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 try a blind date with him. The guilt he felt towards his friend was unimaginable.
"Let's go home, Lea, Grace...," Freddie finally invited, opening the back door of his car for Lea to get in.
Lea, still observing Shane at that moment, hesitated for a moment, then obediently got into the car without saying much. Grace followed, opening the car door herself, and venting her frustration towards her sister.
Freddie also got in after making sure Shane's car had already left.
The atmosphere in the car looked gloomy. A few moments after Freddie drove his car through the city crowd, Grace finally spoke up.
"Forgive my sister, Freddie. Can you please convey it to Shane later?" she requested with a resigned tone.
Lea, hearing her sister's words, felt even more guilty. However, her ego still defended herself that everything she said about Shane was true. So let him hear it. Let him know that to be respected by someone, especially someone you just met; it's not enough to rely on a handsome face and a tall, athletic body—what matters most is good manners and words that don't hurt the other person, Lea thought in defense of herself.
"Oh, forgive me, Fred, if I made you uncomfortable with your friend earlier," Lea said.
Freddie spontaneously glanced at Lea through the rearview mirror, his facial expression unclear, making Lea unsure of what mistake she had made now. Grace also turned to her sister's seat, looking scornfully at him. Oh, Lea felt like the most sinful person in the world.
Hesitant, Freddie replied, "It's okay for me, Sist. Shane won't make a big deal out of my mistake. He's been a loyal friend for a long time. But... don't you think you were too harsh in judging Shane?"
"Yeah, your words were too much, Lea. Shane's expression looked like he would eat someone just by listening! Seriously, that’s too bad!" Grace added, cornering Lea even more.
Lea, frustrated and still maintaining her selfishness, replied, "I don't know. That's exactly how his attitude was, just like my description. And I didn't know he could hear that. You should have given me a hint if he was in front of me like that."
"Oh, is this my fault now, huh?" Grace got emotional because her sister seemed to feel no guilt at all. She now understood why her sister couldn't find a man to be her boyfriend. How could those men respect her if this was her attitude toward someone she just met?
"Enough, let's not discuss it anymore. Maybe Lea and Shane are not suitable as blind date partners. It would have helped if Shane hadn't been too silent that night. It was supposed to be an enjoyable time to get to know each other and maybe become friends," Freddie finally concluded the conversation. He wanted to end it all because he wanted to call Shane immediately to convey his regrets and apologies for Lea's behavior.
"Is your friend always so cold and annoying to everyone he meets? Or just to me, perhaps?" Unable to contain her curiosity, Lea put on a brave face and asked Freddie about it.
Freddie didn't answer immediately; he chose his words first to explain it more factually to Lea.
"Shane is a cop. They may be used to being straightforward and to the point with their conversation partners. What do you mean by calling him annoying?"
"Huh? He's a cop?" Lea asked back.
"Yeah, he graduated from the police academy a year ago. We usually call him Officer Shane." Freddie added with a tone as if Lea had made a big mistake by treating their pride, Officer Shane, disrespectfully.
"Oh, no wonder he acted arrogant, cold, rigid, and typical of an annoying policeman," Lea replied, hiding the discomfort that suddenly appeared in her. How would she know he's a cop? Why didn't they take the time to get to know each other beyond just names and decide to argue all night?
Grace shook her head, looking frustrated with her sister, who seemed insensitive.
"Ugh, forgive me, Freddie. I didn't know my sister could be so...," she said regretfully.
Freddie gently stroked the girl's arm, "It's okay. I'm sure Shane will understand and won't blame me."
Grace and Freddie exchanged understanding looks, making Lea, behind the two lovebirds, annoyed. Her singleton instincts flared up again, and in her heart, she shouted at them for being so rude to be romantic in front of her, especially when she had just ultimately failed her blind date program with a handsome cop.
Annoying! Lea exclaimed in her heart, highly frustrated with herself. The image of Shane returned, and the fact that he turned out to be a cop made a lot of difference in her perspective. She began to understand his cold attitude, stiffness in his gestures, and even his straightforwardness towards Lea.
No, she wasn't immediately enchanted because the profession was very prestigious in the eyes of most women. Still, it made an exception for the typical behaviors that police officers usually have due to the strict education they receive at the academy.
If only time could be rewound..., Lea thought, regretting her attitude earlier. But, it’s been too late now. Goodbye, handsome cop, goodbye flat-faced and ice-cold guy..., she concluded in her thoughts.
***
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
"Okay, fine. Not just Joan, Adam, Amanda, now even Mom is blaming me! OMG!" grumbled Lea, in maximal frustration. "I'm not blaming you, dear... what Mom means is that you need to control yourself when speaking to others and in your actions. Don't always explode like you usually do. Pay attention, if it's with us, your family, or Amanda, who has known you for a long time, there won't be any problems. At least we know that's just how you are, so we won't be offended or misunderstand. But when facing new people, don't act like that." Mrs. Anna advised at length. Lea realized that her mother's words were almost similar to Amanda's. It was true if she thought about it, but Lea was accustomed to rarely admitting her mistakes; her ego was too high. "So, Se? Have you realized where you went wrong?" Her mom confirmed. She knew exactly the temperament and temper of her eldest daughter. Lea nodded with an expression still unwilling. "Can you improve your attitude in the future? That's the m
"Shane...," called the soft voice of a woman around forty years old who still looked beautiful. The woman with neatly tied-up hair, revealing her slender neck, giving her a firm and efficient appearance, peeked into her son's unlocked room.Spontaneously, Shane turned towards the door and greeted his mom with an innocent look, "What's up, Mom?"Mrs. Kate scrutinized Shane, "I called you several times, and you didn't respond. I thought you weren't in your room. Were you not hearing or daydreaming?""Oh... sorry, Mom. I didn't hear your voice," he replied, somewhat flustered."Hmm... daydreaming about what?"Shane got up from his seat on the bed and pretended to place his phone on the table while searching for an excuse, "Just focusing on reading an article, Mom. You know, when I’m focused on work, I tend to ignore what's around."Mrs. Kate then approached her beloved and only son. She knew Shane's expression when he lied; he would either bow his head or throw his gaze elsewhere, anywhe
‘The next evening, accompany me to the office event; I want to introduce a cousin. No debate!’A chat message from Amanda that night made Lea tickled and want to laugh. It was indeed Amanda's habit to do whatever she wanted. The beautiful girl with a flashy appearance, known for frequently changing hair colors and styles, never hesitated to introduce Lea to many of her business colleagues.Lea had been introduced to one of the managers in Amanda's family-owned company before. On that occasion, Amanda insisted on bringing Lea to the opening ceremony of a branch office, where she was introduced to a mature, handsome man with a distinctive entrepreneurial style, formal and professional.During that introduction, Lea couldn't enjoy her interaction with the man. She felt no chemistry, and everything felt bland, leaving no impression on her.That's why Lea decided not to continue with such setups.It happened several times, yet Amanda remained curious about finding a match for her friend. A