Chapter One

The sound of alarms is traumatizing. Eve let out a loud groan and aggressively pushed her mobile phone out of her bed. The lucky phone landed on her rumpled clothes on the floor, closer to the bed. "Bloody alarm." she blurted and sat up.

Sleep had eluded her and after finally falling asleep around 5:00 am that morning, the disturbing alarm had to awaken her to the reality of life. It was 7 am. Eve had been trying to reach out to her boyfriend all through the night but all her efforts were futile.

"Oh my God!" she gasped and jumped out of the bed. She grabbed the phone from the floor and flipped it around, checking whether it had sustained breaks from the fall. After being satisfied with her inspection, she swiped up the phone screen but the phone seemed to be glaring at her.

"What the hell?" a disappointed Eve lamented and moved to the white tiled floor with her back against the bed. Her boyfriend didn't return the twenty-five missed calls and neither did he text her back. 

Eve immediately sprung out of the ground and fell on the bed with her face while hitting the bed repeatedly with her left hand. She groaned and decided to call him again.

Devin was on a business trip and Eve understood how prominent such trips were to him. Whenever he was out on business trips, they barely communicated and even though such an act hurts Eve, she never complained because as far as she is concerned, Devin is the love of her life and she would do anything to please him.

However, Eve was bothered by Devin's inability to respond to her calls or reply to her text messages. At least, he would reply because they texted each other when he was on such trips and he told her that he was returning from the trip yesterday which was why she was currently bombarding his phone with calls.

Eve leaped with joy the moment she heard Devin's voice. He finally picked up her call and her excitement was evident in her shaky voice.

"Uhmm, Hey babe!" she stammered, and silence followed afterward. Eve cleared her throat, sat by the edge of her bed, and continued speaking.

"Are you okay? It's been a while. I've been trying to reach out to you but you weren't answering my calls." she told him, sounding worried.

"I'm good." was all Devin could say and Eve couldn't help but notice the coldness in his voice.

"You said you were coming back yesterday right? So are you back? I'm free. We can meet up right away." she offered.

"No!" Devin spat.

Eve's jaw dropped. She stood up immediately. "Babe are you sure you are okay? Is it something about the business? Are you.."

"We can't meet up Eve."

"What?" Eve blurted in disbelief. Did he just address her by her name?

"We can't meet up now or any other time." Devin disclosed.

Eve shook her head in doubt. She felt a sharp pain in her chest. "What are you saying, babe? You are joking right?" she asked with a half-smile.

Devin was silent and random thoughts came running into Eve's mind. "Babe are you there?" she asked with her trembling left hand, managing to hold the phone up.

"I'm sorry Eve. I can't be with you anymore." Devin spat.

"Is this some sort of prank or what?"

"I'm serious Eve. I'm breaking up with you."

"I don't understand Devin. We didn't have a fight and come on babe you can't just break up with me like that."

"I'm sorry about everything Eve but we are done." 

At that point, Even knew what she feared the most had happened. Not only could she sense the coldness in Devin's voice but its finality and seriousness too.

"I don't get it. I don't understand what you are saying." she slowly replied with hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "Babe are you tired from the trip? Wasn't your business trip successful? Do you need to cool off? I can give you time to relax."

"Listen to me, Eve," Devin screamed and Even was stunned at the sudden change in his voice. "We are not having this conversation again. I'm done with you," he screamed. Eve shut her eyes and the phone slipped out of her hand. Devin had hung up on her already.

"No no." Eve cried out in shock and fell on the cold floor on her left cheek. Devin must be having a bad day. He can't break up with me just like that she consoled herself and sat up abruptly.

She reached for her mobile phone which had switched off after falling on the floor. She dialed Devin's number again.

"What do you want?" he fired. "Don't you ever call this number else I'll deal with you." he threatened.

"I thought you said nothing could tear us apart." Eve reminded him while sobbing.

"I've found someone else Eve, and I love her," he replied.

"You found someone else? Have you been cheating on me?"

"Look Eve, I don't owe you any damn explanation. I don't love you anymore. So take it or leave it." 

"You son of a bitch. How dare you play with my feelings? I swear Devin I'm going to ruin your life." Eve spat.

Devin hung up again and when Eve tried to call him, she was told that the number doesn't exist. Devin had blocked her from calling him. She stood in her bedroom trying to take in all that she had just heard. Devin had broken up with her without a valid reason.

Eve took some steps backward and sank onto her bed. She felt a loud bang in her head. Tears were ceaselessly streaming down her cheeks and she was staring at nothing in particular. She recollected Devin telling her that he had found someone else and soon she was crying like a lost child.

It was Sunday morning and Eve and her best friend Olivia had planned on going to the hair salon that morning. It's past 9 am and Eve was yet to show up. Olivia kept trying to call her but her number wasn't reachable. After spending about an hour in the salon without Eve showing up, Olivia decided to go to Eve's apartment.

