Without realizing it, Lea slipped behind Shane's giant body. Wow, this man is quite tall and well-built, typical of a bodyguard, she thought, affected by the momentum at that time, which seemed to be Shane protecting her from the threat of angry man.
The fierce man who glared at Lea just left without forgetting to throw his piercing gaze back at Lea, who had hidden herself behind Shane. He must have been eager to at least cuss Lea out, but he didn't want to mess with Shane.Lea breathed a sigh of relief when the man had passed from there."Huuuuft ... thank you so much," she said later as she sat back in her chair.Shane also sat before Lea and looked at the celebrity girl before him with a knowing look. Lea, who felt his gaze, immediately scanned Shane's eyes, wondering what the man wanted to discuss."What?" asked Lea finally when Shane said nothing."Nothing," Shane replied quickly. Too quickly, and it only made Lea more curious."When people say thank you, they'll usually say you're welcome or something else that calms the listener." Lea commented."Oh, okay, you're welcome." The flat, expressionless reply irritated Lea again.It was a good thing that he had just saved her life. Otherwise, she might have attacked Shane again with her spicy words, and they would have had to argue again like before."Oh, yeah, can I get you a drink?" asked Lea finally; it didn't feel good that she was drinking alone while her seatmate wasn't."No, I already drank up two bubble ice in there."Lea frowned, "You finished my ration, too, didn't you?" Lea unconsciously said something that was out of her control. Why did she ask about the bubble ice she left inside earlier anyway?"Yeah, after all, dealing with a girl like you is pretty draining on my fluids," Shane said without guilt."What's wrong with you? Can't you talk without insulting or criticizing me?"Shane grinned, revealing a row of white and neat teeth, making Lea feel that this man was spreading charm. Oh, his smile is pretty fresh to the eye, too, Lea thought, among other thoughts. If it weren't for his borderline cynical attitude, Lea would probably be very impressed and have a crush on him."Oh, yeah, the movie's not over yet, how come you're already out?" Lea probed again. She just remembered that she wanted to ask that question earlier.Shane glanced around the food court as if looking for something and replied, "It's not good to sit on a chair among the spilt popcorn everywhere and be alone without a friend to tease, exactly.”Lea was again surprised by the answer."I swear, you really have a talent for annoying people. Where did you learn that kind of conversation technique?" Lea asked sarcastically."Hmm? Do you really want to learn? Let me teach you, private and free," Shane replied, making Lea even more annoyed.They then fell silent. Lea wanted to ask many questions; but she was paranoid. The answer would not cure her curiosity but instead would make her even more annoyed than before.Shane's figure is very talented in making his interlocutors seem like the world's most stupid and ignorant creatures. She don't know about other people, but for Lea, fix, Shane is not the type of man she wants to make friend, especially a boyfriend. Fix.Lea's wandering thoughts made her unaware that Grace and Freddie were near them. Suddenly, Grace tapped her on the shoulder and asked to go home."Oh, are we done yet? Come on, let's go home," Lea replied, a little confused because Grace's towel broke her reverie.Shane was already walking ahead with Freddie in front of them. Freddie seemed to be talking about something while Shane listened intently. She don't know what they were talking about, Lea thought curiously.A conversation that didn't involve insults and harsh criticism wasn't Shane's style. Or if his causing attitude was only reserved for when he was with her, Lea suddenly became suspicious."What was that about inside, huh? Fought again? But how come you're together here?" Grace interrogated Lea with great curiosity.Throughout the movie, she couldn't concentrate. With Freddie, she debated what could have happened between Lea and Shane and why they seemed to be having such a heated argument. Then, Lea left her seat and went out of the building."Let's not talk about it!" said Lea in an annoyed tone that made Grace sure what happened would not be good."Oh my gosh, Lea. Come on, I don't understand. Can't you just make a safe and peaceful condition, at least only for one night; no need to make a case, please?" complained Grace, grumbling.Lea's temper flared up again, "Uh, I wasn't the one who made a scene earlier! Shane was the one who started it! He's such a snotty and annoying guy!""You're the same way! You don't want to give in just a little!""Why did I give in? I don't want