A boisterous laugh broke through the quiet cafe. "Shut up Thea," cried Irene in a bitter tone. Her pale green eyes shifting between her friend and the other customer stares. "This isn't funny."

She quieted for a moment, her cheeks flushed red. But the shock of the story rewound itself in her friend's mind causing her to burst out laughing again. Her eyes watering from the strength and length of the laugh. This time drawing the shop associates questionable stares and glares from the customers.

Irene covered her face with a hand, to hide from the embarrassment. Why did she tell her friend about her fiancé's current blunder?

"I'm so sorry Irene. But you can't expect a man in his position to remember when he started dating you," Thea stated with a giggle still present in her voice. Her eyes sparkling with delight from her tragic love life.

She propped her elbow on the wooden table, resting her chin in her open hand. "So I should be a quiet woman and support my man in all his prospects. Never utter a word of defiance or dispute with him?" Her words were rich with sarcasm as she spit them out.

"Of course not! But you've gotten into more fights in the past half a year than in the five years prior. Irene, you speak to him and it results in a fight. What happened, girl? It makes an outsider question if you two are still in love," Thea commented with a gentle tone. She pushed aside the short wavy brown locks that fell in front of her face.

A sigh escaped her lips. Of course she loved him. He meant the world to her. "Ever since he got promoted at work, our time together has vanished. I don't beg for his attention, but when he completely ignores me for weeks, it bothers me. I literally try to speak to him and he cuts me off. How do we have a proper conversation when he pulls this act?" 

She lifted her chin, moving both of her hands to cup her lukewarm tea. It resembled their relationship, slowly losing heat. Their burning passion for one another—no more.

Her friend moved to cover her hands. "Oh Irene, I know what you face. That's the problem with successful men. They use us as stepping stones and we support them fully. Only when they gain what they desire do they realize what they've lost. Why do you think I broke up with my previous boyfriend? Same thing happened."

"So there's nothing I can do? No words will help him remember our love?" The warmth of Thea's hands seeping into the coldness that bound her. But it failed to dispel her winter.

Thea removed her hands, moving them back to her coffee. The hazelnut smell floating through the air. She closed her amber eyes, her petite face framed by her angular bangs. After a minute, her eyes flashed open. Their color strengthened by her thick lashes and black eyeliner.

She stuck a finger up into the air. "I have an idea!" Her eyes showing a hidden delight as she plotted Irene's demise.

A cold shiver raced up her back. Thea's facial nuances replicated before her were similar to a distant memory. Unspeakable horrors followed soon after that expression appeared. Years ago, she declared abstinence from involvement in her plots. "The answer is no. Whatever you are plotting, I want no part in it." She shook her head defiantly as she pursed her lips.

"Don't be a chicken! At least hear me out," Thea gawked before sending her a 'you scared out of your mind' look.

"I have recurring nightmares of agreeing to your plots. Did one ever succeed? Or rather, did we ever get the results we wanted? The answer is no," she commented critically then looked away from her friend. She knew what came next. A whine then a pout.

Irene focused on the packed traffic on the busy street outside. The sun gleamed off their polished surfaces reflecting the café's face. Students raced passed on bicycles, already late for morning classes. Those walking, kept to the building part of the sidewalk, avoiding their stampede. A small whimper broke her focus. And so it started.

"But Irene, it could be the perfect chance to make him remember what he's about to lose. Aren't you willing to do anything?"

She turned back to her friend. Her red cheeks enlarged with air and a frown on her face. Thea's pouty face at its max.

Her finger tapped her cup, no trace of heat left within. "Fine. Tell me. But no, and I mean no. Breaking and entering, slimy goo or undead."