When Barbara woke up, the bed was empty. In a way it was a relief. The drive over to Pleasant Valley had been strained by an uneasy silence. Barbara had read the stories, how could she not have? Her best friend and sometimes lover had been more than a little indiscrete with another woman, a married woman, no less. Reading about it had bothered her more than she had imagined. It wasn’t as if they were really exclusive… They were friends and fuck buddies, but not really an item. But she had felt more than a twinge of jealousy when she found out and they had shared many awkward silences since then. Likely Aria wanted to discuss it with her, but didn’t dare to break the subject. And Barbara wasn’t going to let her off the hook by starting to talk about it herself.<br/><br/>They had slept the night together at either side of the bed, neither of them having made any attempt at being intimate. How different it would have been had they shared a bed only a month or so ago! Barbara slipped out of the bed and headed into the shower. The house Aria had chosen for her had a quaint, small-town charm, but it was not at all what Barbara was accustomed to. In spite of her tender age, she owned her own Manhattan apartment, courtesy of her trust fund. The warm water helped her to forget about what Aria had done for a little while. When she stepped out of the shower, she found her cell phone and composed a message for her friend.<br/><br/><div class="codeheader">Code: <a class="codeoperation" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return smfSelectText(this);">[Select]</a></div><pre style="margin: 0; padding: 0;"><code class="bbc_code">“Hey you,<br/>Where are you? Why did you leave without saying anything?<br/>Barbara”</code></pre>