"Isn't that what it looks like?" Mia said. She wished she could erase the memory of the video call from her head. Tears never failed to well up in her eyes when she remembered how Natty kissed and touched Colt in her presence. She had no idea why but she was really pained and jealous by that.
"Babe, you're my best friend and I'll always support you no matter what. I'll always have your back but with regards this situation, I can't help but think that something isn't adding up. Especially since Natasha has always been a jealous bitch."
"I've not seen Colt physically but he seems to be a man of his word. I detected that from the way he spoke to me over the phone when he was looking for you. His voice was filled with nothing but venom when he spoke about Natasha so I cannot comprehend how he would land on the same bed with her."
"You know I'm a very curious type and if I were you, I would have wanted to know more about the situation and that includes hearing from the horse's mouth. If it so happens that he cheated on you and has been using you all these while, let him say it to your face so you can kick him in the ass, there and then."
"Bullshit goes on in relationships, Mia. Everything is not always rosy but it's worth it. Of course, you know what Enoch and I have been through."
"I appreciate your concern, Hailey but I think I'm done with Colton Royal. I don't care for whatever explanation that is behind all that has happened. And please, do not mention him again."
"You're sure you don't want me to mention him anymore?"Hailey asked, looking at her friend intently.
She could see the conflict in Mia's eyes. After a while, Mia nodded.
"If that's what you want, I'll respect your decision."
"Happy Birthday best friend." Hailey placed a kiss on Mia's left cheek.
"Thank you," Mia mumbled.
"Hey, with all that has happened, I get why you're in low spirits but please, I want you to be happy today even if it means forgetting about Colton and everyone else."
"I'm happy. You know I don't make a big deal out of my birthday."
"You should. It's your freaking day for crying out loud. For the first time in forever, you made me miss our tradition because your goddamn phone was switched off. Tessie called me on my way here. Apparently, the whole family has been trying to reach you but they couldn't."
Mia ran a hand over her face. "Sorry. I had switched it off after that awful video call."
"Does that mean Colton must have called too?"
"You promised you weren't going to mention him." She accused.
"I'm sorry. I just really had high hopes for you two."
"I was starting to have high hopes for us too. I guess that's why I'm so pained with everything that has happened. It doesn't matter if he has called me or not. The point is, I want nothing to do with him."
Mia's eyes darted to the cake on the center table. She went over, took off the cover to take a look at the beauty her best friend got for her. Her lips curved into a small smile.
"Thank you, babes."
"You have nothing to thank me for." Hailey got up from the couch and went to join her best friend. Your gift is in my car downstairs. Couldn't carry both together."
"I can't wait to see it."
"Sure! So what do you plan on doing today?" Hailey asked.
"Nothing much. Take a rest, unpack all of those since I won't be moving with him anymore." She pointed to the boxes in different areas of the living room, "watch a movie and perhaps, think of my life."
"God, Mia, What are you? 85?"
"I don't know why you're surprised. You know I'm a boring person."
Hailey sighed. "Let's go out for breakfast and maybe later in the night, we will go to the club."
Mia shook her head.
"'No' for breakfast or club?"
"For both. I just feel like staying indoors today. Plus you know that I'm not a fan of clubs, heavy drinking, and all of that."
Hailey was about to say something but was cut off when the ringtone of her phone came through. She took out the phone from her Jean pocket, seeing the caller ID, she took a glance at Mia.
"What is it?" Mia asked.
Hailey showed her her phone. "It was Colton that was calling.
"Please don't answer it!" Mia said immediately.
"Why?" Hailey asked.
"Why is he calling you? He has no right to" Mia said.
"Perhaps, he's calling because he couldn't get through to you," Hailey responded.
"Why would he do that? Hasn't he got no shame?"
"What if he's innocent. Did you even think about that? As far as I know, if he's guilty, he wouldn't have the nerve to call you or me." Hailey said.
"He was sleeping when Natasha facetimed me, of course, he had no idea I knew the truth."
"What happened to the trust you guys had for each other?"
"I'm the victim here, Hailey. You should direct the question to him. He's the one who fooled me."
"How can I direct the question to him when you told me not to pick his call?" The phone stopped ringing and almost immediately Colt called back.
Mia sighed.
"Babe, I know you're hurt and you have every right to be angry. It's your choice if you don't want to have anything to do with Colt again but at least, you should confront him about what happened. If it's true that he's merely using you, let him say it to your face. But really, I don't think he's using you. He had gone through so much for you, Remember?"
"Don't make me the bad person here, Hailey. I don't think he's using me either but what is done is done. We all know he hates Natasha but what if he got REAL feelings for her and those feelings are hiding under some fictitious hate? What if she's right about being the only one able to satisfy him?"
"I've never been more jealous the way I was last night, seeing both of them together, naked. I mean she's very pretty, way prettier than the two of us combined. They are both from rich homes, they know how to satisfy each other. They are childhood friends, their parents are really good friends too. I mean the only reason why his family is cool with me is because they think I'm carrying his baby."
"Like, how the hell will I be able to be with Colt after seeing Natty kissing him, stroking his dick, and even sitting on his cock. The images kept haunting me all night. There's no need to force it or be awfully positive. I'll never be good enough for Colton Royal."
Hailey sighed. At this point, She didn't even know what to say or what to do. She could see that Mia's eyes were getting teary.
"Give me your phone"
"What for? If you want to call Colt, just forget about it."
"I won't, I promise. Just please, give me your phone."
Mia sighed. She went to her room, came back almost immediately, and handed her phone to her best friend. Then she plopped down on the nearest couch.
Still on her feet, Hailey switched on Mia's phone, waited for it to come on, and then watched as messages and voicemails popped up. She honestly had no idea what she was doing but she was hoping for a sign.
Lo and behold, she saw two missed call notifications from Colt and a voicemail.
"Your baby had called you twice and he left a voicemail for you. I think we should listen together." Hailey said, taking a seat beside her best friend. She purposely called Colton Mia's baby.
"Okay, here we go!" She played the voicemail.
"Mia, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I swear to you that it's not what you think. Everything that Natasha told and showed you was a lie. It's part of her plan to cause trouble for us. Please, love, don't push me away." He paused, then spoke."You should know by now that I can't live without you. I promise to explain everything to you when we see. Take care, I love you!"
To assure herself that they both didn't hear wrong, Hailey played the voice mail again.
"Is this the first time? Confessing that he loves you?"
Mia didn't respond.
"You've heard from the horse's mouth. And if we are being honest, I think we could tell how worried he was from his voice and how sorry he is. So what's the plan, baby girl? You still want to push Colton away?"