NINA “Happy Birthday, Yu!” Yu stands there, stunned, trying to process his mind before he laughs. “Well, damn, it’s a huge surprise for me, indeed.” “Heather and Olliver were the ones who decided this party,” Luca says as he shrugs. Yu immediately nudges his side . "Okay, asshole, at least say that you are involved in this plan," Yu turns to face him with a smile.“But, I knew something was up when you decided to pick me up at the airport.” Luca’s jaw clenches as he nudges him back. “Well, they ask me, their boss, to pick you, my partner, to the airport.” They only laugh in unison as they keep cheering about their banter. “Welcome back, Yu,” the Japanese owner comes back to the counter, I unconsciously duck and hide under the stools. Luckily, the lights here are dim so they can’t notice me unless I make a sound. But as to why I decided to hide from them? T-that’s still a debatable topic I’ve been wondering about. “We prepared your favorites: Tom yum soup especially and
“You look happy.”“What? Isn’t it wrong to be happy on your birthday?” My so-called boss says, defensively.“Nope, I haven’t seen you smile like that since…” the kid arrived. Yet, I won’t let those words slip in my mouth. It looks accusatory for both Nina and Luca.Apparently, my boss reads my mind and sighs. “She hates me, Yu.”I just laugh grimly as I lean on the railing, taking another puff of smoke. Bad habits don’t die even though my biological father died due to these cancer sticks.But work is fucking stressful and that includes babysitting my best friend slash boss. They are just temporary relievers.Luca, on the other hand, doesn’t like smoking, yet he enjoys the scent each time we have some serious conversations like this. We decide to go outside, have a chat at the backdoor railing, getting away from the noise you call my birthday party.“She said the same thing, Luca. Didn’t I tell you to start talking to her? You can even just ask about her day at school.”He sighs
“What the heck is going on here?!” Unable to control my own temper, my bellowing anger stops my friends from their so-called fun. Some of my colleagues show utter disappointment and others finally realize the situation and are now guilt-ridden from my anger. Now, it’s utter silence. And they should be. I scan the room, glaring eyes as each of them mutters a sorry. “Now, who in the right fucking mind let a minor drink beer? What if she gets alcohol poisoning?!” Well, technically, I drank a lot more when I was her age BUT that’s not the fucking problem! “Yu?” I turn to see a dazed look of Nina as her lips curled into a grin. “Happy Bir’day, Yu! Cheers!” She says as she grabs the beer-filled mug next to her empty one and almost, ALMOST attempts to chug another shot if it weren’t for a hand gripping hers. Luca, who finally snaps from his thoughts, is gripping the kid’s hand. They stare at each other. Dazed brown eyes staring at the fierce grey eyes. “That’s enough, Nina.” Auth
YU “You kids are doing well there?” I continue to tease, trying to hide my laughter. Glancing on my side, my best friend slash boss is adjusting his seat, uncomfortably as he decides to let Nina sit in the small space between them. The drive back to Luca’s place is not an issue, thank goodness. Usually, there should be some traffic jams but the Thursday evening drive is going smoothly so far. “Stop moving,” she mutters, irritably. Apparently, it makes it worse since Nina insists on sitting comfortably on his lap as her head leans on his shoulder. “Don’t move her a lot, Luca. She might become nauseous. Just hold her waist or something.” Hopefully, she won’t vomit. The last thing I need for tomorrow’s birthday is to clean the puke and replace the seats. “This is getting uncomfortable,” he mutters, finding the experience torturous. Nina, on the other hand, slowly closes her eyes as she presses her face on Luca’s neck. Her hand is gripping on his clothed dress shirt. “Seems like the
NINA My head really hurts a lot. I regretted chugging down every last bit of alcohol when it was my first time drinking it. But it helped me a lot. As to why I was drinking alcohol? I don’t know...maybe I forgot about it. The taste didn’t feel great at all. In fact, it has this strange pungent scent that hits on my nostrils and I almost puked at my first attempt. But later on, people circled around me, they encouraged me to have a drinking competition and I dare to give it a challenge. After all, they were nice and supportive as I drank...how many was it? Three or five mugs? If I were my normal self, I would squirm and slowly run away but their cheers motivated me. I didn’t realize I was so easy to please. Halfway through the drinking game, I saw a silhouette of two familiar men. It was blurry, really. But when I heard that familiar voice, I immediately knew who it was. So, I greeted him for his birthday. I almost forgot to tell him that he was the best brother I ever had. Bu
NINA “No,” I answer, firmly as I glare at him. I do hope my glare can give him the signal to leave me alone. But instead, Luca remains calm, he slowly lets go of my wrist as he touches my shoulders. I don’t know why but when he started touching me, my whole body heats up. Is it because of the alcohol? Or his confident gaze has already made me feel this indescribable feeling that I have been experiencing each time we do? “I want to continue our talk,” he says, carefully. “It might sort everything out if we try. So, can we go back?” He doesn't look away, nor does he feel awkward with our close distance. His strong gray eyes show warmth that I've never seen before. I can't stop staring at them and the sight comforts my aching heart. He is serious, that I can tell. So after a while, I reluctantly nod, ignoring my embarrassment and the nauseating feeling I have right now. Luca turns as he observes me but I tumble on my two feet before he grabs me around my waist. The action makes
I couldn’t remember what happened yesterday.When I woke up, the first thing that registered to me was pain. Excruciating pain in my head that has been throbbing until now.Then enters nausea, the worst kind. How do I describe it? I feel like bile is stuck in my throat but it isn’t actually there. But at the same time, I feel my stomach grumbling, reminding me to eat. Wait, have I eaten anything yesterday?Now I feel really thirsty. I groan as I slowly get up from my bed, the bright light illuminates the sky which is a rare sight especially during autumn, so I cover my eyes with my hand. Slowly, I get out of my bed, trying to find my phone on my bed. Then when I look at my own clothes which were from last night's clothes, my eyes widen.Wait, why haven’t I changed clothes last night? I always make sure to wear my pajamas before going to bed.“Ugh,” I groan again as I massage my temples. I think I need some water, first. And hopefully, something to eat. I thought to myse
Once I am completely feeling better after one or two smoothies, Luca explains to me the events that happened last night. After everything finally sinks in, I try to cover my face behind the loveseat cushions, realizing that all the things I said and had done were unforgivable and that he has every right to throw me in the sea of sharks.“What are you talking about? You seriously thought that I could kill someone, huh?” his voice doesn’t sound forced or even with any intentions of coercion. In fact, I just realize that I’m now talking to Luca who is finally released from the burden of his own pride.“A-at first, yeah.”“Well, if throwing you to the sea of sharks will make you happy, I could arrange that.” If it weren’t for the glint of amusement showing in his face, I would have thought that he was serious.“No, thank you. I’d rather write 5,000-word essays instead,” I quickly answer. I value my life, after all.“Then, brace yourself, because I’m going to tutor in my free tim