"This is crazy! Don't tell me that he is your old flame! No, no, it's impossible. It is true that he is a womanizer but I don't think that a man as eligible as him would ever set eyes on a woman like you." Claire muttered with contempt as she crossed her arms over her chest. She then gently stroked her chin while mentally sizing Leena up, looking thoughtful.
"Sorry Claire, but please watch your tongue about this." Different from her calm demeanor, Leena replied with displeasure as she took the food out of their microwave. She might be able to laugh it off if Claire only taunted her, but how she said it just now was a pure insult. That attack was way under the belt and even too personal.
"I won't keep making wild guesses if you don't make a mystery of it. You can save yourself the trouble by simply telling me the truth," Claire said annoyedly and then pouted. She found Leena's reaction a bit surprising as she seldom uttered harsh words. The reaction she begot from Leena made her think that she did something wrong though she was just curious about it.
Forget it. Let's have breakfast," Leena finally said after taking a deep breath secretly to calm herself. She too had realized that she was acting emotionally just now. But any ordinary person could lose his or her temper if offended constantly and unreasonably by others.
"So you are pissed off? But I thought that you have a good temper, don't you?" A smirk played on Claire's lips upon noticing that Leena's face darkened. She had always believed that Leena was just pretending to be a nice person. She wasn't expecting to blow her cover so easily though.
"No, I'm not. I'm afraid that you have read me wrong. Come and join me before the food gets cold again." Leena gave her sister-in-law a fake smile while pushing a plate towards Claire. She did feel very upset about Claire's words but then, managed to act like she didn't take them seriously.
"Where are you going after breakfast?" Claire took a huge bite of the bun and asked with her mouth full. She read Leena's expression very carefully and knew that she was actually quite displeased.
"There is not much food left so I need to do some shopping. You can come along if you are free," replied Leena in a calmer tone. She gradually cooled down when Claire changed the topic. She went back to swaying herself that the woman before her was Kevin's little sister, thus she should be the bigger person between them since she was the wife of her elder brother. She should never have made a fuss about Claire's thoughtless words.
"What? So you are going to the wet market? I'm not going then." Claire exclaimed. She shuddered at the thought of the smelly, messy and dirty environment of the market. In her opinion, the market was a place for old women and never a place for girls who cared much about their looks. It was not for her! Not to mention that she had dressed up a little bit today.
"No, I'm going to the supermarket," Leena responded. She never liked the market too and some might criticize her as a spoiled person because of it. It was given that she was an army wife but apart from it, she had been raised and pampered as a cherished little princess. A princess didn't have to be perfect, so it was just natural for her to be picky sometimes.
"Alright, then. I will go with you if you don't mean the dingy local market," Claire changed her mind at once. After all, the supermarket was fundamentally different from the wet market. For her, a supermarket was way cleaner than a wet market and a good place for entertainment.
Great. It just so happens that there's a lot to buy today. Can you help me carry the goods later?" asked Leena with a faint devious smile. It was to her delight that Claire decided to go with her. The girl might be a bit naughty but nonetheless, she could still serve as free labor. Otherwise, Leena was afraid that she could get her hands twisted or even swollen by buying so many things.
"No problem," Claire agreed readily. "But I need to remind you that I can't offer to pay the bills yet. You know about my situation, I have no job yet since I'm unemployed. You don't expect me to have much money to spare, right? Speaking of which, why do you have time to go shopping at this time of the day? Shouldn't you go to work?" Claire asked in confusion. Claire remembered hearing Leena telling her mother that she had work the other day in the capital city.
"Oh, my working time is relatively flexible. I'm literally regulated by no one," was Leena's humble reply. As a designer, she was given the freedom to define her own working hours. What she said to Claire was simply the truth.
"No way! How come there is such a wonderful job? I bet they won't pay you much for this kind of light work," Her sister-in-law's answer made Claire grimace. Her surprise quickly turned into disapproval as she thought that she would never settle for such a type of job if it paid low.
Well...the salary is not bad. It is enough to cover my expenses," said Leena casually while grabbing a tissue. She then wiped her mouth elegantly after her meal. Leena couldn't care less about money since she had no lack of it. That was the reason why she didn't mind about how much she was earning from her current job.
Yeah, I can tell it from your tastes," teased Claire as she cast a glance at Leena's nightgown. The dress was quite tasteless from her point of view, thus, she couldn't help but wonder exactly what was it about Leena that had attracted her brother.
"I've got to go upstairs and change. Wait for me for a while, will you? I will be right back." Turning a deaf ear to Claire's words, Leena rose up and walked away. She knew very well that Claire was challenging her but she said nothing to fight back. She already made peace with it as she understood that being serious with Claire would only drive her crazy.