Eve had been crying for almost three hours since she spoke to Devin. She walked out of the bed like a piece of log and gradually headed to the bathroom. Without putting on a shower cap and with her pajamas still on, Eve turned on the cold shower and stood transfixed on the spot.

She sat on the wet floor and cried while hugging her knees with her chest. "How could you do this to me Devin?" she lamented with clattering teeth.

Drenched by the cold water and crying hard with pains emanating from her chest, Eve walked out of the bathroom to the living room in her wet clothes and opened the refrigerator. There were water droplets on her carpet and more water kept dripping from her soaked self. She squeezed her long straight hair on the carpet and pulled out a large container of ice cream from the refrigerator. Eve walked back to her bedroom and sat on her bed naked after taking her wet clothes off.

Olivia had reached Eve's place and was standing outside the apartment. She had been knocking for about three minutes but there was no reply. She was panicking and she tried calling  Eve's number but it wasn't going through. She called out to a group of men walking down the street and after getting some tools, the men were able to break into Eve's apartment.

Olivia thanked them and rushed into the apartment screaming Eve's name but there was no reply. She made her way to her best friend's bedroom and was shocked at the spectacle before her. Eve was sprawled on her bed, naked, stuffing ice cream on her face.

"What the hell is going on here?" Olivia screamed and ran to Eve. She snatched the spoon away from Eve and collected the ice cream container from her. She looked around and saw the mess Eve had created in the room.

Eve's eyes had already turned red and were swollen. She was lost and was gazing at the blank wall. Her palms were shaking. Olivia held both her arms and shook her violently. "What is wrong with you Eve? What happened to you?"

The violent act by Olivia jolted Eve back to life and she immersed Olivia in a warm embrace. "Devin left me," she said amidst sobs.

"Oh my God!" Olivia exclaimed and began to stroke Eve's back lovingly. Olivia could feel the tears streaming down Eve's cheeks and dripping on her back.

"What happened? Did you guys fight?"

"I don't know. I don't know what happened. He called me and..." Eve broke into a torrential overflow of tears after detaching herself from Olivia.

Olivia pulled Eve to herself and hushed her. "It's okay dear. I know it hurts but please, that's enough. Don't cry."

"He said he doesn't love me anymore. He told me that he found someone else and can't leave her." Eve cried out.

Olivia bit her lower lip. "That son of a bitch cheated on you and had the nerve to throw it at your face?."

"How could Devin do this to me?"

"He doesn't deserve you. You are too good for him." Olivia replied. "Listen" she continued after pulling away from their tight embrace. "You are not going to sit here and look miserable because of a stupid guy." Eve nodded and began to dry her teary eyes with the edge of her palms.

"You've cried enough my dear. That bastard is not worth any of your tears. He's gone Eve and you must accept that no matter what and move on." Olivia charged.

Eve sniffled. "It hurts a lot. I didn't see this coming. I thought Devin loved me so much." she said with fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Well, I guess he never really did," Olivia said and began wiping the tears away from Eve's face.

"That's true." Eve slowly replied. Olivia stood up and picked up the wet clothes from the floor. She took it to the bathroom and was soon fixing the things Eve had ruined in her fit of rage earlier.

"I know you haven't eaten so I'll fix breakfast for you. Why don't you take a shower?" Olivia suggested and led the shrunken Eve out of the bed. Eve slowly walked into the bathroom while Olivia heaved a deep sigh.

"I curse the day my best friend met you, Devin," Olivia said and headed to Eve's kitchen.

When Eve got out of the bathroom, Olivia changed her bed sheet and a food tray was placed on the table beside her bed. Breakfast was served. She smiled.

"Eat and get dressed. We are going to the hair salon and by evening, we will be hitting Romeo's club."

Eve didn't utter a word. She crashed on the bed. "There's an engagement party at the club this evening and there's going to be free drinks." Olivia disclosed.

"Sam told you that?" Eve asked while stirring her tea.

Olivia nodded in agreement. Samantha is her cousin who works in Romeo's club and whenever there was a party with free drinks, she told Olivia about it.

"I'm not sure if I can make it to the engagement party," Eve replied after heaving a deep sigh with a sad expression spread across her face.

Olivia moved to the bed and took Eve's cold hands into hers. "You'll be fine my dear," she assured her and blinked lovingly.

"You need to go out and drink that cheat called Devin out of your system." Olivia continued. Eve nodded. "That bastard has moved on. You must move on too."

"I think you are right." Eve agreed and took off the towel wrapped around her head. "I'm not letting that son of a bitch get to me." Olivia smiled. "I'm going out with you to the engagement party this evening." Eve declared.

"That's more like my girl," Olivia said with a bright smile and they shared a hug. "Eat up. We need to get to the hair salon right away." Olivia added