Rainy rested her head on Debra's shoulder as soon as she sat down beside. Before they knew it, she fell asleep.
"Are you two in love?" Debra asked. There was a hint of concern in her voice, but then, she suddenly thought of something. "Hold on. Has Leon broken up with his girlfriend already? You know, that woman he brought with him at every party."
Michelle tilted her head thoughtfully before nodding. She said, "Yes, he already did."
"That's good. Otherwise, you'll become his mistress." Debra let out a sigh of relief. "Well, is he your boyfriend now?"
Pouting, Michelle put her arms around Debra. "No, he's still not my boyfriend."
Debra was almost knocked down by the force of Michelle's hug. With Rainy leaning on her left side and Michelle hugging her right, she felt like a tumbler.
She could only sigh upon hearing that Michelle and Leon hadn't made their relationship official yet. Deep down, she was so pissed off that she could only lean back for now.
Then, Aron stood up and went behind Debra. He felt indignant as he thought, 'I'm the only man here. I shouldn't have come here in the first place.'
"That bastard! Leon is that rare scum of the earth. If I see him now, I will definitely give him an earful," Debra scoffed.
Upon hearing this, Michelle immediately jumped up to his defense. "No! You shouldn't scold Leon!"
"I'm done talking with you. Go to the bathroom and take a good look on your face. Then go ahead and have a wash." Debra shrugged off Michelle's arms and pushed her away.
"Fine." Michelle got up and went to the bathroom as she was told. Debra watched her walk unsteadily, starting to get worried about her friend. She then deposited Rainy on the table and assisted Michelle on her way to the bathroom.
It was at that moment when a wave of dizziness hit Debra. She hadn't noticed it while she was still sitting down, but now that she was standing up, she felt as if the floor she was walking on was no longer flat.
"Be careful." Aron looked at the two of them worriedly. Debra gave him an "okay" sign. As soon as the two women were out of the room, a phone began ringing.
It was Michelle's phone. Aron picked it up and read the caller ID. It said, "My Brother." At this point, he didn't even have to guess who it was.
Nonetheless, he must back up Michelle on this.
Aron hesitated for a moment, warring between answering the phone or not. In the end, he chose to ignore it. But the phone kept ringing again and again that he was forced to answer it.
"Hello, Leon. This is Aron speaking."
Leon sounded surprise when he spoke up over the phone. "Aron? Are you eating dinner together?"
"Yes. Michelle just went to the bathroom. What's up?" Aron's voice was flat and emotionless with no hints of anger. Nonetheless, he sounded stiffer and more formal than usual.
They used to be polite to Leon for Michelle's sake.
Ever since Leon heard Debra call him bastard that night, he wasn't expecting Michelle's friends to be nice to him.
The fact that Aron was able to talk to him calmly was already a surprising turn of events.
Nonetheless, Leon didn't care much about it. He asked, "Where are you?"
Aron didn't want to tell him at first. But on second thought, he had no right to interfere in Michelle's relationship.
"We're at the Fragrance Restaurant."
"Thank you."
However, Aron refused to say which room they were in. He was going to make Leon look for them instead.
The two women came back to the room.
Back in the bathroom, Michelle had washed her face with cold water and vomited. She came back to the room, feeling a bit confused. She was beginning to sober up, but she still felt a bit dizzy.
"I think I can still drink some more. Shall we continue?" Michelle glanced at her companions quickly before pushing Rainy who was sleeping. In a low voice, she tried waking her friend up.
But Rainy slept on soundly, completely ignoring her.
"Just forget it. We should stop drinking anyway. It's been two hours since we've started, so let's go to sleep now. Tomorrow is Monday after all, and we all still have to go to work. It's not like back in college when we can just skip classes whenever we wanted." Debra sighed.
A long time had already passed since they were students. But now that Debra brought up past memories, she couldn't help but feel as if it was only yesterday. Nonetheless, the memories of those years were starting to grow hazy.
Michelle tucked her hair behind her ear. Then, she reached for her phone and placed it inside her small bag which she slung across her shoulder. "Go home then, but I'm not going with you. I still have something important to do."
Debra asked, "And what could that be?"
"It's something very important. It's a big deal actually." Michelle stood up once more and spread her arms wide.
"Care to tell us more?" This had piped Debra's curiosity.
Clenching her fist, Michelle said loudly, "I'm going to learn from Lydia. I think she is right."
Debra lost interest in it. "Well, I wish you success then."
Of course, he wasn't sure if he was hearing her heart or his own.
Maybe it was both. It sounded so messy and clear at the same time.
The two of them were drifting closer to one another. Michelle's face was growing hotter and hotter by the second. Leon had finally discovered her secret. She felt angry and shy at the same time. She snorted like a spoiled child.
Leon felt his heart soften a bit upon hearing this.
Leaning his forehead against hers, he gently stroked the shell of her warm ear. In a hoarse voice, he said, "You used the bed sheet and quilt cover I used, and..."
The bed sheet and quilt cover he had used were very intimate things. When Michelle took them, she felt ashamed of herself. And now that they were facing each so closely, she could feel that same feeling of shame creeping up on her. Her face and neck grew even hotter.
Even if she couldn't see very clearly, she could still feel the layer of heat around her body.
Michelle lowered her head in shame. She then began pushing him away, but he caught her hands firmly. The hand stroking her ear slowly slid down to her face until it settled on the hollow of her neck.
The drag of bare skin against her bare skin rose goose bumps along her body. It was like a live wire running inside her.
She couldn't take it anymore. She said weakly, "Leon..."
"I just have one question. Do you like me?"
"Yes, I do." Michelle had her confession all planned out for tonight. But now that he asked her, the words just came out of her lips so naturally.
Leon gasped upon hearing her admission. And when he spoke up again, his voice had gone even lower. There was something hidden beneath it—a restraint sense of lust.
"Who do you like?"
"Leon."
"And who likes Leon?"
"Me..."
"Very good. Now say that again." The tip of his nose brushed against hers. They were now sharing the same breath with how close their faces were.
Pressing her lips together, Michelle said gently, "I like Leon." She paused for a second and the repeated it again. This time, her voice sounded firm and confident. "I like you, Leon."
Time seemed to stand still until Leon finally swooped down to kiss her nose. He said, "I like you, too."
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