The Break Up Preparation

Grace laid on her bed alone. With a sore and tired body, the girl went home at four in the morning. Immediately she soaked in warm water and washed away all the remains of her one-night stand with an unknown man.

Grace had changed into looser, more comfortable clothes. It felt like… she would sleep all day today.

***

Days passed, Grace waited patiently for Fillo to break up with her. From the conversation she heard at that time, FIllo intended to break up with her before Grace's twenty-first birthday, which was only a week away.

If it continues like this, wouldn't it be better if Grace ended the relationship with Fillo first? However, Grace was curious what reason Fillo would give her as the reason their relationship ended because so far their relationship had been fine. Grace wanted to know what other lies Fillo would tell her.

Since that day, Fillo hadn't contacted her at all. If she didn't know what was going on behind her back, maybe Grace would naively say that Fillo needed full concentration for his new art project. But now that she knew, maybe he was meeting Agnes and having an affair behind her back.

Talking about Agnes, the girl contacted her several times. Inviting Grace to visit a club with other friends. Grace still used the excuse of her multimedia assignment to avoid her.

But no matter how Grace avoided her, they were still on the same campus. And in the end, Grace had to greet Agnes who was running towards her.

"Hey, sweety. You haven't been to the club much lately. Is your weekly Bible study starting to get to you?" asked Agnes who immediately hugged Grace.

It was the same hand that touched Fillo's body. Grace frowned, wanting to brush it off but remembered that Agnes didn't know that Grace had known their secret.

Grace tried to calm herself by taking long breaths of air.

"Hahaha I think so."

Agnes looked at her longer than usual. She felt something was off from Grace but she couldn't point it out.

"Whatever, by the way. How about your birthday, Grace? That's another week! Wanna celebrate it at one of my hotels?"

Agnesia Ambrose was a daughter of a conglomerate. She was one of the America's princess. Her family owned almost half of the property in the United States. Some of his family's hotels also extend to other continents. In fact, her older brother was now famous for being a young tycoon.

Even so, Agnes never wanted to talk about her family. As the daughter of a mistress, Agnes always kept her distance from her older brother.

Being in the business school, Grace met various kinds of people. There were those who had become CEOs at a young age, there were those who were just starting a business, or people with no actual talent like Grace who were studying business management because that was their parent's choice. Grace had a dream of continuing her father's work to become a business consultant too.

Actually, Grace had other dreams. But she buried it long ago and never spoke again. That dream was laughed at by many people, so Grace chose to change her career path. Namely becoming a business consultant.

Grace politely refused. "I don't think I will celebrate my birthday this year. I just want to go on holiday with my father. My father has been working too hard lately, I want a gift so he can rest for a few days."

"Oh? But… you will throw a party, right?"

"I guess not," answered Grace in a weak tone.

Agnes held Grace's shoulders to face her.

"What's wrong, Grace? You look different? More like a lackluster person. You will usually smile brightly like an angel. What is it? Can you tell me? Did something happen between you and Fillo?"

Grace clutched her books tighter. That was what Agnes wanted, right? That was why she asked her about her relationship with Fillo.

"Nothing happened, Agnes. Me and Fillo are in a good relationship as usual. Maybe he is just busy right now with his new piece of art. And I'm just tired of this multimedia project."

"I told you, we should be a group. I can pay someone to finish our project. You should not tire yourself like this. "

Grace's chest hurted a lot. Like it was squeezed tightly then slammed onto the ground until it broke into pieces. If she didn't know what Agnes was doing and saying behind her back, Grace would probably hug her friend. Thanked her for supporting her. But now it just tastes bitter. Even smiling was very difficult.

"If you don't want to party, how about we have lunch together?"

Grace felt that enough was enough. She grabbed Agnes' hand then removed it from her shoulder.

"Agnes, we have different classes this time. I'm sorry, but I have to prepare for another class."

Agnes was surprised by Grace's unfamiliar cold attitude. She looked at her friend's back with mixed feelings. But what made her most curious was whether Fillo had broken up with Grace, causing the girl to act coldly like this.

Grace breathed a sigh of relief when she managed to get out of Agnes' hands.

Her neck felt strangled as if Agnes' hands were strangling her hard. Grace tried not to cry because she didn't want to show her weakness again. Grace might be lost and been stupid, but she won't cry over something like that.

With a breathing technique she learned from a video on the internet, Grace slowly regained her composure. The girl stopped for a moment in the bathroom to tidy up her face before class started.

Right after class ended, something she had been waiting for several days appeared. A message from Fillo asking Grace to meet at lunch time. Grace was sure that Fillo would ask to break up now. Grace had been waiting for this and had prepared herself well.

(From: Beloved Filo)

Grace, I just got out of the studio. Wanna have lunch together?

(To: Fillo)

Sure.

(From: Beloved Fillo)

I'll pick you up. See you on campus. Xoxo.

Grace waited patiently in a regular cafe she always visits. She needed to calm down. Everything would be alright. She knew this was going to happen. So she always reminded herself not to fall down.

A familiar old black sedan appeared. Grace knew who owned the sedan. Without answering Fillo's call, Grace left the cafe with a cup of hot Americano in her hand. Maybe she could use the drink to splash on Fillo's face later.

Grace got into the car. Fillo smiled broadly when greeting Grace's arrival. His curly brunette hair made him look younger. His freckles were something that Grace liked the most. Grace liked boys who look adorable. Friendly and extroverted like a golden retriever.

But who would have thought, behind that adorable mask, there was something as venomous as a two-tongued snake.

"Hello, my love. Sorry I didn't give you any messages before. I was so preoccupied with the next project."

Grace faking a small smile. "It's okay, Fillo. I understand."

Fillo patted her head. "I know you will. You are the best girl ever. What a good girl."

Grace wanted to puke. The way he said that Grace was a good girl was so disgusting. It wasn't like that man from that particular night. He sounded so sincere that Grace wanted to be called a good girl a thousand times by him.

But the way Fillo did, it sounded so wrong. Because she knew that behind those words he tried to mock her and then he would talk about it with Agnes behind her back.

"So, there is this new restaurant near my apartment. Do you want to try 'em?"

That was the restaurant she intended to go to with Fillo that day. All the excitement she felt was gone like dust blown by the wind.

"I'd love to!" she said with a fake enthusiasm.

***