Leo entered the house through the back door to the kitchen. The place was still busy as he found the chef cutting the cake and laying the pieces onto small plates to serve the people at the party. When the chef saw Leo, he cut a bigger piece and gave it to him. Leo thanked him as he took his plate. He took a fork by the counter and started to make his way out of the kitchen.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26vT2PuVJK
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwAi5vwsvY
As soon as he stepped into the hall, Leo realized that there was no sign of Mr. Chang. Could he have already made it to the foyer? Leo wondered. He continued on his way, bypassing the empty dining room. The sound of the music outside faded the more he went further into the house. When he reached the stairs and looked towards the foyer, there was no sign of Mr. Chang anywhere. Leo had a feeling Mr. Chang was still inside the house, for he would've heard the front door open. It’s strange. Where could he have gone?
Leo took a peep into the living room. It was quiet, and there was no one there. He started to make his way to the sitting room, and just like the other room, there was no one there. Leo stood for a bit as he took in a few bites of his cake, contemplating where Mr. Chang could have gone. Could he be using the bathroom? Leo thought. That might be it.
Leo found himself sitting down on one of the chairs, enjoying the chocolate cake. People are going to enjoy this, he thought to himself. The cake is good. Angel outdid herself this time. The cupcakes she made last time were amazing, but the cake is really something else. He didn’t think she had it in her to bake it. She must have done so with a lot of convincing, Leo thought. Knowing Angel, she might not have wanted to bake the cake in the first place.
As soon as Leo finished his cake, he looked at the empty plate that only had a few cake crumbs on it. He wished he could go back to the kitchen and ask for another piece. The cake was so tasty that he wanted to have another. He shook his head. He’s had too many sweets to take in for one night. Did Angel put something in the cake to make anyone want to grab another piece? Leo found himself laughing at the thought. Once upon a time, he would find himself irritated at the thought and wouldn’t have thought of getting another piece, even when he would be dying inside for another. Things were different now. He couldn’t help but pause for a second, his mind falling into an abyss, before a question randomly came to mind:
Who is Angel to me?
The answer is simple, his mind responded. She’s the older sister to my girlfriend, Carly.
Carly.
Leo winced as he remembered her. He had been so occupied with the party that not once did he think of her. Come to think of it, she did say he might not call her tonight because he’ll be so busy with his birthday. It’s then that he realized that Carly knew about the surprise birthday party all along. So sad, she couldn’t be here to enjoy it, Leo thought to himself. He might want to give her a call after this, but something told him he might just crash-land onto his bed tonight. The party was still going on. Seeing how everything was going, it looked like it might never end.
Leo put his plate on the nearby wooden coffee table and lay his back comfortably onto the chair. He let out a sigh. This was just what he needed. A little peace and quiet before finding himself back out there with the loud music and people everywhere. Apparently, his thoughts of Carly drifted away like clouds in the sky, and the question he had asked himself came back to him. Angel. What was she to him?
He already answered that question. Now he felt there might be something more to it than he had realized. From the very beginning, the two of them started out almost as enemies. However, they had one common ground: Carly. As the months have passed by, and Angel now worked alongside him, their little misunderstanding seemed to have evaporated. It’s almost like it never existed. Leo found himself looking at the ceiling as though trying to solve an imaginary math equation. Are Angel and I friends now? He thought.
Well, friends don’t bake each other cakes and tell you what’s bothering them, said the little voice in Leo’s head. Leo remembered the two occasions when Angel confided in him: at the restaurant when she talked about her father and at the office about Carly’s dream. In some sort of way, maybe Angel had grown soft. She wasn’t the same angry woman who tried to scratch out his face months ago, he thought. The thought of that memory now made Leo smile. She was angry at the time, he said to himself. Right now, he couldn’t blame her. All she was doing was protecting her sister, after all. Does she still hate me?
No, you dum dum, the little voice said again. If she did, she would have done something to hurt you a long time ago. Why didn’t she, though? Leo wondered. Isn’t the answer that obvious? The voice asked. She’s a good person, and good people wouldn’t like to hurt others.
Leo raised an eyebrow. Eric has always been singing about how good of a person Angel was. Why hadn’t Leo seen it up until now? I guess I had been overthinking that she was plotting some revenge that he hadn’t realized that all along, Angel never intended to hurt him. It’s like the voice in his head had said. She would’ve done so a long time ago.
Okay, but does that make us friends? Leo found himself asking the little voice in his head. For a moment, no answer came until he thought he heard a tiny sigh. You’ve been friends from the moment the two of you started getting along, said the tiny voice. I thought from the time Eric and Carly were happy about the two of you finally getting along, you would’ve realized it. You can be so dumb sometimes, Leo.
There was no denying that the two of them had been getting along well. Once they tried to keep themselves from arguing, hiding their anger in. Now, the anger isn’t there anymore, and they got along without the tension they had before. Not forgetting that they have had some intimate moments with each other. Leo gulped as he remembered the day he took Angel to his apartment and the time the two of them were together in the break room at the office. An uncomfortable feeling settled in his chest, making it heavy, and at some point, he felt his lungs were running out of air. All of this was bringing in a flood of emotions, and he couldn’t tell what they were. He remembered how Angel had been close to him this evening, and now his body felt weird. As if a jolt of electricity had just brought his body to life at the thought of Angel, and he yearned to be near her. No, this isn’t right, Leo thought to himself.
What do you mean? The voice in his head asked. There is nothing wrong about the way you feel, Leo. I have feelings for someone else, Leo said to the voice. But does Carly make you feel the way Angel does even if she’s not near you? The voice in his head asked.
Leo suddenly shook his head as if that would muffle out the tiny voice in his head. He quickly stood up from his seat and thought it would be better to go back to the party and forget about this. I’m going nuts, he told himself. He took a few deep breaths and bent over to grab the plate on the coffee table when the tiny voice came back to him again:
You know what this means, Leo. You can’t run away from it forever. Eventually, you will yield.
Leo found himself walking out of the sitting room with the plate in his hand. Now he was just thinking gibberish, he said to himself. Eventually those feelings will fade, he told the tiny voice. And it will be nothing more than a mere emotion.
Leo entered the hall, and he realized that he had been looking for Mr. Chang and that he was still nowhere in sight. Maybe he’s gone back to the party, Leo thought. He still hadn’t heard the front door open, or was he too lost in his thoughts to have noticed it? Whatever the case, Leo felt he didn’t have to deal with the matter any longer. He had a party to go to and enjoy.
Before he could turn around and make his way to the kitchen, Leo thought he heard a noise coming from upstairs. Strange. Could somebody be up there? He thought to check it out to be certain it wasn’t a burglar.
Angel felt someone tap her on the shoulder. When she turned around, there stood Mrs. McDonell.
“Have you seen Leo anywhere?” Mrs. McDonell asked.
“No, I haven’t seen him,” Angel answered as she started to look around. She was still on the dance floor and had been dancing with Eric and Sabrina. “I thought I saw him around here a minute ago.”
“Well, I can’t find him, and they are starting to give out cake.”
“He must be in the house if he isn’t here. Do you want me to go look for him?”
“Yes. It’s his party. If the guests see that he is nowhere in sight, they will start to wonder.”
“Okay. I’ll go then.”
Angel started to make her way out of the tent. Servers bypassed her with trays of plates with cake. Angel managed to scoop a plate as she passed. Her cake turned out to be tasty after all. She never thought she could pull it off. Baking a cake wasn’t her specialty. She would always help her mother back when they still had the bakery. Who would’ve known that after not baking for so long, she would make a great birthday cake?
As Angel walked out of the tent, she couldn’t help but notice how cool the night air was. The tent had been so warm that it was easy to forget the cold night air outside the tent. No matter, at least it’s not freezing, Angel said to herself as she walked back to the house. She entered through the kitchen and found the chef serving pieces of cake onto the plates. Angel asked if he had seen Leo pass through, and the chef answered that he had and had gone in the direction of the living room. Angel also asked if Leo had taken some cake, and the chef replied that he did. The chef gave Angel another plate to give it to Leo. Since he's the birthday boy, he could have as many rounds as he wants, the chef said. Angel quickly finished her cake and carried the other plate, making her way out of the kitchen.
