is a sight that you only see once in your life if you are lucky enough.
“What. The. Fuck. Eva?!” he yells, wiping the chocolate drink off his eyes harshly. “Are you fucking crazy?!”
The woman across from him at the table tilts her head, making a pouty sad face mockingly. “Aww, I’m sorry,” she says in a whining yet condescending voice. “Should I get Angela to clean it up for you?” She half yells that last line just so people in the diner can hear and see that what she was doing is justified and she’s not some kind of crazy lady.
The man closes his mouth. “Eva–”
“Fuck you, Micheal!” she hisses at the man in front of her. She grabs her bag and stands up. She pays her bills, with extra tips because of the mess she made along with an apology. The diner staff mutters an ‘It’s okay, no big deal.’ to her. She leaves the diner, fuming.
“You know what, fuck you Eva Stratt!” Micheal has left the diner too, chasing after her. “Fuck you! Do you know why your relationships don’t last long?” Eva tries to ignore the man, she keeps on walking while ignoring the onlookers on the street. “You are the most boring, conceited woman ever! You don’t even know that you are so insufferable and fucking annoying! No man could ever stand being with a bitch like you!”
Eva stops and turns to him. Micheal stops walking too. He’s really angry, Eva can see that. As if she gives a fuck. He hurts her, breaks her heart when all she ever did was try her best to give her all to him.
“Fuck you, Micheal,” is the only thing she can say. Her eyes are prickling and tears are threatening to fall. All this time she had thought Micheal was the one for her, after many failed relationships, she thought finally she found the one. He made her happy, so happy that thought she finally knew what love is. “I gave my all to you,” she tells him as she walks closer to him. “I loved you with all of my heart. I tried to be the woman you wanted me to be.”
Micheal laughs mockingly at her. He looks down on her, his eyes bulging in anger. “No, you don’t love me. You don’t even know what love is. You just want someone to be in your life because you are a one boring ass bit–”
He doesn't get to finish his words because she slaps him in the face ad hard as she could. Her palm stings from the harsh contact. “Fuck. You,” she says one last time. Then she stops the taxi that happens to pass by. “If you come to attack and stalk me I will get you in jail. You know I’m capable of that, don't you?” She warns him before she gets into the taxi. The driver drives after she tells her address.
“Fuck,” she mutters under her breath. Eva takes out her phone and sends a text to her best friend, Olesya.
Eva:
done and dusted. im single again.
Olesya:
congrats 🍻 i’ll be there in 30
Eva locks her phone and sighs. She looks out the window, watching as the scenery changes from one view to another. That’s how her relationship has been. None of them ever last more than five months. She somehow believes she’s cursed or something because why is she so unlucky with being in a relationship. Mind you, it’s not because of men. She dated women before too. Yet somehow they all broke up with her saying she’s not who they want to spend their lives with. She either gets cheated on or they tell her she’s not up for a relationship.
Eva is tired. Perhaps the only answer is to not ever get into a relationship. Right. Maybe she should be celibate or something. Yes, from now on, she swore she’ll never ever ever fall in love and get into a relationship with anyone. Ever.
Thunder strikes above her, she jumps and looks up at the sky.
🍒
u comin to the wedding right
“Fuck,” Eva breathes out after she reads the text. She puts her hand on her forehead, massaging it because suddenly she has a massive headache. It’s only 11am, and she’s hungover from the drinking party she had with Olesya last night. And of course that woman is fine, that monster. Eva feels like dying here. Not only is she hungover, she’s still heartbroken after the break up last night. She needs coffee to calm her nerves. And that’s where she is right now, in the pantry of her company.
“You okay?” a deep male voice greets her from behind, making her jump and spill the hot coffee from the mug she’s holding onto her hands. “Oh my god,” the owner of the voice sputters. The male appears next to her and takes her hand to guide her to sink. He turns on the tap and lets cold water run through her hands. “I’m so sorry for making you jump,” he says, sounding extremely sorry.
Eva takes her hands away from the man and gestures for him to step back. He obliges and quickly goes to clean the mess she made, because of him. Eva looks up to see who the man is. He wears glasses, his hair is short and quite messy, he is quite tall and he does look familiar. Eva certainly has seen him around at the office. She squints to get a clearer look at him as he’s wiping clean the countertop.
“Ryland Grace?” she says. The male employee stops what he’s doing and turns to her. “From… R&D?”
“Uh… yeah,” he seems unsure about himself and somehow she finds that funny. “You know me?”
Eva rolls her eyes and goes back to her hands. They feel okay now, still red. She’s sure it’s gonna hurt like hell later unless she gets it treated as soon as possible. “Of course I know everyone in this company.”
