It was not her intention to come to this destination. Lisa simply got in her car and gave up control to the unconscious part of her brain. Her unconsciousness thought this was the place she needed to be and though she should have turned back in the car and driven away, every part of her screamed at her to go to the woman inside.

It was the pain. She knew it was. It aimed at her heart, seeped throughout her entire body, and engulfed her in all-consuming darkness. It followed her from the moment she found out the truth and stayed with her now as she sat in the car outside the two-story building. She could not think. She could not move. She could not breathe. It hunted her and though there was nothing permanent that would relieve her of this torment, there was something to give her temporary peace. All she had to do was exit the car, make her way to the front door, and await the person behind those walls. Yet, she hesitated.

She did not know how much time had passed nor what was happening around her. Her one thought was Jennie. Time and time again she pictured her with a faceless stranger, kissing, hugging, making love. All the while her wedding ring lay forgotten somewhere far. After all the time they spent together, after everything they had been through, how could she do this to her? Did their time together mean nothing? Was it all just for show? She always thought they were meant to be together, that they were each other soul mates and yet they could not even make it to their third anniversary. God, how stupid she felt for believing their love could have lasted forever.

God how she wished it would stop. If Jennie did not care about their relationship, then why should she? Considering the past few hours, she had every right to go into the arms of the person on the other side of the walls. She placed her hand on the door and paused for what seemed like an eternity. She shut her eyes and struggle to move, to decide what it was she would do. After all, her next move could either make or break her and at that point, she could not handle it anymore.

Fortunately, before she could decide for herself, her cell phone took the choice away from her. At the ringing of the phone, she was dragged back into reality. She answered the call without glancing at the name.

"What?" She asked with a dead tone.

The voice of her best friend was tender and concerned, "Lisa. Thank God. I was worried. Where are you?"

Lisa barely registered the question asked. Her mind, still hazing with then events and their effects scrambled to sort through her thoughts. "I.... I'm at..." It was then she realized she did not want to reveal her location. This house was her secret. It was her piece of heaven, and she did not want anyone intervening in it.

"I don't know." She answered. Usually, she hid nothing from Mia, however, the guilt that should have hit her in the heart did not make an appearance. After all, it was hard to feel guilt when your heart was already filled with something else.

Mia paused at this answer. The silence made Lisa restless. She wanted to get back to her own space where the only voice she heard was that of one telling her to enter the house. However, when Mia responded, she soon came to realize she would not be going any closer to the house.

"You have two choices right now. Tell me where you are and let me come get you or you leave whatever you are doing and come to my house right this moment. And I promise you, if you don't choose either option, I will find you Elizabeth Johnson and you do not want to face me when I do." The tenderness from her voice was now replaced by a fierce cold tone that left Lisa with no choice in what she had to do.

Taking one last look at the house, she sighed and resigned to her fate. This night was not going to end with the pleasure she desperately needed at that point. "Okay, I'll be there in 20 minutes."

As she hung up the phone and pulled out of the driveway, she was unaware of the pair of eyes that watched her from the bedroom window. The woman inside had seen her from the moment she had arrived. Silently waiting, she patiently hoped Lisa would make her way to her, but unfortunately, tonight, it was not meant to be.

...

With anger mixing with pain and betrayal, Lisa knocked rapidly on the apartment door as if to break it down. It had only been a few seconds since she alerted Mia of her presence and yet irritation scratched at her skin making her feel to storm.

Just when she was about to do just that, the door opened to reveal an even angrier Mia. She stood with her hands of her hips and her brows knitted together. "I know you are hurting right now, but you have no right to take out your frustrations on my door. It was not the one who hurt you. Understand?"

Her insides screamed at her to fight back. For the whole night she needed an outlet for her torment and here was her best friend giving her a reason to release everything she as feeling unto her. Unfortunately, a small part of her brain worked well enough for her to know what would happen if she did. Mia loved her and would have help her face any difficulty she was facing, but the one thing she would not stand was Lisa taking out her anger on her. Doing so would mean allowing her emotions to rule her and this, as Mia often reminded her, was not how wounds healed.

