THE FEELING OF ICY WATER on my skin jolted me back to life. For some reason, the worrisome faces on Clara, the cafe manager and every other person in the cafe sparked a little feeling of delight in me. For once, their eyes weren't judging me.

"She's conscious!" Announced the man holding a wet towel.

"Are you alright?" Clara inquired with tears in her eyes as she knelt over me on the floor.

I motioned to sit up, "I think-"

The cafe manager held me back to the floor, also crouching beside me, "You should lay down. Does any of your relation live nearby?"

I shook my head in the negative.

"And your friends?" He asked.

"We should call her boyfriend," Clara suggested.

"Does he stay nearby?"

"I have no idea," Clara answered, "But he should."

It felt so unusual looking at everyone from this angle. I could clearly see my manager's beard and the bright red hickey on Clara's neck that was trying to hide behind her hair. Coupled with the feeling of my wet clothes which stuck to my skin and the ease of lying down on the floor, this felt great!

The crowd in the cafe slowly dissolved into numbers as they confirmed that I was alright. Now, only Clara and the cafe manager were left with me on the floor behind the counter.

"Well, do you have his phone number?" The cafe manager asked Clara.

"No, Mr. Lenin," Clara turned to me, "Can you give me your boyfriend's number?"

"Rather, you can just call him with her phone," Mr. Lenin said.

"H-Hmm, yeah," Clara awkwardly said as she got up from the floor and headed towards the back room.

"And report to my office at once," Mr. Lenin added before Clara could shut the door behind her.

After helping me up from the floor and passing my arm around his shoulder, Mr. Lenin and I slowly walked into his office. I was sure that I could walk perfectly fine, so why was he treating me like someone who just broke her leg?

We walked into his office and he helped me take a seat on the chair to his North-east before he settled down himself. I tightly closed my eyes as my tummy began to ache.

"Do you want some water?" I heard him inquire.

"Yes, please," I immediately replied, opening my eyes again.

Standing up from his seat, he filled a glass cup with water from the dispenser across the room and placed it on the table in front of me. As I gulped much water from the glass cup at once, I could feel the cold wash over me and hurt my eyes.

Nope, this was too much cold for one day.

I rubbed my temples to calm my brain freeze, staring at the glass of water.

"Miss. Davis, do you have any health issues?" Mr. Lenin asked, folding his arms as he took his seat again.

"No," I replied and placed the glass cup back on the table.

"And when was your last visit to the doctor?"

"Like a year ago... or two," I said.

"Or maybe three," Mr. Lenin continued.

I tried so hard not to laugh. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, since he always had that stern gaze on his face.

"You need to go for a check-up, Miss. Davis," He finalized.

Just as he said those words, his office door opened and Clara walked in with my phone in her hands.

"I think I can talk to him myself now. Why are we even calling him in the first place?" I asked as I unlocked my phone.

"To get you home, of course," Mr Lenin responded, "You can't stay here, at least not for today."

"No, I'm fine. I can't leave Clara all alone here, there's no one to assist her. We don't even know who's waiting at the counter right now and nobody's there to attend to them. I should stay."

"I'll be fine by myself and I checked before I came in here. No one's at the counter," Clara grabbed my phone the moment I unlocked it, "You're already dialling his contact. He's Tom, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

Clara was about to walk out of the office when Mr. Lenin spoke up.

"Make the call in here, Miss. Winters," he firmly stated.

"Oh, okay," Clara said, facing the door.

Mr Lenin turned back to me, "Miss. Davis you might need to visit a doctor to ensure that you're hale. I wouldn't wish for any of my workers to fall ill, you know? And that is the reason why you have to skip work until you're sure that you're alright."

Lies. He was probably looking for a way to cut my pay.

"Wendy, your boyfriend's not picking up," Clara said, approaching me from the door, "I called him thrice but he never respon- Oh, look! He's calling."

She walked back to the door with her eyes glued to the phone screen. Turning to face Mr. Lenin, I realised that he was staring at Clara.

Was he mesmerised by her too?

The thirty-eight-year-old man I always knew to be stern was staring intently at Clara. His gaze was not harsh, it was not cold. His gaze told me that he wanted to know more about Clara.

Mr. Lenin suddenly turned to me, "How close are you with your boyfriend?"

"What do you mean by that, sir?" I asked, with raised brows.

"Never mind," he said.

Clara dropped my phone on the table, "He's on his way. I'll go attend to the customers waiting outside now, so please, excuse me."

Mr. Lenin's eyes trailed behind Clara as she walked out of his office. He flexed his fingers and I watched the tiny veins at the back of his hands dance.

"I'll never understand women," he muttered out of the blue as he got up from his seat.

First he asks about me and my boyfriend, now this?

Mr. Lenin quietly walked out of his office and left me all to myself and my thoughts. I stared at my phone screen on the desk in anticipation, like I was expecting something to come up- well, I was. All I wanted right at this moment was Thomas. He prioritised me like I was his first option. He wanted me, and so, I wanted him to always be with me.

My phone's ringtone rang out from my phone and I stared at the caller; it was Thomas. A smile took over my lips as I picked up the call.

