“Yan, give it back! I badly need a smoke,” Reina said as she reached across the table. She was pouting and whining like a child whose toy was taken away. They were at Psychedelic Corner, a coffee, pastries, and cocktails bar rolled into one.
Chrissie studied her friend slump back into her seat and sighed loudly, as she lit her Virginia Slims. “Don’t bother hiding from me, Reina. I know you too well,” she warned, raising an eyebrow.
Reina, without her Capri to disguise her unease, had no choice but to meet her friend’s gaze.
“You’ve been agitated since I picked you up yesterday at the Admin not to mention the state you were in, plus the fact that I needed to bring you some clothes,” Chrissie paused, taking another puff off her cigarette. “Only one person managed to fluster you, Rain. SHERWIN,” she concluded.
Reina looked down and nodded. She picked her fork up and started to play with her tiramisu, hoping that Chrissie would not question any further.
“Yang, I’m waiting…” Chrissie prodded.
“It’s stupid to fall in love with a guy just because you ended up having sex, right?” Reina spoke softly, still playing with her cake. She then raised her eyes and met Chrissie’s, asking for affirmation, “I can’t possibly be in love with him, right?”
Flicking her cigarette, Chrissie replied, “You’re right. I don’t think that you’re falling in love with him yet, but you’re sooo scared that what you feel right now might just lead there.” Chrissie pointed out and sipped off her vodka cruiser.
“He gave me an ultimatum,” Reina started. “He gave me until last night to sort things out. He’s offering me more than just sex…” she trailed off.
Chrissie killed her cigarette, leaned forward on the table, and looked Reina straight in the eye, “Yang, do you want to be with him or not? Is it just sex that you want?”
“You’ve tried sex already. Is it enough for you to get that state of euphoria? Or do you want something more?” she leaned back on her seat and crossed her arms, still not breaking her eye contact.
“Yang,” she stood up and sat beside her friend, “Just because I engage in casual sex, that doesn’t mean also you have to.”
“I want you to be honest with yourself. I know that you’re not in love with Sherwin Xu yet, but deep down you know that it just might happen,” Chrissie took her friend in her arms and hugged her.
“Bottom line is: it’s your decision,” she continued and started to feel her shoulder getting wet.
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Sherwin was drinking brandy in the living room. It was his second bottle for tonight. He’s still devastated over the…