The house was quiet, and it felt weird for Angel to find it that way. The sound of the music outside grew fainter as she bypassed the dining room and found herself by the stairs. She looked down one hall to the other leading to the living and sitting rooms and wondered where Leo could be. He obviously came back into the house to have a little alone time, Angel thought. She thought of going in the living room first to check, but a movement upstairs made her think otherwise. She looked up at the stairs. Could he be in his room? She thought. Well, she was better off checking it out.
Angel started to make her way up the stairs, and when she reached the landing, she found Leo standing there. He had his back facing her, and he seemed a little preoccupied to notice that she was there. Angel made her way towards him. Still, Leo made no signs of acknowledging that someone had just walked up the stairs. Could he be lost in thought? Angel thought.
“Leo?” Angel called out to him.
Startled, Leo turned his head to see Angel standing behind him. He looked mightily relieved to see her.
“You scared me,” he said. “I didn’t hear you coming up the stairs.”
“It’s because you looked preoccupied in that head of yours,” said Angel. “What are you doing up here all alone?”
“Well, I needed some time away from the party. Then when I was making my way back, I heard a noise upstairs. So I thought to come and take a look.”
“You don’t think anyone could have come up here, do you?”
“Well, it’s a possibility. I just hope it isn’t a burglar or anything.”
“Before we start this search, here.” Angel lifted the cake up to Leo’s face. “The chef told me he already gave you some, and since you’re the birthday boy, you get as many refills as you want.”
“Thanks. I was actually planning to get more once I passed through the kitchen again. The cake tastes great.”
“Thanks. I didn’t actually think I would pull off baking one. I only helped my mum out a few times, so…” Angel shrugged her shoulders. “I’m glad it turned out great.”
“I have my plate with me, and if I eat any more of this cake, I’ll grow fat. Let’s share it.”
Angel almost laughed. “I never thought you would think you would ever get fat with cake.”
“Well, you can never be too careful.” Leo smirked. “Want to share?”
Angel nodded and broke it in half with a fork. One half remained on the plate while the other she gave to Leo, who already held out his empty plate.
“Now, you were talking about someone being up here?” Angel asked, bringing them back to the situation at hand.
“Yeah. I can’t hear any noise, but I suggest we look around just to be sure.”
“It will surely be weird if we happen to find a burglar and he sees us eating cake while looking for him.”
“You’re right, we probably should put these things down somewhere.” Leo looked around and noticed a small brown table held by white littlies in a blue vase. He took his plate and Angel’s and placed them on the table.
“We better hurry. Your mother was asking for you. You’re still needed at the party.”
“I know. I was thinking we check every bedroom. Does that sound good?”
“Yeah. I’ll take the rooms to the left, and you take the right.”
“Make sure to shout for me if you notice anything.”
Angel gave a nod of her head, and the two began with their search.
“Have you seen Leo anywhere?” Kim asked as she approached Diana, who happened to be enjoying her cake while seated at a table.
Diana did her best not to roll her eyes as she looked up at Kim. “No, I haven’t,” she answered. “He must be somewhere having fun as usual.”
Kim drew out a chair and sat beside Diana. Diana couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, but she ignored how she felt as she continued to eat her cake. Kim continued to look at Diana.
“Angel made some fine cake,” said Kim as she started to twirl her blonde hair with her fingers.
“Yeah, she did,” said Diana, wondering where the conversation was going. “I’m guessing you already finished yours.”
“I did. And it was delicious.”
“Yeah, it is.” Diana wished that Kim could stop talking and leave.
“You know, as much as Angel looks good, you can’t deny that she stole the show today, despite it being Leo’s birthday, of course.”
“How so?” Diana asked, putting another cake in her mouth.
“Well, she found a good decorator. I was there when she went out looking with her sister, Carly. At first I suggested someone, but she chose someone else instead, who I thought didn’t have good taste. Well, I was wrong. The place looks amazing. Though, I wish I could’ve helped out in any anyway with the party. Sadly, I couldn’t.”
Diana couldn’t help but feel Kim was a little drunk. “Have you had too much to drink, Kim?”
Kim smiled sheepishly. “A little. Well, as I was saying, Angel is the main highlight this evening. The dress she’s wearing is stunning. I wonder where she got it from.”
“I helped her pick the dress,” said Diana.
Kim chuckled. “You were always so good with fashion, Diana. The dress you picked looked stunning on her. I wish I could’ve worn a dress like that. Maybe Leo would have had his eyes on me the whole night.”
“Kim, I think you should stop talking nonsense and enjoy the party. Would you want me to go and get you more cake?”
“No, no.” Kim shook her head. “I would really like more of it, but how can I enjoy it if Leo doesn’t even pay me the slightest attention? I’m so hopeless.”
Diana gave Kim a thin-lipped smile. “Maybe you shouldn’t have come to the party in the first place. It clearly shows that you aren’t over Leo.”
Kim covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. “I’m such a lost cause,” she almost said aloud. “You’re right. Coming to the party was a bad idea.”
“I’ll let Bertha know the next time she wants to invite you over.”
Kim dropped her hands from her face. “And here I was thinking I would finally get the chance to meet this new girlfriend of his.” She looked at Diana. “Do you know who she is? What is she like?”
“Woah, hold it right there, Kim.” Diana raised her hand in front of Kim’s face as if stopping her in her tracks. “Leo is a grown man, and I don’t have any right to be up in his business. I can’t pester him about his girlfriend. He’ll introduce her to us when the time is right. And I hope by then, you would’ve cooled off.”
Kim gave out a sigh. “Whatever. He says he has a girlfriend, but I’ve seen how he looked at Angel today and how the two danced together. If I were a stranger, I would think they are dating or something.”
Diana knew she couldn’t admit right in front of Kim that she would rather have Leo be with Angel anyways. That would only make things worse. And seeing that Kim was drunk, things would only escalate in God knows which direction.
“The two of them are nothing but friends,” said Diana. “And if the two of them were dating each other, many of us would have known by now. And knowing Bertha, she would’ve told you anyway.”
“You’re right. I’m just being paranoid.” Kim smiled at Diana and stood up from her seat. She was still able to stand steadily, but Diana stood up with her just in case.
“I need to use the bathroom,” said Kim. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Diana asked as Kim turned around.
“Super,” Kim answered, raising her thumb up. She slowly, but steadily, made her way out of the tent.
Angel had just searched Oliver’s gaming room, his room, and Diana’s, yet there was no sign of anyone being in any of the rooms. She walked out of Diana’s room, closing the door. Across the hall was Leo’s room, and Leo had gone in a few seconds ago to check. Angel was just about to go in the next room, which was Carly’s, when Leo walked out of his room.
“I’m starting to think maybe I was just hearing things,” said Leo.
“Why do you say that?” Angel asked, turning to look at him.
“Everything seems fine. Apart from Eric’s messy pile of clothes on the bed, everything seems okay. Maybe I just heard a bat outside a window or something.”
“Yeah, but just to be sure, I think we should look inside the remaining rooms. You only heard the noise on this side of the house, right?”
Leo nodded. “I’ll go and check inside my parents’ room.”
Angel watched Leo as he made his way to the end of the hall to the master bedroom. She made her way into Carly’s. As soon as she opened the door, she switched on the lights. Everything was exactly the way Carly had left things when she traveled. Angel made her way to the bathroom, switching on the lights. Nothing out of the ordinary, she said to herself. She switched the lights off and closed the door. Looking around the room one last time, Angel’s eyes fell on Carly’s bed. She couldn’t help but notice something sticking out from under her pillows. Curious, Angel made her way towards the bed, lifted the pillow, and found a white envelope. Could this be Carly’s? Angel thought. Of course, it’s hers. That’s why it’s here, isn’t it?
Angel turned the white envelope around, and there in red ink were Carly’s names: Carly Barclay. As she continued to look at the envelope, Leo appeared at the door of Carly’s room.
“Hey?” Leo called out to Angel. “The coast is clear in my parents’ room. What’s that?”
“Some sort of letter,” said Angel as she contemplated whether to check what’s inside. “It’s for Carly, and I found it under the pillow.”
“Weird,” said Leo as he slowly made his way inside the room. “Did she put it there?”
