Dara, Page, and the Secrets of the Multiverse

▷ 1.4

The cafe's glass door swung open with ease as she strode inside. A plastic coffee cup sat on her hands along with her keys, her wallet, and the sling of her pouch. She was about to mind her own business, going to the office, when her periphery registered a familiar head in one of the restaurant windows.

It sent the blood to her cheeks and built up the rage in her cut. Nope. The cabin didn't cure her broken heart. If anything, it broke down into teensier shards. She had just gotten back from her three-day retreat, and with her discovering Page's ghost and knowing everything he told her, she was angrier than ever. Sadness could do that to someone.

After he disappeared, she told herself he was in a better place now. Having remembered his name, he was free to cross over to the other side. It was a load of bollocks, but after spending an afternoon and an evening with a translucent sheet that could talk, she'd gladly believe in an afterlife now. Especially if it meant she could put Page's memory to rest.

But that didn't mean she was about to forgive her ex and become a saint overnight. Because as she recognized him, her gaze landed on the person sitting opposite him. A girl slapped with a mountain of make-up, giggling and tucking her hair behind her pierced ear. She sipped from a drink that could have been bought by Dara's leftover funds in his account, and that made everything worse.

So, she strolled into the cafe, making a beeline towards their table.

"Hey, bitch," Dara greeted before dumping her coffee all over him. As he sputtered and wiped at the cold and sticky liquid flattening his hair against his forehead, Dara leaned over and put her hand over her mouth. "Oh, sorry. My hand slipped. I was just coming by for a quick hello."

The girl clicked her tongue at Dara. Oh, he was into children now? That was a crime. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, her tone reminding Dara of the primped celebrities on the internet. It didn't suit her...look, if Dara could even call that abomination of a fashion one.

"Honey, you don't want to be with this poor excuse of a man," Dara said to the girl. "Choose someone who won't cheat on you. Someone...who may be waiting for you."

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but Dara turned to her ex. "Tell me, how many girls do you have on the side other than this one? Two? Three?" She snatched the abandoned phone on the table and punched in the code he gave her when she demanded it. The messaging app flashed before her. She turned it over to the girl whose eyes widened with rage.

"Six?!" she whipped to Dara's ex, her caking blush-on barely doing anything to the red tinge rising from her neck. "That's it. I'm done."

"If you have something to say to someone close to you, say them now," Dara said just as the girl stomped past her.

"Whatever, bitch," the girl harrumphed. "Mind your own business."

Well, Dara's business here has just finished. She had given her ex a piece of her mind and saved a poor soul from getting tangled with his mess. She turned to the wide-eyed man sitting on the table, looking after his date running off to join the traffic of people and never looking back. This was the best it could get.

Before her ex could finish processing what happened and blamed everything on her, Dara threw his phone back onto the table and sauntered out of the cafe with a smile on her face. She tore across the bustling street, tucking her hands into the pockets of her blazer.

If there was one thing the cabin did for her, it was to drive a single point home. Time wouldn't wait for anyone. If she has something to say, if she has things she needed people to hear, then she shouldn't wait too long. Regrets would never run out for most of them, but she could do her best to make sure she has a short list. She wouldn't miss someone like Page ever again. Not if she could help it.

As she strode inside the stately, glass-covered building that was her office, she unlocked her phone and dialed her uncle's number. "Hey. Thanks for the retreat," she said when he picked up. "I got back safely. And...I'm all good now."

Well...as good as she'd ever be, and at the moment, it was okay.