"I'm not a kid anymore. Why would I worry about that?" Claire raised her head from her magazine and took a look at Leena. When she saw Leena's ugly black dress, she frowned, but said nothing. She was done teasing her, so she just went back to reading her magazine again.
"Well then, I'm off. See you tonight!"
It was so weird. Leena got so used to Claire saying mean things that she almost missed it. But she also felt pretty good not have to fend off her insults.
"Bye,"
Claire said lazily, and didn't even look up again. She just continued to randomly turn pages untill she found an article she liked. And Leena didn't care anyway. She left the house in a good mood. She thought she might need to take a little extra time to deal with Claire. Claire had a way of stopping you just so you could listen to more of her crap. What she didn't expect was that Claire hadn't done that today. So she saved a lot of time.
Leena showed up at the coffee shop like she promised. But where was Patricia Bai? Maybe she was early? Nevertheless, she looked around until she found a seat near the window. From this vantage point, she would see Patricia when she came in.
Excuse me, are you Leena Leng?" said a decidedly masculine voice. A little confused, Leena looked up at the guy.
"Yes, do I know you?" Leena frowned and asked him curiously. He wasn't bad looking. But there were guys that looked a lot more handsome than him. Besides, she had Kevin, and he was the only one she needed.
"Hi! I am Patricia's friend, Summer Xia. Happy to meet you. Mind if I sit here?" Summer asked. He put away the photo he had of Leena. He was using it to try and figure out who he should talk to. He was glad he found the right person, though her picture looked prettier than the girl who was here now.
"Nice to meet you, too. Please have a seat." Leena tried to smile at him, and managed a weak one. What kind of name was 'Summer' for a man? It was usually a girl's name. She wanted to laugh, but this wasn't the time or place. She cursed Patricia inwardly. What the hell did that girl do now? Wasn't this supposed to be Patricia's blind date? So where was she? And why did she act so mysterious?
"Patricia told me about you. She said you were hot, and you are hot." The man named Summer Xia sat down elegantly opposite her. He almost had a noble bearing.
"Ha ha! Thank you for your praising! I don't think Patricia's here yet, though." Leena just smiled at him. She was surprised to hear that Patricia said anything nice about her. She was always critiquing her makeup, or pointing out her "problem areas." So that was nice of her to tell him she was hot.
"She's probably at home! She hasn't told you? I asked her to introduce you to me." Summer shot Leena a confused look. Patricia was always going on about how beautiful Leena was, and how kind she was. So he told Patricia that he wanted to get to know this kind and beautiful girl.
"What? So it's not a blind date for her, but for me?" She said it louder than she intended, but it was such a shock. Patricia had lied to her. But why? She was already married! She did think it weird that Patricia's mom would force her to go on a blind date. That was the story she fed Leena. When she stopped to think about it, Patricia's mom was a little more progressive than that. So Patricia set her up.
It is not as serious as a blind date. We can just get to know each other. Are you thirsty? I'll help you order." Summer was warm and enthusiastic. He was really excited about his date with this sweet, lovely girl. Leena felt like running away screaming, but she kept her cool.
"I think we've gotten to know each other. We don't need to order coffee," Leena said. She lowered her head and felt depressed. It was her blind date, not Patricia's. She'd been lured here against her will. How could she have coffee with another man? Particularly he was with romance in mind. She was already married.
Why? Do you have something else to do? Or have I creeped you out already?" Summer gave her a playful smile. He could see that Leena deliberately dressed up to look like a sensible adult, eschewing fashion, hoping to make Patricia look better next to her. But sometimes, she still seemed immature. The little girl inside her couldn't help but show her face every once in awhile.
"Uh...yes. Yes, I have something else to do." Leena nodded rapidly. Would he believe her? She needed an escape plan. This was not what she signed up for at all.
"I see how you are.
You want to go home because you hate me!" Summer regarded Leena's embarrassed expression. He smiled sadly. She was lovely. And he could obviously know what she was feeling. She didn't know how to hide her emotions and he knew she was uncomfortable. How she felt was written all over her face.
"Okay, just stop. I've only just met you. I haven't known you long enough to hate you. Hell, I don't hate anybody." Leena smiled back. She calmed down after he said this. She learned to hide her real thoughts from Kevin, but she didn't need to do that here. Did he really think she'd fall for it? He was just pretending. He was trying to get sympathy and trying to get her to stay. She wondered if he were smart enough to figure out she wasn't buying it.
"Does that mean you'll at least have coffee with me?" Summer did a little victory dance in his heart. Being pitiful was something he was good at. All he had to do was look at her with those puppy-dog eyes, and Leena changed her mind instantly. What he didn't know was that she had already seen through his tricks. It was too early to congratulate himself.