Sabrina happily woke up early the next morning, she was so excited to tell her friends that she was now engaged. She felt like she couldn’t trust anyone more than she could trust Albert. They had been dating for so long, she couldn’t believe he had finally proposed! While she was sitting up in the bed, Albert was still snoring away. How could he still not be up, it was broad daylight, wasn’t he looking forward to telling people she had said yes? Oh well, she thought, he might have called some people while I was asleep last night, maybe he couldn’t wait until the morning. But who Albert had called was still a mystery but certainly one she didn’t want to find out. Albert had called someone Sabrina never would have expected or wanted him to call and he certainly didn’t tell or ask her the right thing. Sabrina had called over ten people about her being engaged, all about the ring, the romantic dinner, and most importantly, the proposal by the time Albert woke up.
“Do you want to call someone, I’ve been up for a while so I’ve told quite a few people about our relationship,” Sabrina said politely. Albert couldn’t look directly into her eyes, he had done something terrible that he knew he would never forgive himself for but he knew he had to do it. Wondering whether Albert was avoiding her or just tired she passed him the phone but he pushed it back towards her. It sure was exciting that they were finally a more serious couple but also terrifying. How would he be able to cope under such a serious relationship and in a year or so, being married? This was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to either of them, why was he so worried about it all? They both loved each other dearly, she surely wouldn’t break up with him or betray him! Was he really willing to betray her though, he had to think about what he had to do more and more. They went through the whole day without it seeming like anything special had happened. They had a stroll through the park at noon like usual. Then they had a nice leisurely lunch at a luxurious restaurant. It was Texas, after all, they generally did normal couple things there, not random activities. They came back home after 19:00, they had a wonderful day. They both felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Although being with Albert felt amazing, she couldn’t wait to see Nikita, her old school friend the next day. At 09:00 the next day, Sabrina hugged Albert and had a great moment with him just before she left to go to the train station. She really felt like the luckiest woman in the world, but was she? As she boarded the train to go to NYC, she couldn’t stop smiling, it was the best day ever. After two long hours sitting on the train, Sabrina finally arrived. She jumped off the train, she was so excited and she could finally move her legs! She ran to Nikita’s apartment but when she got there, Nikita wasn’t there. Where was she? Suddenly, from around the corner jumped out a 7-foot tall man. He was holding a large hammer looking ready to swing it at the next person he saw. His name was Mr. Green. He was the handyman in the building but he sure was scary.
“Do you know where Nikita, who lives in this building is?” asked Sabrina.
“Sure, you mean the one with the black hair, right?” Sabrina nodded while he was talking. “You might find her downstairs in the coffee house.”
“Thanks, Mr. Green!” Sabrina shouted, running down the stairs to get to the coffee house as soon as possible. She ran into Moonbucks, the coffee shop downstairs. As soon as she got in, she stopped to take a look around. There was a bar and a few high stools lined with linen and a velvet cushion cover was round the actual seat. Near the back, there were lots of little tables for two and that you might be able to squeeze a third person onto. There was a little doorway and when she peered through the arch, she could see a red phone box. The toilets must be just down there she thought. There were also a few seats by the windows which were couch-like. It was a very peaceful place, there were only a few voices there. Suddenly, she heard a very recognizable voice out-of-no-where. She looked around to see where it was coming from. Then she saw a very comfy-looking couch and a big armchair with a cushion to rest your back on. In the middle of these two seating areas and another table of two again with two normal, wooden chairs was an apothecary table. She couldn’t tell who they were as she could only see the back of their heads. She wondered if it was Nikita but none of the four people looked like her at all so she didn’t ask as she didn’t want to embarrass herself. She ordered a cappuccino at the bar then she saw a movement coming from the sofas. She turned to look.

“Sabrina, is that really you?”
“Nikita, there you are, I’ve been looking for you everywhere! I went to your apartment but you weren’t there, then this big, scary man came and said you might be here and you are! I’m so glad, I have really big news! You ready? Oh, I can’t tell you, I’ll let this tell you!” Sabrina started saying, lifting up her hand with the ring on it.
“You’re engaged! Was it Albert?” Sabrina nodded excitedly. They both started squealing, it was so high-pitched, it was ear-piercing.
“What is all of this, what’s going on?!” Asked one of Nikita’s friends, Alex. He was getting really annoyed with all the noise, it was peaceful earlier so why isn’t it now? He was so handsome, even more than Albert, he was even better than Albert, his sense of fashion was as well. She felt an instant connection but she knew she couldn’t, it was wrong, she couldn’t betray Albert, he would never do that to her. She was sure of it.
“Who’s your new friend? Hold on, did you say you’re engaged? Man, so you’re taken? When I run into a wonderful, cute girl, she’s engaged. I’m always looking for the perfect girl for me and now I’ve found her, she’s taken, who’s the evil bastard? I mean the lucky guy?” Alex quickly said to cover up what he had accidentally said aloud. For a second, Sabrina looked quite confused but she got over it. Sure it was weird but it can’t be that bad. She was sure he was just a funny type of guy.