“I guess so. If it had come through the mail, Mandy would’ve given anything of Carly’s to me. Moreover, it has no address or stamp. It might be she had it before leaving and thought of opening it later.”
“Or, she probably forgot.” Leo now stood at the foot of the bed. “Were you thinking of opening it?”
Angel looked back at the letter and the handwriting on the envelope. Something about the letter gave her a certain chill. As much as she valued privacy, she couldn’t help but feel she should open it and see what’s inside.
“No,” Angel answered, putting the letter back under the pillow. “I better not know what’s in there. It’s not right.”
“Okay, I think we better get back to the party.”
Angel made her way round the bed when she suddenly bumped her toe on the leg of the bed. She cried out a little as she fell onto the bed and held her left toe.
“Are you okay?” Leo asked as he came closer.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Angel as she winced in pain. “I stubbed my toe by the bed. I think I need to remove my shoe.”
Angel started to unbuckle the white shoe on her left foot and removed it.
“Ow,” Angel winced again as she gently massaged her toes. “It really hurts.”
“You aren’t injured, are you?” Leo asked.
“No, it hurts like hell, though.”
“Here, let me massage your toes.
Angel looked up at Leo with an eyebrow raised. “Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you or anything. And you better go down to the party.”
“I know, but I can’t just leave you here.” Leo already came to stand in front of Angel and knelt down on the carpeted floor.
Angel quickly lifted her foot off the floor, and the look on her face was that of bewilderment.
“No, Leo,” she said. “I can take care of myself, thanks. And what do you know about massaging feet?”
“I know I happen to be good at it.” Leo smirked at her. “Bring your foot down. It will only take a second.”
Angel didn’t know what to make of this. Leo is willing to touch my toes? She asked herself. This felt strange and wild on her part. Why would he even want to? If he were a masseuse, Angel wouldn’t even give it a second thought. This is Leo, for crying out loud. He is her sister’s boyfriend. What would Carly say if she ever got a whiff of this?
Leo looked up at Angel with an insistent look on his face, telling her to bring her foot down. In the end, Angel found herself giving up and gently lowering her foot. Leo gently took her ankle and brought the heel of her foot on his right knee. Angel almost squirmed when he felt Leo’s warm, gentle fingers wrap around her ankle. She couldn’t help but blush at the contact, and her heart started to beat fast.
At this point, Leo felt everything was going on autopilot. What am I doing? He asked himself as he firmly held Angel’s foot with both his hands. This is insane, he thought to himself. He couldn’t help but realize that Angel had a small foot. All that removed the doubtful thoughts in his head, as he couldn’t help but smile.
“You really have a small foot, Angel,” said Leo.
“I know that,” said Angel as she furrowed her eyebrows and looked the other way. “You don’t have to make fun of me.” Angel blushed even more.
Leo gently placed his fingers underneath Angel’s toes and gently started to massage them. Angel couldn’t help but feel a tingling feeling on her sensitive skin in between her toes. It later became a relaxing feeling. Angel couldn’t help but get carried away by it. The tingling feeling went all the way up from her toes, up her spine, then up to her head. She couldn’t describe how she felt at this point, but she didn’t want Leo to stop.
“Wow, Leo,” said Angel as she looked down at him. “You’re really good at this.”
“Told you,” said Leo as he started to press her toes, one by one. “I have a knack for this.”
Angel couldn’t help but roll her back and close her eyes as she found the feeling in between her toes pleasurable. She tried to keep her head in the present moment, but Leo wasn’t letting her. Fighting off the feeling, she raised her head and looked at him.
“Where did you learn how to do this?” Angel asked.
Leo paused for a bit, and for a second there, Angel thought she might have asked a sensitive subject. She almost apologized, but Leo continued to massage her toes, putting Angel back into that pleasurable dome again.
“If I tell you this, don’t laugh,” said Leo.
“You have my word, I won’t,” said Angel, doing her best to listen to him.
“Aunt Diana taught me.”
Now that brought Angel fully back down to the earth. She sat up a little straighter on the bed. “What!” She couldn’t believe it.
“I almost told you to keep it down, but we’re the only ones here,” said Leo as he looked at Angel. She now had a surprised look on her face.
“Well, she does have a massage parlor,” said Angel as she now leaned back on her elbows as Leo continued to massage her. “That’s pretty understandable.”
“She used to make Eric and me massage her and my mother’s feet when we were younger.”
“Seriously?” Angel shot back up again. “You guys must have grown through a lot.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I am way better at it than Eric. It was a bore. Even though my mother and Aunt Diana used to pedicure their toenails, they weren’t so pretty to look at. Yours are quite different, though.”
Leo stopped massaging Angel’s toes, as he looked at them with much scrutiny. “They aren’t too long, and they’re not too short either,” he said. “They are just the right size. Also, they are not chubby-looking and not too small. You have really cute toes, Angel.”
He looked up at Angel, and what he saw was Angel looking back at him with her eyes wide. He could tell she was blushing, and he noticed how her hands on her lap curled into the material of the dress. At the same time, he felt her toes curl inwards too. He couldn’t help but feel he shouldn’t have commented on her toes.
“If I said anything wrong, I’m so sorry,” said Leo.
“Uh, no,” said Angel, her face feeling red-hot. “You’re not the first person to comment on my toes.”
“Really? I bet Eric has.”
“Yeah, and there’s also Carly, my mum, Mark, my former boss, and my ex.”
“Huh.” Leo looked down at her toes again. “I always forget that you once dated.”
“Yeah, well, my last relationship didn’t end well. I caught my ex cheating.”
“Well, he’s a jerk for doing that.” Leo went back to massaging her toes. “Have you ever thought of dating again?”
It took some time for Angel to answer. “I’m more on a break for now,” she answered. “But I wouldn’t mind dating again. It was one bad breakup. It doesn’t mean the end of the world.”
Leo couldn’t help but think twice over what he was about to say, but he said it anyway. “Why not date Eric?” he asked. “You know he likes you, right?”
Angel gently opened her eyes as she looked at Leo. Leo also looked back at her as he stopped massaging her foot. The two of them continued to look at each other. Leo couldn’t help but feel that he shouldn’t have asked the question in the first place.
Kim found herself entering the house through the open living room door that led to the back. She could now feel her head start to swirl and admitted to herself that she did have too much to drink. As she noticed a comfortable chair, she told herself to sit and gather her breath. Walking in her heels now felt like a burden, and she quickly removed them and tossed them on the floor. She looked around the empty room and realized why she had come back to the house. She needed to use the bathroom.
She slowly gathered her strength and lifted herself up from her seat. She started to make her way into the sitting room and then the hallway. She was better using the bathroom down the hall leading to the study than going all the way up the stairs. After reaching the stairs and almost making her way across to the other hall, she thought she heard people talking up. Kim stopped in her tracks and looked up. The voices had stopped. Before she could continue on her way, she heard the voices again. There’s someone up there, she concluded. I wonder who it is.
Out of curiosity, Kim started to make her way up the stairs. As she reached the landing, she heard Leo’s voice. A woman was speaking to him, and it was then that she realized it was Angel. This made Kim become wide awake in her drunken state. The two of them are alone together, she wondered. What could they be talking about? Kim decided to tiptoe in silence towards the room with the open door. Maybe she will see for herself if her suspicions about the two of them were true all along.
“Eric is a nice guy,” said Angel, answering Leo’s question. “Let’s be honest, I wouldn’t mind dating him at all. It’s just that I don’t think I’m the right girl for him.”
Leo’s eyes widened in shock. He didn’t expect Angel to give him such an answer. He looked down at her toes and gently pressed on them. For some reason, he had some weird feeling in his chest. What is it, he wondered.
“Well, he thinks otherwise.”
“I know.” Angel pouted a little. “He’s a really great guy, and I wouldn’t like to lead him on only to find that we aren’t meant to be together.”
Leo didn’t know how to answer that. He continued to press gently on Angel’s toes. “Maybe if you gave it a try, it might work out.”
Leo, what are you doing! The little voice in his head asked him. You know you don’t want that, and you shouldn’t be asking her dumb questions.
“We will see how things go. I don’t want to force things, you know. I want my next relationship to start off right.”
