My Friends Call Me Beni - Part I Whoever said things look better after a good sleep was a fucking liar. Juniper slept like a log when she slept but it was interrupted sleep full of heartache, pain, and misery. Her mom slept curled right next to her and hugged her tight through the night and held her when she woke up sobbing over her losses. Maeve brought her acetaminophen when her pain was excruciating along with a hot water bottle and whispered promises to stay at her side. Now it was morning, the worst of the worst was over, in terms of her physical symptoms of her miscarriage. The rest though? The destruction left in the wake of Kyst's betrayal, and the agony of her heartbreak was leaving her struggling to even want to move on with her day. Her mother was up long before Juniper, making breakfast and getting ready for the day. Now Juniper was sitting in her new living room, curled up with a blanket which was not the one her grandmother made her and wishing she could forget the events of the last forty-eight hours. "You need to call him," her mother spoke softly from the kitchen. "You told Mr. Perez you would let him know when you called Kyst to tell him you'd meet Kyst at work. It's already 1/6 11:41 almost seven-thirty." "I know Mama, but I don't want to call him. I'm really angry. Fourteen years Mama. We've been together fourteen years and I'm livid." "I know but if we want to get the movers in to quickly pack your stuff, you need to get him out of the apartment and the best way is to send him to work to wait for you there." "Fine." She turned her cell phone on, ignoring the flurry of text messages and voice mails which popped up on the screen. She dialed out the number and he answered on the first ring. "Baby, where are you? Are you okay?" No. She wasn't but she would be, eventually, especially with her Mama pushing her forward. "I'm fine, Kyst." "Where are you?" "Mrs. Perez put me and Mama up in a hotel," she told another lie. "I needed to breathe, Kyst. Are you on your way to work yet?" "I was hoping you were coming home. I'll stay home with you today and-" 2/6 11:41 "No." She cut him off. "I need things to return to normal as soon as possible. I need it to. Go to work. I'm going to do my job, and I need you to do yours." "I need to see you." "Fine. I'll see if I can take an early lunch. Maxine was feeling pretty badly for me yesterday so I'm sure she won't mind. I'll be at your office by eleven. Meet me in the reception area." "Promise? I'm so worried for you." "I'm strong Kyst. Mama told me I'm strong and I'll get through this, and I will." "Did the doctor say "" "Stop. I don't want to do this right now. I need to finish getting ready for the day and heading to the office. Mama is going back to work at the Perez's house." "Okay. Lunch. You and me. I'll see you at eleven and I'll be there waiting for you." "Sure." "I love you, baby." She hung up without another word to him, but she shot her mother a nasty look, "yeah, he loves me so much he put his dick 3/6 11:41 in a woman described as cloyingly sweet. Bastard." Her mother wrinkled her nose up, "his mother is going to be extremely disappointed in him. His father even more so." "Nobody is more disappointed than I am. They can rot." "Now Juni, it's not their fault." "They raised the morally bankrupt bastard." Her mother chuckled, "you're in a mood and rightfully so but try not to scorch the earth over one individual." Her mother was bringing her a bowl of oatmeal, covered in warm brown sugar and fresh blueberries. "Those boys really stocked your fridge up. Did you call Mr. Perez?" She sent a text message to Phineas, "stop calling him that. He removed all the formalities when he called hi he to his office and bluntly stated my husband was fucking his wife, in those words." "He did not," her mother's mouth fell open. "He absolutely did." "His father tends to have a blunt mouth too. The apple didn't fall from the tree." She sent a text, begrudgingly, to Phineas. 4/6 11:41 J: I talked to my soon-to-be-ex. He's going to work. I lied and said I'd meet him for lunch at eleven like Beni told me to. She watched the ellipses as Phineas was typing out a response. She huffed and took a huge mouthful of the oatmeal and sighed. This was a childhood favorite, one of the things her mama knew was comfort food for her. P: He's not your soon-to-be-ex. He is our ex. Your relationship is over thus ex. Trust me. I argued this with Adil this morning over Denise's official title as ex in my life. Also. Good. Beni will serve him at eleven sharp. Do you want Adil to record it? J: Right. Ex it is. If there is a recording, I would gladly watch it. I'd like to watch his world shift the way mine did yesterday. P: Consider it done. The moving truck is around the corner from your old apartment building. There is a crew of thirty men ready to go. She looked at her mother, "he got thirty men to help us pack up and get my stuff out.' "" "No way," her mother laughed. "Seriously?" "Yes." "Are you ready?" Coin Package: Earn up to 1200 bonus