It was an exciting yet tiring day for Caroline Forbes. She was on her way back to New York after organising a charity event in Chicago. She was returning 3 days earlier than planned and she couldn't wait to surprise her fiancée. They hadn't seen each other in weeks because Caroline was busy planning the said event. She was groggy, tired and had been missing sleep but she wouldn't let that hinder her from seeing her fiancée, Tyler. She missed him so much and she figured that her little surprise would make up for her absence.
Her plane landed in LaGuardia airport at 10 am; she couldn't deny feeling anxious about seeing Tyler again. She wanted to savor the surprised look on Tyler's face when he sees her. In order to surprise Tyler she bought a fresh set of lingerie and had decided to wear nothing but that underneath her trench coat. She giggled at the thought of her being kinky, she was normally not that type of girl and this was one of the first times she was about to do something daring. So she put her sunglasses on and walked towards the exit of the airport, where she immediately hailed a cab. A few minutes from now she was sure she would be having the best sex of her life with the best man on earth.
Caroline arrived at her and Tyler's apartment. She was really nervous, but excited at the same time. As she went up the elevator she was thinking about the best way to reveal her surprise. When she reached their appartement she quickly grabbed her key and opened the door. Upon entering she immediately felt something was off, her gut was telling her to postpone the surprise and just make a run for it, but she went against her instincts and proceeded to their room. Just as she was nearing her destination she heard moans from a female and grunts from a man. She immediately dismissed the possibility that her fiancée was in bed with another woman, instead she figured that he probably was just watching porn again and he forgot to wear headphones.
She briefly wondered if she should really barge in on whatever her fiancée was doing. She wanted to prove her gut wrong and that everything was absolutely fine so without hesitating further she opened the door. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene behind the door. A brunette woman was on top of her fiancée and they were both so passionate about whatever they were doing. Caroline just stood there in disbelief not bothering to say a word, she even felt like she was disturbing them.
It took a few minutes before Tyler noticed her standing there and once he saw her he immediately pushed the woman off him and gestured for her to leave. The woman scrambled out of bed and grabbed her clothes, putting them on as fast as she was able to so she could get out and let the couple deal with their own drama. The woman left within seconds.
Once she was gone Tyler approached Caroline who was still frozen in shock, tears streaming down her face.
"Caroline, I didn't know you would be back this early." Tyler said as he put on a shirt and some boxers.
"Seriously! I caught you sleeping with another woman and that's what you're going to tell me?" Caroline yelled as she tried to push Tyler, who was now approaching her, away.
"Look Caroline, it's not what you think." Tyler replied as he tried to go near the crying blonde.
"Get away from me Tyler! There's nothing to talk about!" Caroline yelled again as she began gathering all her things.
"What are you doing?" Tyler asked as he watched Caroline packing her bags.
"I'm leaving." Caroline calmly said while she grabbed the rest of her clothes.
"You can't do that! We're getting married." Tyler protested as he tried to snatch the bag Caroline was filling up with clothes.
Caroline just glared at him. After witnessing him sleep with another woman he expected her to be okay with it. There was no way she was going to let Tyler push her around. It was about time she stood up for herself.
Caroline continued to stare at Tyler while she watched him take her bags and insisted on her staying to straighten things out. She grabbed the expensive diamond ring off her ring finger and threw it in his direction.
"No Tyler, no chance in hell." Caroline calmly said as she grabbed all her things and made her way to the door.
Tyler was shocked. He immediately grabbed the ring and ran after Caroline. "Look Care, I'm sorry."
"Sorry you got caught or sorry you did it?" Caroline asked as she held the door open for him.
Tyler couldn't say a word and just stared at Caroline. He was guilty but he was too sure of himself to be exactly sorry. His brunette companion was able to satisfy his manly needs while Caroline was too busy with her new job. What happened between him and the brunette was nothing in his eyes but he didn't want to lie to Caroline anymore so he decided to not answer her question.
"That's what I thought. Goodbye Tyler." Caroline sighed before slamming the door in Tyler's face.
Caroline hailed a cab while she tried her best to suppress her urge to cry. Once inside the cab she couldn't handle it anymore and just started crying. In-between sobs she told the driver to take her to Williamsburg. She was still in shock about what happened between her and Tyler. They had been going out since their senior year and she couldn't believe he would just throw away their 6 years together. They were going to get married for god's sake!
Caroline was scared. She was alone now. She was used to Tyler always being by her side and paying everything for her. Now that she was no longer with him, how on earth will she survive? Sure she has a job, she's an assistant planner at Fangs Agency, but she only took the job because she didn't want to spend all her life as a housewife. With her current savings and salary, she was sure that she would not be able to afford renting her own place. The only idea she had at the moment was to stay with her best friend who was busy struggling on her own.