Leo looked up at Angel as he continued to squeeze her toes, and he noticed how she looked above him, lost in thought. There was something about the way she looked that made him gaze at her as if she were some mystic being. He found himself bringing her fingers between her toes and gently massaged them. Angel got caught off guard as she felt that tingling feeling shoot up from her toes and up her spine. She found herself letting out a little moan as she closed her eyes in ecstasy. Leo looked on as her face relaxed and, at the same time, had a look he couldn’t get over. He wanted to see more of that, he thought to himself. With his toes in between the sensitive skin of her toes, he gently squeezed them. This time, Angel drew her head back, her moan coming out of her mouth a little louder.
Kim, who neared the room, heard a moaning sound coming from the open room. She stopped in her tracks as she put her hand over her mouth. Are Angel and Leo doing what I think they’re doing? She asked.
“That’s so good,” said Angel, her face looking up at the ceiling. She drew out a heavy breath, feeling relaxed and in ecstasy. “You’re really good at this, Leo.”
Leo continued to squeeze her toes, looking at Angel. He felt he should’ve been doing more than just relaxing her toes. The feeling of the two of them right here alone in the room made his thoughts run wild. I want to do more than just pleasure her through her toes, Leo found himself thinking. If only I could just…
He let one of his hands run down Angel’s foot, and the urge to slide the other up her leg was tempting. Soon, he stopped himself, and at the same time, he stopped massaging Angel’s toes.
Angel noticed and brought her head down to look at Leo. She noticed he had a weird look on his face as he stared at Angel’s foot.
“Leo? Are you okay?” Angel asked, as the look on his face worried him.
Kim, who continued to listen in, couldn’t tell what was going on. She needed to see what they were doing. Besides, I might catch them in the act. She slowly started to make her way towards the door.
“How’s your foot now?” Leo asked, as he looked up at Angel.
What the hell? Kim thought to herself as she stopped in her tracks. Why is he talking about her foot?
Angel wiggled her toes a bit. They were much better now. “They’re okay,” she said. “We better get going since there’s no one in here.”
“Yeah, we should.” Leo took Angel’s shoe right next to him. Before Angel could stop him, he slipped her foot into the shoe and helped buckle it. Angel watched on, speechless. She sat there motionless.
“There you go,” said Leo as he looked down at Angel’s shoe, and then he looked up at her with a smile. “What I have done almost reminds me of Cinderella.”
“Huh?” Angel blushed. Why did he say that? She wondered.
Leo gave her an embarrassing smile. “Forget I said that,” he said, as he slowly got to his feet. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Before Angel could lift herself up from the bed, Leo already offered his hand to help her. Angel didn’t refuse as she took it, and Leo pulled her up. The two of them stood looking at each other. Angel slowly slipped her hand away from his and scratched the back of her head, looking elsewhere.
“Thanks for the massage,” she said. She couldn’t help but blush. “You’re really good at it.”
“It’s nothing compared to the birthday cake you baked for me,” said Leo. Noticing Angel blush brought a small smile to his face. “So, I should be thanking you, most of all.”
Angel shook her head as she looked at Leo. “I only did what Car—”
“Now, wait a minute,” came a voice at the door of Carly’s room, interrupting Angel before she could finish her sentence.
Angel quickly turned around, and Leo turned his eyes to the door. Standing in the doorway, looking half-drunk and with no shoes on, was Kim.
“Kim, what are you doing here?” Leo asked.
“I was about to ask you two the same question,” said Kim as she smiled sheepishly.
“Kim, you’re drunk right now,” said Leo as he approached her. “You need to sit down. And where are your shoes?” He looked down at her feet.
Kim scoffed and then started to chuckle. “You know what’s so funny right now?” she asked. “Here I am thinking that the two of you were up to no good in here. You know, doing those things that couples do.”
Angel raised an eyebrow. “It’s nothing like that, Kim,” she said.
“Oh, yeah, I know,” said Kim, looking at Angel. “That’s what I thought, until Leo started talking about feet or something. Oh, how nice it would’ve been if I were right.”
“Right about what?” Leo asked, also raising an eyebrow.
Kim looked at Leo, her eyes now starting to go in that drunken gaze. “Oh, you don’t want to know. I was just being delusional as always.”
“Well, I do want to know,” Leo insisted.
“Leo.” Angel came to stand behind him. “We better not ask. Kim is pretty drunk, after all.”
“I am not drunk,” said Kim, slurring her words a little. She looked at Angel before she started to laugh. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“Kim, we need you to come in and sit down,” said Leo.
“No, I’m okay. Don’t worry, I won’t ruin your party. That’s if you won’t tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
“Your girlfriend, Leo. You see, I need a little bit of…” Kim paused, trying to think of a word. “Closure. Yes, yes, that’s the word. Clooosure.”
“You’re not going to get any in the state you’re in,” said Leo as he shook his head.
“Okay. Okay.” Kim started to back up into the hall, raising her hands in surrender. “You won’t tell me, then that’s okay. In one way or another, I will find out who it is.”
“Kim, you don’t have to—” Angel started to make her way towards Kim, but Leo stopped her, shaking his head.
“I better start going back to the party,” said Kim, making her way down the hall. “You and I used to be so good together, Leo. I just wanted to know who this woman is that stole your heart from me.” She hiccupped, slowly making her way. “Is it so wrong… to ask?”
Leo and Angel stepped into the hall, watching Kim. Angel turned to look at Leo.
“We should be helping her,” Angel whispered to him. “Why don’t you want me to do anything?”
“You’ll see,” Leo answered, his eyes on Kim.
“Mark my words, Leo McDonell!” said Kim, this time her voice a little louder, raising her finger in the air. Her step became wobbly now. “I will find out… I will find out who she is, and I will…”
Before Kim could finish her sentence, she almost crashed into the wall, but Leo was already behind her, ready to catch her in his arms. Angel was surprised that Leo was able to reach her that fast.
Leo lifted Kim in his arms and started to make his way back to Carly’s room. Angel followed him back in and watched as he gently put Kim on Carly’s bed. Angel went into Carly’s wardrobe and found a red fleece. She took it, closed the wardrobe, went over to the bed, and covered Kim with the blanket. Leo and Angel looked at Kim, peacefully asleep.
“You knew she was going to pass out, did you?” Angel asked, looking at Leo.
“I dated her for years,” Leo answered, turning to look at Angel. “When she gets this drunk, it’s usually lights out for her. She’s not so strong on the liquor, but there are times when she can stay up and run wild. Thank goodness you didn’t see her reach that stage tonight.”
“We better let her rest, then. Let’s go.”
Angel started to make her way out of the room, and Leo followed. He switched off the lights and closed the door behind him.
The two of them started to make their way down the hall towards the stairs. Not forgetting their pieces of cake, of course. As they made their way down the stairs, Angel couldn’t help but ask:
“Do you think Kim thought the two of us might be having an affair?”
Leo, who walked behind her, stopped on a step. Angel also stopped and turned around to look at Leo. He was just about to put a piece of cake in his mouth when she asked the question. He closed his mouth.
“Kim is delusional, so yes. She must have thought that way for her to say it like she did,” said Leo.
“Well, I’m glad,” said Angel, “that she admitted to herself that she was wrong. If she got the wrong idea, who knows what she was going to say, especially to your mother?”
Leo thought about it. “Then that would be just terrible, and the rumor would spread. You and me, dating? The thought of it is outrageous. Carly and Eric would be the only ones who wouldn’t believe it.”
Angel chuckled as she continued her way down the stairs. “That would be funny to begin with,” she said.
Leo couldn’t help but smile at the thought. He soon started to feel a conflicting feeling in his chest. Why does this bother me so much? he wondered.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mr. Chang appeared from the other side of the hall that led to the study room. Angel and Leo looked at him with surprise.
“Mr. Chang, I thought you left,” said Leo.
“Oh, I came to use the bathroom, but then I got a little lost and started looking around,” Mr. Chang answered.
“You should ask one of the helpers to help you,” said Angel.
“Oh, everyone was so busy in the kitchen that I didn’t want to look like a burden. I did ask for directions, though. But like I said, I got a little lost until I found the bathroom.”
“We’re heading back to the party now,” said Leo. “Let’s pass through the kitchen and get you a piece of cake. You will like it.”
“That would be nice. Please, lead the way.”
Angel did likewise with Leo, and Mr. Chang followed behind them.
