Her Bundles Of Joy

“Alright, Dr. Ali. I will do everything you said, and I’ll be back in a month.”

Both women stood up and shook hands. “Don’t forget to let your boss know you’re pregnant, okay? Take it easy at work.”

“Yep, sure will do.” The dancer offered the doctor a small smile before heading towards the door. “See you, doc.”

As she stepped outside the office, Terrence stood up and approached Nicole. Judging by the look on his face, the dancer could’ve sworn he was genuinely worried about her. If only she didn’t know Terrence and his lack of empathy for anyone other than himself…He was probably worried about having to find a substitute in such short notice.

“So, what is it? Are you okay? Is it anything serious?”

Nicole shook her head. “Not really.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Nicole felt awkward under his questioning gaze.

“What?” she asked.

“That’s it? You won’t tell me what it was?”

“Oh, I didn’t think you cared enough to want to know what I had.” Nicole shrugged. “It’s nothing much, just an infection. Probably the Thai food I had yesterday.”

“Great, let’s go back to the studio, then? If it’s just an infection, you can still work, right?”

“Of course I can, Terrence. Of course.”

*****

“Hey, are you doing okay? The girls told me you fainted in class.”

Nicole turned around the face the person who’d spoken to her. She rolled her eyes in an annoyed manner.

“Oh, so now we’re on speaking terms again?”

Dani sighed. “Nikki—”

“It’s Nicole, if you don’t mind.”

“Nicole, I’m sorry. Believe me, if I could, I’d change everything I’ve done these past months.” Dani said softly. “I—I was really dumb and immature, I shouldn’t have distanced myself from you.”

“Well, then why did you? I don’t recall doing anything to deserve such thing,” Nicole said firmly. She’d been deeply hurt by Danielle’s actions, and she wasn’t about to forgive her that easily. The young dancer knew she had a soft heart that could hold no grudges against anyone. Nicole knew she would be upset for a while but in the end she always ended up forgiving the people who hurt her.

“I distanced myself from you because I was jealous of you. I couldn’t understand why Brandi chose you to be her dancer when I was standing right here! I’ve been dancing for years longer than you have, I’ve been working here for longer than you have. I kept thinking that I’m more talented than you are, and all those negative thoughts turned me into a horrible version of myself. I was so mad that you became so close to Brandi, it got to the point that I couldn’t even be around you anymore.”

Nicole couldn’t believe her ears. This wasn’t the Dani she once knew.

“I understand now that it was really wrong of me to do that, and I deeply regret the way I’ve been acting. I’ve come to realize that friends shouldn’t feel jealous of their friends. I should’ve been happy for what you’ve achieved, I should’ve been proud that my best friend is so talented that Brand Harris herself called to make sure you’d work with her again. I—”

“Stop,” Nicole said, her tears threatening to fall. “I can’t, I mean, I don’t want to hear any of this. Are you fu*king insane? What the actual hell? Did you really forget everything we’ve been through, all the special moments we lived together…and all because your idol wanted to be my friend? Because you were freaking jealous? You should’ve talked to me! You should’ve told me how you were feeling and we could’ve found a way to repair whatever it was that we did wrong in the course of our friendship that led to you feeling jealous of me, your best friend, the one person that was by your side through every hardship you faced since we met. But you know what? I’m glad you showed your true colors, because if you hadn’t distanced yourself, I wouldn’t have needed to find someone to rely on, and then I would’ve missed on the amazing friendship that I’ve built with Brandi and Evan.”

Nicole ignored the pain she felt in her heart as she stared at Danielle’s face filled with hurt. It wasn’t easy cutting ties with the person who was your rock for years…

“They showed me what a true friend should be like, and I’m so damn glad I have them. Because now I don’t need you anymore, you can be jealous all you want. I don’t care anymore. It’s too late to fix things between us, especially now that I know you’ve never really been my friend. Now, I’ll go to my apartment and I will pack anything you might have left behind. I’ll have it sent to your home as soon as I’m done, don’t worry. Don’t try to get in touch with me anymore, I’ll block your number and George’s. It’s sad that, along the way, I have to lose the amazing friend that George is, but that’s life I guess. Goodbye, Danielle.”

The young dancer hopped on her bike and pedaled away as fast as she possibly could. Nicole didn’t want to give Danielle the pleasure of seeing her crying. It wasn’t fair that after all these months she came back and tried to fix things with a simple apology. Was she really that dense? To the point of thinking that an ‘I’m sorry’ would magically erase all the pain she’d felt the last months? Nicole didn’t know if she should be impressed at her boldness, or disgusted at how low Danielle probably thought of her. What a sh*tty day this was turning out to be. First, she passes out in front of her students; the impact of her head hitting the floor had left a bump on her forehead. And then she finds out she’s pregnant, with Evan’s child to top it all. Now, her former best friend confesses that she ruined their friendship because of jealousy and anger. Wow. Ain’t I a lucky gal?