"What was all that about?"
As I was helping Desir with preparing dinner, Grace forcibly brought me out to the cold winter air. It was a little rude, sure, but I'm sure Grace has her reasons.
"What do you mean?"
"... you don't see it?"
"See what?"
"Althea, you..."
Grace raised her hands and rubbed the corner of her forehead. Did the cold air cause a headache? If that's the case, we should probably take this conversation inside. Besides, I wouldn't want to keep Desir waiting.
"If there's nothing wrong, let's return."
"Nothing wrong?! Everything is wrong!!!"
"Huh?"
Seeing as our conversation was heading nowhere, Grace exhaled deeply and asked: "Althea… Are you dating Desir?"
"W-W-What?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "W-What made you think that?"
"Everything! You really don't realise it, do you? From the moment you entered this apartment, you were acting like its mistress!"
"H-Huh?"
"You know where he places his tea, you have your own cups here… you'd even referred to yourselves as 'we'! That's something that couples do!"
"That's not true..."
Sure, Desir and I have spent a lot of time together, but we weren't a couple. Far from it, in fact. We were at most neighbours who had to stick together to weather the pandemic. I'm sure we didn't do anything couple-related, so I don't know how Grace got that idea…
"You're mistaken, Grace. Desir is a treasured friend of mine."
"... You say that but, I'd never seen you smile like that towards a guy before. Especially since 'that' incident."
As Grace brought back memories of the past, I felt a cold shiver tickle my back. My mind went blank, and I'd lost all strength in my legs. I dropped to the reclined chair and felt my soul leave my body.
Ah… 'that' incident. How could I ever forget about it? No, I'd never forgotten about it; it was just in the deep recesses of my mind. How powerless I was… The despair I was in… All of those memories came rushing to the forefront of my consciousness.
"Althea! Althea! Are you alright?!"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine..."
"S-Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." Grace apologised sadly.
"N-No, it's fine." I shook off the empty thoughts in my mind and regained myself. It was nice that Grace was trying to look out for me, but...
"You don't have to worry about anything, Grace. Desir is not like that guy."
"I-I see..."
"Yeah, Desir he… He's a gentle person."
I put on a smile the best I could. There had been many instances where Desir could have taken advantage of me. Too many to count, in fact. But contrary to my expectations, Desir had always been a gentleman. He was so kind, thoughtful, and reliable… Compared to 'that' guy, Desir was an absolute saint.
"Wow..."
I looked up, only to see Grace with an incredulous expression on her face.
"What's the matter?"
"No, it's nothing." My best friend smiled as she answered. "If you are fine with it, I won't meddle in your relationship." Grace chuckled as she helped me to my feet. "Besides, Desir seems like a nice guy. I'm supportive of your relationship!"
"Hah… Like I said, you've misunderstood..."
Before I could clear up Grace's misconception, the girl started to hum in jest as she tip-toed back into the apartment.
❖❖❖
The remainder of Grace's visit was a comfortable one. While there was a brief period where Grace suddenly pulled Althea out onto the balcony, the rest of the visit went just as I'd expected.
I learnt quite a bit about Althea's little friend. Like many girls her age, Grace had a boyfriend, and their relationship was going swimmingly well until the pandemic struck. Apparently, since they weren't able to meet anymore, the pair naturally distanced themselves until they decided to break up.
Grace also mentioned the hardships that came with students that were affected by the pandemic. All of the dorms were closed, and everyone had to return back to their parent's homes. To add salt to the wound, all lectures had to be done online, and Grace's father would often walk around topless in the house.
It led to a comical scene where the lecturer had to stop his lessons to admire the middle-aged man's 'perfect' body.
Though, all good things must come to an end. As the sun began to set, Grace was forced to return home early. Since she lived a great distance away, it would take at least three hours for her to return home. So, with a beaming smile, Grace waved us goodbye before leaving my apartment.
As the bright, blue sky turned increasingly dark, it would be the cue for Althea to return back to her apartment as well. However, today the girl decided to stay back and help with the clean-up.
And… something feels off about her.
The Althea I knew was chatty and would always put on an adorable smile. Yet, ever since Grace pulled her onto the balcony… she seemed off.
There seemed to be something weighing on Althea's mind, and her actions reflected that. During dinner, Althea spoke less than usual. Her eyes would often stare into the distance, and all in all… Her mind wasn't in the right place.
