"Babe, you don't need my permission. Do what you want. Of course Patricia can stay here awhile. But if she ran away from home, what about her family? Aren't they worried?" Kevin straightened his back and asked, feeling a bit worried. He didn't want any drama.
"That's alright. I have already gone behind her back and told her family she would be staying with me. So they won't worry too much." Leena sported a big grin after hearing that Kevin didn't mind Patricia staying with them. She didn't have to worry anymore.
"That's good. She can stay as long as she wants. Now you have someone to talk to when I'm at work." Kevin also stopped worrying. As a soldier, he didn't like the thought of Patricia's parents looking for their daughter and worrying about her constantly just because she ran away from home. Not only that, but she'd be staying at his house. So that was one less thing he had to worry about.
"Yeah! As long as she doesn't bug you." Leena put her arms around Kevin from behind and gave him a back hug. She pressed her face into Kevin's back. She felt very safe and at peace with Kevin here. There was nothing better.
"I'm good. Besides, you know I'm busy. I'm never home." Kevin wasn't even surprised at her sudden affectionate behavior this time. Maybe he was already used to her being like this. Which was good, because sometimes he wanted a little affection. So he just lifted the corners of his mouth into a soft smile. He was indeed very happy.
"Thank you! Honey, you're the best!" Leena rarely said sweet things like this, and she wasn't used to calling Kevin 'honey.' Apparently she really cared about what Kevin thought and was very happy that he agreed.
"Yeah? Just now you realize that I'm the best, huh?" Kevin wiped his hands on the towel and hung it back up. Then he held her cold small hands in his.
No! I mean, I always know that you're the best." Leena wanted time to stop, so they could be like this, holding each other forever. She didn't need to worry about who Kevin loved, or if he would treat her badly. She just wanted to cherish this precious moment. And the moment's warmth was enough for her.
Oh, yeah? Then how do you plan to repay me, Nana?" Kevin had a teasing smirk on his face, looking at Leena with mirth in his eyes. She knew exactly what he was hinting at.
"Kevin! You're ruining the mood." Leena pinched him hard on his waist. And at the same time, a beautiful blush appeared on her face. She knew she was beautiful, and so did he.
Ahem! Sorry to interrupt you two, but I was wondering, where's the coffee? I can't find it -- ah. I did a bad thing. I can see it in your eyes." Though Patricia apologized, she looked straight at the two of them without shame. It seemed that she didn't feel guilty for interrupting at all. That was Patricia.
"Um. I'll go find it for you!" Leena suddenly let go of her hands that were holding Kevin's waist, blushing furiously. She raced out of the room.
You did this on purpose, I gather?" Kevin turned his head and leaned on the glass counter, looking at Patricia with intense interest in this gaze. He had some idea why she did this.
"Yeah, you're right. Get this, soldier boy: Whether you love Leena or not, treat her right. If you ever hurt her, I'll make your life miserable, soldier or not." Patricia looked at Kevin with dangerous eyes. She was arrogant. But it was understandable. Leena was her best friend, after all. He didn't know if she'd be able to hurt him, but he knew she'd try, and that was all he needed to know.
"Okay. I promise I'll never hurt her. Satisfied?" Kevin wasn't mad about Patricia's words, because he knew that only the ones who cared deeply for Leena would warn him like this. And he was happy that Leena had such a good friend who could watch her back. That way he didn't have to worry about her so much when he wasn't around.
"Yeah, I'm glad you said that. I have your word as a soldier, right?" Patricia asked again, still a bit suspicious. In her eyes, nobody could ever hurt Leena, even if it was her husband. She would do everything to protect her best friend. And if somebody hurt Leena, she would definitely make them pay for it. She wasn't fooling around, and all it would take was the wrong word in the right ear to make it happen.
"My word as an officer." He nodded as he said this. "By the way, I want to ask you something. Why did you set my wife up with your friend?" Kevin pursed his lips and looked at Patricia with teasing eyes. He kind of knew, but he wanted to hear it from her.
"What friend? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." As she said this, she just remembered. Patricia looked around and avoided Kevin's gaze. How could she be so stupid and forget about this? Things got awkward all of a sudden. How could she justify this? She really didn't know Leena was married. She searched her mind for the right words.
"You don't know? Really? If I remember right, the guy's name is Summer something? Or Winter?" Kevin said slowly. It seemed that he really cared about what happened, or he wouldn't have remembered the man's name. But why was he grilling her? Her face reddened.
"Oh! You mean him! That was an accident! Really! Sorry, I'm not feeling well. I must have eaten too much." Patricia rushed out of the room after she finally got the words out. She didn't want to admit that she had intentionally set Leena up with another guy, or she would basically be admitting that she tried to break up a military marriage. She was pretty sure Kevin knew that she didn't know Leena was already married. But she didn't want to continue his line of questioning. After all, she just threatened Kevin, and she wasn't sure if he would easily let this go. This was his way of telling her that in a contest with him, she'd lose every time. So she was smart enough to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about and get the heck out.
Kevin shook his head helplessly at Patricia's back. He couldn't help but smile at her behavior. He thought that she was tough and arrogant. All those big words talking about making him pay. But he shooed her off pretty quickly. Just a few words were enough to make her leave him alone.