“Right,” she hears him say. “Look, wait here I’m gonna go retrieve the first aid kit real quick. Don’t move. If you do, I'll hunt you in your office.”
Before Eva can say anything, he’s gone. She turns off the tap and goes to lean on the counter in the pantry. She wipes her hands dry with tissues. Her pale hands are so red now. Yeah, she does want to go back to her desk but the thought of this guy from R&D in her office, nursing her hands will seem pretty suspicious to others. She shakes her head rapidly, the last thing she wants is rumors at her workplace. The last time a couple had rumors in this company didn’t end well for both of them.
Then again, both were married and were cheating on their partners.
Ryland Grace appears at the pantry soon after, carrying a first aid kit. He goes to her side, setting up the first aid on the counter and starts to rummage the content. He pulls out an aloe vera gel tube and softly asks for her hands. She gives her hands to him and he gently applies the gel on them. She feels a cool sensation on her prickling hands, she sighs in relief. He then helps to put a bandage around her hands, and surprisingly he does it so nicely and neatly. Neither of them say anything as he patches her up.
“You are good at this,” Eva compliments him, breaking the silence between them.
“Thanks,” he replies with a smile. “When you have a younger brother that is accident prone, you learn things. All done.”
Eva and Grace lock eyes when she looks up at him. His eyes behind the glasses are blue just like hers, though not in the same shade. His eyes are so pretty up close, complete with long thick lashes. Those eyes somehow send something to her stomach. What the fuck, she thinks. She quickly looks away and thanks him. Before he can say anything, she leaves the pantry.
Stupid! Stupid, Eva! Didn’t you say you don’t want to fall for anyone last night? What gives? Eva Stratt mentally slaps herself in the face. She’s half running to her office, she pushes the glass door open then takes a seat on her chair. She takes a deep deep breath to calm herself down. No, she tells herself. Office romance is a big no! She slaps her forehead. Why the fuck would you think about office romance in the first place! He could be married with children right now! Eva takes another deep breath. She needs to calm down. Stop thinking about Ryland Grace.
Eva unlocks her laptop, and only now remembers her coffee. God. She’ll get it later. Once her laptop is on, she opens her Teams chat and clicks on Olesya’s name that she pinned at the top of her chat.
Eva Stratt:
i forgot about the wedding. im done for
She can see her best friend is typing already. She’s a fast reader, that one.
Olesya Ilyukhina:
whose wedding?
Eva Stratt:
claras
Olesya Ilyukhina:
clara who?
Eva rolls her eyes in exasperation. She eyes Olesya who’s sitting at her desk from the other side of the hall. Olesya looks over her laptop, her eyebrows raised.
Eva Stratt:
my cousin? i told u abt her!
Olesya Illyukhina:
sorry, dont know dont care. what about the wedding?
Eva Stratt:
i told the girls im bringing my bf with me to the wedding
Olesya Illyukhina:
so?
Eva feels like pulling her hair off her head. That might make her feel better.
Eva Stratt:
so they think im going with my bf. which i dont have one anymore
Olesya Ilyukhina:
🤣
Olesya Ilyukhina:
get a new boyfriend then. start swiping right now. or just tell them you going solo. whats so hard abt it?
Eva agrees, it is just as simple as that. Nothing to be stressed about but it does stress her because she has announced to everyone in her family that she is coming with a boyfriend. If she doesn’t, for one thing her own mother will start to introduce her to this and that sons of her friends. She’ll try to set her up with her friends’ sons, with a potential prospect. Another thing is that, there’s this one cousin of hers that just hates to see Eva happy. So, if she finds out about Eva breaking up with her boyfriend, this cousin will never shut up about it. She will mock Eva until the wedding is over. God, they are all grown women but this one simply refused to grow up and move on. She sends this reasoning to Olesya.
Olesya Ilyukhina:
well then youre cooked (Whatever that means, Eva thinks.)
Olesya Ilyukhina:
just find someone in this company. there are tons of single person in here. im sure they dont mind pretending to be your partner for a week?
Eva sighs. Olesya is right. She can just ask someone in this office to go with her. Or maybe ask them if they have a friend that is willing to go with her.
Right on time, Ryland Grace walks past outside of her office. He stops at a staff’s desk and chats with them excitedly. The staff point at the first aid kit that he’s holding and he says something while pointing his thumb towards the pantry. She bites her lips. Was he talking about her injuring her hands with hot water? After a minute or two, Ryland Grace waves goodbye to the acquaintance and heads to the elevator (the R&D dept is on the other floor). He disappears into an elevator.
Eva bites her thumbnail, feeling nervous. She looks down on her bandaged hands then up again to the area where Ryland Grace stood while waiting for the elevator.
Should she…?