"Let's finish the food quickly. After this, the movie starts." Shane ordered suddenly after he glanced at the watch on his wrist.
Lea pushed aside her plate, which was only reduced by a few mouthfuls. She couldn't eat in such an uncomfortable state of mind. For her, eating with an ice block with a blind date theme that would hopefully change her single status into having a partner was the most uncomfortable thing.Grey glanced at the contents of Lea's plate. Compared with his plate, which was also still filled."You also have no appetite, huh? Or did you eat at home earlier?" he asked just to make small talk."I ate earlier," Lea replied quickly to avoid further discussion."Freddie said that his girlfriend's brother was okay, so I'm fine with setting up a blind date with you. But...." Shane paused his sentence a little."But apparently I'm so far from your expectations that you lost your appetite, huh? Do you want us to go home now? Sure, let's say goodbye to Freddie and Grace." Lea cut in as he got up from his chair and slung his bag over his shoulder.However, Shane grabbed her arm and held her back."Owh, listen to me first," he protested."Sit down again, will you?" he continued, a little annoyed with Lea's guessing attitude.Lea complied. After all, she didn't feel comfortable with Freddie if she had to say goodbye first. It would be her who the people at home would criticize by Grace."What? That's why you should say it directly, just continue it, so you don't cut it into unclear pieces. It makes people misinterpret!" Lea grumbled, not wanting to look at the face of the man in front of her."Who said misinterpretation. Your guess is right. But it's not good for them if we ruin this event! It's been scheduled so hard too!" said Shane unabashedly.Lea was wide-eyed at Shane's confession. Crazy, yes, this guy has no sweetness at all when it comes to talking, she thought to herself. Immediately, she made a flat face and remained silent.And in front of her, Shane was the same way. What a block of ice! She grumbled to herself. Why else would she have been initially attracted by his charismatic looks and figure? Huh, really fooled. Apparently, his personality could be cooler but frozen!Silent to each other, they were finally surprised by the sudden arrival of Freddie and Grace, who were already in front of their table."Hey, come on. Already done, right?" Grace reprimanded Lea, who seemed to be daydreaming. Shane also got up and said he wanted to go to the cashier first."No need, Shane. I could have done it earlier." Freddie prevented his friend and then dragged him away in the direction of the movie theatre.Meanwhile, behind the two of them, Grace walked beside her sister and started interviewing her about Shane."How is it? Do you like Shane?" Her eyes sparkled with hope to hear something happy.Lea let out a long breath."Huuuuft, no. He's so cold. No friendliness.""Oh really?" Grace's face immediately turned sullen."Yes. I've been sitting together for no more than an hour and I've already got a list of insults for me. Bummer. It's like he's already perfect!" Lea grumbled about Shane's attitude."Oops, maybe it's your weird attitude that makes him do that?" Grace blamed her sister instead. Because she also memorized her sister's behaviour, which was indeed difficult. Especially when dealing with new people."I don't know. Anyway, I don't get along with him. Ice blocks and shaved ice cannot be united," concluded Lea flatly."Well, ice blocks and shaved ice, you said it. Try to finish it first until after watching the movie. The movie is romantic, who knows something gonna be different?"Grace was still holding out hope that her sister would get close to Shane. If not, she would have to struggle to find another mate for Lea, even though convincing her sister to go on a blind date once was already difficult."Don't forget the treat. For your sake, I had to do this. If not, I would've gone home earlier." Lea replied, annoyed."Hey, Freddie already bought the food. We also got the tickets from Freddie, right? We should be the ones to charge you a treat if this competition is successful." Grace replied vehemently."What the hell. The food's not good. The atmosphere isn't fun either. The date is a pain in the ass too. What worked!""Ish, you have to change your attitude when you watch the movie together! Don't let it happen that you argue with each other again like before. Just enjoy the movie while imagining that it's you, okay?" Grace tried to advise her temperamental sister.Although in her heart, she was not sure Lea would be able to hold her temper. This was because her sister's character was difficult. Especially if she didn't like people from the start, then it will also remain like that until whenever.Seeing that her sister was silent, Grace added,"Freddie had already warned you that Shane is a quiet