Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 88: Tea

Chapter 88: Tea

ELIANA

"Now, tell me again about this Clusterfuck that is your love life? I wasn’t sure I heard you right." I asked Rina to confirm her story.

Again.

Because the first two times did not stick.

"What’s there to explain?! I already said everything!" Rina whined, trying to weasel her way out of telling her story.

"I would’ve believed you if you didn’t look that guilty. I wouldn’t ever need a lie detector on you, Miss."

Frankly, if I were her too, it would be impossible for me to hide this completely.

Rina just hid her face behind her hands as she tucked her knees against her chest

"So, let me get this straight: Did you have a one-night stand with our project Architect?" I enunciated my words to drive the point.

"Three..." Rina murmured, barely audible, and I had to move closer to her to understand what she wanted to say.

"What?"

"I said three. THREE!" She suddenly screeched, face red as a tomato.

"Three, what?" That got me a bit confused.

Then she raised three of her fingers, "Three nights."

Holy chicken nuggets!

"THREE?!" I couldn’t help but scream in surprise.

"SHHH!" Rina wanted to cover my mouth because I might call upon the villa’s occupants.

"Oh no, you didn’t?!"

"Oh yes, I did." Rina flung herself back onto the couch, melting like a puddle dramatically. And I was left stunned at hearing that it was not just one night, but three fucking nights, literally.

"Bitch, I don’t know what to say? Maybe, what were you even thinking?!" I really couldn’t figure out what I wanted to ask first, but that seemed to be the most evident.

"Girl. Was it not obvious? If I had used my brain to think, would you really think It’d end up like that?"

I nodded because it would definitely end up like that. Rina wasn’t the thinking type when it came to anything emotional or psychological. But in return for that, she’s got killer instincts, like a real animal.

Short of detecting tectonic vibrations, this girl’s instincts would scare off criminal profilers.

"You ignored it, didn’t you?" I asked, and she looked at me like she wanted to cry, so the answer was obvious.

"Was it that mind-blowing that you ignored your own gut?" Rina normally stood by her gut feeling, so the fact that she ignored it meant more things were going on there.

Rina had the same gut feeling about me when Alexa came, but she ignored it and remained friends with me despite knowing that I’ve got bad juju tailing me. So it wasn’t that she couldn’t ignore it, but that was like agreeing and bearing the consequences that would surely come.

She stretched out again, even kicking in the air as if facing an invisible enemy.

"11/10. Obviously, I came back again." She finally said it through gritted teeth, using the same scale I had used before.

"ARGGGH!" She went back to air-kicking and punching.

"When you said three, this wasn’t three straight days, right?" Because that would just be insane, and I would have to question whether she went to the hospital after.

"No, it was two days, and then the third one was a separate day altogether." She scowled.

"So you did come back for more." I laughed and couldn’t stop because we really are best friends.

"Don’t you dare give me shit when you’re out there snuggling with that bloke of yours daily?" Rina warned.

Still laughing, I wiped what felt like a tear before saying, "Hey, I haven’t started giving you shit. I just wanted to ask what you were thinking the entire time. You even went back for round 2."

"I just got conned, okay?"

"Conned my ass, you’re more of a con-man than most con-mans out there." I received a pillow on the face for my honesty, but what are friends for?

"Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?" She snarled, trying to hit me with another throw pillow.

"I am. This is me being on your side. It’s your way or the highway. I’m nice like that." I snickered, failing to hide my amusement at my friend’s laughable disaster.

I can laugh because this girl clearly enjoyed it and even returned for good measure. Rina’s just horrible at dealing with things like this.

I’m guessing she eventually ran, and if I’m right, she must be in the process of running away.

"You realize I’m half tempted to throw you under the bus like you did the other time, right?"

I really wanted to pinch her ass, but it sort of fixed my earlier problem.

"What’s the use of that? I’m already under the bus." She gave me a side-eye.

"The guy’s insisting I bear him a child, that he agreed to my earlier proposal."

Oh, the black lines on her face got me rolling in tears.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" There was no holding this is.

"HAHA...I mean, you did offer? HAHAHA!" Thankfully, they both got out of that fire exit unharmed.

Considering their conversation, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had to fetch this girl from some detention center.

But the fact that she didn’t stab him outright meant he might get that child someday.

"ANNOYING!" Rina flailed in annoyance.

"Just tell me when you plan on getting hitched so I can send you a gift."

"Oh, shut up!" Another pillow flew, but I skillfully avoided it.

She wasn’t having that, so we started running around the living room. Rina was chasing me as I navigated around the furniture.

"You better not let me catch you!" She threatened, and I laughed as I ran.

Then I saw the best meat shield. With eyes shining, I called out, "Lucian!"

He looked over as he climbed down the stairs, only to have to catch me as I flung myself over to him.

"Protect me! The monster’s coming!" I clung like a monkey.

"Besides you?" Lucian asked, and I smacked him for good measure.

Rina saw us, and she pinched my butt the moment she arrived. "You! You think you can hide by going to him!"

Lucian looked at where Rina pinched, and his face contorted.

"Not there. Pick somewhere else," Lucian warned. Rina tried to go for another body part but was again told, "Not there."

"Argggggh! Damn you too!"

I laughed again as I clung to my husband, thinking that maybe this wasn’t too bad.

__

Our vacation ended well, in my opinion. If not for those vultures that visited in between, the whole thing would easily rank as one of the best vacations I’ve been on.

I’m not sure my husband would say the same thing, as he really had no access to anything work-related during that time, and I was concerned he’d end up facing withdrawal symptoms, but we made it home in one piece.

My promise to Lily had to be honored, so we set up a day to shop together before our site visit.

While Lucian promised to go with us, I pitied his remaining subordinates, who would have to take over his work while we were away.

Thank goodness he paid really well.

But more than anything, thank goodness he decided to come because we didn’t think we’d encounter something unusual.