Hell Hath No Fury

Part 6

Kim was in her car, on her was to Clay and Amber's engagement party.

She had spent the better part of Thursday night crying herself to sleep over the news that Clay and Amber had gotten engaged. Not that she didn't want them to get married...but she was more concerned for Amber than anything else.

Friday, she had gone shopping for their engagement present. She had also bought Amber something special, a token of their friendship.

Saturday, she talked with Ruben. He had also been invited to the party. He offered to be her date...but she didn't know if she's stay long enough to be a good date. She said she'd think about it.

Later that night...she told him yes.

Sunday afternoon, she decided on what to wear. She wanted to look good for Ruben, but wanted to be as unattractive to Clay as possible. She decided on a knee length red skirt and a 3/4 sleeve white shirt. Her bruises had almost healed completely, but she didn't want anyone asking questions.

Ruben had agreed to meet her at the party a little after 6.

Earlier she had made a decision. She was going to have as much fun as possible, especially around Ruben and Amber. If and when she should happen to interact with Clay...she'd be as civil as possible and she won't mention the rape at all.

As she drove up, she saw Ruben waiting for her. She smiled, parked her car and got out. She walked over to him.

"Hey, girl." He greeted her. "You are looking good tonight."

She blushed. "So are you."

"I got you something." He handed her a white rose.

"Oh, thank you!" She said and kissed him on the cheek.

"Shall we?" He said offering his arm.

"Let's!" She said accepting it.

They walked into the party together. Kim immediately saw Amber standing by herself. She wanted to go over and say hi, but seconds later, Clay appeared next to her. She simply stared at them, It wasn't too long ago that whenever she saw Amber and Clay together, she used to get a little jealous. Now when she looked at them...she felt nothing but anger. Anger towards Clay for what he'd done, and a little anger towards herself for not telling Amber when she had the chance.

'Poor Amber...' Kim thought. 'You're as much a victim in all this as I am...and you weren't even the one that was raped!'

"You wanna dance?" She asked Ruben.

"Sure!"

About 2 hours later, the party was still going strong. Kim and Ruben had spent almost all of that time together. Kim, to her surprise, was too busy having a good time, she never had time to think about Clay!

As Kim and Ruben were chatting with one of Amber's friends, Kim felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around...

"Amber!"

"Kim!" The two hugged. "You made it!"

"Yeah, I did."

"You certainly look a lot better than you have been lately."

"Thank you!"

"And Ruben," She said, shaking his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Same here. You're a lucky woman. Clay's a hell of a guy." He said.

"He sure is. Listen, you mind if I steal Kim away for a few minutes?"

"Of course not."

"Thanks."

Kim and Amber went outside and sat down on a bench.

"I am so glad you came! I haven't seen you in days...not since I caught you in tears."

"Yeah, well-"

"Kim...you can tell me the truth. Did you and Clay have a fight?"

Kim paused. Was this the time to tell her that her fiance raped her?

'Look at her. She's so happy. How can I break her heart like this? I just can't...' She thought.

"No. We didn't have a fight." She finally said.

"O.K. So would you mind telling me why the hell you ran away from me crying worse than I do when it's that time of the month and I can't find any chocolate in my apartment?"

Kim quickly changed the subject. "Let me see the rock Clay gave you."

Amber took her hand away. "No answer, no rock."

"Come on..."

"No! Kim, I wanna know what's going on with you and Clay, and I would like to know before I have grandchildren!"

"All right!" Kim laughed. "The deal is...I recently lost a close friend of mine."

"Oh, no...death?"

"No, nothing that bad. See, we've been friends for a long time now. Then suddenly...everything fell apart. Things changed...now we don't speak anymore. If we do...it's all bitter words. It's just...horrible that things could change overnight between friends like us."

"I admit, that sucks. But what does Clay have to do with all this?"

"Well...apparently, he's siding with this ex-friend. He's heard rumors about me, rumors that I was easy...and he believes them."

"What?! Has he even met this 'friend' before?"

"Yeah. A total loser that's totally got Clay wrapped around their little finger. I tried to tell him that everything was a lie, but he wouldn't buy it. That's why I was so upset."

"Oh, Kim...I'm so sorry."

"It's O.K. I'm dealing with it."

"You know...you still have one friend."

"Yeah. Ruben's great."

"I meant me, silly!"

"Oh, yeah! You're all right." The ladies laughed. "Oh, that reminds me!" She picked up a small gift bag. "I got this for you as an engagement present. Open it."

"O.K." She reached inside the bag and pulled out a silver picture frame with a picture of her and Kim. A card was also inside. She opened it up and read it.

'Amber, I just wanted to give you this in case you ever needed a reminder that you are never alone. Thank you for being my friend when I really needed one.'

"Oh, Kim..." Amber said as she hugged her best friend. "That's so beautiful. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now I have to find someway to top this when you get engaged!"

Kim laughed. "Now can I see that rock?"

"You bet." Amber showed her a beautiful princess cut diamond with 2 smaller diamonds on the sides.

"That is so beautiful!" Kim looked up and saw Clay not too far away. She had to get away fast. "I hate to leave, but I'm gonna go find Ruben."

"O.K. Tell him to meet up with me sometime tonight before you two leave."

"Sure thing." Kim gave her one last hug as she walked off...and just in time. Just as she did, Clay walked up to Amber.

"Hey, I just saw you talking to Kim. Where did she run off to?" He asked.

"She went off to find Ruben, I guess. You know, they make a pretty nice couple."

"They sure do." 'You know what they say...'United we stand, divided we fall'. Well, it looks like I'm going to have to find a way to divide them.'