Chapter 10: The things I do for you.

"When there's madness,
When there's poison in your head,
When the sadness leaves you broken in your bed,
I will hold you in the depths of your despair,
And it's all in the name of love."

Andrew:

Veronica is staring at me with wide eyes as if I just revealed I'm an undercover FBI agent.

It would be cool though.

But Veronica is gaping at me for a completely different reason.

"You want me to cook Japanese food for you and Callie?" Veronica asks me for the umpteenth time.

I nod my head slowly.

"You want me to cook Japanese foo-"

Here she goes again.

"Fucking yes, Veronica! I want you cook Japanese food for Callie and me."

She looks at me with an incredulous expression.

"Why?" She asks, still confused out of her minds.

"Callie's coming over in two hours and her favorite Japanese food joint is closed down. I don't know what else to do apart from convincing you to cook for us," I try to reason.

"I'm not a chef for God's sake! And I definitely can't cook Japanese food in two hours! JAPANESE FOOD, are you FUCKING INSANE?! No wait, don't answer that. I already know you're insane! I'm not cooking for the two of you!"

Oh God. Convincing Veronica is harder than I thought.

"You know, I endured Chase for an entire evening when he came over for dinner. I think you should return the favour."

"But I didn't make you cook, you baboon!"

She has a point. She didn't make me cook.

But sitting in the same room as Chase when he's busy flirting with Veronica for the whole evening ( seriously, that guy needs to keep it in his pants ) is worser than cooking.

Veronica huffs in annoyance and we stare at each other. Intensely.

Fine. If she wants to do a staredown, we'll do just that.

Any spectator of our staredown must be wondering how we ended up like this.

It started somewhat like this.

Veronica came to my room the very moment she finished reading the four pages of my apology letter and slapped me hard. Twice.

And then, she revealed that slapping me was necessary to put some sense into my 'brain devoid of grey matter'.

Her words, not mine.

After that she started crying. And I just stood there like an idiot, not knowing what to do.

She told me that no one had ever made any attempt to apologize to her before, despite hurting her immensely. I was the first person to do so and that's why she got a bit overwhelmed.

So I told her no one had apologized for their mistakes to me either. She had smiled and we had high-fived.

Yeah, we're weird like that.

It has been exactly two weeks since I told her 'sorry' and she still hasn't forgiven me. Not that I expect her to.

But both of us have come to talking terms.

It's not that we talk like long lost friends, no. We talk like we're in a business meeting. Formal conversations only.

So no, we're not friends. We're neither acquaintances.

There's a thin line between friendship and hate. I think we are dancing on that line.

Only one good thing has come out of all this.

I don't humiliate her anymore. She doesn't get hurt anymore.

But we do engage ourselves in endless banters. That probably explains why we are bickering now.

"Why don't you order Chinese or something! I bet she won't even be able to tell the difference, Drew!"

Oh, there has been one more progress in our relationship (err, that sounds weird but it'll have to do).

Veronica had started calling me Drew.

"She's a model. Isn't she supposed to be stupid or something? She won't be able to tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese food! Bring her some Chinese 'cause I ain't cooking."

I stare at her in shock. I know I'm supposed to feel angry because Veronica insulted my girlfriend. But surprisingly, I don't and this realization scares me.

But I defend Callie nevertheless.

"I'm sure all models are not stupid. She'll be able to tell the difference. Please Veronica, just this one time! And no, don't give me the excuse that you can't cook Japanese because I know you can. Please? I promise I'll give you anything!"

Veronica thinks deeply for a moment.

"Anything?" She says with a devilish glint in her eyes.

I gulp.

Shit. Did I do something wrong in agreeing to this?

But there's Callie and her food.

"Fine."

-

I can tell Veronica is just one step away from beheading Callie.

Callie has been here for just ten minutes and during this entire time, she has insulted Veronica on more than a few occasions.

Why?

Honestly, I don't know.

She has no reason to be acting this bitchy when she told me herself that she's not angry on me or Veronica for our mistake.

And like the kind person that Veronica is, she hasn't insulted her back.

It's surprising because I had expected her to.

Veronica is a strong woman and she always fights back.

Not this time though.

I make a mental note to ask her later about this.

The three of us are sitting in the kitchen. Callie and I are watching Veronica cook. I had insisted that we sit outside. But Callie wanted to sit here. Perhaps because she wanted to insult Veronica.

"But Drew, we could've just visited that sushi parlor near my apartment! Why are you making me eat the food cooked by that?" Callie says from beside me while pointing at Veronica.

Veronica is busy glaring at Callie but Callie doesn't notice it.

I feel irritated at Callie's behaviour towards my flatmate.

This is wrong. Why is Callie being so difficult all of a sudden? She's never like this when she's with me.

"Yes Drew, why didn't you take her to the sushi parlor she's talking about?" Veronica asks me.

Veronica smirks at me.

Both the girls are staring at me and waiting for my reply.

"Uh... The thought didn't cross my mind."

It's a lie.

The idea did cross my mind.

But for some reason I didn't want to leave this house.

More importantly, I didn't want to leave Veronica behind all alone.

Callie nods her head in understanding.

Veronica resumes preparing some delicious looking salad.

