Chapter 34- Recovering

Wren Austin’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing with calls from Gwendolyn and Giovanni O’Connell.
The blonde wanted peace of mind, and that was exactly what she was going to achieve, which is why coupled with the messages that entered her phone, she didn’t bother to pick it up.
It was much later in the evening and the blonde was currently seated on her couch, stuffing her face with a popcorn as she binged watched her favorite TV show.
Now more than ever, she was grateful to Hunter for having relieved her off duty for the next week. Wren Austin could only imagine how things would have looked like if she had check into work. It was like he had a hunch something like this would happen to her.
Not that Hunter cared about her or anything.
After Gwendolyn Jefferson’s departure earlier that day, Wren cried herself back to sleep and only woke up few hours later when her phone began ringing for the nth time. Then, she had picked it up, listened to the voicemails and read through the thousands of messages, most of which were from Giovanni O’Connell, begging to be heard out.
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Wren tossed her phone to the side, got out of her bed and relocated to the couch where she had been for the past hours.
She had not even showered. But that was the least of her priorities.
Sadly enough, it stayed like that for the following days. Three days to be exact and the blonde didn’t leave her apartment. Her occasionally relocate from her bed to her couch, and would sometimes sit on her window chair to have a peek at the outside world.
The time away from the world helped the blonde a lot. So much so that, by Wednesday evening, she felt she was ready to step outside.
The time currently read six p.m., in the evening and the blonde was taking a final look at her reflection in the mirror. Compared to the last days, her appearance looked somewhat better and her red puffy eyes were back to normal again.
Taking a deep breath, Wren Austin picked up her purse and was out of her apartment.
It was weird walking in the streets after days of being confined. It was one of those weird feeling where someone travelled and when they returned, that feel like they notice changes everywhere.
Change which are more times, not even present.
The street was stacked for a Wednesday night, but Wren didn’t question why. Instead, she focused her attention to the only place that was in her mind and ignored those who stood in the corners and whispered to themselves as she walked past them.
Thankfully, she had prepared herself for this.
But no matter how prepared she was for their gossip, she didn’t prepare hard enough for the attention and stares she would receive as she walked into the very crowded ‘Teq’s pub’.
From outside, Wren could hear banters, laughter and faint music playing in the background, but the very instant she pushed the double doors open, the room went quiet. It was like a graveyard in the middle of the night.
Music had stopped playing. It’s like they had stopped breathing because they feared that if they did, they would miss something.
A feather drop would most definitely be too loud right now.
With how quiet the room was, one would in a situation like this, make a u-turn back to wherever they came from. But not Wren.
Wren Austin didn’t have that option. That would just stir more drama from them and she was still trying to adjust to the one she was in.
Taking a deep breath, the blonde tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, adjusted her shoulders, giving her the posture of a Queen.
Slowly, she took the first step. And then the next. And the next. Their gaze working in a synchronization with her every step.
At last, after what felt like an eternity, Wren Austin was finally seated at the counter.
“Damn. I don’t think even Queen Adele could steal the attention of everyone in the room like you just did” Gwendolyn Jefferson remarked with a sly smile on her face.
In reply to her remark, the blonde gaze her a shrug. Curiously, she looked back at the crowd and was surprised to see that they had resumed whatever they were doing, making Wren let out a light chuckle.
“A bottle, please” Wren Austin called out to Gwendolyn as she reached to her pocket and fished out her phone that was currently buzzing. She looked at the caller ID, before sighing and putting the phone in her pocket.
“Is that him?” Gwen questioned as she placed a bottle of beer before Wren and opened it.
“Mmm Mmm” came the blonde’s nonchalant reply as she brought the bottle to her lips.
Tension swept in between both girls. Gwendolyn Jefferson still felt a pang of guilt since she left Wren’s house on Sunday. She did not reach out to her the next day because she thought she needed some space. But she called on Tuesday, it either went to voicemail, or there was no answer.
Gwendolyn had several things she wanted to say, but she knew that this was neither the time nor the place for it.
“You okay?” the dark haired questioned as she picked up a cloth and pretended to wipe the table, all the while giving Wren a side glare who was busy staring into space.
“Yeah” came Wren’s reply after a while.
More silence. Wren hated it. She hated the awkward silence that lingered between her and Gwen. Throughout the years of them being friends, they had never once lacked anything to converse about. Even after they fought, which was usually about something foolish, they made up the next minute.
Weirdly enough, they didn’t have any fight, but the tension between them was so thick that even a saw wouldn’t be able to cut through it.
“So, tell me about you and Topaz. What’s new?” Wren Austin questioned.
Her question came as a surprise to Gwen, because the dark-haired blinked several times in an attempt to process it.
“Uh”
“Why do you look surprise?” Wren asked.
“I’m not. I just…” Wren’s knowing look made Gwendolyn realize that she was in fact surprise by her question.
“Uh. Great. Things are great with her. We talk all the time, so it’s great. We, uh… actually have a date on Sunday” Gwen hated the fact that she spoke so cautiously about her upcoming date with Topaz O’Connell. When Topaz asked Gwen on a date, that was yesterday night, the dark haired was so elated that she quickly picked up her phone and dialed Wren’s number. But she refrained from hitting the call button for fear that she might come off inconsiderate.
“Aren’t you excited?” the blonde questioned with a frown as she took another sip of her drink.
“I am” Gwen’s reply came in almost immediately.
“I just-“ she paused.
“Never mind” Gwendolyn dismissed.
More tension swept in between both girls and this time, it was worse. Gwendolyn wasn’t sure how much of it she could handle.
“Fuck it! You’re my best friend. Things shouldn’t have to be like this between us” the dark haired uttered.
“It shouldn’t” the blonde replied causally.
“I should be able to share my happy thoughts with you without being scared” she added.
“Yes, you shouldn’t” Wren uttered casually, taking the last of her drink.
“I am going on a date with Topaz. You are going to come over and help me get ready. You’ll tell me how foolish I am for being nervous and that if anyone should be nervous, it should be Topaz” the dark-haired added.
“I will” listening to Gwendolyn rant was quickly becoming amusing to Wren, but she held in the laughter.
“And you will pester me about the details the following day, where I will be shy to tell you about it” she ended, and this time, Wren couldn’t hold in her laughter.
“Why are you-“ Gwendolyn paused and rolled her eyes.
“Stupid bitch” she cursed under her breath as she walked away from the counter.
“Come on, Gwen! I’m sorry for laughing” Wren Austin called out with amusement in her voice.
“Fuck you” the dark haired replied.
“You should do that with Topaz, not me” Wren said sarcastically, earning a middle finger from Gwen.
The blonde was about to speak up when she caught the whiff of a familiar smell, but when she turned, she was more surprised to find out it wasn’t who she thought it was
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