to!" exclaimed Lea, not accepting being confronted by her sister over something that was not her fault.Any girl who goes out with Shane would have the same attitude towards him, Lea thought Freddieantly. Or his attitude was only directed at Lea the only one. Suddenly, Lea thought of the worst possibility."Didn't Freddie tell you that he has a hard time hanging out with girls? That's his attitude, who can stand it! You know how annoying he is!" Lea again revealed her reason for fighting with Shane.Seeing her sister still pursing her lips as a sign of dissatisfaction with her explanation, Lea comforted her,"Well, what's important is that you managed to date Freddie tonight, right? That's the only tendency you had to invite me earlier? It's done. No need to think about anything else."Grace widened her eyes, "There, right! If I want to go out with Freddie, I can also do it without your help, and I've done it many times before!" she said in a protesting tone."So... from the beginning, you've been trying to hook me up with that ice-cold, flat-faced guy? Wow, thank you so much for your good intentions with Freddie. But please, I'll do something else. We had a terrible night because we try to be together.”“Oh, Gosh, if I had to choose, I'd rather walk alone with a sissy than with him. For God's sake, it makes my tension and uric acid rise dramatically! He was truly a big no!"Lea grumbled to herself without realizing they had reached the parking lot, and the man he thought was a flat-faced ice block was right in front of her now. Staring intently with a tense face, ready to pounce on Lea immediately.***Realizing her umpteenth fatal mistake that night, Lea spontaneously covered her mouth."Oops...," she said with a mixed expression, a combination of fear, amusement, and frustration.Unexpectedly, Shane grunted in annoyance and didn't utter a single word. He immediately turned away and walked towards his parked car.Lea, who didn't expect to escape the incident without serious injury to his head or at least a slap on the face from Shane for her recent words, followed him with a distant gaze. It seemed like she wanted to stop Shane momentarily to apologize.However, memories of Shane's annoying behavior towards her throughout the night made Lea suppress the urge and try to console herself that her words were polite enough to describe Shane."Bad, seriously," Grace finally said. The girl shook her head in frustration, looking at her silent sister. Freddie scratched his non-itchy head, unsure of how to react. Shane was his close friend, and he was the one who suggested—even forced—Lea to
The following day, Lea decided to forget everything about the disastrous blind date and the fact that she had just overlooked a handsome cop. Now, Lea chooses to be more open towards men, not to be consistently aloof and indifferent as she usually portrays. She had heard complaints from Grace that Lea shouldn't keep such a distance from them.According to Grace, if she wanted to have a relationship, the first thing she needed to do was to improve her attitude. And Lea agreed with her younger sister's advice, who somehow appeared more mature than her."Do you understand, sis?" Grace asked her sister as they were having breakfast."Yeah, yeah...!" Lea replied half-heartedly, picking at the toast with sausage, lettuce, and corned beef filling in annoyance. It seemed like she was venting her frustration at her food."What's going on here?" Mr. Adam looked at his two daughters alternately. They were having breakfast together as a family, sharing stories as usual at the breakfast table.Mrs
"Good morning, Lea," Eric greeted as the tall, curly-haired man entered the room, looking cheerful."Why? Why are you so happy?" Lea asked her colleague, who approached her desk with a big smile."Oh, just happy to see you every morning, hehe," Eric said, chuckling at his joke."Ugh, are you guys deliberately annoying?" Lea grumbled."What's up?" Eric asked, needing clarification about Lea's change of attitude."Being unfaithful friends, I'm upset, and instead of comforting me or buying me snacks, you two bully and one prank. So annoying, seriously." Lea's complaints continued.Eric scratched his head, not understanding Lea's behavior. He glanced at his two office mates, Adelle and Bella, silently asking what was happening with Lea."Come on, get to work!" Bella ordered Eric, pointing to the round-the-clock on one side of the 8x6-meter room.Eric obeyed. He didn't know what was going on with the two girls. Lea and Bella seemed to be equally upset for some reason. He no longer dared to