“So, Nikita, how are you? And aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” Sabrina asked her.
“Oh yeah, right. Sorry Sabrina, I forgot. I’m good thanks and I can see you are clearly as well with that big ring covering your finger. So anyway, this is Alex,” Sabrina waved at all of the people sitting by the table each time Nikita told her who they were. “Then this is Stewart and last but not least, this is Eden. They are all unique in their own ways. Alex is an actor, Stewart is very and I mean very sarcastic, and a slightly funny guy. Then lastly, this is Eden, she loves playing the guitar but she had a rough time when she was younger so if she’s a bit crazy, she’s just being her normal Eden-self.”
“Cool, you guys all seem pretty awesome, Eden, do you play professionally and Alex, what movies have you been in because I didn’t really recognize you when we first met.”
“Well Sabrina, I am only beginning my career so I’m focusing on being in musical productions at theatres so not many people do recognize me so don’t worry about that. And Eden actually plays here in the coffee house once a week. She doesn’t play professionally other than here.” Alex blurted out without giving Eden a chance to speak.
“I make my own songs actually. My most famous song is Stinky Dog, it’s a big hit here. I’m absolutely amazing at everything, especially writing songs.” Eden said but she seemed nice enough so Sabrina didn’t comment. With the information she knew about them so far, she thought they were both, very nice and interesting people. After around an hour of chatting and getting to know each other, Sabrina was so glad she came as she was so happy she got to meet Nikita’s cool friends.
“Ok, I think I’m going to head off now guys, great meeting you Sabrina, will you be staying tomorrow?” Stewart asked.
“I’m not quite sure yet Stewart but I think I’m staying at Nikita’s so I’ll let you know if I decide to stay. Bye, it was nice meeting you. It was nice meeting all of you. I’m going to stay here for a bit longer if anyone wants to stay with me but don’t feel like you have to. Bye Eden and Nikita.” Sabrina replied as she notices Eden and Nikita getting up.
“Bye Sabrina, it was nice seeing you, looking forward to seeing you later for our girls’ night.” Eden and Nikita chorused. They all waved each other off.
“Are you going to stay Alex?” Sabrina stated as if she knew her answer from what he had said earlier.
“Yes, I thought I would stay here with you, it’s your first night here so I wanted to keep you company.”
“Thanks Alex, that’s so sweet. Nikita is so lucky to have you as a friend and I guess so am I now.”
“Oh, thanks Sabrina. Do you really think of me as a friend now?” Alex asked, his face widening as his smile reached his ears on either side. It started to look like he had a smile built into his face and Sabrina started to look worried. She was wondering what had happened to his face but she had only just met him so she couldn’t ask him that, it would be rude. Plus, she never knew, that may be his normal face, no matter how weird it was. Alex saw Sabrina and she looked distressed so he immediately realized it would be his smile so he came back to reality and put on his normal face. It was quite hard for him to pull it off although you wouldn’t expect that from an actor, but he wasn’t all that talented so he just about managed to contain it. After Alex had forgotten about what Sabrina had said, he was not freaking her out anymore so they got into a long conversation. They mainly talked about Alex’s acting career. It all started by Sabrina asking the simple question about which parts he had played in which productions. The first five minutes was Alex saying this really slowly and repeating a few things sometimes.
“I have been in a few productions but the one I had the biggest part in was Pinocchio because I was Pinocchio. One of the worst parts I had to do in it though was when I had to shout ‘Once I was a wooden boy…’ and run off stage in a very weird way, it was like I was doing high knees. Stewart constantly brings that up when I’m talking to new people about my acting career so I just wanted to tell you before he did. Anyway, some acting tips from acting classes are – you might want to get comfortable before I start because it could take a while listing them.” And it did take him a while that’s why this speech took him so long as he kept repeating things on this list and more over and over again. “So when you’re pretending to be happy, smile. When you’re laughing, think of something funny and you’ll start laughing…” and this carried on for over an hour. By the time Alex finished droning on about his career and acting techniques, Sabrina had almost fallen asleep but when the cushion went up, she woke up in a sudden. She made sure not to show Alex that she had almost fallen asleep. As she looked over to see where Alex was, she saw he was looking away to find a good magazine with what he called ‘hot chicks’ in. She grabbed this opportunity to rub her eyes and stretch like she always does as soon as she wakes up. She looked at her sleek, silver watch.
“Oh my gosh, Alex I’m so sorry I have to go. Girls Night starts in less than an hour and I have to get ready.” Sabrina said, worried she wouldn’t be ready in time.
“I think you look great like that babe. Did I say that out loud?!” Sabrina looked at him with a confused expression on her face. As soon as she had left the coffee house, he started hitting himself in the head, why was he so stupid and why couldn’t he stop flirting whenever she was near her?

