14. Lunch

"Huh... Um, girl..." Bella was heard exhaling lazily, "You need to remember that Mike is a grown man. There's no need to worry about him that much either."

"Grown men can also meet bad people and get into trouble, right?" Ashley replied, not convinced.

Bella paused for a moment and then said, "Yes, he is. But don't you see his rock-like muscles?"

"Why have big muscles if you can't fight? Don't you remember last year he got beat up by a high school kid?"

Bella winced, then chuckled. "Ouch... If he hears it from you, his heart must be hurting."

They burst out laughing together. After the laughter faded, Ashley sat down on the couch and leaned back. "The important thing is that you confirm his whereabouts and condition first."

Bella's voice was not heard for a moment, "I don't think it's necessary. Ash, I'm sure he's fine—though, yeah, his words are weird."

Ashley raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How do you know he's fine when you yourself think he's weird? He's also back to NZ tonight with you, right?"

"Yeah, of course, we're on the same flight. Later, I'll show you his message, okay? But if I didn't see it wrong yesterday... it seems like he's doing well."

"What does that mean? Yeah, well, whatever. I'll get ready first. I'll send you the address."

"Okay."

Ashley hung up the phone, sent the location where they would meet, and went back to her delayed shower plans.

Bella arrived about ten minutes after Ashley. Her eyes lit up as she took in the ambiance.

"Wow, this place is so cozy. Is the food good too?" Bella's eyes scanned the entire restaurant with a twinkle.

"I've only been here once. But, I assure you their food is quite good. Besides, it's close to the place I want to visit."

Bella gave her a curious look, "Ah, where are you actually going? Alone, the day after the wedding day. If it was someone else who had a husband like yours, they would have hibernated together for a whole week."

"Am I a polar bear?" Ashley's face turned sour without her realizing it.

Bella squinted, noticing her reaction. "You guys are okay, right?"

Ashley just huffed lightly, avoiding eye contact.

"Sure?" Bella's eyes narrowed even more, her gaze piercing.

Realizing that Bella was getting suspicious, Ashley forced a smile. "He's busy. Gotta take care of this and that. Yeah, you know his company is trying to rise again after some storms. That's why he let me go see you."

Ashley lying. And Bella stayed silent, still giving her that sharp and probing gaze.

Knowing it wouldn’t be easy to lie to Bella, she exhaled, almost giving up. "I'm tired. You can imagine for yourself, right? How busy I was as soon as I got back here. I'm always complaining to you, too. So I wanted to get some fresh air with you now."

Bella relaxed a bit and smiled. "Then where exactly are you going?"

Ashley pointed at the window. "Over there," she said, directing Bella's gaze to the spa and massage place across the restaurant.

Bella turned to look at the place her best friend was pointing at, then gave a light 'ooh' and a meaningful smile. "Your husband must have beat you up pretty badly yesterday, huh? That's why you had to rush to find a massage place. Haha. I think I want to get married too."

Ashley raised one eyebrow, understanding the implication but refusing to respond. Instead, she sipped the espresso in front of her solemnly.

"You even ordered that super bitter coffee. Haven't slept at all since yesterday?" Bella giggled, her laughter growing louder as wild fantasies danced in her mind.

Ashley, wanting to put an end to it, decided to divert the conversation. "What about Mike? What happened exactly?"

"At least let me order my food first," Bella replied, glancing at the menu with an annoyed look before her expression softened again.

Ashley smiled faintly and muttered 'sorry' under her breath, signaling the waiter that they were ready to order.

Once the waiter left, Bella showed her cell phone. Ashley leaned forward, reading the message on the screen.

I'm busy. Having fun. Don't bang on my door. Very good condition. I'll see you at the airport tonight.

"He didn't say where he was?" Ashley asked, frowning.

"No, he didn't. But it's implied by the message," Bella replied.

Ashley looked confused. "How?"

Bella pointed at the phone screen. "She told me not to bang on his door. He's in his room and doesn't want to be disturbed."

Ashley made a non-comprehending face. "You guys had a fight?"

"No," Bella replied briefly. "It had nothing to do with me."

"Strange..."

"Not strange if what I saw yesterday wasn't wrong."

"What did you see?"

Bella hesitated, then finally said, "During your party yesterday... that weird cousin of yours approached us."

"Yes, I know."

"Do you know—also—that I didn't see Mike again after I went looking for you? Do you realize that we both didn't see Mike back then?"

Ashley frowned, trying to recall. "Was it after I—" she stopped herself from mentioning the incident in her hotel room. "After I got back to the park?"

"Yes," Bella laughed lightly. "While you were eating lots of foods while pouting. I don't think I've seen Mike at the party since."

"Well-yeah, that doesn't mean Mike was definitely with Sera, if that's what you mean."

"I don't think so. It doesn't matter if he's with anyone anyway. But, last night, when I went downstairs to get a snack because I was starving and ran out of food, I saw a girl enter Mike's room. I'm sure it was a girl because her hair was waist-length and loose."

Ashley was about to speak, but Bella continued, "I thought it was Sera—at first. I didn't see her clearly. Just her back and the back of her head, then it disappeared inside. I knocked on her door soon after but got absolutely no response. In fact, it was suddenly like there was no life in the room. It was very quiet—you know, it was past midnight. I just realized that the girl was wearing a long white dress, and I ran into my room again because of the sudden goosebumps and fear."

Ashley, who heard that, was speechless. It wasn't that she didn't believe in creepy things like that. But it somehow didn't make much sense.

"Then when did you get the message from Mike?"

"This morning. You don't think he was hidden by a ghost, do you?"

"It's an expensive hotel, there can't be ghosts there,” Ashley denied, even though she doubted herself.