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DIANA'S POV

My heart feels so heavy as I stand in front of the door of Veronica's condo unit. I knock once, and her hasty footsteps can already be heard approaching the door. I force a smile on my face the moment she opens it and her wide grin greets me.

Without any words, she clings her arms around my neck and hugs me ever so tightly.

"I miss you," she mumbles against my hair. She then excitedly pulls me inside her unit and I drop my luggage on the floor as she takes my backpack off my back.

"How was the trip?" she asks while looking at me, eyes keen and bright.

"It was good. I had a lot of fun with them."

"Sky didn't do anything stupid, noh?" she asks with one eyebrow raised.

"Nah, don't worry about him. He's harmless..."I gave her a meaningful smile.

"Did you just confirm that he's gay?"

"I'm not really sure. Unless he'll tell me himself."

"Even if he is, I still don't like him. But anyway..." she steps even closer and lifts her head up to meet my eyes.

"Don't you miss me? Hmm?" she asks while running her hands on the length of the smoothness of my arms. It's obvious in her breath that she had just finished brushing her teeth.

"I-is that even a question? Of course, I do..."

Did I just stutter? I was always so chill and composed, but this time, I am in an utter panic. I don't want to hurt Vee in any way, but I couldn't just put an act every time.

"Oh yeah?" The expression on her face changes into a suggestive one and I can't help but compare it to Franki's goddess-level facial features at the back of my mind. I mean, Veronica is cute and sweet but...

Someone's really smitten with someone.

I lift my fingers up to tuck some of her hair strands behind her ear.

"Uh-hmm..."

"It's my turn to enjoy you today..." she seductively purrs on my face, eyes still on me while slowly unzipping my pants.

Uh-oh...

I am honestly not in the mood right now. There's this aching pressure in my head, literally and figuratively and I just want to sleep for the rest of the day.

"Sure..." That is all I can say. My reply causes her to bite her lip and roughly tug my jeans down over my ass. I back away as a reflex and before I could even stop her, she has already dropped on her knees and starts kissing my thighs up, leading to the warmth in between but I immediately bend down to pull her back up.

"Vee...What are you doing?" I meet her questioning eyes as soon as she straightens up again.

"I just really miss you, you know." she moves behind me and presses her lips at the back of my ear while her hands are reaching for my panties in front. I uncomfortably slip my pants up and wince. I want to flirt back but my body is not cooperating this time. I'm not in the mood right now and I'm not feeling really well.

All I think about is Franki... In fact, she has never left my mind and this is so unfair to Vee.

She continues kissing the side of my neck while hugging me so tight from behind.

"Vee..." I made it sound like it's a moan but I'm really bothered as hell.

She then pushes me back down the couch, and before I could even move, she has already lowered herself and perched on my lap while facing me.

"Vee...can we take things slow?" I finally had the guts to open it up.

"I just..." I'm trying to get her off my lap but she is really into it.

"Can...can we talk properly?" I add, but she is totally unbothered. Her urgent kisses scream that she really missed me.

I can feel her hand snaking toward the back of my head. I gasp when she suddenly pulls on my hair, causing me to hyperextend my neck and meet her blazing, dead eyes.

"What are you doing?" I ask her, slightly alarmed.

"Don't you wanna try it rough? You also want it rough, right?" she taunts while gritting her teeth.

"Vee...I'm actually not feeling well."

Her face softens out as she finally lets go of me. She gets off my lap and moves to sit on beside me with an audible sigh. We both fell into silence for a few moments before she finally speaks again,

"Did you meet someone in Bora?"

My throat suddenly ached at her question. Damn it. Here we go...

"W-What? No! It's just that...we have been officially seeing each other for two weeks now and I'm just kind of messed up lately. I don't think I'm fully ready to commit yet."

She turns to me with dismay crumpling her face. "Why are you talking like this? I thought we're fine..."

Seeing her face like this makes me feel like a javelin has been struck on my chest. I really hate disappointing people, especially the ones who are special to me. And Vee is really special to me...

"Yeah, we're fine. It's just that...I want to focus on myself."

"What more do you need, Diana?" Frustration is written all over her face.

"Nothing. I have never been this grateful for our friendship."

"We have been friends for the past five years, Dee... I have always cared about you even if you were seeing other girls before. What more do you need to be ready?"

