NOTHING LASTS FOREVER.

That's what the people and old adages say anyway. But does that mean it is really true? 

Can a parent's grief over their child's death ebb away with the passing of time? Can a parent stop mourning for the child they lost and the life their child missed? 

Can love not last even as time flies away? Must love end at a certain point in time? Can love not be perpetual? 

Nothing lasts forever. 

I detest it for being true in the end. I detest those sages who spoke the truth. I detest them for not being capable of lying for even once in their farsighted, prudent lives. 

Nothing lasts forever.

Not even friendship.

___

How I wish that I didn't eavesdrop. How I wish I could rewind that moment and just leave them alone.

I wanted dearly to lose my memory of that ugly moment, for the words of the discussion they would later have in private would haunt me for the rest of my life. Unbeknownst to me, the knowledge of this would imprison me forever.

___

Pat and Joaquim probably never meant for me to overhear their conversation, but was I supposed to just stand by and do nothing when I hear my best friend and boyfriend discussing heatedly in a locked room? I mean, really. Come on.

Not that I suspected Joaq of cheating on me with Pat- both of them would never do something so heinous to me. Pat treasures and cherishes our friendship too much to wreck if for a man, even if that man is the dashing, suave Joaquim Korl, and Joaq has only met Pat during my celebrations or birthday party, which isn't much really. I mean, he spent most of those times with me and Libby.  

I am au courant of the fact it is possible for two people to fall in love even with minimal conversation, but I know for a fact that Joaq does not believe in the notion of love at first sight. "More like infatuation at first sight," is his personal take on it. He finds it absolutely ridiculous that two people can love each other unconditionally with just a mere glance. "Life isn't a Disney movie. You don't go from thinking 'She's hot!' to 'I wanna marry her, protect her and love her forever and spend my whole life with her 'cos she's fine!'. No one simply does that. That is pure lust, and lust is not love."

But just because I trusted Joaq and Pat not to have any romantic relations with each other doesn't mean that I was not inquisitive about why they were talking in closed doors. It was as if they wanted to keep me in the dark about something. 

"How long are we going to hide it from her? Forever?" Pat's usually sweet voice dripped with venomous sarcasm that caused goosebumps to appear on my arms. Hearing such icy sarcasm that's intended wound was something I had never heard from Pat.

"Yes. We'll take it to our graves if we have to. And lower your volume!"

"I'm 100% sure that she's asleep. When Irina is asleep, not even a hurricane rouses her."

"We can't tell her ever, Pat. This is good for her sanity and mental health."

"This? Do you mean by hiding secrets from her? This, Joaquim, is never good for anyone. The truth will always be revealed at the end of the day. I have no idea how you and Libby managed to convince yourself that this foolish plan will work."

Libby is in on this too? What the hell? What could they be talking about?

This is freaking me more and more as the minute passes.

"If she knows about it, she'll be gutted. No, she'll be crushed. And we all know what she's gonna do to her when she finds out about it."

Her?

"Joaquim, what will crush her won't be the knowledge of what her mother has done. What will crush her is your keeping secrets from her."

My mother? What does that infidel of a woman have to do with this? What's this anyway?

"Okay, then you go and bloody tell her. Go and bloody tell her in her face the damn money she's been getting as her salary is not all of Libby's- at least 80% of that $30K is from the woman she hates. Go and bloody tell her that. I dare you to."

What?

The word must have slipped past my lips for a still silence was seemingly suddenly cast in that locked room.

"My mother? 80% of my salary is from my mother? That bastard?" I am perplexed about whether I should be grateful that I am speaking to a locked door or not, that the locked door prevents me from unleashing my wrath and melancholy on them. 

"Why would you lie to me? Why? Why would you do this to me, not tell me earlier? PAT, HOW COULD YOU? HOW THE HECK DID YOU EVEN FIND OUT ABOUT THIS? PAT, OF ALL PEOPLE, YOU? YOU BETRAYED ME?"

"No, Irina, please, Irina..." Once I hear Pat trying to unlock the door, I grab a nearby vase and throw it at the door. Once I hear Pat scream in fright and the sound of the dropping of the key, I bolt for the main door and run. 

Running to God-knows-where.

Running away from my confidante and my beloved.

___

Oddly enough, I find myself at the place where it all really started.

The place where I felt that I really belonged and attached to so much so that it became my safe haven and even second home.

The place where I sincerely believed that it served as a landmark for a fresh, bright new start in my life.

The place which is now the same as any other; the place where it is just another bookmark of the chapter of my ruined life, ruined hopes, ruined dreams.

Libby's Bath.

Ooof I know this is a short chapter, but I think it is a chapter that leaves a lot of room for theories! What do you think is going to happen?

Do you have any predictions? Please let me know in the comments!

Hope you have a merry day ahead of you!🥰💕💕💕😊