She's almost done with her dishes. Only the salad is left and then we can eat.

"So, Veronica... You didn't tell me what you do for a living?" Callie asks Veronica.

Veronica looks at me for a brief second before answering, "I'm a writer. International best-selling author Veronica Castellan here."

Callie's face drops upon hearing this.

She probably hadn't expected Veronica to be so popular.

However, Callie recovers from her shock and looks at me.

Callie and I engage ourselves in small talks. She starts telling me about her new modelling assignment when all of a sudden we hear a scream.

We whip our heads in Veronica's direction and see her clutching her right hand.

Which is bleeding.

"What happened?" Callie and I ask in unison.

"I was slicing the vegetables and I accidentally slashed my fingers."

Saying so, Veronica rushes out of the kitchen.

Callie looks at me and starts laughing.

"You didn't fall for that or did you?"

I look at her, confused.

"Drew, can't you see she was trying to get your attention? She's such an attention seeker! She wanted you to help her and fix her bleeding hand! Jesus, I can't believe this. The extent that she can go to get the spotlight. She should've been an actress."

I feel angry at Callie's words.

But before I can lash out at her for degrading Veronica, Veronica comes back in wearing kitchen gloves.

We watch her as she prepares the rest of the salad.

"Your dinner's ready. I've set the table. Call me if you need something. I'll be upstairs."

-

Callie left minutes after having dinner.

She has a morning photoshoot.

Before leaving she tried to kiss me.

I didn't let her. I told her I was disappointed in her for her behaviour towards Veronica and she had replied, "You can't really blame me after what happened."

She's right, I guess. Any girl in her position would do the same thing.

But it's not just Veronica's fault. If anything, Callie should be mad at me too.

I immediately rush upstairs to Veronica's room.

The door to her bedroom is slight ajar.

I enter her room and see her crying.

Seeing her cry does something to my heart.

I sit beside her and place a hand on her shoulder.

"She thinks I'm some attention seeking bitch, isn't it?"

So she heard mine and Callie's conversation.

"No you're not. Callie is wrong to judge you like that."

Veronica looks at me through the tears in her eyes.

"Liar. Even you think the same, isn't it?"

"Honest answer? Once upon a time, I did think of you as someone like that. But now I feel you're anything but an attention seeker."

Veronica gives me a small smile before wiping away her tears.

"I'm such a wuss for crying all the time!" She complains.

"There's nothing wrong with crying. Every person faces the need to cry once in a while. You know, to let it all out?"

This time she gives me a full blown smile and says, "When did you become so wise? Is it my writing influence?"

I laugh at her words.

Just then, I notice that she has not taken off the cooking gloves.

"Did you clean the wound?"

She shakes her head.

"Drew, remember you promised me that you'll do anything if I cook Japanese?"

"Yes..."

"Help me with my hand."

I was expecting her to ask for something else.

Her request is so innocent that I resist the urge to say 'aww'.

Yes, a guy can also say 'aww'.

"Let's fix you up!"

I clutch her good hand and drag her to the bathroom where the first aid kit is usually kept.

"The first aid kit is here, right?"

"Yup."

I take out the kit from the cabinet and place it on the counter.

Then I lift up Veronica as she squeals and put her on the counter.

Veronica wants to say something but she decides against it.

I remove the gloves and discard them in the wastebin. After that I wash her wounds.

I take a good look at her cuts and I notice they're quite deep. Not a shocker. She was dicing the veggies with a big badass knife after all.

I put the ointment on her fingers as she hisses in pain and clutches the side of the counter with her good hand.

"How was the food? Did I cook okay?"

"You cooked more than okay. The food was delicious. Hey, I've been wanting to ask this. Why didn't you say something to Callie when she was insulting you?"

She's silent for awhile.

"She has a right to humiliate me after what I did."

"But it's not just your-"

"Let's not bring this up again."

I shut my mouth.

As I wrap 'Winnie the Pooh' band-aids on her fingers, both of us stifle a laugh.

"Winnie the Pooh? Seriously?" I ask her in disbelief.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Veronica:

"But Pooh is cute!"

Drew laughs out loud at my little explanation.

Really though, you can't argue with me on that. Winnie the Pooh is cute.

"There, it's done. Clean the wounds and change the band-aids regularly."

I nod at his words.

'We' are definitely making a progress.

Who would've thought that Drew would tend to my bruised hand?

After Drew is done throwing the cotton swipes, he stares into my eyes.

The intensity of his stare makes me forget my breathing.

Drew stands between my legs and strokes my cheek.

Oh Drew, what are you doing to me?

"Veronica, don't hate me for doing this..."

"Wha-"

I'm cut off by his lips on mine.

I'm too shocked to respond.

The kiss is not rushed.

It's a gentle kiss, as if he's afraid I'll break if he kisses me harder.

We kiss for a mere five seconds before he pulls away.

"I'm sorry," Drew speaks as our lips brush.

He pecks me one last time before exiting the bathroom and leaving me all confused and lost.

-

Song: In the Name of Love by Martin Garrix feat. Bebe Rexha.

at this point i'm squealing so hard at andrew and veronica that I can't even speak properly.

i've decided on their ship name though. it's #Annica.

bye.