Belinda examined Daisy closely, smirking. She was hard to read at this moment.
"Is there anything wrong with me? Why are you staring at me?" Daisy said while pulling up the collar of her blouse, trying to hide the love marks that Edward gave her. She wondered what Belinda possibly saw. "It's too late. You can't hide those, anyway. Uh-huh! So how many times did you do it last night?" Belinda asked in a low voice, suddenly leaning close to Daisy. Her evil smile clearly showed what was on her mind.
She blushed immediately. She was hoping to hide her love bites with a high-collared blouse, but it was to little avail. Belinda noticed them right away.
"Belinda, you're so obscene!" Daisy was speechless. What a dirty mind!
"Huh! Why do you simply criticize me? Your Edward is a brute. Do you know what time it is?" Belinda sipped her coffee. Huh! She remembered Edward had hung up her. She hoped Daisy would call back. She waited a long time for Daisy to give her a ring.
"It's not even 1 pm. Still early." Daisy blurted out the lame remark, but she tried to make light of it with her tone.
"Yes! Of course! Early, if you like exercising late at night!" Belinda sneered at Daisy. She found Daisy much more attractive than before. 'Maybe the magic power of love?' she thought. 'If she could be more enthusiastic she'd be the perfect woman.' 'What's wrong with Belinda? Why is she all of sudden mocking me? Was it something she ate? Why is she so harsh to me today?' Daisy wondered.
"Just go ahead and laugh. You won't be so full of laughter when it's your turn." Daisy squinted at Belinda and took a sip of coffee, rather relaxed.
"Huh! Unlikely!" Belinda said, disapproval coloring her voice. 'I'm totally different from this lovestruck fool. I would never be caught up in an erotic situation. It wouldn't stop me from being me.' Belinda thought.
"What about Mr. Cold?" Daisy raised her eyebrows and smirked. She watched Belinda's face closely to see her reaction. "Who is Mr. Cold?" Belinda asked in bewilderment. She couldn't think of anyone that appellation referred to.
"You know. Who else would it be? Leena was calling you sis-in-law all day yesterday. Come on..." Daisy sneered. She was annoyed at Belinda, and wanted to make her pay for ribbing her about being late.
"Wait! Duke? No way! We barely know each other." Belinda shook her head in disapproval. But secretly, she did find the man intriguing.
"Really? I think he's very interested in you, Belinda." Yesterday, Daisy caught Duke staring amorously at Belinda the whole night. And he seemed pretty confident around her, too.
"Cut it out, Daisy!" Belinda lost it when she heard that Duke was interested in her. "Think of the possibilities." Daisy answered, totally flip about the situation. She continued to sip her coffee leisurely. "There won't be any possibilities. By the way, where is Justin? Why didn't you bring him with you?" Belinda asked Daisy in an accusatory tone. She was disappointed. She wanted to spend some time with the little guy.
"He didn't want to go along. He said he'd get bored." Daisy replied. When she mentioned her son, her tone became very soft and gentle. She still remembered his insistence on not going with her on this morning. His dad was entertaining some big clients, and golf sounded more fun to Justin.
"Wow, what a haughty boy! He'd get bored shopping with women? So would he be happier shopping with men?" Belinda felt irritated by Justin's choice. She blurted out these words without thinking. 'Such a little devil! The little boy is annoying! Like father, like son! They're both heartbreakers!' Belinda thought.
"It's his father's influence. He's stayed with Edward for too long." Daisy said. She was also very upset about this. She felt that Justin was not as happy to be around her as before. He seemed to be more comfortable with Edward. When she saw his smiles around Edward, she wondered if she was wrong for depriving the boy of father's love.
"So what happened between you and Edward? I thought you were separated. You haven't seen each other for years." Belinda asked. 'Both Edward and Daisy thought that their paths would never cross. But what got them together again?' Belinda wondered. "I didn't expect this. It just happened. All I wanted was for him to be happy, but my desire to be close to him eclipsed all that." Daisy smiled with self-mockery. She took a sip of her coffee, feeling depressed. Belinda patted Daisy on the shoulder to comfort her friend. She now understood her heart. She remembered that Daisy gave up her major in painting because of a casual word from Edward. And she loved painting! And her irresponsible father agreed to finance her overseas study, as long as she never returned to the house.
"Belinda, do you think that I'm silly? I desperately fell in love with Edward, even though I was sure nothing would come of it. But all these years, loving him become a habit. If I stopped loving him one day, it's only because my heart stop beating. Daisy said this words to Belinda calmly. Her gaze was hollow and distant.
"Does Edward know how you feel? Belinda felt very sad now. A lump form in her throat, her eyes burned from tears that started forming. If it were her, she'd just let the man know her feelings, and see what he had to say.
I don't know. I never thought about telling him. But if he doesn't love me, then hope would die in me, along my pride and self esteem,. Daisy said. She thought, if one day Edward really fell in love with her, she would tell him that there was a girl who grew up with secret love for him. She grew stronger in her firm belief, and matured with the passing days, missing him the whole time.