Leo entered the house through the back door to the kitchen. The place was still busy as he found the chef cutting the cake and laying the pieces onto small plates to serve the people at the party. When the chef saw Leo, he cut a bigger piece and gave it to him. Leo thanked him as he took his plate. He took a fork by the counter and started to make his way out of the kitchen.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5lYrWS1bL
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtTZJbJ8mQ
As soon as he stepped into the hall, Leo realized that there was no sign of Mr. Chang. Could he have already made it to the foyer? Leo wondered. He continued on his way, bypassing the empty dining room. The sound of the music outside faded the more he went further into the house. When he reached the stairs and looked towards the foyer, there was no sign of Mr. Chang anywhere. Leo had a feeling Mr. Chang was still inside the house, for he would've heard the front door open. It’s strange. Where could he have gone?
Leo took a peep into the living room. It was quiet, and there was no one there. He started to make his way to the sitting room, and just like the other room, there was no one there. Leo stood for a bit as he took in a few bites of his cake, contemplating where Mr. Chang could have gone. Could he be using the bathroom? Leo thought. That might be it.
Leo found himself sitting down on one of the chairs, enjoying the chocolate cake. People are going to enjoy this, he thought to himself. The cake is good. Angel outdid herself this time. The cupcakes she made last time were amazing, but the cake is really something else. He didn’t think she had it in her to bake it. She must have done so with a lot of convincing, Leo thought. Knowing Angel, she might not have wanted to bake the cake in the first place.
As soon as Leo finished his cake, he looked at the empty plate that only had a few cake crumbs on it. He wished he could go back to the kitchen and ask for another piece. The cake was so tasty that he wanted to have another. He shook his head. He’s had too many sweets to take in for one night. Did Angel put something in the cake to make anyone want to grab another piece? Leo found himself laughing at the thought. Once upon a time, he would find himself irritated at the thought and wouldn’t have thought of getting another piece, even when he would be dying inside for another. Things were different now. He couldn’t help but pause for a second, his mind falling into an abyss, before a question randomly came to mind:
Who is Angel to me?
The answer is simple, his mind responded. She’s the older sister to my girlfriend, Carly.
Carly.
Leo winced as he remembered her. He had been so occupied with the party that not once did he think of her. Come to think of it, she did say he might not call her tonight because he’ll be so busy with his birthday. It’s then that he realized that Carly knew about the surprise birthday party all along. So sad, she couldn’t be here to enjoy it, Leo thought to himself. He might want to give her a call after this, but something told him he might just crash-land onto his bed tonight. The party was still going on. Seeing how everything was going, it looked like it might never end.
Leo put his plate on the nearby wooden coffee table and lay his back comfortably onto the chair. He let out a sigh. This was just what he needed. A little peace and quiet before finding himself back out there with the loud music and people everywhere. Apparently, his thoughts of Carly drifted away like clouds in the sky, and the question he had asked himself came back to him. Angel. What was she to him?
He already answered that question. Now he felt there might be something more to it than he had realized. From the very beginning, the two of them started out almost as enemies. However, they had one common ground: Carly. As the months have passed by, and Angel now worked alongside him, their little misunderstanding seemed to have evaporated. It’s almost like it never existed. Leo found himself looking at the ceiling as though trying to solve an imaginary math equation. Are Angel and I friends now? He thought.
Well, friends don’t bake each other cakes and tell you what’s bothering them, said the little voice in Leo’s head. Leo remembered the two occasions when Angel confided in him: at the restaurant when she talked about her father and at the office about Carly’s dream. In some sort of way, maybe Angel had grown soft. She wasn’t the same angry woman who tried to scratch out his face months ago, he thought. The thought of that memory now made Leo smile. She was angry at the time, he said to himself. Right now, he couldn’t blame her. All she was doing was protecting her sister, after all. Does she still hate me?
No, you dum dum, the little voice said again. If she did, she would have done something to hurt you a long time ago. Why didn’t she, though? Leo wondered. Isn’t the answer that obvious? The voice asked. She’s a good person, and good people wouldn’t like to hurt others.
Leo raised an eyebrow. Eric has always been singing about how good of a person Angel was. Why hadn’t Leo seen it up until now? I guess I had been overthinking that she was plotting some revenge that he hadn’t realized that all along, Angel never intended to hurt him. It’s like the voice in his head had said. She would’ve done so a long time ago.
Okay, but does that make us friends? Leo found himself asking the little voice in his head. For a moment, no answer came until he thought he heard a tiny sigh. You’ve been friends from the moment the two of you started getting along, said the tiny voice. I thought from the time Eric and Carly were happy about the two of you finally getting along, you would’ve realized it. You can be so dumb sometimes, Leo.
There was no denying that the two of them had been getting along well. Once they tried to keep themselves from arguing, hiding their anger in. Now, the anger isn’t there anymore, and they got along without the tension they had before. Not forgetting that they have had some intimate moments with each other. Leo gulped as he remembered the day he took Angel to his apartment and the time the two of them were together in the break room at the office. An uncomfortable feeling settled in his chest, making it heavy, and at some point, he felt his lungs were running out of air. All of this was bringing in a flood of emotions, and he couldn’t tell what they were. He remembered how Angel had been close to him this evening, and now his body felt weird. As if a jolt of electricity had just brought his body to life at the thought of Angel, and he yearned to be near her. No, this isn’t right, Leo thought to himself.
What do you mean? The voice in his head asked. There is nothing wrong about the way you feel, Leo. I have feelings for someone else, Leo said to the voice. But does Carly make you feel the way Angel does even if she’s not near you? The voice in his head asked.
Leo suddenly shook his head as if that would muffle out the tiny voice in his head. He quickly stood up from his seat and thought it would be better to go back to the party and forget about this. I’m going nuts, he told himself. He took a few deep breaths and bent over to grab the plate on the coffee table when the tiny voice came back to him again:
You know what this means, Leo. You can’t run away from it forever. Eventually, you will yield.
Leo found himself walking out of the sitting room with the plate in his hand. Now he was just thinking gibberish, he said to himself. Eventually those feelings will fade, he told the tiny voice. And it will be nothing more than a mere emotion.
Leo entered the hall, and he realized that he had been looking for Mr. Chang and that he was still nowhere in sight. Maybe he’s gone back to the party, Leo thought. He still hadn’t heard the front door open, or was he too lost in his thoughts to have noticed it? Whatever the case, Leo felt he didn’t have to deal with the matter any longer. He had a party to go to and enjoy.
Before he could turn around and make his way to the kitchen, Leo thought he heard a noise coming from upstairs. Strange. Could somebody be up there? He thought to check it out to be certain it wasn’t a burglar.
Angel felt someone tap her on the shoulder. When she turned around, there stood Mrs. McDonell.
“Have you seen Leo anywhere?” Mrs. McDonell asked.
“No, I haven’t seen him,” Angel answered as she started to look around. She was still on the dance floor and had been dancing with Eric and Sabrina. “I thought I saw him around here a minute ago.”
“Well, I can’t find him, and they are starting to give out cake.”
“He must be in the house if he isn’t here. Do you want me to go look for him?”
“Yes. It’s his party. If the guests see that he is nowhere in sight, they will start to wonder.”
“Okay. I’ll go then.”
Angel started to make her way out of the tent. Servers bypassed her with trays of plates with cake. Angel managed to scoop a plate as she passed. Her cake turned out to be tasty after all. She never thought she could pull it off. Baking a cake wasn’t her specialty. She would always help her mother back when they still had the bakery. Who would’ve known that after not baking for so long, she would make a great birthday cake?
As Angel walked out of the tent, she couldn’t help but notice how cool the night air was. The tent had been so warm that it was easy to forget the cold night air outside the tent. No matter, at least it’s not freezing, Angel said to herself as she walked back to the house. She entered through the kitchen and found the chef serving pieces of cake onto the plates. Angel asked if he had seen Leo pass through, and the chef answered that he had and had gone in the direction of the living room. Angel also asked if Leo had taken some cake, and the chef replied that he did. The chef gave Angel another plate to give it to Leo. Since he's the birthday boy, he could have as many rounds as he wants, the chef said. Angel quickly finished her cake and carried the other plate, making her way out of the kitchen.