"I-I just need more time..." God, I hate these kinds of conversations.

She didn't answer yet. Instead, she is just looking intently in my eyes as if she's studying every streak of color and hint of emotions in here, which gave me the need to look away.

"I'll wait for that, but don't take it too much longer. I might not be able to wait for you." There's firmness in her voice, and for a second, I panicked. I reach for her hand and enclosed it with mine.

"Let's take things slowly, okay? You don't deserve the preoccupied me, Veronica..."

Her left eyebrow arches with intimidation.

"What is making you preoccupied?"

I felt the need to improvise.

"Just...David. It just bothers me because they were these two girls, lovers I assume who were kissing in front of us in the club, and he seemed to be really disgusted at the sight."

"And so? I thought you don't care about what he thinks?"

I let out another puff of heavy breath and rub my hands on my face.

"I'm tired, Vee. I don't want to argue right now...I just want to sleep. I had a hangover this morning and the flight worsened it."

"Poor you. What do you want to eat, my love? I'll cook for you."

One thing I like about this woman is she has always been really supportive and understanding, even as a friend. She really is the sweetest and for another second, I thought about regretting what I just opened up earlier.

"Nothing. I just want to sleep, please."

She finally sighs in defeat. "Okay, fine. I'll prepare a soup for you later when you wake up."

I immediately changed into my comfort clothes and threw myself on her bed. I think my head is about to burst from all these thoughts that have been eating me up.

****

Vee wakes me up during dinner time. Homemade Arroz Caldo with egg and a couple of assorted fruits were prepared on the table, and I am inwardly salivating at the sight.

While eating, I showed her some of our pictures in Bora. She pauses on a particular selfie of mine with Franki leaning her chest on my side from behind me. Both of our fingers are formed into this Korean signature heart. I actually taught her that but at that particular moment, I didn't give her a cue to do that. We just did it together without talking. Just another coincidence...

"David's girlfriend is really pretty," Vee utters while staring at Franki on the phone's screen.

"Yeah, she is." I casually reply while chewing on my food.

"They look so good together. I mean, everyone knows your brother is very good-looking, and this Franki suits him very well. She's also half-Kiwi, right?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh my God, they're like soulmates."

My grip on my glass of water tightens at what she has said. I lift it towards my lips and takes a sip on it. My heartbeat starts to become stable when she proceeds to swipe through the other pictures.

"You both look cute in these black bikinis. You're like twins or sisters. Kiwi sisters..."

Sisters...Pota.

She is just casually complimenting but she really has no idea...and I hate it. I hate to be put into situations like this.

"It was her idea to buy the same color and style. She wanted us to do twinning." I defensively say after chewing my food, then decides to change the topic.

"By the way, it's Jamela's birthday tomorrow night. We have to buy a gift."

"Of course I didn't forget that. We should pass by Uptown mall tomorrow before heading to The Island." She says while pouring more soup on my bowl. "You have to eat more. How are you feeling now?"

"Much better...Thanks to you." I flash her an appreciative smile to which she answered with a sweet one.

Later that night, she is still up in her laptop doing some freelance work for her client in Singapore while I went back to sleep. This is the only way that I could avoid thinking about Franki and our kiss.

The constant ringing of my phone has snapped me out from the dreamworld in the middle of the night. I'm not sure what time is it now the moment I open my eyes. I tap the space beside me to check on Vee but it's empty. Squinting through the darkness, I reach for my phone from under the pillow and realize that it's Dave calling.

"Sis, I need your help." His urgent voice from the other line booms through my ear.

"Why? What happened?" I groggily ask.

"Franki's really sick...and she has been looking for you. She keeps on calling your name. Can you come back here tomorrow?"

Shit. I become so flushed all over.

"Why? What happened to her?" I instantly rise from the bed and rake my fingers through my hair in anxiousness.

"She had  a high fever. Her skin felt so hot," he reports.

"Do you want me to come now?"

"No, she's fine now. I gave her Tylenol and her fever subsided. Just come by tomorrow morning. I'm not really good at this and I'm worried about her."

Calm down, Diana. It's only one in the morning. She can wait.

Just when I ended the call, Vee comes back into the room just in time. I immediately close my eyes and act like I'm sleeping again...

But I am damn sure that this will be another sleepless night for me.

*****To be continued*****

A/N:

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