"Yeah, sorry, I forgot," Eric answered casually."What do you want to do if it's like this? You apologize to Ms. Vivian. She's embarrassed that no one from her division came, and no one asked for permission," Lea pointed out, blaming Eric's negligence."Yes, it's easy. After all, you never want to be invited!" Eric turned to point a finger at Lea."I already told you I had something to do last night; I promised to accompany my sister out." Lea defended herself."Besides, I usually always come to events," she added while pursing her lips."Yes, but never with me, right? Every time I come you don't." Eric cursed again.Bella suddenly kicked the chair in front of her. Her three friends turned to the girl and asked what was wrong. Adelle threw a code with a glance at Lea, who immediately understood that her friend was expressing her jealousy.Lea immediately took quick action by saying goodbye to the restroom to at least stop Eric's babbling, which made her feel bad for Bella. Tsk, poor B
One evening after work, Amanda, Lea’s bestie contacted Lea and invited her to go shopping together."What's up? Why are you inviting me? Where's Alvin?" Lea responded curtly."Oh... still mad, huh? I'll make it up to you. Let's go shopping this evening, my treat!" Amanda said, feeling guilty for making her friend upset the day before.Lea remained silent for a moment. She wasn't angry but wanted to tease Amanda to test her patience."Can't I buy things for myself? You're mocking me!" Lea protested, sounding offended.Amanda sighed on the other end."Oh, come on, why are you so grumpy? Anyway, I'll pick you up at your house at 6 p.m. Be ready!"The phone call ended abruptly.Amanda always knew how to handle Lea's moods. They had been friends for too long to take offense or anything similar. No matter how big their mistakes, they would automatically forgive each other, though usually accompanied by scolding. The most important thing was that they remained friends forever.Lea lay back o
"Let it be; it's already happened; what else can we do?" Lea said resignedly."Well, you could try negotiating with Grace's boyfriend?" "Freddie?""Yeah, talk to Freddie, ask him to arrange another meeting with Shane, tell him you want to apologize," Amanda suggested, including some reasonable advice.Lea immediately rejected the idea."No way! I don't want that. Am I supposed to chase after him now?""Well, not really. There's a reason behind it. Do you want to apologize, don't you?" Amanda tried to convince her stubborn friend. But based on experience, Lea needed to be more easily swayed from her stance. The girl remained stubborn and refused to humble herself by apologizing first."I don't want to! Shane can be so arrogant. He'll probably bully me even more. No way!" Lea insisted.Amanda was at a loss for words to persuade her friend. She knew Lea was stubborn but didn't expect it to be this difficult!"You're so stubborn! I want to meet this 'ice block' Shane. It must be entertai
"Okay, fine. Not just Joan, Adam, Amanda, now even Mom is blaming me! OMG!" grumbled Lea, in maximal frustration. "I'm not blaming you, dear... what Mom means is that you need to control yourself when speaking to others and in your actions. Don't always explode like you usually do. Pay attention, if it's with us, your family, or Amanda, who has known you for a long time, there won't be any problems. At least we know that's just how you are, so we won't be offended or misunderstand. But when facing new people, don't act like that." Mrs. Anna advised at length. Lea realized that her mother's words were almost similar to Amanda's. It was true if she thought about it, but Lea was accustomed to rarely admitting her mistakes; her ego was too high. "So, Se? Have you realized where you went wrong?" Her mom confirmed. She knew exactly the temperament and temper of her eldest daughter. Lea nodded with an expression still unwilling. "Can you improve your attitude in the future? That's the m
"Shane...," called the soft voice of a woman around forty years old who still looked beautiful. The woman with neatly tied-up hair, revealing her slender neck, giving her a firm and efficient appearance, peeked into her son's unlocked room.Spontaneously, Shane turned towards the door and greeted his mom with an innocent look, "What's up, Mom?"Mrs. Kate scrutinized Shane, "I called you several times, and you didn't respond. I thought you weren't in your room. Were you not hearing or daydreaming?""Oh... sorry, Mom. I didn't hear your voice," he replied, somewhat flustered."Hmm... daydreaming about what?"Shane got up from his seat on the bed and pretended to place his phone on the table while searching for an excuse, "Just focusing on reading an article, Mom. You know, when I’m focused on work, I tend to ignore what's around."Mrs. Kate then approached her beloved and only son. She knew Shane's expression when he lied; he would either bow his head or throw his gaze elsewhere, anywhe