The two girls kept staring at each other, sapphire on sapphire.
Those matching sapphire blue eyes were the very reason why they'd bonded so easily in the first place, back in elementary school. No other kids had eyes like theirs. Kaija remembered feeling like Marja was her missing half the moment she saw Marja, so she walked right over and said, "Hi."
Looking at them now, all she felt was loss, and regret.
Had Marja come to gloat? To rub it in that Niklas had ended up with her instead? If so, Kaija would let her. Kaija had no strength left for cheap drama now.
"Kaija..." Marja murmured, her voice small, guilt written all over her face.
Had it been like before, Kaija would've rushed over to comfort her at the sight of that expression. But right now, even Marja's gorgeous face felt unbearable to look at.
She walked past Marja, swiped her key card, then muttered coldly, "Just leave, Marja."
"Kaija, please, I want to talk to you!" Marja pleaded, her eyes already glistening. "I won't take long! Just give me a moment."
Kaija sighed, crossing the threshold and leaving the door open. "Five minutes, then get out of my sight," she muttered, kicking off her heels. "I don't have the mood for any mushy talk today. I'm tired."
Marja slipped in without hesitation, the door clicking shut behind her. She knew exactly where to put her shoes. Where the table they usually sat at was.
She quickly found her usual seat, graceful as ever. Even when drenched in that questionable regret, Marja still somehow glowed, like the supermodel she was.
It was only after Kaija sat down across from Marja, looking straight in those sapphire eyes, that she finally understood. The cold, shaking rage she'd felt the other day at Blue Dreams Café, when she saw the two of them smooching and cuddling, had never been because of Niklas.
It was because of Marja.
Because right now, that same feeling had come crawling back into her body, while yesterday when she faced Niklas, saying those breakup words, she'd felt completely chill and still.
She might have been with Niklas for four years, but she'd known Marja her whole life.
"Your five minutes is ticking," Kaija muttered, looking away. "Start talking."
"Kaija..." Marja started, tone nervous, gaze cast down. "I want to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry."
Kaija couldn't help but sneer. "And?"
"And I want you to know that I don't want to lose you!" Marja's voice pitched. "To lose us! What we had!"
Kaija raised an eyebrow back at her. "Us? So you didn't want to lose me, yet you still decided to scoop up my boyfriend anyway?"
"It's not like that!" Marja leaned forward, her tears already spilling. "Niklas was hurt when you insisted on taking that job. I only wanted to comfort him, to help the two of you make peace."
She shot a skeptical look at Marja's streaming tears. "Look how effective you were with that."
"It was because…" Marja sobbed, "things just got out of hand, Kaija. I'm terribly sorry. It's just... I've never felt that way with anyone before. The way Niklas made me feel…"
Kaija let out a long exhale. Wait until you go against his will, and you'll see, she thought. But she was no longer in that best friend position to give Marja any relationship advice.
"What do you expect then?" She gave Marja a weary look. "That we pretend nothing happened and just let it go? You want my blessing?"
Marja leaned forward and slammed the table, her voice trembling. "Kaija, I'm pregnant!"
She stared at Marja, completely lost for words.
What the actual f—?!
She'd been with Niklas four years, completely unscathed. And her? Three months in, and she's pregnant already? Just how many sex-ed classes did she skip back in middle school?! No wonder Marja was more emotional than usual.
"You...you're pregnant?" Kaija stuttered. "With Niklas?"
"Of course it's him!" Marja exclaimed, wiping her tears like a wounded cat. "I still haven't told him. I didn't know what to do when I found out. I have no one to tell this to but you, Kaija. I don't know what to do about it!"
Kaija covered her face with both hands, slapping it a few times. Alright, I need to calm myself down, she thought. This wasn't just her traitor best friend anymore. It was a pregnant young woman. Better not provoke her.
"What do you want to do?" Kaija asked, voice flat.
Marja hesitated, then admitted, "I… I want to keep it."
"At least tell Niklas first," Kaija said. "It's his child too, anyway. Talk to him, see what he wants to do. Then the two of you can decide. Like real adults, you know? He's a future doctor. At least he should know a thing or two about pregnancy."
Marja turned those glistening eyes on her again. "And will you… forgive me?"
Kaija stared at her, almost laughing in disbelief. Better not provoke a pregnant woman, she reminded herself again.
"I forgive you," she said bitterly, biting her lip. "Just be happy. Do whatever you want."
Marja came over and hugged her, as if she'd only been waiting for those words. She hugged Marja back, patting Marja's shoulder gently, but she felt no warmth in her chest.
Once Marja pulled away, she asked, "Kaija, one more thing. What should I tell my parents?"
Right. Kaija facepalmed again.
Marja's parents were no ordinary people. They were the owners of Ralpha, the largest luxury goods company in S Country — another big, powerful billionaire family, like the Kosonens.
Marja here was the face of Ralpha. Every luxury brand owned by this luxury giant had her face plastered across its ad campaigns. A shocking news like this — that their precious daughter slash brand ambassador getting pregnant out of wedlock, with no boyfriend ever mentioned — would drive Mr. and Mrs. Ralpha absolutely insane.
Come to think of it, Kaija must admit she sometimes wondered how she'd ever become friends with someone from such a glittering, untouchable world like Marja's.
Her family was barely surviving back in those days at best. She only had her mom, never knew who her dad was. She only knew he had passed away, like her granparents. Her mom had always became angry whenever she asked about him.
The place they lived in was a tiny shabby house in a neglected surburb hours of driving away from Z City. They had little money back then, only surviving by thin porridge and meatless meals. And yet, when Kaija was old enough to be sent to elementary school, her mom had suddenly started taking on two more jobs, which she had no idea what they were.
All she knew was those jobs paid enough for her to attend one of the most prestigious elementary school in S Country, where she'd met Marja. Of course, whatever money her mom had managed was only enough to cover the first few years at that expensive place. When she reached 3rd grade, she was sent back to public schools, with more reasonable school fees, and said goodbye to all the rich kids around her back then.
Well, all of them, but Marja. The two girls had formed a bond so strong their friendship just kept carrying on, and Kaija's mom had made friends with Marja's parents thanks to that, so she got better jobs later on, and their lives also got better.
Back then, she was too young to gave it much thoughts, but as she grew older, she couldn't help but question her mom's decision, given their circumstances, and so she'd asked.
"It was to give you a great head start in life," her mom claimed.
Of course, Kaija didn't buy that explanation. How can elementary school gave anyone a good head start in life? But she knew better than press and endure another round of her mom sudden outbursts, so she'd kept her curiosity to herself since.