Caroline arrived at her destination. It was a small yet somehow decent apartment in Williamsburg. She decided that she was going to stay with her friend Katherine for a short while until she was able to find her own place to live in. Kat was a good friend of hers but when they decided to go to college in New York, Kat's parents disowned her and now she was living on her own. Katherine was now working as an associate at a prestigious law firm but she was still struggling with her student debts.
Caroline knocked a few times before Katherine opened the door.
"Caroline? You're home early." Katherine said as she gestured to her friend to come inside. She immediately noticed Caroline's runny nose and red eyes, plus all the extra baggage Caroline was carrying. "Care, is everything alright?"
Caroline continued to sob as she placed her things in the living room. Once she was settled she went up to Katherine and started bawling her eyes out.
"Care, what's wrong?" Katherine asked once again as she tried to calm the crying blonde.
"It's Tyler. He cheated on me." Caroline finally said as she tried to wipe the tears streaming down her face.
Katherine gestured for Caroline to sit down on the couch and immediately grabbed her coat before heading towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Caroline asked, Katherine's actions surprised her.
"I'm going to kick his ass Caroline." Katherine said as she grabbed the rest of her things.
"Don't… He's not worth it." Caroline replied while she desperately tried to refrain from crying.
"He hurt you Caroline, I'm not going to let him get away with that." Katherine said and sat down next to the crying blonde, calming her down once again.
"I just don't know what to do anymore Kat." Caroline sobbed. She buried her face in Katherine's shoulders.
"Listen, you're going to be fine Caroline. You'll get through this; think of it as a sign that you should start living your life independently." Katherine said as she slowly lifted Caroline's head from her shoulder and handed her a handkerchief.
"Look, I have to get to work in a few minutes, I'll make you some tea and afterwards you should try to sleep it off. When I get home we'll talk about this, okay?" Katherine offered while she made her way to the kitchen to make her best friend some tea.
"Thank you Katherine," Caroline finally smiled and wiped the last remaining tears from her eyes.
As soon as Katherine left for work Caroline changed into something more comfortable and finished her tea. She was feeling drowsy again but she thought that she would not be able to sleep. But as soon as she lay down on Katherine's bed she immediately dozed off.
Caroline slept so long that when she woke up Katherine was already home. Caroline stood up and saw her friend unpacking some dinner for the both of them.
"I hope you like Chinese." Katherine said, handing her a box of canton and a pair of chopsticks.
"You didn't have to go through all this trouble Kat." Caroline quietly sat down on one of the dining chairs.
"Caroline, I'm your best friend. Of course I have to go through all these trouble." Katherine laughed.
"I really owe you one. Thank you so much." Caroline said, finally starting to eat her food.
Once they finished their dinner Caroline offered to take care of their mess and told Katherine to take a warm shower. Caroline knew her best friend was tired and exhausted from taking care of her, she felt this was the only thing she could do for her friend right now. Once she was done with the dishes she sat down on the sofa and flipped through the channels on TV looking for something good to watch. When Katherine finished her shower she approached her friend who was desperately trying not to cringe while watching Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
"Okay, you don't have to watch that. Let's talk." Katherine said as she took the remote from Caroline and turned off the television. "I got you some ice cream to ease the pain."
"I don't want to talk about Tyler anymore. I realized I'm done with him and you were right. It's time for me to live independently." Caroline smiled and took a giant scoop from the pint of ice cream.
"Well, that's good to hear. Tyler was always holding you back and he has always been too possessive with you." Katherine said trying to comfort her friend just in case Caroline had another break down. "I also have some good news."
"Unless it's about Tyler or his slut getting ran over by a herd ofcattle then I don't think I'm interested right now." Caroline said, taking another scoop of ice cream.
"Hear me out Care, I think I found you a place to live in." Katherine said while she took out an advertisement from her purse.
"Are you getting tired of me already?" Caroline chuckled. "Tell me about it."
"Well, I asked my fellow associate if she knows a cheap place to rent out. And she told me her best friend owns a boarding house in Long Island. They're looking for lodgers." Katherine said as she held out the brochure for Caroline to see.
"You want me to live in a boarding house?" Caroline raised her eyebrow.
"The agency you're working for is located at Long Island right? I passed by the place a few times, it isn't so bad. It's cheap as well! You can stay there for a few months until you get back on your feet." Katherine encouraged her friend.
Caroline took the brochure from Katherine and stared at it. The place wasn't so bad and her friend was right, it was closer to her work so she'd be able to save a lot of money, plus she won't have such a long commute anymore. She sighed; she didn't want to be a burden to Katherine so she figured she would give the place a shot.
"Alright, I'll check the place out tomorrow." Caroline finally gave in and kept the leaflet.
"Great! I'll tell Lexi to set up an appointment with you. I forgot to mention that the owners of the place are really hot, so make sure to put yourself out there okay!" Katherine replied as she hugged her best friend good night and left her staring blankly into space.
Author's note: This is a new story that I've been planning to write for a long time and here it is finally! I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, please don't forget to review and share the story if you liked it. Also, I'd like to thank Lotheriel for being my beta.