"Hello, Clara. I'm outside the cafe. Can she walk or I'd have to come get her myself?" Thomas said from the other end, unaware that he was speaking with me.

"I'll meet you outside," I said.

"Babe? What happened to you? I heard you fainted! Do you know how scared I was when your coworker told me that you passed out? Shit! I'm just happy you're alright," he said, all at once.

"Tom," I smiled even harder, "I'll meet you outside. Okay?"

"Alright."

I dropped the call and got up from the chair, just as Mr. Lenin walked back into his office.

"Your boyfriend's here already?" He inquired.

"Yes. I'll be heading home now," I said and walked out of his office.

Grabbing my bag from my locker and changing out of the apron, I headed towards the cafe door.

"Is he here?" Clara asked expectantly from behind the counter as she noticed me.

"Your boyfriend, is he here?" She smiled, adjusting her outfit.

Luckily, there were only about four customers settled in, so I wasn't bothered by how loud she was.

"Yes," I casually replied.

"I want to see him!"

She brushed through her hair with her fingers and rushed out of her post to meet me, pulling me out of the cafe. As we walked out and shut the cafe door behind us, we saw Thomas up ahead resting on his car. He was keenly focused on his phone and there was a little smirk on his face that vividly showed his amusement. As his gaze left his phone screen and slid over to us, Clara suddenly froze in her steps.

I turned to stare at her but she had already dashed for the cafe door before our eyes could even meet.

"Clara?" I furrowed my brows as I watched her run off.

I turned to Thomas and he just shrugged, looking as puzzled as I was.

Why did she...

I shook my head and waved off every thought that was starting to form in my head, walking over to meet Thomas instead. On getting to where he stood, he pulled me into a warm hug and I used the opportunity to sneakily breathe his scent.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm tired," I whined.

"We should get going, then."

He opened the front door of the vehicle for me to settle down before walking over to the driver's side.

"Your car smells like men," I said to him as he shut the door and started the engine.

He snickered, driving off, "And what does that imply?"

"This place smells manly," I said, "Like a very manly cologne."

"Maybe because I'm manly?" Thomas smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes, "Was Carlos in here? It smells like something he'd use."

"How did you get so close to him to know what he smells like?" Thomas furrowed his brows at me, "And yes, he was in the car with me before I got the call about you."

"I just knew it," I laughed.

"Answer the question," he said with a straight face.

Ah.

"Well, he's often around you and even when we're together, he's always there. So, how wouldn't I know his scent?"

"Alright. Alright," Thomas said, placing his hand on my thighs as he drove down the road.

I moved my knees to rest on the car door, making his hand slide off my lap.

"Are you mad at me?" Thomas asked, stealing a glance at me before focusing back on the road.

I pouted in response. Why did he become so cold to me for knowing the scent of his friend's cologne? Was that a bad thing?

Thomas's hand sneaked between my thighs and drew me closer to himself.

"I can't drive properly without having my hand on your thighs. You know that, right?"

"Lies," I said, folding my arms.

"Truths," he said with the same tone I used.

I burst out laughing, "Who the hell says 'truths'?"

"And who the hell just blurts out 'lies' without any proper composition?"

"A lot of people," I said matter-of-factly.

Thomas parked the vehicle adjacent to the alley that led to my apartment.

"Name one," he dared.

"Wendy Davis," I said.

"Okay, name two."

"No. You said 'name one' first, so there."

"You sly fox," Thomas laughed, pulling me over to his side of the car.

I sat on his lap and adjusted my glasses, resting my head on his chest as he caressed my thighs. The air conditioning of the car was quite cold but the warmth of Thomas's skin made me feel so cosy.

Oh, to be loved by a guy like Thomas.

"Babe," Thomas started.

"Yes, Tom?" I turned to stare at him.

"Carlos's got a girlfriend now."

My eyes widened a little and then I smiled, "Oh! I don't think I've ever known him to be in a relationship."

"Yeah, same. It's like he was suddenly struck by Cupid or something," Thomas laughed, "Anyway, he and Shaquan sort of planned a group date thingy and I want you to come with me. You know, to show you off..."

A group date? Show me off to other girls who are most likely prettier than me? What would I wear?

"...Please?" He added.

You would think I was staring into the eyes of a puppy. Thomas's ocean-blue eyes glistened as he stared into my eyes, awaiting my verdict.

"I-I'll try my best," I said.

"Babe, I want a yes or a no. I don't want those indefinite answers. Do you want to come with me?"

I stared, transfixed by his eyes, "Yeah."

I watched as a huge smile began to form on Thomas's lips, "You'll come? Are you serious?"

I smiled too, influenced by his smile, "Yeah."

It seemed like that was the only word I knew. Yeah.

"And you promise not to fail me again?"

"Yeah."

Even if the monster showed up.

Thomas pulled me in and kissed my lips as his other hand slid up to my waist. The warmth of his body soothed me even more as he held me to himself, waving off any left-over icy feeling in my skin.

I loved being with him, I really loved it.

All of a sudden, there was a sharp knock on the car window.

"This is the police, come out now!"

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Tip: Wendy lives in a self-con apartment which is a twenty-five-minute drive away from the college grounds.