Sabrina ran up the three flights of stairs to get to Nikita’s apartment, why wasn’t there a lift in a five-stories building? At least she would get so much fitter here. She ran towards Nikita’s door, not expecting it to be open so she went flying in.
“Are you ok Sabrina?” Nikita asked, worried about her.
“Yeah, I’m good, how much longer until Girls Night?” She found out her answer as Nikita held up her watch. She had forty-five minutes, how long did it take her to get up those stairs? And how was she still out of breath? She ran into the guest room, not taking any time to look around as she was so worried about being late. She put on the makeup she had planned to wear in ten minutes, she took a lot of care in her make-up. She took another five minutes to have a shower then another ten minutes to perfect her outfit. She was ready with twenty minutes to spare so helped Nikita get everything ready for Eden but that was a big mistake. She had no clue Nikita was a freak about making things, not just her clothes and make-up, perfect. In ten minutes, Sabrina had given up trying to help so tidied up her make-up away. That’s when she realized how tidy Nikita had made her room before she had come. It was beautiful with purple walls, her favorite color. She had clean, white pillow-cases which smelt like jasmine flowers. Her bed was made like a hotel would, even with the chocolates on the pillows. It had her make-up table with a mirror in front with light bulbs around it. She had her own personal shower with a shower curtain although she wasn’t quite sure why she needed it but she was fine with it. She looked at the rest of her bathroom and saw the cleanest toilet, why would anyone bother to make it so clean? She saw the walk-in closet, it was amazing, and massive, imagine living here? She could hang, over a hundred clothes in there. She also had a mini cupboard under her dresser which she could easily fit clothes into. The curtains were specially designed with yellow roses on a scarlet background. The curtains were so soft, made from velvet. Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ring, Eden must be here! But how long does it take her to look around a room? She ran out in her beautiful dress to meet Eden and Nikita, ready for her Girls Night with them. This was so exciting, she hadn’t had a Girls Night since high school. Were they maybe going to watch a movie, go to a restaurant or what? She couldn’t stop smiling, what was wrong with her, it was just a night with some friends. She did this all the time back home at Texas. When she saw Eden walk through the door, she was amazed, Eden looked so wonderful. I guess you don’t have to wear a dress as a girl to look beautiful. You also don’t have to be wearing something detailed. Eden was wearing a basic satin pant-suit, she then looked at Nikita’s pretty but basic sapphire dress. Seeing how basic both their clothes were, she was worried hers was way to over the top and if she had missed out something when they talked about having a night together. She looked down at her extravagant, velvet, yellow dress with lots of different colored flowers on it. It was an a-line dress.
“Did I miss the theme or is that just the types of clothes you wear. They are beautiful but so similar to each other and so different to mine. Anyway, never mind about that, what do you guys want to do?”
“I was thinking, what if we play some poker. Maybe make a bit of money out of it.” Eden replied, rubbing her hands together.
“I don’t normally do that but sure, I’ll try it out. Quick thing though, I don’t exactly know how to play poker. Do you think you guys could teach me?” Within an hour, Sabrina knew how to play so they decided to start placing some money on it. By the end of the night, Sabrina had lost $70, $23 to Nikita and $47 to Eden, she was amazing. Unfortunately, she hadn’t won anything though. They started to get tired by 23:00 so finished the night then, as soon as Sabrina was ready for bed, she dropped down asleep, she was so tired.

All night, as she was sleeping, all she could dream about was her no-longer boyfriend, Albert, back in Texas and how she desperately wanted to go home and catch up with him again. She knew she had told him she would be away all weekend but she couldn’t wait to see him for that long, plus she wanted to see his reaction when she got home early. He would love it if she came home early, she was sure of it. The next day, she woke up at 08:00, still tired from last night. She had a shower, got dressed in one of her favorite outfits and finished getting everything else ready and grabbed a bit of breakfast to eat on the two hour journey back to Texas. Nikita woke up just before she left.
“You’re leaving already? Well bye then, remember to invite me to your wedding, I can’t wait to see you guys together, you make such a cute, little couple. I’ll miss you, see you soon I hope,” Sabrina gave Nikita such a meaningful hug, they both felt like they would never see each other again. Afterwards, Nikita waved Sabrina off. Sabrina went bounding down the stairs, she had to get to the train station as soon as possible. She couldn’t wait to see Albert, she would be able to see him again in under three hours. The whole way to Texas, she was wondering how to make her entrance when she got home. She wanted to make her mark with something big. They were now engaged, should she maybe fling herself at Albert, that would be big for sure! When the train finally arrived at her train station back in Texas, she jumped off and once she was passed the barriers, she ran home. She opened the front door to their apartment, she heard a noise coming from a room further behind the kitchen and dining room. She walked through to see what was going on. She pressed her ear against all of the doors to see where the noise was coming from. When she found out it was something coming from the bedroom, she was slightly confused but she wasn’t too worried about what was behind it. When she opened the door…
 
To be continued