"Fine." Lisa brushed passed Mia and made her way to the living room. Just because she could not loose herself to her anger did not mean she would go down fighting. "Now why did you call me over here. I'm not exactly up for company right now."

"Really? Is that why you were with Sophia?" Mia threw a knowing glance back at Lisa as she closed the door behind her.

For a few seconds Lisa simply stared at her best friend with her jaw hang open. Her mind went blank, and her heart raced faster than a rocket. "How." She whispered.

Mia walked over the bar and started working on two drinks, one for her and one for Lisa. "I am your best friend of 18 years; did you really think I wouldn't know about your extracurricular activity?"

Lisa threw herself on the couch and rested her head back. Her body ached for rest while her soul ached for peace. At least one of those should get what it needed. "There was no extracurricular activity. Nothing happened. We stopped before anything could have developed. Can't say the same for my wife though. She really enjoyed herself."

"I know. She called me right after you left. She told me everything. I can't imagine what this must be like for you." Mia walked over to her best friend and handed her the drink. Her body was now softened as she sympathized with her.

"Yeah." She took a gulp of the drink gave only one word for her response. Usually, Lisa had no problem opening and talking about her feelings, especially with Mia. However, this was different. This was something so momentous and soul wrenching that it left her with no strength to move and no words to speak. "What are you doing home anyway? Didn't you and Amelia have a girls' night all planned out?" she asked in an attempt to change the topic.

Now it was Mia turn to sigh and take an extra-large sip of her drink. "She got a call from Jason. He wanted some quality time with his fiancée."

Lisa brow frown. "So, she left?"

"Yep."

"But didn't you two have this planned out for a month."

"We did."

"And you're okay with that?"

Mia focused was fixed on her drink as of it was the most important thing in the world to her. Lisa knew her best friend long enough to know to how conflicted she felt. Unfortunately, her responds would always be the same, no matter how much it hurt.

"He is her fiancée. The person she is going to spend the rest of her life with. I on the other hand am nothing but a friend."

Her own ill feelings were forgotten in that moment. All her attention was locked on to Mia and making sure she was okay. "You know that's not true. She cares for you... it's just," Lisa struggle to finish her sentence but she knew there was nothing that could make her friend feel better.

"I know." Mia finished for her. She took another rush of her drink and rose to her feet to refill her glass.

Lisa watched her friend for some time. Every move she made was slow and reflected her internal tiredness. It hard been five years since Amelia and Jason first met and four years since they started dating. And as happy as she was for Amelia, Lisa was forced to watch helplessly as Mia's happiness was slowly chipped away piece by piece. Her heart bled for her friend. Despite her desire to help Mia however, she knew it was not up to her. The only person who could have helped Mia was Mia. But for reasons she did not understand her net friend chose to sit on the side-line without fighting for what her heart wanted most in this life.

"Mia..." Lisa called out to her friend. She desperately wished she knew the words to mend her friend's broken heart.

Mia responded before Lisa could form another sound. "So what are you going to do? About Jennie I mean."

Now it was Lisa turn to be dragged through the chaos that was her life. She did not want to think about it but guess she had to. Now she would have to rearrange her entire life around Jennie's affair. It would stay with her. Every move she made and every decision she had, would be traced back to this. The logical part of her thinking knew it would not last forever. There would come a day when the sun would once again shine and the birds would flock back into her life, but for now, her entire life only surrounded this one detail.

"To be honest, I don't know. I never thought I would be in this situation. And now that I am I don't even know where I go from here. I mean, what does one do when they learn their spouse cheated on them. How do they move on from a life shared with them?" The frustration seeped from her voice and into the room. The entire apartment grew dark, and an eerie feeling floated around them.

