Chapter 8 (Reconnecting With My Best Friend Again)

• Victoria
• "Ladies and gentlemen, we've arrived in Seoul. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened until the aircraft comes to a complete stop at the gate.”
• Not long after the pilot’s finished announcing, the plane came to an abrupt stop and everyone started moving out of the plane. I yawned and stretched myself while looking at Seoul through the window.
• I stepped down with a smile forming on my lips, it was not that bad.
• The airport is a bit crowded with everyone going about their lives. I stood there, completely unsure of where to go from there. I glanced around to see people anxiously lined up at the arrival gate waiting for their loved ones, some with flowers while some with sign boards displaying the names of their loved ones.
• What if Matilda hadn’t come like she promised? I gulped uncomfortably, my heart beating fast and I nervously tightened my hand around my bag. My eyes wandered around for a while before they fell on a pretty young lady with a beaming smile on her face. She has a bouquet of roses in her grasp.
• “MATILDA!!" I screamed, hurrying immediately to her. Tears welled up in my eyes as I emotionally embraced her into a deep hug.
• She giggled, hugging me back. Call me dramatic but honestly I have missed her a lot. I sniffed, crying, my face buried in her shoulder and she laughed, patting my back.
• Matilda is one hard girl I had come to know, not so good at displaying her emotions.
• After a while, I pulled away, stepping back a bit to look at her. She looks so beautiful just like always just that she looks more prettier now when….. Well, I look the opposite.
• I always wonder how we even click together as friends because I didn’t even look anything closer to her. Matilda is 6’8 while I am struggling between 5’2 or should I say 5’4. Her deep chocolate-brown hair cascaded down her back, stopping right at her waistline. Believe me when I say that Matilda has the best body ever.
• Everything about her screams perfection.
• “Welcome, you seem tired,” those sweet warm voices that I had missed so much snapped me back to the present and I almost teared up again. "Let's go home,”
• She kissed my forehead to calm me down and then collected the bag from me and walked to her car trunk to dump them there and that’s when my eyes got a glimpse of the car and they widened.
• She dropped the bag and turned around but my mouth was hanging damn open. “What’s wrong?" Matilda said, concern etched on her pretty face as she fastened her steps toward me.
• “This…. I mean,” I pointed at the sleek Mercedes Benz in front of me. “Whose own?"
• “Oh," the concern vanished from her face and she laughed, stroking the car with a wide smile. “Mine," she proudly exclaimed.
• And my face paled instantly, my eyes furrowing open at her confession. Her own? The word echoed repeatedly in my head.
• Seeing the look on my face, Matilda sighed with a tiny smile, “Come on, we have a lot of catching up to do," she opened the door and I shockingly nodded before sliding in.
• She closed the side of my car and entered. She ignited the car engine and drove out of the airport. Throughout the drive, my mind kept moving back to her words, *Mine!*
• Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for her, but I am just confused… shocked, anyone. I went to the same school with Matilda and her brother, Sage. Their parents were rich though not that freaking rich but at least they were comfortable. I think what connected the two of us immediately was our quietness.
• I was the school nerd while Harper was the typical school queen bee. Sage, lolz, was the school's hot basketball player then. I don’t know if he was cool with me then because of Matilda but back then I did have a small crush on him.
• Things were moving so fine for them, till their family went bankrupt and after a few months, they lost their parents in a fatal accident. So after our graduation, Sage and Matilda left for Seoul to find their feet.
• I sighed, heaving out a breath, I think they did find their feet in three years of us not keeping in touch. Matlida’s skin is so fresh.
• “Hey sweetie, you keep dozing off, we have reach," She teased, and playfully smacked my shoulder, jolting me out of my thoughts.
• “Oh. Really?" I sighed and stretched my arms as Matilda parked the car and went to the back of the trunk to get my bag.
• We entered her apartment and I gasped, my widened gaze wandering around the place and taking in the beautiful interior. Her cream-colored wall is so smooth with vibrant artwork on it. I was still staring like a fool when Matilda’s voice cut in, “Come on, sweetie, this way,"
• I gulped and followed her inside the room. It is beautiful as well with just one small bed that can only fit in one person.
• “So this is my room," she said and I smiled, nodding at her. “The thing is, there are only two rooms in this apartment,"
• She doesn’t need to say it, I know, Sage and hers.
• “So we will be sharing mine, okay?" She finished, smiling but my gaze moved back to the bed. There is no way this bed is going to fit in the two of us, I think I might be using the sofa till I find my way around the city.
• Matilda followed my gaze before she sighed, “About the size, don’t worry, Sage is hardly home due to his work so I might be using his," she hadn’t completed her words when I suddenly felt a wave like a queasy feeling in my stomach, followed by a bitter taste.
• I quickly held my stomach, feeling dizzy and sudden discomfort in the stomach.
• “Vicky, are you alright?" Matilda snapped, concern lacing through her voice. I wanted to pretend and nod at her but before I could even say a word, I almost gagged.
• “Vicky!"
• I immediately held my mouth and rushed inside the bathroom. “Ack…uhh!!” Pouring out everything inside the bathroom sink as my stomach churned. Someone rushed inside, and the next thing, I felt a hand patting my back as I threw up the little food in my stomach.
• We stayed like that for a while before the nausea finally stopped, though I am still feeling a bit dizzy. I turned on the tap and washed my face before managing to stand up but as expected, I was met with a suspicious stare.
• Matilda had her arms folded across her chest, her face straight as her brown eyes narrowed on me suspiciously. “What?" I groaned, feigning innocence.
• “Are you pregnant, Vicky?" I looked away and her eyes squinted, realization hitting her. " Wait, you are pregnant,” she exclaimed and I just sighed.
• There is nothing to hide, not like she is not going to find out anywhere. Besides, I am proud of the little soul growing inside me.
• "Yes, Matilda,” I said, my lips curled down sadly remembering the scene in Logan’s office and the online saga.
• "Is Logan aware?” I could detect the distaste in her tone as she muttered the name but this time I didn’t react unlike before. I could have thrown up some tantrums.
• “No, Matilda," I answered, walking past her into the room. I pulled out my purse. “Much better, how far gone?" She walked inside.
• So dramatic.
• I rumbled my hands inside my purse looking for that white sealed envelope to show her but I saw nothing. My heart skipped, pounding faster and I quickly opened the zipper wider, pouring everything out on the bed.
• “What is wrong, Vicky, what are you looking for?"
• “My…. My hospital report," I sputtered, confused.
• Matilda rushed over to help me out, we opened my box, shuffling every clothes out but yet we didn’t see anything. "Are you sure you didn’t forget it in the hospital?”
• "No,” I quickly replied with a throbbing heart when immediately it was as if a switch was flipped on in my head and my mind moved instantly to Albraham. When he was running toward the cab, calling my name…. That white thing in her hand.
• I gasped as realization hit me like a thunderbolt on a stormy night and I went numb immediately. My body trembled as if a block of ice had been poured all over me. It was a white envelope. How come, I didn’t see it?
• Oh no…. No!!!! I have made the worst mistake and now the Winston household will know. I held my stomach, my heart beating very fast.
• “Vicky," Matilda’s voice cut in.
• “They know,"