"Louis?!", Beatrice shouted. Louis raised his eyebrows and smiled at her.
"Yeah? Didn't you recognize me at the cafeteria? Or do you usually greet strangers like that?", he jokingly said to Beatrice.
"Silly, of course I recognized you.", Beatrice said then she fixed her hair. After all, she was not expecting to see him again.
"Anyways, how are you? Still dating Kai?",Louis asked, then he grabbed his cigarette. He signalled it to Beatrice to ask if she's okay with him smoking.
She nodded and answered his question, "We're still dating. He is on a business trip right now and that guy is still not calling me."
Beatrice nervously looked at Louis' reaction. His eyebrows became furrowed but he just shrugged his shoulders then said, "Well, they must be busy. Enough about him, aren't you going to ask about me?", he said then winked at Beatrice.
'Flirty as always', Beatrice thought to herself. She knew what kind of person Louis was. He has been a womanizer ever since high school. She's known more because aside from being classmates, they also became seatmates for 3 months before the quarterly rearranging of their seats. He talks like that to all girls but he is only touchy to girls he is interested with. He placed boundaries to girls that he wants to be friends with that's why Beatrice is comfortable with him.
"Well, how are you doing lately Mr. Louis?", Beatrice asked him while jokingly bowing at him.
Louis acted high and mighty in response to Beatrice's joke then he said, "Well, my father decided to let me in the operation and now, you will frequently see me. Well not really frequently, but at least once a month. Aside from that, you know my activities."
Beatrice nodded while laughing. They both know what kind of activities Louis is referring to.
"I heard you're an Admin Officer here. How's the pay here?", Louis asked Beatrice.
Beatrice closed her eyes and shook her head. Louis got what she meant so both of them started laughing again.
"Aren't you thinking of resigning then?", Louis asked.
"The house that we're renting is near here. Soooo, it saves a lot of money on transportation.", Beatrice explained to him.
Louis smoked again then he put out his cigarette immediately.
"Already done?", Beatrice asked.
"Well, I don't want you to inhale the smoke.", Louis said.
"Kai even smokes around me.", Beatrice said while signaling that she doesn't mind him smoking.
Louis sighed and shook his head. He said, "Still, no."
"Okay, your call.", Beatrice said.
After a little bit of awkward silence and side glances, Louis broke the silence by asking the question that he has been meaning to ask.
"If you're dating for 9 years, do you plan on marrying Kai soon?"Louis asked, then he glanced at Beatrice's face.
When he saw the change in her expression, on how her smile was replaced with a serious expression, he wanted to punch himself from 10 seconds ago.
"I want to get married. But I am still waiting for him.", she told Louis. Perhaps because Louis is easy to talk to, that's why she can easily talk about what she's really feeling.
She has never said that thing to her colleagues, even though she is bombarded with their curious questions.
'Such an awkward topic, you dumbass Louis.', Louis thought to himself. He wanted to apologize so hard to Beatrice but he also doesn't want her to feel pitied.
"If he does not propose, I will look for someone else.", Beatrice said while laughing. She stopped laughing when she saw Louis' confused face.
"Of course, that's a joke!", she said, then she pinched Louis' sides.
"Ouch! Of course, of course!", he said while grabbing the place where Beatrice pinched him.
When they heard Beatrice's alarm, they decided to separate ways.
"Here's hoping to see you soon again!", Louis said then he offered a hug to Beatrice.
Beatrice scratched her head and gave in to the hug her previous classmate was offering.
"See you soon, Louis.",she said, then he waved his hand to her.
After her duty that day, Beatrice decided to take the long route to get to their home.
'No one is waiting for me anyways.',she said then she glanced at her phone. She opened her chat with Kai. The last message is from her reply to his update that they're eating lunch.
Still, only a few messages from him.
She sighed.
It feels like she knows where this is going but she doesn't want to face it yet. It feels like she has been preventing all of this from happening since she doesn't fight with him even though she is being treated like that.
She went inside the newly opened convenience store near their office. She glanced at the different sections and walked through them while glancing at the products.
She stopped when she saw the brand of cigarette that Kai was smoking across the counter.
"Oh please don't tell me you're going to try smoking."
She turned her head to the person who said that. It was none other Louis.
"Silly, what makes you think I will be smoking? I just saw the brand that Kai smokes.", Beatrice said then she turned her head away from Louis.
"He smokes that thing? Eew. That smells and tastes like sh*t.",Louis whispered.
"What is a rich guy even doing at a convenience store? ", Beatrice asked.
"To buy cigarettes and canned beer.",Louis said, then he showed his can of beer to Beatrice.
Beatrice grabbed the pack of cigarettes that Louis is holding.
"Then does this taste good?", Beatrice asked.
"Still, no. But better than the thing your husband is inhaling. Just take a puff from mine if you're curious.", Louis said then he paid for the cigarettes and beer.
Louis handed one cigarette to Beatrice. Beatrice put the cigarette on her mouth and Louis instantly lit it. When Beatrice coughed, Louis immediately took the cigarette and patted her back.
"Tastes weird. Next one, please.", she said then she pointed at the beer.
Louis closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Nope.", he said.
'How destructive', he thought.
"Don't worry, I've tried drinking. A little bit.", Beatrice said.
"What happened after that?", Louis asked.
"I don't like the taste so I vomited.", Beatrice asked.
Louis sighed then handed his canned beer, "Just a taste then", he said.
Beatrice took a sip and her eyes lit up.
"This is actually a good one? Is this apple-flavored?", Beatrice asked.
"Yup, apple-flavored. They also have different flavors but are you a lightweight drinker? Or???", Louis asked.
"I don't know", Beatrice plainly answered.
"Yup, let me have that one too.", Louis said then he took the beer from Beatrice's hand.
After that they decided to sit down on one of the convenience store chairs.
"So, what's happening with your relationship?", Louis asked. All the jolly and easy-going vibes that he had were now gone. He looked at Beatrice's direction and was shocked to see..
..Beatrice is now crying.
"I think Kai is cheating on me."