"Desir, you… Are you hiding a girl?"
"..."
I fell silent and locked eyes with Len. Like two manes ready to lock horns, both of us stared each other down, neither willing to back down. I knew that I had to spin a lie and a believable one at that.
Of course, I could just tell Len about Althea… not.
There's no way in hell I'm going to let Len find out about Althea. Just imagining the constant teasing that I would go through… I would rather go to hell.
"Don't be stupid, Len," I replied as dismissively as I possibly could. "You know my stance on relationships. Why would I bring a girl over to my apartment?"
"But what about..."
"The mug was a gift that came with a cereal box that I'd bought. It was a waste to throw it away, so I'd kept it around but never used it."
"What about the new smell?"
"... Have you ever been in the gym? I've been working out every day, and my apartment will reek of sweat immediately afterwards. Since it's winter, I can't open my windows for long, so I bought some air fresheners to spring up the place. As for the hair..."
Good… First two lies completed. Now for the tricky part.
"It must be Sienna's, and you'd accidentally brought it over. I'd never seen that strand of hair in my life."
"..."
"..."
Len alternated his gaze between the strand of hair in his hands and my own face. There was an awkward silence, and I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. The blonde Adonis squinted his eyes before falling deep into thought.
Did I do it?
"You're right… Maybe some of Sienna's hair got onto my clothes without me realising it."
Jackpot!
"Besides, you were locked inside your apartment for two months. Unless you've learnt how to summon spirits, there's no way that you could find a girl."
"Haha… You're right..."
Conveniently, Len was fooled by his own logic as well. To be fair, I had been single for my entire life, and Len knew how much I repel women. There was no way he would link Althea to me, even if he had a million guesses.
"Don't be dejected! If you really want a girl, I'll introduce some to you! There are plenty of single ladies in Sienna's workplace. Many of them are dying for a man like you!"
"Hah… You really don't know when to stop, do you?"
"I'm serious! Let's go out to dinner someday, and I'll ask Sienna to bring a girl or two. I'm sure that you would like them!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Shaking my head, I passed one game controller to the blonde busybody before saying: "So are we going to do this or not? While you were doing arts and craft, I was honing my skills in War Defence."
"Hoho? So you think you can beat me?"
"I don't think..." I opened a can of beer before smiling with my chest puffed out. "I know!"
"Big talk! Alright then, let's see what you've got!"
Seeing the man turn his attention to the television, I did a mental fistbump. I was able to avert my greatest crisis yet.
❖❖❖
As expected, Len stayed the night.
It was just like the old times before the pandemic struck. We played games, drank beer and talked about our daily life. Since mine was mostly mundane, it was Len who did most of the talking.
Well, it was mostly complaints about his girlfriend and other random stuff that I could never comprehend. Still, it was nice to catch up with the man who could be considered my best friend.
And honestly… How the hell does he stay so good at games?! The man has a girlfriend that lives with him and a full-time job! How the hell did he win twenty out of twenty-six games?!
… Some people are just built differently.
As I was busy cleaning up the remnants of yesterday, a soft knock could be heard from my door. If it were Len, he would have pinned in the passcode and waltzed right in. So, there was only one other option...
"Has your friend left?"
"Yeah, he just left thirty minutes ago. Come on in."
I welcomed Althea into my apartment as I bagged my trash.
"Have you eaten?"
"Yeah, I did. You were right, overnight Pesto linguine really doesn't taste all too bad?"
"I know, right? That's a professional tip for you! Pasta can be kept overnight. Just don't keep it in for weeks, though."
"Duly noted!" Althea gave an adorable salute.
The girl roamed into my apartment and rested on the beanbag chair as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her. Ah, now that I think about it, Althea had mostly favoured this beanbag chair over the couch. That's why pieces of her hair could still be found, even after I vacuumed the entire place.
Noticing my gaze, Althea smiled quizzically: "What's the matter?"
"No, nothing..."
"Oh, okay..." I could see that the young girl was still curious, but she quickly let it slide. "So, how was your night?"
"Nothing special," I replied apathetically while clearing the food on the table. "We played games, drank beer and talked about what we've been doing over the past few months."
"Haha, sounds fun!"
"Is it really?" I chuckled as I emptied the leftover soup into the basin. "Are you still hungry? I've still got some fermented bean sprout soup."
"Oh, did you guys get drunk?"
"I didn't; Len did."
Sienna wasn't that fond of drinking, and there weren't any social gatherings for Len to participate in. Therefore, over the past two months, the man hadn't drunk a sip of beer. For a beer enthusiast like Len, that was akin to entering rehab.
So, after having his first taste of the holy liquid, Len went overboard. In fact, he finished the majority of the beer that we had. To be honest, it was a miracle that he woke up in time for lunch this morning.
"I made extra, so we can have some for dinner as well."
"Sounds delicious," Althea beamed in delight.
As she rested on the beanbag, Althea's hand naturally moved towards the television remote, and she booted up the streaming platform that I'd always used. She manoeuvred the channels swiftly and eventually got to a drama that she'd been binging over the past few weeks.
Seeing that unfold made me a little speechless.
Len was one thing, but even this girl was treating my apartment like it was hers. Looks like my place is soon becoming a hostel that anyone could stay in.
"Haha, what about you? Are you having any friends over? Now that restrictions are being lifted?"
"Oh, right… That reminds me..." Althea paused the drama and looked straight at me. "One of my best friends is coming over this weekend. She won't be staying the night, but we will be eating dinner together."
"Alright, just tell me when. I'll make my own dinner."
If Althea was going to have a friend over, I assumed that they would want some privacy. During times like this, it was best to make myself transparent and let them have their fun. Besides, with Althea out of the picture, I would be able to make some spicy food for that night.
Just as I was salivating over my options, the girl gently tugged my shirt.
"About that..."
"Hmmm?"
"I was thinking… You know..." Althea fidgeted in place as the words got stuck in her mouth. "You could still make dinner for us."
"Huh?"
Did I hear that correctly?
"You want to introduce me to your friend?"
"Rather than introduce… She already knows about you..." Althea's face boiled red.
"Hoh? You told her?"
"T-That's… I told her that I'd collapsed and that my neighbour saved me in the nick of time. One thing led to another, and we were talking about you almost every day… So, she kind of… wants to meet you."
"Oh, so she wants to meet me?"
"J-Just to say thanks!" Althea further clarified. "Also, I'd told her that your cooking is insanely good, and she wants to try it..."
"Ah, I see..."
"I-If you think it's too much trouble, I could always cancel! I-I mean, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable!"
"No, no. It's fine," I laughed it off. "The more, the merrier, right?"
"T-Thank you..."
Althea fluttered away from the beanbag, all while hiding her face from me. It seemed like she was embarrassed, so I wasn't going to fault her for that, but…
Why was she smiling?