The house was quiet, and it felt weird for Angel to find it that way. The sound of the music outside grew fainter as she bypassed the dining room and found herself by the stairs. She looked down one hall to the other leading to the living and sitting rooms and wondered where Leo could be. He obviously came back into the house to have a little alone time, Angel thought. She thought of going in the living room first to check, but a movement upstairs made her think otherwise. She looked up at the stairs. Could he be in his room? She thought. Well, she was better off checking it out.
Angel started to make her way up the stairs, and when she reached the landing, she found Leo standing there. He had his back facing her, and he seemed a little preoccupied to notice that she was there. Angel made her way towards him. Still, Leo made no signs of acknowledging that someone had just walked up the stairs. Could he be lost in thought? Angel thought.
“Leo?” Angel called out to him.
Startled, Leo turned his head to see Angel standing behind him. He looked mightily relieved to see her.
“You scared me,” he said. “I didn’t hear you coming up the stairs.”
“It’s because you looked preoccupied in that head of yours,” said Angel. “What are you doing up here all alone?”
“Well, I needed some time away from the party. Then when I was making my way back, I heard a noise upstairs. So I thought to come and take a look.”
“You don’t think anyone could have come up here, do you?”
“Well, it’s a possibility. I just hope it isn’t a burglar or anything.”
“Before we start this search, here.” Angel lifted the cake up to Leo’s face. “The chef told me he already gave you some, and since you’re the birthday boy, you get as many refills as you want.”
“Thanks. I was actually planning to get more once I passed through the kitchen again. The cake tastes great.”
“Thanks. I didn’t actually think I would pull off baking one. I only helped my mum out a few times, so…” Angel shrugged her shoulders. “I’m glad it turned out great.”
“I have my plate with me, and if I eat any more of this cake, I’ll grow fat. Let’s share it.”
Angel almost laughed. “I never thought you would think you would ever get fat with cake.”
“Well, you can never be too careful.” Leo smirked. “Want to share?”
Angel nodded and broke it in half with a fork. One half remained on the plate while the other she gave to Leo, who already held out his empty plate.
“Now, you were talking about someone being up here?” Angel asked, bringing them back to the situation at hand.
“Yeah. I can’t hear any noise, but I suggest we look around just to be sure.”
“It will surely be weird if we happen to find a burglar and he sees us eating cake while looking for him.”
“You’re right, we probably should put these things down somewhere.” Leo looked around and noticed a small brown table held by white littlies in a blue vase. He took his plate and Angel’s and placed them on the table.
“We better hurry. Your mother was asking for you. You’re still needed at the party.”
“I know. I was thinking we check every bedroom. Does that sound good?”
“Yeah. I’ll take the rooms to the left, and you take the right.”
“Make sure to shout for me if you notice anything.”
Angel gave a nod of her head, and the two began with their search.
“Have you seen Leo anywhere?” Kim asked as she approached Diana, who happened to be enjoying her cake while seated at a table.
Diana did her best not to roll her eyes as she looked up at Kim. “No, I haven’t,” she answered. “He must be somewhere having fun as usual.”
Kim drew out a chair and sat beside Diana. Diana couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, but she ignored how she felt as she continued to eat her cake. Kim continued to look at Diana.
“Angel made some fine cake,” said Kim as she started to twirl her blonde hair with her fingers.
“Yeah, she did,” said Diana, wondering where the conversation was going. “I’m guessing you already finished yours.”
“I did. And it was delicious.”
“Yeah, it is.” Diana wished that Kim could stop talking and leave.
“You know, as much as Angel looks good, you can’t deny that she stole the show today, despite it being Leo’s birthday, of course.”
“How so?” Diana asked, putting another cake in her mouth.
“Well, she found a good decorator. I was there when she went out looking with her sister, Carly. At first I suggested someone, but she chose someone else instead, who I thought didn’t have good taste. Well, I was wrong. The place looks amazing. Though, I wish I could’ve helped out in any anyway with the party. Sadly, I couldn’t.”
Diana couldn’t help but feel Kim was a little drunk. “Have you had too much to drink, Kim?”
Kim smiled sheepishly. “A little. Well, as I was saying, Angel is the main highlight this evening. The dress she’s wearing is stunning. I wonder where she got it from.”
“I helped her pick the dress,” said Diana.
Kim chuckled. “You were always so good with fashion, Diana. The dress you picked looked stunning on her. I wish I could’ve worn a dress like that. Maybe Leo would have had his eyes on me the whole night.”
“Kim, I think you should stop talking nonsense and enjoy the party. Would you want me to go and get you more cake?”
“No, no.” Kim shook her head. “I would really like more of it, but how can I enjoy it if Leo doesn’t even pay me the slightest attention? I’m so hopeless.”
Diana gave Kim a thin-lipped smile. “Maybe you shouldn’t have come to the party in the first place. It clearly shows that you aren’t over Leo.”
Kim covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. “I’m such a lost cause,” she almost said aloud. “You’re right. Coming to the party was a bad idea.”
“I’ll let Bertha know the next time she wants to invite you over.”
Kim dropped her hands from her face. “And here I was thinking I would finally get the chance to meet this new girlfriend of his.” She looked at Diana. “Do you know who she is? What is she like?”
“Woah, hold it right there, Kim.” Diana raised her hand in front of Kim’s face as if stopping her in her tracks. “Leo is a grown man, and I don’t have any right to be up in his business. I can’t pester him about his girlfriend. He’ll introduce her to us when the time is right. And I hope by then, you would’ve cooled off.”
Kim gave out a sigh. “Whatever. He says he has a girlfriend, but I’ve seen how he looked at Angel today and how the two danced together. If I were a stranger, I would think they are dating or something.”
Diana knew she couldn’t admit right in front of Kim that she would rather have Leo be with Angel anyways. That would only make things worse. And seeing that Kim was drunk, things would only escalate in God knows which direction.
“The two of them are nothing but friends,” said Diana. “And if the two of them were dating each other, many of us would have known by now. And knowing Bertha, she would’ve told you anyway.”
“You’re right. I’m just being paranoid.” Kim smiled at Diana and stood up from her seat. She was still able to stand steadily, but Diana stood up with her just in case.
“I need to use the bathroom,” said Kim. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Diana asked as Kim turned around.
“Super,” Kim answered, raising her thumb up. She slowly, but steadily, made her way out of the tent.
Angel had just searched Oliver’s gaming room, his room, and Diana’s, yet there was no sign of anyone being in any of the rooms. She walked out of Diana’s room, closing the door. Across the hall was Leo’s room, and Leo had gone in a few seconds ago to check. Angel was just about to go in the next room, which was Carly’s, when Leo walked out of his room.
“I’m starting to think maybe I was just hearing things,” said Leo.
“Why do you say that?” Angel asked, turning to look at him.
“Everything seems fine. Apart from Eric’s messy pile of clothes on the bed, everything seems okay. Maybe I just heard a bat outside a window or something.”
“Yeah, but just to be sure, I think we should look inside the remaining rooms. You only heard the noise on this side of the house, right?”
Leo nodded. “I’ll go and check inside my parents’ room.”
Angel watched Leo as he made his way to the end of the hall to the master bedroom. She made her way into Carly’s. As soon as she opened the door, she switched on the lights. Everything was exactly the way Carly had left things when she traveled. Angel made her way to the bathroom, switching on the lights. Nothing out of the ordinary, she said to herself. She switched the lights off and closed the door. Looking around the room one last time, Angel’s eyes fell on Carly’s bed. She couldn’t help but notice something sticking out from under her pillows. Curious, Angel made her way towards the bed, lifted the pillow, and found a white envelope. Could this be Carly’s? Angel thought. Of course, it’s hers. That’s why it’s here, isn’t it?
Angel turned the white envelope around, and there in red ink were Carly’s names: Carly Barclay. As she continued to look at the envelope, Leo appeared at the door of Carly’s room.
“Hey?” Leo called out to Angel. “The coast is clear in my parents’ room. What’s that?”
“Some sort of letter,” said Angel as she contemplated whether to check what’s inside. “It’s for Carly, and I found it under the pillow.”
“Weird,” said Leo as he slowly made his way inside the room. “Did she put it there?”