person.That's what you think of as cold ice blocks.""Yeah, he's really quiet, but once he speaks, his words are very bad and make those who hear feeling so hurt, you know.""Oh my ... how could you go to that extent?Freddie said he's usually nice. It's just that his flaw is hard to get close to women.And the worse thing is that he's faced with the woman like you, who has a hard time dealing with new people."Suddenly, Lea, whose walk was a little off because her mind was wandering, bumped into the back of someone in front of her."Aww!" she exclaimed, rubbing her head."Be careful. So careless!"The accusatory voice pierced Lea's heart as it came from the mouth of the man who had successfully ruined her beautiful night.The girl looked up, staring fixedly into the eyes of the man in front of her, who was also looking at her intensely."You're the one who suddenly stopped, why am I the one being blamed?" she accused in a raised voice because of his annoyance. Her emotions had now risen to the top of her head.Talking to Shane any longer would definitely give her a heart attack as her auto tension rose many times over, she thought in horror."Hey. Look, we're already here. Yes, obviously, I stop. You are the one who was distracted, how come other people are being bullied? What a miracle!" Shane even addressed Lea in the same high tone of voice, which made Lea again inflamed and unable to hold her temper anymore.She stomped her foot on the floor to get rid of her irritation, and then, without saying anything else, she turned to leave while swearing to herself."You are an ice block! I don't want to sit and watch with people like you! Better go home and sleep!""Sorry, Lea!"The exclamation of a voice instantly stopped her long strides. Did her ear is wrong? Did the ice block say sorry?***Lea stopped her steps but reluctantly turned around. And a moment later, someone suddenly grasped her fingers from behind."I’m sorry ...," Shane said while looking at her seriously."Let's try watching the movie first," the man continued in a persuasive tone.Lea no longer knew how to answer. She just obeyed as Shane guided her towards Grace and Freddie and walked hand in hand into the movie theatre.It was already crowded inside. The big screen was already playing the opening commercial. Shane still held Lea's hand while walking along the rows of seats to find the seat number that matched with their tickets.After finding the place, Shane invited Lea to sit down, and he sat next to her. Lea looked around for Grace and Freddie but couldn't find them because the lights had been turned off completely. Only the light from the projector was the only source of illumination.Shane, who seemed to be ignorant and cold, was also caring. He still thought of bringing a big box of popcorn and tw
Without realizing it, Lea slipped behind Shane's giant body. Wow, this man is quite tall and well-built, typical of a bodyguard, she thought, affected by the momentum at that time, which seemed to be Shane protecting her from the threat of angry man.The fierce man who glared at Lea just left without forgetting to throw his piercing gaze back at Lea, who had hidden herself behind Shane. He must have been eager to at least cuss Lea out, but he didn't want to mess with Shane.Lea breathed a sigh of relief when the man had passed from there."Huuuuft ... thank you so much," she said later as she sat back in her chair.Shane also sat before Lea and looked at the celebrity girl before him with a knowing look. Lea, who felt his gaze, immediately scanned Shane's eyes, wondering what the man wanted to discuss."What?" asked Lea finally when Shane said nothing."Nothing," Shane replied quickly. Too quickly, and it only made Lea more curious."When people say thank you, they'll usually say you'
Realizing her umpteenth fatal mistake that night, Lea spontaneously covered her mouth."Oops...," she said with a mixed expression, a combination of fear, amusement, and frustration.Unexpectedly, Shane grunted in annoyance and didn't utter a single word. He immediately turned away and walked towards his parked car.Lea, who didn't expect to escape the incident without serious injury to his head or at least a slap on the face from Shane for her recent words, followed him with a distant gaze. It seemed like she wanted to stop Shane momentarily to apologize.However, memories of Shane's annoying behavior towards her throughout the night made Lea suppress the urge and try to console herself that her words were polite enough to describe Shane."Bad, seriously," Grace finally said. The girl shook her head in frustration, looking at her silent sister. Freddie scratched his non-itchy head, unsure of how to react. Shane was his close friend, and he was the one who suggested—even forced—Lea to
