Tainted Affair

Four: четыре

By lunchtime the following morning, Sophia's head was still aching from a faint hangover. She was certainly dressed the part, in matching sweats, trainers and oversized sunglasses to hide the dark circles under her eyes, layered with a long coat and purse at her side. She hadn't slept very well last night at all, not with the days events constantly running circles in her mind. Even now, with a near empty coffee in her hands, she still felt exhausted.

She certainly hadn't planned to leave her apartment at all this morning, but Liliana's call had roused her from her den of self pity amongst her copious amount of pillows and blankets.

Now she was holding open the heavy door to a small birthing class for her extremely pregnant friend. It was safe to assume Sophia had never imagined herself at such an appointment before, but she had been weak against Liliana's begging for her attend. So here she was, mentally preparing herself for an hour of complete and utter boredom, all for her best friend.

When they were inside the small building - the centre of the room clear of furniture with only various yoga mats and cushions to sit on, and most of the class attendees that were already here stood by the far wall where there seemed to be an array of refreshments - Sophia was surprised to see Liliana's expression instantly harden, a scowl directed fiercely across the room towards a gaggle of giggling women.

"If that bitch doesn't keep her comments to herself today, I'm going to slap her so hard my palm will be permanently imprinted on her face."

Sophia felt a bubble of laughter build up at the abrupt statement as she shot Liliana an incredulous stare. Her friend was throwing a fierce glare across the room at a petite, auburn haired woman, one of the women giggling with a bunch of other heavily pregnant women.

"These baby hormones are making you awfully violent," Sophia teased. "What has the bitch done to earn our hatred?"

"She's always making sly comments about me coming to these classes by myself. Plus, she always has such a haughty look about her, like she thinks she's so much better than me. I have visions of smacking that smug expression off her face every time I come here."

Sophia's eyes narrowed, matching Liliana's glare across the room at the offending woman. She nodded firmly, uttering, "What a bitch."

Liliana hummed in agreement, a sour smile on her face as their presence was suddenly noticed by the other ladies of the class. Sophia watched as her friend painfully greeted them all with false politeness.

"Liliana what a pleasant surprise!" the bitch greeted cheerfully as she waddled over to them both. Sophia's glare didn't lift, even if Liliana was attempting to be civil.

"I come every week Julia, I'm not sure why it's a surprise," Liliana bit back, the same sour smile still on her lips, though there was definitely a challenge in her friend's eyes.

Bitchy Julia paused for only a second before dragging her eyes over to Sophia, as if only just noticing Liliana had company.

"And who is this? Your partner? Why we were beginning to think Liliana was lying about being married."

The sight of Liliana pulsing with fury as she stared daggers at Julia was all too funny, but Sophia schooled her expression, her glare only deepening.

"No, I'm not the husband I'm afraid," Sophia drawled, allowing her eyes to scan Julia distastefully. She could play the bitch just as well as the best of them, and if this was the game Julia had decided to play with Liliana, she was more than happy to join in. "My cousins a very important, powerful man you see. Lot's of responsibilities."

"Oh, I don't know how I'd cope if I wasn't a priority to my husband. My Ken comes to all the classes and all the appointments," the woman gestured behind her to where a cluster of men stood chatting. Sophia assumed one of them had to be Ken though but from the looks of them all she was not impressed.