Charlie’s name didn't bring foul memories or good ones. His name just made her go blank. She wasn’t sure whether it was a good or bad thing. “Yes, I’m aware”, she took a bite from her macaroon. It was a lie and Alexandra knew almost instantly. She didn’t know because he never told her. All she knew was the rumours that circulated back at the base of him dating a sergeant and they recently moved in together. The keyword is ‘rumour’. She’d thought it was a rumour but it seemed like she was desperately ignoring the truth. Her eyes started to sting a bit as her brain tried to cancel the pain with the Sakura macaroon.

”How are you taking it?”

“It’s fine, I mean we didn’t work out so he’s fine to do what he wants. He can be with whoever he pleases”, She sipped her coffee. She wanted the hot liquid to burn the lies she told and cleanse her throat. “All right that’s good then”, Alexandra collected her slice of cake and milk tea from Maxine.

“I’m not back here to worry about guys, I’m here to help out where I can and enjoy the rest of my life in semi-retirement”, she stated. “If you say so. It’s your bakery store as well so there’s no issue. I have to head out now”

“For?”

“I want to scope out the competition. A new bakery opened up an hour away”

“Bebose?”

“Yeah!” Alexandra exclaimed, “How did you know?”, She asked a bit surprised that Amaya knew about the store.

“I own part of the bakery, it’s only smart to look out for potential competitors”

“Same as ever”, Alexandra stood up from her seat shaking her head. “You know the empty bedroom is yours already so make sure to rest up. It’s your first day back as a normal civilian”, She said leaving the store.

Amaya stood up after clearing her plate of macaroons. She cleaned the table and took her plate to the counter before retiring to the apartment on the next floor. She’d been here briefly a few times. Now she wished she’d been moving in a little bit each time. Maybe she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the emptiness that stared back at her. The light brown cardboard box had her luggage piled in one corner. They were brought in by a few workers right before Alexandra left.

She took out a few essentials from her bag and fixed up the bed. It was going to take a lot for her to make this room hers. But the effort would definitely have to come later because today was her day. Her first day back to being Miss Amaya Rogers and she would rather not waste it on productivity. She got changed quickly and hopped in bed, allowing herself to sink into it. It felt like she was lying on a cloud. It was perfect! She grabbed the first copy of the manga series she'd ordered prior. 'I have to kill the villainess to go home', the title read. It was too long but at least she knew she would enjoy it. She looked at her phone hoping no one had texted her in the little time she was away. It was unlikely but you could never be absolutely sure.

Stolen novel; please report.

A few messages had come through from a group called “ex-military babes’. She didn’t recognize it and she was sure she hadn’t joined it. She didn’t expect to be added to a group by anyone in the military for that matter. It would be full of gossip as it did on similar groups of this kind. The group was too active. She’d been out of the military base for two hours and there were already a 1082 messages. She wouldn’t talk to the group. Maybe she’d glance at 2 to 3 messages once in a while and then leave it till God knows when.

“Sergeant Tate is getting married”, the most recent group notification read. Amaya wanted to gauge her eyes out. Sergeant Tate was marrying Charlie They’d been together for a maximum of 6 months and they were already getting married. It was going to be a hard pill to swallow. “It doesn't make sense!”, Amaya exclaimed unlocking her phone quickly. She scrolled to her most recent message. All the following messages were congratulations and cheers. Amaya pulled at her hair. She didn’t feel good about it, she never would. She wanted to toss her phone out of the window. She couldn’t believe it was true.

She settled on just turning off her phone and putting the manga away. She couldn't read in this state. She laid down forcing her eyes shut. She tossed and turned as the darkness refused to send her off. “Oh Lord, can you just let me sleep? I just want to leave this place. I want to go somewhere, anywhere where this isn’t true”, she mumbled. She sighed, giving up on sleep in general. It had soured her mood. Sleeping was no longer an option. She walked out of her room, heading toward the living room wine cabinet. She scanned through it, looking for something that looked like whiskey.

She settled on one and took it out and poured herself a glass of the golden liquid. She downed the first glass barely leaving any time between before downing her next glass. Her throat was burning but she didn’t care. She wasn’t drunk yet. It wasn’t nearly as strong as what she subjected herself to back at the base. She paused a bit, finally allowing the bitter aftertaste to settle on her tongue. Why would the owner of a bakery have such bitter alcohol? Alexandra was always a bit of a lightweight so she never really tried her type of alcohol. It wasn’t a complete shock that the whiskey was completely useless. She wanted to scream as she ran her hand down her face roughly. This was not going to cut it in the slightest. She would definitely need something more. The closest grocery shop was on the next street, she could just walk over. She cleaned up the glasses, returned the whiskey and threw on some clothes. She left the apartment, her mind still focusing on the message she just read. Charlie definitely lied to her.