Laurice noticed the stifling silence around the room and caught a glance of a dumbfounded woman who was looking at her intently as if she was seeing and hearing things for the very first time. Her face was filled with shock, confusion and unbelievable excitement.
Clearly, she was being outrageously misunderstood by her.
Catherine: "You ... Well, how ... was it?" She stummered. Her face now completely looked even more animated. She was grinning from ear to ear.
Great.
Her friend's imagination is just as wild as her own personality, but it was as if she could not take such an explosive news from her personally, not that there was any to such extent. Still, she did not even want to look inside her brain which probably only had carnal thoughts instore.
'How was it, eh?'
A mischievous glint flashed across her mind. Laurice thought about teasing Cathy a bit to see her final reaction. She knew her friend has a tendency to exaggerate a lot when telling stories and felt it was her golden chance to turn the tables around.
"Hmm. It was marvelous dear." Laurice looked rather sinister. She looked sensual and alluring. Her voice was low and as clear as water. It was slowly penetrating and unknowingly creating ripples to Cathy's heart. It was feeding her imagination a lot of ideas while Laurice was utterly weirded out and helpessly worried about her friend's gullible behavior. 'Does she look that convincing to her? Or does she looked rather wasted, guilty and sinful?'
"Was he ... that good?" Cathy gulped in expectation. "Was it ... huge? I mean, how ... was he in bed?" She was whispering in her stance and almost choke on her words.
Laurice: " ... "
Laurice felt her face was heating up and her body was slowly reacting with Cathy's incessant bantering. She could not believe she'll be affected by a mere question making her appear even more guilty to the point that it made Cathy shrieked in an unspoken anticipation.
"Aaaahhh! My God, Liz. You've gone that far already? How long did it go? How many times did you c**?" Cathy was fanning her face which was also burning in complete enthusiasm.
Laurice could not believe she was having this conversation with her. It was getting absurd by the minute.
'Do people normally ask such explicit questions?'
How the he*l will she supposed to know how long 'that thing' was? Does she have to actually measure? With her hands, perhaps? Ridiculous.
And would she even remember how many times she came?
'Damn.'
She was half innocent alright, if there was ever such a thing since they did not go all the way anyway. Laurice felt the experience was rather lacking she would not be able to answer her.
'Wait. What?'
'Why the he*l does she have to answer?!!'
"Did you perhaps do it ... somewhere else?" Cathy sheepishly asked. She was even more persistent. It seems she wanted to know everything in complete detail.
Laurice felt a headache building up. "Hold the thought!!" She yelled. She could not take it anymore. She does not want to hear another uncensored question from her. Laurice gritted her gritted and added, "Nothing happened, okay?"
Cathy was confused for one second and suddenly felt her intense seriousness about the matter. She thought she got excited for nothing. It seems her friend had only gotten herself some puppy love and platonic connection with some unknown guy.
'Bummer!'
Catherine sneered at her and said, "Hmp! Boring. So, are you together or not? Honey, if he's such a boring guy then may i suggest that you turn him down right this instant. You needed more vibrance in your life. That's right, more vibrance." She was smirking after she spoke making Laurice feel more uncomfortable. She thought Cathy had already recovered but she was mistaken. Her friend seemed to be imagining a whole different side of another story.
Laurice believed Catherine wasn't a liberated woman but she was too straightforward for her own good. The woman loves exploration and was deeply fascinated about a lot of things. Her creative mind may be a bit too much but it helped her the most in her career. She can literally pick up inspiration from small talks that eventually helped her create her own piece of art. She also has great PR ability which is absolutely necessary in her field of work. And this is exactly what Laurice loves the most about her. Catherine was so passionate it was enviable. She was bright and engaging and never loses interest and focus on whatever she is passionate about. Unlike her who is apathetic and have little faith on her own ability.
...
Sensing the change in her aura, Catherine took the seat right next to her and did a hundred and eighty.
They were back to normal and are both in deep thought.
Cathy broke the silent and gloomy ambience and spoke in a serious tone, "Your mother called me. Well, her assistant did."
This was a different kind of confrontation.
Laurice did not intend to involve her friend with her family issues but she was somehow inflicted now. Her mother was probably monitoring both their actions since that call. Laurice believed her mother would go to such heights just so she could achieve her purpose. She felt she needed to respond as soon as possible and warn her mother not to meddle with her own personal affairs anymore.
The mood around Laurice was even more gloomy now.
She looked at her friend with a distressed expression and sincerely apologized, "I know. I'm sorry about that Cat. She ... was quite rash."
"Don't worry about me, Liz. I'm fine. Besides, she didn't threatened me or anything. She just asked me where you are. I'm actually more worried about you." There was gentleness and worry in Cathy's voice. "So, what are your plans?" She added.
"What else? I don't exactly plan and desire to succeed her but she obviously wanted to keep me around. I can only oblige." Laurice uttered half-heartedly. She do prefers to work with their company but under her mother's keen eye and pressure, she knew better that the task and obligation won't be that easy. Her mother probably refused to see her empire crumble down in her own daughter's hands.
"That, i believe you can do flawlessly, Liz. You're an intelligent woman and you're extremely talented and outstanding but, if i ... may brazenly ask you now ... "
After a long pause, Cathy continued, " ... is this truly your heart's desire? Is this want you really want, Liz? You know nothing can stop you to do what you truly wanted in life. Not even your mother. So why? And why did you even come back?" Catherine felt she knew nothing about the present Laurice. She wanted to ask her a lot of things.
Laurice gave a slight pat on her hands that was holding her left arm. Her expressions softened. Her clear eyes was staring sullenly at her with a tinge of recognition of her apparent concern.
With a low voice she spoke, "This is my choice, Cathy. You have nothing to worry about. I'm going to be alright. Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it. I will always, always be grateful to you Cat." Laurice assured her but did not elaborate. Catherine did not want to pressure her friend who was already having a tough time and had already made the decision herself. She can only support her on the sidelines.
Catherine heaved a deep sigh, held her hands and told her, "Alright, i have faith in you. But don't forget that you can always rely on me. You can tell me anything, okay?"
Laurice smiled at her and said, "Okay."