All the blood from Mrs. Montfort’s face had drained as her daughter made a fool of herself and so Mr. Montfort had led her to lie down for a bit in a private room, to rest up for a bit before having to face the aftermath of the whole ordeal. The embarrassment was almost too much for her to bear. Mr. Montfort had then left to find his troublemaker of a daughter and find her he did - eyes unfocused and sprawled out on a different couch in a different private room, in the previously gorgeous gown that now looked more like a crime scene. He winced as he looked at her and then gave her a stern speech about how upset the stunt she pulled had made her mother, ending it with telling her how he wasn’t angry, just disappointed. Eve thought that she would have preferred it if he yelled at her, she might be under the influence, but what she had done was starting to dawn on her in full and she felt nauseous thinking about it. 

After Mr. Montfort left, Irene entered. She had visited Mrs. Montfort’s room and apologized for what had transpired, Mrs. Montfort obviously had reassured her that it wasn’t her fault at all and had apologized for her daughter in return. Irene had then bid her goodbye and then made her way to the room Eve was in, catching the end of Mr. Montfort’s speech and waiting outside until she could speak to Eve alone. As Mr. Montfort passed her on his way out, they exchanged the same apologies as she had with Mrs. Montfort and then it was time for Irene to enter the room. 

“Irene, baby, I’m so sorry!”, Eve wailed as Irene entered the room. Eve tried to embrace Irene, but was met with resistance as Irene untangled her arms from around her, firmly letting her know not to touch her at this moment. Hurt was radiating from Irene’s red rimmed eyes, she wasn’t out of tears yet, and maybe wouldn’t be for a long time, but she was trying to hold back while she said what she felt she had to. Seeing Irene like this was like a stab to the heart for Eve, and she had a feeling it would get worse, because there was a finality and resignation in Irene’s face as she looked at her. Irene had to close her eyes and breath deeply as she saw the state of the dress she had made, holding back tears, clearing her throat before she turned and looked Eve in the eyes. “Eve.”, Irene’s voice almost broke on that one word, but she forced herself to go on. “You know, I always felt there was this thread, some sort of thread of destiny, tying us together. Tying me to you, guiding us back together each time we were apart, but lately… it feels more like a noose, a noose that’s tightening around my neck and like I’m balancing on my tiptoes trying to hang in there, but waiting for someone to kick the chair from underneath me.”. Eve felt each word like a punch to the gut, she felt her heart break. Quiet tears were running down both of their faces. Irene continued, “And you know, there’s a lot of things I can mend or fix, but I don’t know about us. I don’t know if I can fix you, Eve.”, Irene’s voice broke on the last word, “I don’t know if I can keep fixing you and stitching us back together every time you do this. I feel like my hands are bleeding from pricking my finger every time. One prick maybe isn’t much, but a hundred or a thousand times and I’m bleeding out. I feel like I’m bleeding out, Eve. Like I’m hanging from a noose. Like you don’t even see me or care about me, like I’m the only one putting in any effort.”. Irene had wanted to finish this without crying, but she completely broke down and her calm tone had turned desperate, begging for Eve to understand her pain. She dealt the final blow with her next words, leaving Eve reeling. “I feel like if you had to choose between drugs and me, you wouldn’t choose me. Eve, I want to be chosen.”. 

.

Hearing that your girlfriend of around 10 years, well, ex-girlfriend now, felt like dying when she was with you wasn’t exactly fun. It was devastating, actually. Eve had understood that things hadn’t been great between them for some time and that she had really screwed up at the gala, but she hadn’t been ready for a break up that felt so final. Could this be it? Was this the end for them permanently? She was heartbroken and she hated herself because the only way she knew to alleviate the constant ache in her soul was to drink or get high. She was disappointing herself and everyone around her, but she couldn’t help it. She drank herself to sleep every night, but it wasn’t enough. She stayed out for days on end with her friends, getting high off of stronger substances than she had ever used before, money wasn’t an issue and her friends knew where to get the good stuff. Her friends kept her company and told her to forget Irene. They were staying in an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city one night, not wanting to be caught. Eve hadn’t been home for a week, she had managed to send a message to her parents that she was staying with friends so they wouldn’t worry before her phone had died a few days ago. She was the only one from the group who hadn’t left a single time, the other’s had gone home a couple times to change clothes, bring food or shower, but had come back every time. Eve had no concept of how long she had been staring at the ceiling, flowing in and out of consciousness, she lay on the cold floor vaguely registering that there were people around. Someone inserted a needle in her arm that she barely felt. Then she passed out again. 

The next time she woke up, she was alone. The ceiling looked…different? Wait, it wasn’t a ceiling, was she… outside? Her thoughts were slow and unclear. Eve was slowly trying to get her bearings, she tried to look around, but it was like she was awake but couldn’t move, her body limp. There was a searing pain in her chest and stomach. She felt like throwing up. Her vision was blurry. “Are you okay?”, she could hear a voice and see a silhouette above her, but it was like the sound was coming from faraway. Eve tried to answer, but no words left her mouth. “She’s not responding, I’m calling an ambulance.”, the voice said. What was happening? Eve felt like she couldn’t breathe and her pulse was erratic. Her vision went dark. 

Eve woke up in the hospital. Her eyes were not quite open, but she heard conversation around her. 

“Poor girl, I heard she was left in an alley, god knows what would have happened if no one walked by and called for help.”, said one voice.

“Overdoses are no joke. She’s lucky to be alive.”, another said. 

“Wonder who she is…no phone or wallet with her…”, the first voice mused. 

Later Eve would come to know that her so-called friends had robbed her and left her lying unconscious in an alley, presumably in an attempt to not have her die hidden away in the abandoned building. She never did reach them again, they had all skipped town after draining her cards and bank account. It turned out none of them had used their real names when hanging out with her. Eve was moved to a VIP room when she regained consciousness and was able to verify her identity and contact her parents. The doctors told her she had barely survived her overdose and that she should seriously consider seeking help for her addiction.