You... want to drink beer?
You... want to drink beer?
Leo had surprisingly paid him a visit that afternoon so they sat on the balcony and drank as they enjoyed the cool weather.
"It's probably going to rain tonight." Leo noted as he watched the clouds.
"So? Are you planning to do some naughty things tonight?" Richard asked with a wink.
"By naughty things you mean?" Leo asked as he gulped his beer from the can nonchalantly.
"With the crazy girl in your house."
"Mia is not crazy. Are you out of your mind?" Leo asked frowning at Richard.
"Oh really? I remember you used to call her Crazy and say a lot of bad things about her. She's suddenly not crazy and you also take her out on dates?" Richard asked with a teasing smile obviously enjoying the whole thing.
"I know where you are getting at.. but don't get there." Leo said giving him a stink eye. They just kept drinking while Richard kept a smile on his face as he tried not to say anything else.
"Do you think...." Leo paused to think of a better way to ask the question.
"Do you think a guy and a girl who has been friends for a long time can stay locked up inside a room and nothing happens... between them?"
Leo asked Richard curiously. The only answer to that question in his head was "Something definitely would happen between them." But he didn't want to believe that answer.
Richard dropped his beer to look at him curiously. "You want something to happen between you and the crazy– I mean Mia?" Richard asked as he looked at him suspiciously.
"This is not about me and Mia." He said with a glare.
"Then, was Mia together with someone? Because I am sure this has to do with her and that's probably why you look this way."
"What do you mean by that?" Leo asked with a frown.
"Stop acting dumb my dear friend. Or maybe you suddenly became dumb overnight."
"You know what? Just forget I asked you about this." Leo said in annoyance.
"And it definitely has to do with her" Richard muttered to himself as he gulped down his beer.
Leo drank his also and looked lost in his thoughts before Richard pulled him out of it with a question.
"So... when are you going to do it?" Richard asked with a smile on his face.
"What are you talking about?"
"You've forgotten our deal? If you fall in love with Mia after two weeks, you shave your head just like you said. It was obvious you fell in love with her even before the two weeks was over but I was just giving you enough time to prepare yourself for it."
"You are silly!" Leo said angrily as he stood up.
"Have you had sex with her yet?" Richard asked making Leo stop in his tracks.
"I have told you to stop talking about Mia like that to me."
"But you tell me when you've had sex with a chick. You're suddenly no longer a kiss and tell?" Richard asked as he stood up.
"Well, I am not."
"You must really like her, don't you?" He asked with a smile.
"Get lost bastard!" Leo said as he left Richard's house.
*************
It was almost 5pm by the time he arrived home. He saw Mia's shoes immediately he entered and knew she was in.
To his surprise, Tara ran to greet him and he squatted down to pat her head.
"You are finally doing alright." He said with a smile as he carried her in his arms and rubbed her head while she tried to lick his face.
Before he left the house that afternoon, she had still been a bit down and he considered taking her back to his parent's house so she could feely run around when she felt bored instead of being stuck inside his house all day.
But he was happy to see her all bubbly. He wondered Mia's reaction when she bumped into a healthy Tara.
He looked at her door and saw the door slowly open before her head came into view.
She looked a bit surprised when their eyes locked since she had wanted to just take a peek as he walked towards his room.
"Hi!" She greeted nervously.
"Hi. How was classes?" He asked.
"Good. Great even." She said before tucking her lips in awkwardly.
"Is something wrong?" He asked her when he saw her face. He could tell she wanted to say something so he moved closer to her door.
"Uhm... nothing. Nothing at all." She said shaking her head.
She couldn't bring herself to tell him. It was embarrassing. Was she supposed to say "Hey Leo, have some dance practice with me where you have to touch my body and let me touch yours." It would sound really weird and creepy.
"Are you sure there's nothing?" He asked again.
"There is noth.... you have some beer in the fridge right? Do you want to hang out later... in the kitchen? I mean.. not hang-out hang-out but hang-out drinking... in.. kitchen.." Her lips snapped shut and she furrowed her brows when she realised she wasn't making any sense.
She was always confident when speaking with people but for some reason, she always lost her voice when speaking with him.
*Woof woof*
"Oh my God!"
Tara barked making Mia jump in shock since she hadn't really been paying attention to the dog.
Leo continued to look at her as he patted Tara's head to stop her from scaring Mia.
"So... let me get this straight... you are asking me out on a date... in my kitchen?" He asked wrinkling his brows.
"No.. no.. no..!" She said raising her hands. "It's not a date. It's more like a... uhm.. we usually drink together most nights.... right?"
She asked when he continued to look at her with a straight face.
"But you've never asked me to hang out with you inside the kitchen except you are suddenly missing my company now." He said while trying not to smile. He enjoyed her reaction to his teases. It wasn't something he got to see everyday.
"I... just want to drink beer." She said in resignation.
"You... want to drink beer?" He asked in surprise. That was the last thing he expected to hear from her.
"Yea. But it's fine. You don't have to. In fact, I suddenly feel really sleepy. Good night!" She said in a hurry before shutting her door.
Leo looked at her door and looked down at Tara who was also looking at the door with a confused face. Even Tara didn't seem to understand her.
"You also think she is adorable, don't you?" He smiled and said to Tara in a quiet voice before knocking on her door.
He didn't wait for her to say anything before he said.. "I'll be down in 5 minutes. We should also prepare something to eat. I'm starving." He said and chuckled as he walked to his room.
Mia pulled her hair and she bit her lower lip when he walked away from her door.
"Why did you have to act like an idiot in front of him?" She cried before covering her face with her hands in embarrassment.
***********
"Here is some milk for you." Leo said as he poured Tara some milk. "And I'm just going to leave the door open so you can run around. Sorry for being locked up in here all day. I promise you, I'm going to take you out on a date tomorrow. Okay?" He said to Tara as she lapped on her milk happily.
He was just about taking off his clothes when he remembered the door was open.
A naughty thought suddenly popped into his head prompting him to get on with what he wanted to do but he laughed and shook his head.
"No, I can't do that." He said to himself while waving his hands with a sheepish smile plastered on his face.
"I really can't do that. She is going to get flustered if she sees me coming out of the shower."
He contined to talk to himself and smile like a crazy person until he looked down and saw Tara sitting with her head cocked to the side and she looked at him while wondering if he had suddenly gone crazy.
Leo cleared his throat awkwardly and the smile quickly left his face when he realised he had just been acting so unlike 'Leo King'. He picked up a clean short and shirt and was just about to go get a warm shower when his phone rang.
Mira? Why was she calling him? He wondered as he took the call.
"Hello Mia's handsome housemate." Mira said with a giggle.
"And hello to... Mia's friend." He said awkwardly as his imagination began to run wild.
By chance did Mira like him and wanted to snatch him away from Mia just like it happened in the movies and novels? A frown formed on his face as he thought about it.
"Why did you call?" He asked.
"Because we need your help."
"'We'? Who's 'We'?" He asked curiously.
"Mia and everyone who cares about Mia."
Okay, he didn't think she wanted to snatch him from Mia. So was this by chance related to the money Mia owed?
"What is it?" He asked sitting up.
"Well, the thing is.. we know Mia is going to be too shy to ask so I am calling to tell you about it directly."
'Definitely about the money.' He thought within himself.
"Alright... I'm listening.." He said.
But he hadn't expected what actually came next.
Dance?