"Yeah. I just had dinner with Kevin and Leena in the restaurant. What're you doing now? Do you want to go out to have some fun?" Claire said excitedly. While she was speaking to Louisa over the phone, she proudly raised her eyebrow at Leena. She wanted to show that even if they didn't want to go to the bar with her, she could go with someone else.
"Go out? Is Kevin going with us?" Louisa sat up straight upon hearing what Claire said. She was elated when she asked.
"My brother said that he was tired and wanted to go back to sleep, so we'll hang out alone. You have a lot of friends, right? Invite them. The more the merrier." Claire was still angry. Thus, her voice was somewhat low.
"Err… Well, sorry, I can't go out now. Maybe another day." The thought that Kevin didn't go with them killed Louisa's excitement.
"Err… What're you busy with? Didn't you say you had nothing to do usually?" Claire disappointedly asked as Louisa declined her invitation.
"Yeah. But I just came home today, so I can't go out now. Otherwise, my dad will ground me." Louisa said in a no-nonsense tone which made her words believable.
"Fine. I won't force you." Claire's mood could not have been grimmer. She puckered her lips, ready to cry.
"I'm sorry. How about going shopping tomorrow? What do you think?" It was then that Louisa sensed Claire was depressed. She realized that she seemed to have refused her too quickly. She needed her help to win Kevin's heart, so she had to curry favor with her. She tried to please Claire, lest Claire should be angry with her.
"We'll see. Go on with what you're doing. I have to hang up. Bye." Louisa was right. Claire was really angry at her. She quarreled with her mother for her sake back in the capital city. However, she cruelly refused Claire when Claire wanted to show off in front of Leena. Claire felt really down.
"Hello? Claire, Claire, wait… Ah!" Claire hung up the phone before Louisa could say anything. Louisa didn't expect that. She slammed her phone onto the couch. 'Damn! How dare she be angry at me?' she thought. 'I have to ask her for help in the future, or I'll just ignore her!'
"Fine. I give up. Let's go home." In low spirits, Claire leaned back on the seat. She wasn't even worried if Leena would tease her because of this. Once again, she turned her head to look out of the window.
Leena looked at Claire with worries but didn't say anything. She never added to the misfortunes of someone who was already unfortunate. Claire needed some time to calm herself down. It was Louisa's refusal that dampened Claire's spirits. Leena knew clearly how it felt, so she could understand her at the moment.
Although Claire loved finding fault with Leena, she walked to her bedroom without any word after they got home. It was obvious that she was really in a bad mood. To be honest, that was a bit surprising.
"What happened? Who upset her?" Kevin asked confusedly. He didn't hear Claire's conversation with Louisa over the phone. Thus, he didn't know what happened.
"I don't know. Maybe Miss Ye frustrated her." Leena shrugged. She was also confused but thought that she could learn something from the two ladies' talk over the phone. Claire was hurt because Louisa refused to go out after Claire said that Kevin would not join them. Before she called Louisa, she was sure that Louisa would go to the bar with her. Thus, she didn't expect Louisa to refuse her cruelly. This was utterly mortifying.
"Claire is capricious. She always thinks that she's the center of the world and everyone has to listen to her. Forget it. Go upstairs to take a shower. I'll go to her room." Kevin was helpless. However, Claire was his sister. He had to fulfill his role as her brother no matter how unreasonable she was.
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