Secrets

"Hey!" I said as soon as I saw Roms, sitting on the couch. She tied her hair into two pigtails and wore her usual pink pajamas.

She was reading Vogue. Why do people read these things? No two people look the same when they follow the same makeup tutorial! It was way better to go and just hit up the parlor! Her face stiffened when her attention shifted to me, and I gulped the lump in my throat. Trouble, I knew it!

"Will told me about you and Josh!" She rolled her eyes.

Who else would ruin my life more than him? Of course, I should have known.

"He should stop being a sneak! I was going to tell you, Roms. Trust me." I said, my eyes following her every move.

She untied her pigtails, stood up, and put her hands on her hips for the effect. 

I knew what was coming. Breathe, Eva. Breathe.

"How long is it going on? Who proposed whom? Why won't you tell me earlier?" Roms said. I guess that's what Law College does to you. They teach you to ask all the 'scary' questions in one go. God, how will I get out of this alive?

"Are you even listening? Answer me, now!" Roms said. 

She was angry. Maybe, enraged was the word.

"Let me take one question at a time. Josh proposed me. We are only going out for a week. I think he is serious about this, but I have my doubts." I said, turning breathless.

"But I am not sure about going with this, even though I like him a lot!" I said, confessing bluntly.

"Wait...Why? That's crazy!" Roms said.

"I know. No one breaks up within a week. " I said, agreeing.

"Why are you dating him then? Was he that bad in bed that you are breaking up with him?" She asked, her nose scrunched.

"Hell no! We hardly kiss!" I said, and she burst into peals of laughter.

"You are breaking up with him because you people don't kiss a lot? That's hilarious, Eva!" She said in between her snorts of laughter.

"That's not it," I said adamantly.

"Then? Is Josh gay? That's understandable." Roms added mindlessly.

"Would you even let me speak?" I said. Ugh! I can't deal with her countless questions.

"Sorry. Why did you break up?" Roms said slowing down.

"I didn't break up!" I said adamantly.

"So now you will shout at me! First, you don't tell me things, and now you are shouting at me. Why are we still friends?" Roms said as tears welled in her eyes.

"Roms, you're overreacting! You're not even listening to me. I am not shouting." I said, a little too loud.

"No, you are shouting at me! You have changed, Eva!" Roms said, and I felt myself breaking down, little by little.

I was ready to lock myself in the bedroom when the doorbell rang. To avoid other emotional outbreaks, I wiped my tears on my shirt's sleeves and turned the door open.

Blue eyes. Curly brown hair, dressed in the usual, lavish outfit of blue slacks and shirt was Mark Tiffins- the kitchen man in the whole of Fordshire and Romilda's father. Bad timing, Mark! I thought when he beamed at me, entering our apartment.

"Mark, I don't think today's a good day!" I said as we walked in.

"Nonsense, Eva! It's a perfect day than when a father meets his daughter!" He said in his heavy British accent. It was complicated. Always complicated.

No matter how sad I was, I couldn't let Roms and Mark to be alone in one room. Else someone would end up calling 911 for worse reasons. I heard a scream down the hallway. What's happening? I calmed myself down and walked into the living room to see Mark sitting on the couch and Roms scurrying her face away from him.

"Why do you always have to do these things, dad?" Roms said.

"Do what? Will told me that you and Kade broke up last week." Mark remarked, his tone sympathetic.

"That doesn't mean I will ever ditch Eva and move in at your place! She's my friend, and I love my privacy. Do you understand?" Roms argued.

Okay, the friend part of their convo moved me, but what about her breaking up with Kade? What the fuck? All these days, and she didn't even tell me! I was as clueless about her life as she was, but somehow Will knew everything he should not know about us. Does this man have to be a friendship breaker? I hate you, Will Turner. I hate you fucking damn much.

"Will can't go on sneaking about me behind my back. You need to leave!" Roms yelled.

Poor girl. I would have asked Mark to move out any other day, but today I need answers!

"He is your dad. At Least he should know because I don't think you have a best friend anymore!" I said firmly. Roms stared at me with hurt in her eyes.

"I was going to tell you, Eva! I was! Trust me!" Roms said, and I stood in silence.

Silence is the most daunting language of all. It feeds on fear, strengthens truth, and instills a deep sense of conviction in the guilty. That's why you must not shut up when you have kept a secret from your friend. Deep down, I knew I should have told her earlier, and from what I saw in her eyes, she was pleading for the same thing- privacy. Mark had to go!

"Mark, as much as I love to hear the story about your Hawaii trip, I would like you to leave. Please!" I said, and Mark's face dropped.

 Mark's longer stays would only drive Roms crazy, and half an hour later, everything will be in menace. Love was lethal, and the father-daughter duo was a notable example.

"Take care of my princess. I will break that pervert's bone if he is around her!" Mark said as he moved out of the couch.

"Don't call him a pervert. Don't even think about stalking Kade!" Roms screamed at Mark.

"Why won't I? He can't hurt my princess!" Mark retorted.

Oh, here we go again!

"You don't need to protect me! I can sort things out on my own!" Roms said, fuming with anger.

"I am your dad! I must protect you, and no one can keep me from doing that!" Mark defended himself.

"Well, you should have tried saving mom when you could, not marry another worthless woman!" Roms yelled at her dad.