Even now, as Althea was cleaning the plates in the sink. She was scrubbing the same plate over and over, even though it had been cleaned thoroughly three times over.
No, this can't continue...
"Althea, you should go rest on the couch."
"..."
"Althea?"
I reached out to the absent-minded girl and attempted to take the dirty plate from her hand. And as my hand brushed against hers…
"ARGHHH!!!" Althea screamed. The plate she was holding dropped violently onto the floor, shattering the porcelain tableware in two.
The wreckage stunned the two of us into a brief silence, with neither of us knowing how to react. No, this isn't the time to be frozen!
"Althea, are you alright?!"
"Y-yeah! S-Sorry! I didn't mean to drop it..."
"Althea, you..."
As I'd anticipated, Althea wasn't in the right state of mind. After checking that she wasn't injured, I pointed to the sofa and said: "Take a break. I'll clean up this mess."
"B-But..."
"Althea..." I lowered my voice into a commanding tone. "Go and rest."
"O-Okay..."
Finally relenting, the girl hung her head down in shame as she slowly sauntered towards the living room. Cleaning up the remnants of the plate took a little more than a minute, so all that I was left with was this delicate situation.
Now, how should I approach this? It was evident that something was bothering Althea, though I was uncertain about what.
If Len were here, he would have used his wit and astounding good looks to charm Althea into divulging her feelings. Unfortunately, I wasn't a casanova like Len. Heck, I'd never even had a girlfriend in my life; how was I going to know what to do in situations like this?
Without any experience, all I could do was pour the girl a beverage and hope that she calms down on her own.
"I brought you some Ice Lemon tea."
"... thank you," Althea responded in a whisper.
"..."
I sat opposite the black-haired beauty and watched her in silence. The poor thing was shivering, much like a leaf in the autumn breeze and her eyes seemed to hold a void that could never be filled. It pained me to see Althea in this state, but ultimately, I was just a neighbour to her. It wasn't in my business to meddle in her affairs.
And just when I was about to suggest she return home for the night, Althea's hoarse voice resonated out: "Desir… Do you want to know why I'm living alone and not in the dorms?"
"... you don't have to tell me if you're uncomfortable with it."
"No… I think you should know." Althea's eyes finally regained some colour as she stared right into my soul. "I trust you… You're not like any of the guys I've met."
"... did you have bad experiences with guys?"
"... yes," the girl responded all too weakly. Althea now felt like a house of cards, and one gentle push would be all it took to send her crumbling to the ground.
"As you might have guessed, I was a sheltered child… My parents earned decent money from their jobs, but as a consequence, they were hardly home for me. Of course, they loved me and did what little they could to be by my side, but… Ultimately, it wasn't enough."
Yeah, I've heard this story before.
"So, to protect me, my parents enrolled me into a private all-girls institution. It was an escalator school, and I spent my entire adolescence only interacting with girls my age. However, there seemed to be something missing when I reached my teenage years."
"..."
"As a teenage girl, I dreamt of having a romance. But with no boys around, I could only bottle up my craving for romance. That desire festered in me as I grew older and until… I got into university."
Ah, I can sort of picture where this is going. Back when I was studying, I had seen plenty of wolves in university. A beautiful girl like Althea who never had a boyfriend in her life? She was basically chicken pie for the scoundrels to salivate over.
"During my first year, I was active in school. I participated in many events and orientation groups. I basically put myself in a position to socialise with as many boys as I could. And for the most part, it succeeded..."
Althea reminisced about her earlier days with a distant expression. Though she didn't put it into words, I could feel Althea's regret over her childlike innocence.
"I had many boys ask me out, and if I found them to be nice, I would often go out on a date with them. In the beginning, it was… quite an experience." Althea reflected with a bitter smile.
"Although I was young and stupid back then, even I could tell that they weren't talking to me because they wanted a beautiful romance like I'd envisioned. It always seemed like I was a trophy to them, and they were only attracted to me physically. It was… really uncomfortable."
Yeah, I could imagine the dirty looks that Althea would have gotten by those hormonal bastards.
"So, very few of them got past the first date with me and rarely did I talk to guys for more than a month. And that's..."
Althea paused for a moment, and her body began to twitch. The voice that was already soft and weak turned even more powerless. At that moment, it felt like the girl was carrying the entire weight of the planet on her shoulders. So, it took her a while to gather herself before she could finally muster up her following words.
"... And that's when I met Paul."