The following day, Lea decided to forget everything about the disastrous blind date and the fact that she had just overlooked a handsome cop. Now, Lea chooses to be more open towards men, not to be consistently aloof and indifferent as she usually portrays. She had heard complaints from Grace that Lea shouldn't keep such a distance from them.According to Grace, if she wanted to have a relationship, the first thing she needed to do was to improve her attitude. And Lea agreed with her younger sister's advice, who somehow appeared more mature than her."Do you understand, sis?" Grace asked her sister as they were having breakfast."Yeah, yeah...!" Lea replied half-heartedly, picking at the toast with sausage, lettuce, and corned beef filling in annoyance. It seemed like she was venting her frustration at her food."What's going on here?" Mr. Adam looked at his two daughters alternately. They were having breakfast together as a family, sharing stories as usual at the breakfast table.Mrs
"Good morning, Lea," Eric greeted as the tall, curly-haired man entered the room, looking cheerful."Why? Why are you so happy?" Lea asked her colleague, who approached her desk with a big smile."Oh, just happy to see you every morning, hehe," Eric said, chuckling at his joke."Ugh, are you guys deliberately annoying?" Lea grumbled."What's up?" Eric asked, needing clarification about Lea's change of attitude."Being unfaithful friends, I'm upset, and instead of comforting me or buying me snacks, you two bully and one prank. So annoying, seriously." Lea's complaints continued.Eric scratched his head, not understanding Lea's behavior. He glanced at his two office mates, Adelle and Bella, silently asking what was happening with Lea."Come on, get to work!" Bella ordered Eric, pointing to the round-the-clock on one side of the 8x6-meter room.Eric obeyed. He didn't know what was going on with the two girls. Lea and Bella seemed to be equally upset for some reason. He no longer dared to
"Yeah, sorry, I forgot," Eric answered casually."What do you want to do if it's like this? You apologize to Ms. Vivian. She's embarrassed that no one from her division came, and no one asked for permission," Lea pointed out, blaming Eric's negligence."Yes, it's easy. After all, you never want to be invited!" Eric turned to point a finger at Lea."I already told you I had something to do last night; I promised to accompany my sister out." Lea defended herself."Besides, I usually always come to events," she added while pursing her lips."Yes, but never with me, right? Every time I come you don't." Eric cursed again.Bella suddenly kicked the chair in front of her. Her three friends turned to the girl and asked what was wrong. Adelle threw a code with a glance at Lea, who immediately understood that her friend was expressing her jealousy.Lea immediately took quick action by saying goodbye to the restroom to at least stop Eric's babbling, which made her feel bad for Bella. Tsk, poor B
One evening after work, Amanda, Lea’s bestie contacted Lea and invited her to go shopping together."What's up? Why are you inviting me? Where's Alvin?" Lea responded curtly."Oh... still mad, huh? I'll make it up to you. Let's go shopping this evening, my treat!" Amanda said, feeling guilty for making her friend upset the day before.Lea remained silent for a moment. She wasn't angry but wanted to tease Amanda to test her patience."Can't I buy things for myself? You're mocking me!" Lea protested, sounding offended.Amanda sighed on the other end."Oh, come on, why are you so grumpy? Anyway, I'll pick you up at your house at 6 p.m. Be ready!"The phone call ended abruptly.Amanda always knew how to handle Lea's moods. They had been friends for too long to take offense or anything similar. No matter how big their mistakes, they would automatically forgive each other, though usually accompanied by scolding. The most important thing was that they remained friends forever.Lea lay back o
"Let it be; it's already happened; what else can we do?" Lea said resignedly."Well, you could try negotiating with Grace's boyfriend?" "Freddie?""Yeah, talk to Freddie, ask him to arrange another meeting with Shane, tell him you want to apologize," Amanda suggested, including some reasonable advice.Lea immediately rejected the idea."No way! I don't want that. Am I supposed to chase after him now?""Well, not really. There's a reason behind it. Do you want to apologize, don't you?" Amanda tried to convince her stubborn friend. But based on experience, Lea needed to be more easily swayed from her stance. The girl remained stubborn and refused to humble herself by apologizing first."I don't want to! Shane can be so arrogant. He'll probably bully me even more. No way!" Lea insisted.Amanda was at a loss for words to persuade her friend. She knew Lea was stubborn but didn't expect it to be this difficult!"You're so stubborn! I want to meet this 'ice block' Shane. It must be entertai