Mia shifted closer to her best friend and wrapped her arms around her. The warmth her from Mia started to seep through from one woman to the other. In the past this was the moment Lisa would break down and begin the let her best friend help her. However, this time around, that was the one thing Lisa dreaded. She no longer wanted to cry. She did not want to feel any of the pain. She did not even want to think about what she had lost tonight. All she wanted was to escape the pain and leave everything behind.

Surprising a concerned Mia, Lisa pushed her away and rose from her seat. With every part of her screaming for even one second of relief, she refill her glass and finished it in two gulps.

"Did she tell you who it was with when she called?" Lisa asked after some time. She had her back towards Mia as the last thing she needed in that moment was to have the look of sympathy aimed at her.

"No, she did not." Mia softly replied.

Taking a third glass, she slowly responded, "It was with her first boyfriend. The one who broke up with her at their high school graduation." Lisa paused and chuckled to herself. "Could you believe it? After all the people she could have done this with, she picked the one guy who broke her heart before."

Lisa did not think the who of it would have bothered her, but now she could not get it out of her mind. Since they day they had met, Lisa have done everything she could to make Jennie happy but here she was going back to the guy that made her cry herself asleep for weeks. Life truly was cruel sometimes. Then again, maybe it was people that made things difficult. Life was just there to take all the blame when things went wrong.

"Wait. She told you all this?" Mia asked in disdain.

"She didn't say much of anything except that she was sorry. Besides, it does not matter how I found out. The point is it happened." Then, turning to Mia, she pleaded with her. "Don't tell Amelia about this. The day she always dreamed about is finally here and I don't want to ruin it for her."

Lisa could see from her deep brown eyes Mia understood this. A woman's wedding day for a big moment in her life. It represented the union with the person she would spend the rest of her life with. It was the start of their life together and it was something everyone wanted to be perfect. Every little detail planned out months in advance, even down to the type of tablecloth would be used. The last thing either one of them wanted was to take away from Amelia's happy day.

"I won't tell her, but she will be mad when she finds out we left her out of the loop. And I am not going to be the one to deal with her anger." Mia replied. A loving gaze entered her eyes. Lisa had no doubt about what she was thinking. Even in Amelia's worse times, Mia was still mesmerized by her.

Once upon a time Lisa would feel nothing but compassion for her friend, but now she felt envious of what she may never feel again. Or worst, something that she would always feel but for the wrong person.

"When the wedding and honeymoon is over, I'll let her know myself. I know for sure Jennie is not going to say a thing." Lisa bitterly said the last piece. "Speaking of which, have you made up your mind on if you are going to the wedding?"

Ever since the date was announce Mia have been determined to drown herself with her job. Every day, she would spend countless hours speaking with clients, creating campaign ideas and working late into the night. Lisa knew she was trying her best to avoid thinking about what this marriage would mean her for, but at the same time, Amelia was one of their closest friends. There were no avoiding it.

"I did. And I decided I will be going. And as the maid of honour." Now it was Lisa turn to be stunned as drop open and her brow arched up. This was one wedding she thought Mia would do anything to miss. Now here she was, planning to stand at the alter with the woman she would have freely given her life for and not as her wife.

"I don't understand." Lisa replied, "Last time we talked you told me you would be on a business strip that whole week. What happened?" Lisa knew there was no business trip that week. Though Mia said nothing, but pain was reflected in her eyes every time they discussed the wedding. She feared for her best friend that week.

"Amelia happened. She said she really needed me to be there for her big day. How was I suppose to say no. So, I told her yes." Mia sat next to her and rested her head on her shoulder. Lisa returned the gesture by wrapping one arm around her

"You could have told her the truth." Lisa whispered.

"There is nothing to tell. Everything is exactly as it seems." Mia replied.

Lisa thought about her and her best friend. A few years ago, they had been carefree and excited about life, ready to face whatever challenges was thrown at them. However, at the age of twenty-nine, they both left like they loved hundred years. Life really was cruel for tonight, it seems that more than one heart was broken.