“I guess so. If it had come through the mail, Mandy would’ve given anything of Carly’s to me. Moreover, it has no address or stamp. It might be she had it before leaving and thought of opening it later.”
“Or, she probably forgot.” Leo now stood at the foot of the bed. “Were you thinking of opening it?”
Angel looked back at the letter and the handwriting on the envelope. Something about the letter gave her a certain chill. As much as she valued privacy, she couldn’t help but feel she should open it and see what’s inside.
“No,” Angel answered, putting the letter back under the pillow. “I better not know what’s in there. It’s not right.”
“Okay, I think we better get back to the party.”
Angel made her way round the bed when she suddenly bumped her toe on the leg of the bed. She cried out a little as she fell onto the bed and held her left toe.
“Are you okay?” Leo asked as he came closer.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Angel as she winced in pain. “I stubbed my toe by the bed. I think I need to remove my shoe.”
Angel started to unbuckle the white shoe on her left foot and removed it.
“Ow,” Angel winced again as she gently massaged her toes. “It really hurts.”
“You aren’t injured, are you?” Leo asked.
“No, it hurts like hell, though.”
“Here, let me massage your toes.
Angel looked up at Leo with an eyebrow raised. “Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you or anything. And you better go down to the party.”
“I know, but I can’t just leave you here.” Leo already came to stand in front of Angel and knelt down on the carpeted floor.
Angel quickly lifted her foot off the floor, and the look on her face was that of bewilderment.
“No, Leo,” she said. “I can take care of myself, thanks. And what do you know about massaging feet?”
“I know I happen to be good at it.” Leo smirked at her. “Bring your foot down. It will only take a second.”
Angel didn’t know what to make of this. Leo is willing to touch my toes? She asked herself. This felt strange and wild on her part. Why would he even want to? If he were a masseuse, Angel wouldn’t even give it a second thought. This is Leo, for crying out loud. He is her sister’s boyfriend. What would Carly say if she ever got a whiff of this?
Leo looked up at Angel with an insistent look on his face, telling her to bring her foot down. In the end, Angel found herself giving up and gently lowering her foot. Leo gently took her ankle and brought the heel of her foot on his right knee. Angel almost squirmed when he felt Leo’s warm, gentle fingers wrap around her ankle. She couldn’t help but blush at the contact, and her heart started to beat fast.
At this point, Leo felt everything was going on autopilot. What am I doing? He asked himself as he firmly held Angel’s foot with both his hands. This is insane, he thought to himself. He couldn’t help but realize that Angel had a small foot. All that removed the doubtful thoughts in his head, as he couldn’t help but smile.
“You really have a small foot, Angel,” said Leo.
“I know that,” said Angel as she furrowed her eyebrows and looked the other way. “You don’t have to make fun of me.” Angel blushed even more.
Leo gently placed his fingers underneath Angel’s toes and gently started to massage them. Angel couldn’t help but feel a tingling feeling on her sensitive skin in between her toes. It later became a relaxing feeling. Angel couldn’t help but get carried away by it. The tingling feeling went all the way up from her toes, up her spine, then up to her head. She couldn’t describe how she felt at this point, but she didn’t want Leo to stop.
“Wow, Leo,” said Angel as she looked down at him. “You’re really good at this.”
“Told you,” said Leo as he started to press her toes, one by one. “I have a knack for this.”
Angel couldn’t help but roll her back and close her eyes as she found the feeling in between her toes pleasurable. She tried to keep her head in the present moment, but Leo wasn’t letting her. Fighting off the feeling, she raised her head and looked at him.
“Where did you learn how to do this?” Angel asked.
Leo paused for a bit, and for a second there, Angel thought she might have asked a sensitive subject. She almost apologized, but Leo continued to massage her toes, putting Angel back into that pleasurable dome again.
“If I tell you this, don’t laugh,” said Leo.
“You have my word, I won’t,” said Angel, doing her best to listen to him.
“Aunt Diana taught me.”
Now that brought Angel fully back down to the earth. She sat up a little straighter on the bed. “What!” She couldn’t believe it.
“I almost told you to keep it down, but we’re the only ones here,” said Leo as he looked at Angel. She now had a surprised look on her face.
“Well, she does have a massage parlor,” said Angel as she now leaned back on her elbows as Leo continued to massage her. “That’s pretty understandable.”
“She used to make Eric and me massage her and my mother’s feet when we were younger.”
“Seriously?” Angel shot back up again. “You guys must have grown through a lot.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I am way better at it than Eric. It was a bore. Even though my mother and Aunt Diana used to pedicure their toenails, they weren’t so pretty to look at. Yours are quite different, though.”
Leo stopped massaging Angel’s toes, as he looked at them with much scrutiny. “They aren’t too long, and they’re not too short either,” he said. “They are just the right size. Also, they are not chubby-looking and not too small. You have really cute toes, Angel.”
He looked up at Angel, and what he saw was Angel looking back at him with her eyes wide. He could tell she was blushing, and he noticed how her hands on her lap curled into the material of the dress. At the same time, he felt her toes curl inwards too. He couldn’t help but feel he shouldn’t have commented on her toes.
“If I said anything wrong, I’m so sorry,” said Leo.
“Uh, no,” said Angel, her face feeling red-hot. “You’re not the first person to comment on my toes.”
“Really? I bet Eric has.”
“Yeah, and there’s also Carly, my mum, Mark, my former boss, and my ex.”
“Huh.” Leo looked down at her toes again. “I always forget that you once dated.”
“Yeah, well, my last relationship didn’t end well. I caught my ex cheating.”
“Well, he’s a jerk for doing that.” Leo went back to massaging her toes. “Have you ever thought of dating again?”
It took some time for Angel to answer. “I’m more on a break for now,” she answered. “But I wouldn’t mind dating again. It was one bad breakup. It doesn’t mean the end of the world.”
Leo couldn’t help but think twice over what he was about to say, but he said it anyway. “Why not date Eric?” he asked. “You know he likes you, right?”
Angel gently opened her eyes as she looked at Leo. Leo also looked back at her as he stopped massaging her foot. The two of them continued to look at each other. Leo couldn’t help but feel that he shouldn’t have asked the question in the first place.
Kim found herself entering the house through the open living room door that led to the back. She could now feel her head start to swirl and admitted to herself that she did have too much to drink. As she noticed a comfortable chair, she told herself to sit and gather her breath. Walking in her heels now felt like a burden, and she quickly removed them and tossed them on the floor. She looked around the empty room and realized why she had come back to the house. She needed to use the bathroom.
She slowly gathered her strength and lifted herself up from her seat. She started to make her way into the sitting room and then the hallway. She was better using the bathroom down the hall leading to the study than going all the way up the stairs. After reaching the stairs and almost making her way across to the other hall, she thought she heard people talking up. Kim stopped in her tracks and looked up. The voices had stopped. Before she could continue on her way, she heard the voices again. There’s someone up there, she concluded. I wonder who it is.
Out of curiosity, Kim started to make her way up the stairs. As she reached the landing, she heard Leo’s voice. A woman was speaking to him, and it was then that she realized it was Angel. This made Kim become wide awake in her drunken state. The two of them are alone together, she wondered. What could they be talking about? Kim decided to tiptoe in silence towards the room with the open door. Maybe she will see for herself if her suspicions about the two of them were true all along.
“Eric is a nice guy,” said Angel, answering Leo’s question. “Let’s be honest, I wouldn’t mind dating him at all. It’s just that I don’t think I’m the right girl for him.”
Leo’s eyes widened in shock. He didn’t expect Angel to give him such an answer. He looked down at her toes and gently pressed on them. For some reason, he had some weird feeling in his chest. What is it, he wondered.
“Well, he thinks otherwise.”
“I know.” Angel pouted a little. “He’s a really great guy, and I wouldn’t like to lead him on only to find that we aren’t meant to be together.”
Leo didn’t know how to answer that. He continued to press gently on Angel’s toes. “Maybe if you gave it a try, it might work out.”
Leo, what are you doing! The little voice in his head asked him. You know you don’t want that, and you shouldn’t be asking her dumb questions.
“We will see how things go. I don’t want to force things, you know. I want my next relationship to start off right.”
