4 Three Years Later

Three years later:

The alarm clock was ringing so loudly that the people entangled on the bed wanted to smash it.

The girl raised her hand and smashed her hand over the top of the clock and rubbed her eyes.

"Mm, don't leave me. Stay with me for a while." The man on the bed stretched his hands and pulled the woman towards him, cuddled her and fell asleep again.

The woman slowly opened her eyes and the outline of the room came into view.

"Ah, where am I?" She rubbed her forehead. Bits and pieces of memories came to her. Ah, did she have a one-night stand with a stranger thinking it was her ex-boyfriend Ger? She looked around, flabbergasted. But why did she feel like she knew this house?

She rubbed eyes vigorously. No, she was not dreaming. It was the same house she left three years ago. She turned her head to see the man clutching her like a koala clutching an eucalyptus tree for its dear life.

Her eyes became round like saucers when she saw who was next to her.

"Gerald? Oh my God, I wasn't hallucinating yesterday. It's actually him." Emily closed her eyes and threw her head back in defeat. Why was it him?

Suddenly, a thought dawned upon her. Did he realize it was her yesterday? Probably not. They were dead drunk.

So, he brought his dates here, huh? To their home, to the home that they shared for eight years.

Emily's ears started becoming hot. She wanted to smash something. Seeing the hands encircling her waist, she grew angrier. She removed his hands and got up.

Wearing her shirt, she opened the door and left. She did not want to stay in this house anymore. She shouldn't have drunk too much yesterday when they forced her to. Her mind went back to yesterday evening.

"Emily, let's celebrate." Her best friend Teresa, aka, Terry shouted so loud that it nearly broke her eardrums.

Everyone in the cafe looked at them, annoyance clearly written on their faces.

Emily mouthed a 'sorry' and said, "Will you keep it down, Terry? Now everyone's looking our way. Sheila will throw us out."

"Well, that's not a problem if you take us out to celebrate," She shrugged and continued, "unless you don't take us for friends. Come on Emily, it's been three years already. We haven't seen each other for three whole years. And now you're refusing to celebrate with your best friend. Isn't that against the bro code?"

Terry pouted. Emily had changed ever since she broke up with Gerald. The girl who used to laugh without the care of the world somehow lost her smile. The ones that she managed to plaster across her face while talking to people radiated so much pain that Terry thought it was better to see her poker face than that.

"Come on. I have already texted everyone and they said they're coming. Oh right, I haven't added you to our Wassup Group, right? Lemme add you there. Anyway, everyone is exhilarated to hear that you're back."

"You told everyone about me being here?"

"Yes, of course."

"Terry, I'm speechless. Why the hell did you call them? Can't I have some alone time with you?"

"Don't you dare shout at me, woman. Do you know how much we freaked out when we couldn't contact you? Do you freaking know that Tina and Ava went to your house at midnight. Neither you nor Ger was there. We were all gathered at Tina's house when Robin brought Ger the next day and told us later that you moved out."

Emily held her head in her hands. What did she do to deserve these friends? They were not just a headache but a complete headache.

"Ok fine. Let's go," Emily told Teresa.

Teresa took her to Excalibur. It was just 10 minutes away from the cafe they were sitting in.

Teresa gathered their belongings while Emily went to pay the bills and bid Sheila goodbye. The chime of the door followed their exit, and the noise of Murica City greeted them.

Emily wanted to plug her earphones, but she couldn't do that with Terry around. She could only look at her best friend helplessly as she dragged her towards Excalibur.

Excalibur was one of the high-end clubs in Murica City and one had to have passes to come here.

"Terry, I don't have a pass."

"You do," Terry's eyes twinkled as she handed the bouncers two passes, who looked at them doubtfully, but let them enter.

"Where did you get them from?"

"Oh, Ava's boyfriend is a regular here. He gave me more passes cuz you know that I live at my dad's place for one month and at my mom's for another. And, I missed their parties just because of this reason. To avoid such mishap I always have extra passes on me." Teresa's animated explanation almost brought tears to Emily's eyes from trying to hold back her laughter.

"Wow, you're such a genius, Terry," Emily complimented. She bit her lips, stopping herself from bursting into laughter.

Inside the club, they sat down at a spot. Soon, one by one, all their friends started coming. They had karaoke, and when it was Emily's turn to sing, she saw the person her heart wanted to see but her brain was telling her not to. She was afraid she would fall again, madly, passionately, extremely in love with him again.

Gerald was standing there at the doorway of their room. His eyes were red-rimmed. He was sniffling. It was as if time came to a standstill. The noise of the club couldn't reach their hearts.

Emily stood up. A single drop of tear rolled down his cheeks. Emily stepped forward. She did not want his tears to fall anymore.

She clutched her heart. It ached so much, as if someone had forced a knife into it and twisted it.

"Ger," she said.

"Em," he said.

Emily smiled. His voice sounded so real. She must've drunk a lot. She shouldn't drink so much next time. She was seeing Gerald everywhere.

Gerald stood there at the doorway looking at Emily. She was still the same, but she became thinner. She wasn't eating well, was she?

These three years had taken a toll on him. The pain in his heart never went away, but he learnt to numb the pain. Every night he would wake up from his sleep. The same nightmare tortured him over and over again. The noise here helped him feel at peace.

He had previously rented a room here so that he could work. A few months back he had asked his dad to buy Excalibur and today they came together to acquire this club and drank quite a bit. Later Oscar called.

Oscar was having his 20th… wait, was it 20th or 21st breakup? Anyway, he was dumped by his girlfriend and apparently, with Gerald being the only person who apparently got over his breakup well, he was called to pacify Oscar.

Gerald had a headache when he heard it, but they were his friends and he had to come and it ended in everyone being drunk. They even had the audacity to stay in his room and throw him out.

Gerald shook his head and stood there staring at Emily opposite him. Hah! He must be hallucinating again. Just like he did, three years ago. He should leave this place. When he tried to turn around, she called him. Her voice sounded so real.