Leo looked up at Angel as he continued to squeeze her toes, and he noticed how she looked above him, lost in thought. There was something about the way she looked that made him gaze at her as if she were some mystic being. He found himself bringing her fingers between her toes and gently massaged them. Angel got caught off guard as she felt that tingling feeling shoot up from her toes and up her spine. She found herself letting out a little moan as she closed her eyes in ecstasy. Leo looked on as her face relaxed and, at the same time, had a look he couldn’t get over. He wanted to see more of that, he thought to himself. With his toes in between the sensitive skin of her toes, he gently squeezed them. This time, Angel drew her head back, her moan coming out of her mouth a little louder.
Kim, who neared the room, heard a moaning sound coming from the open room. She stopped in her tracks as she put her hand over her mouth. Are Angel and Leo doing what I think they’re doing? She asked.
“That’s so good,” said Angel, her face looking up at the ceiling. She drew out a heavy breath, feeling relaxed and in ecstasy. “You’re really good at this, Leo.”
Leo continued to squeeze her toes, looking at Angel. He felt he should’ve been doing more than just relaxing her toes. The feeling of the two of them right here alone in the room made his thoughts run wild. I want to do more than just pleasure her through her toes, Leo found himself thinking. If only I could just…
He let one of his hands run down Angel’s foot, and the urge to slide the other up her leg was tempting. Soon, he stopped himself, and at the same time, he stopped massaging Angel’s toes.
Angel noticed and brought her head down to look at Leo. She noticed he had a weird look on his face as he stared at Angel’s foot.
“Leo? Are you okay?” Angel asked, as the look on his face worried him.
Kim, who continued to listen in, couldn’t tell what was going on. She needed to see what they were doing. Besides, I might catch them in the act. She slowly started to make her way towards the door.
“How’s your foot now?” Leo asked, as he looked up at Angel.
What the hell? Kim thought to herself as she stopped in her tracks. Why is he talking about her foot?
Angel wiggled her toes a bit. They were much better now. “They’re okay,” she said. “We better get going since there’s no one in here.”
“Yeah, we should.” Leo took Angel’s shoe right next to him. Before Angel could stop him, he slipped her foot into the shoe and helped buckle it. Angel watched on, speechless. She sat there motionless.
“There you go,” said Leo as he looked down at Angel’s shoe, and then he looked up at her with a smile. “What I have done almost reminds me of Cinderella.”
“Huh?” Angel blushed. Why did he say that? She wondered.
Leo gave her an embarrassing smile. “Forget I said that,” he said, as he slowly got to his feet. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Before Angel could lift herself up from the bed, Leo already offered his hand to help her. Angel didn’t refuse as she took it, and Leo pulled her up. The two of them stood looking at each other. Angel slowly slipped her hand away from his and scratched the back of her head, looking elsewhere.
“Thanks for the massage,” she said. She couldn’t help but blush. “You’re really good at it.”
“It’s nothing compared to the birthday cake you baked for me,” said Leo. Noticing Angel blush brought a small smile to his face. “So, I should be thanking you, most of all.”
Angel shook her head as she looked at Leo. “I only did what Car—”
“Now, wait a minute,” came a voice at the door of Carly’s room, interrupting Angel before she could finish her sentence.
Angel quickly turned around, and Leo turned his eyes to the door. Standing in the doorway, looking half-drunk and with no shoes on, was Kim.
“Kim, what are you doing here?” Leo asked.
“I was about to ask you two the same question,” said Kim as she smiled sheepishly.
“Kim, you’re drunk right now,” said Leo as he approached her. “You need to sit down. And where are your shoes?” He looked down at her feet.
Kim scoffed and then started to chuckle. “You know what’s so funny right now?” she asked. “Here I am thinking that the two of you were up to no good in here. You know, doing those things that couples do.”
Angel raised an eyebrow. “It’s nothing like that, Kim,” she said.
“Oh, yeah, I know,” said Kim, looking at Angel. “That’s what I thought, until Leo started talking about feet or something. Oh, how nice it would’ve been if I were right.”
“Right about what?” Leo asked, also raising an eyebrow.
Kim looked at Leo, her eyes now starting to go in that drunken gaze. “Oh, you don’t want to know. I was just being delusional as always.”
“Well, I do want to know,” Leo insisted.
“Leo.” Angel came to stand behind him. “We better not ask. Kim is pretty drunk, after all.”
“I am not drunk,” said Kim, slurring her words a little. She looked at Angel before she started to laugh. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“Kim, we need you to come in and sit down,” said Leo.
“No, I’m okay. Don’t worry, I won’t ruin your party. That’s if you won’t tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
“Your girlfriend, Leo. You see, I need a little bit of…” Kim paused, trying to think of a word. “Closure. Yes, yes, that’s the word. Clooosure.”
“You’re not going to get any in the state you’re in,” said Leo as he shook his head.
“Okay. Okay.” Kim started to back up into the hall, raising her hands in surrender. “You won’t tell me, then that’s okay. In one way or another, I will find out who it is.”
“Kim, you don’t have to—” Angel started to make her way towards Kim, but Leo stopped her, shaking his head.
“I better start going back to the party,” said Kim, making her way down the hall. “You and I used to be so good together, Leo. I just wanted to know who this woman is that stole your heart from me.” She hiccupped, slowly making her way. “Is it so wrong… to ask?”
Leo and Angel stepped into the hall, watching Kim. Angel turned to look at Leo.
“We should be helping her,” Angel whispered to him. “Why don’t you want me to do anything?”
“You’ll see,” Leo answered, his eyes on Kim.
“Mark my words, Leo McDonell!” said Kim, this time her voice a little louder, raising her finger in the air. Her step became wobbly now. “I will find out… I will find out who she is, and I will…”
Before Kim could finish her sentence, she almost crashed into the wall, but Leo was already behind her, ready to catch her in his arms. Angel was surprised that Leo was able to reach her that fast.
Leo lifted Kim in his arms and started to make his way back to Carly’s room. Angel followed him back in and watched as he gently put Kim on Carly’s bed. Angel went into Carly’s wardrobe and found a red fleece. She took it, closed the wardrobe, went over to the bed, and covered Kim with the blanket. Leo and Angel looked at Kim, peacefully asleep.
“You knew she was going to pass out, did you?” Angel asked, looking at Leo.
“I dated her for years,” Leo answered, turning to look at Angel. “When she gets this drunk, it’s usually lights out for her. She’s not so strong on the liquor, but there are times when she can stay up and run wild. Thank goodness you didn’t see her reach that stage tonight.”
“We better let her rest, then. Let’s go.”
Angel started to make her way out of the room, and Leo followed. He switched off the lights and closed the door behind him.
The two of them started to make their way down the hall towards the stairs. Not forgetting their pieces of cake, of course. As they made their way down the stairs, Angel couldn’t help but ask:
“Do you think Kim thought the two of us might be having an affair?”
Leo, who walked behind her, stopped on a step. Angel also stopped and turned around to look at Leo. He was just about to put a piece of cake in his mouth when she asked the question. He closed his mouth.
“Kim is delusional, so yes. She must have thought that way for her to say it like she did,” said Leo.
“Well, I’m glad,” said Angel, “that she admitted to herself that she was wrong. If she got the wrong idea, who knows what she was going to say, especially to your mother?”
Leo thought about it. “Then that would be just terrible, and the rumor would spread. You and me, dating? The thought of it is outrageous. Carly and Eric would be the only ones who wouldn’t believe it.”
Angel chuckled as she continued her way down the stairs. “That would be funny to begin with,” she said.
Leo couldn’t help but smile at the thought. He soon started to feel a conflicting feeling in his chest. Why does this bother me so much? he wondered.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mr. Chang appeared from the other side of the hall that led to the study room. Angel and Leo looked at him with surprise.
“Mr. Chang, I thought you left,” said Leo.
“Oh, I came to use the bathroom, but then I got a little lost and started looking around,” Mr. Chang answered.
“You should ask one of the helpers to help you,” said Angel.
“Oh, everyone was so busy in the kitchen that I didn’t want to look like a burden. I did ask for directions, though. But like I said, I got a little lost until I found the bathroom.”
“We’re heading back to the party now,” said Leo. “Let’s pass through the kitchen and get you a piece of cake. You will like it.”
“That would be nice. Please, lead the way.”
Angel did likewise with Leo, and Mr. Chang followed behind them.
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