Our trip down to Invictus Hall naturally caused us to be late for the opening of the reunion dinner. Fortunately, the organisers weren't too particular with one or two late members. They allowed us through fifteen minutes past the serving time.
Now, missing an appetiser wasn't all that bad. What really irritated me was the lecherous looks that my two wonderful friends shot at me.
"Guys, you're late!" Sienna sternly admonished us, though, within that harsh tone, there was a twinge of ridicule.
"Now, now. You have to forgive them. Unlike us, Desir had never been on a campus date! He must have gotten too caught up with the date that he forgot all about us!" Len supplemented Sienna's words with his own words of teasing.
"Ah, you're right!" Sienna clapped her hands with an impish smile. "Did you go to the park behind Jemulk Hall? There's a blind spot with no cameras, and you can make out all you want there!"
"Shut it..."
What do you mean blind spot?! Don't use the campus as a place to do your hanky panky! You have dorm rooms for that!
I deeply sighed as I pulled out a chair for Althea. As the blushing girl settled down, I took my place beside her and briefly looked around the table. Since we were in a rush, Althea and I didn't get a close look at the rented amphitheatre for our class reunion.
There were about fifty tables, each one capable of seating eight people. Due to the pandemic measures, each table had to be spaced apart, and people had to wear masks whenever they left the confines of their seats. They weren't able to choose what meals they got, and sharing food was highly discouraged.
Also, if you didn't reserve a spot, you would be assigned to random tables with alumni that you may or may not know.
Fortunately, Len had reserved our group together, which meant that we got to sit at the same table. However, that wasn't the only good thing…
"Desir! Long time no see!"
"Robin? Ah, you came too?"
Seated at the other side of the round table, there was a young woman who looked not much older than me. Her short hair that barely covered her ears and rather heavy, professional make-up made her look wiser than her years, which said something about her line of work.
"What? You can bring your pretty little girlfriend, but I can't come?" Robin crossed her arms and gave me a firm harrumph. "I still haven't forgiven you for wasting my time back in May."
"Haha, I apologised, didn't I?"
During my little dispute with Althea, where I wanted to move out, I approached Robin in hopes of renting an apartment. Luckily, that deal fell through, and everything had turned out for the better. Nevertheless, it was a fact that I had basically blue-balled this property agent friend of mine.
"An apology isn't enough!" Robin protested before breaking into a sinister smile. "How about this? Why don't you introduce your beautiful girlfriend to me?"
"Nah..."
"Why not?!"
"You'll corrupt her! Sienna has already tainted her enough! I can't have another person contaminate her yet again!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"
This time, even Sienna joined in the fray. The two girls, no, they should be considered mature women at their age, glared at me. It took their significant others to finally calm them down.
"Haha, you haven't changed a bit, Desir!" The chiselled man who held Robin and barred her from scratching my face laughed heartily.
"And you don't seem to have changed as well, Jorge."
Just like Robin, the well-mannered man that addressed me was one of our badminton buddies. Among the ones that I usually hung out with, Jorge was the most open-minded and friendly of the bunch. Which made it surprising when I found out he was dating Robin, the complete antithesis of his very being.
"But to think that you actually got a girlfriend..." Jorge rubbed his chin as he examined Althea from head to toe. There wasn't any lust in his eyes, just pure curiosity and examination. Still, the man couldn't help but whistle. "And she's a beauty as well!"
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Robin reached for Jorge's ears and yanked hard on them.
"I'm just appreciating her looks! You're a beauty as well, Robin!"
"Hmph!!!"
The two lovebirds started bickering, much like they did back during our studying days. Usually, when this happens, it was best to just leave them at it. So that's what we did. I turned my attention to the remaining two people who shared our table.
"Sophia, Taylor… It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah!" The slightly more well-endowed woman answered my question while her serious friend returned a slight nod. "We haven't seen each other since graduation!"
"... And you don't come to our reunion gatherings."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that..."
Len and Sienna had always kept me in the loop when it came to the gatherings we had with our fellow classmates. Truth to be told, I wasn't all that keen on attending said gatherings as I was usually busy, and I much preferred to have a weekend all to myself. So I don't have any excuses to give to the pouting young ladies.
"Haha, it's fine, it's fine! Besides, now we know why you're busy all the time..."
Sophia grinned teasingly as she eyed down the girl beside me. Waving her hand, she said: "Hi! My name is Sophia! And she is Taylor! We're Desir's former classmates."
"H-Hi! I-I'm Althea, Desir's girlfriend."
"Phew, I guessed so!" Sophia clapped her hands, almost in disbelief after Althea's bold statement. "I can't believe that you really went and got yourself a partner, Desir! I'd always thought that you would stray away from all relationships."
"... My bet was that he would get together with Len."
"Oh, I had that bet as well!" Robin added to the mayhem, which forced Althea and me to awkwardly look away. "I'd never thought that Sienna could keep Len away from Desir."
"You guys..."
Just like that, the table became much more boisterous by the second. Stories about how Althea and I met were shared among my nosy classmates. Stories about how I was like during my schooling days were also divulged to Althea… All in all, the focus of our conversations had long shifted to stories about me, and I was in no position to stop it.
"Desir? Oh, you came!"
As our table continued to get carried away, a soft yet energetic voice broke the conversations on the table. I turned over my shoulder and saw a young woman, a little shorter than Althea, walking over to my left before standing beside Len and me.
"Rebecca, it's been a while."
I smiled and gave a simple greeting. Like the others at the table, Rebecca was one of my former classmates that was part of my social clique. And when I say social clique, it wasn't because I was a social butterfly. I was dragged into this group of friends solely because Len was in it. And so, I wasn't all that close with Rebecca, even though we ate together frequently.
"I haven't seen you since graduation! How have you been?"
"Not bad," I replied succinctly. "What about you?"
"I've been doing good! Ah, you're just as muscular as I remembered you to be!" Sliding her hands onto my shoulders, the girl copped a feel of my biceps with a face of awe.
Althea, ever the sensitive girl, raised her brow at Rebecca's bold move. I could tell that she wanted to peel Rebecca's hand off me, but she naturally held back due to our location.
"I've been trying to get into working out. Do you think that you can give me some tips?" Rebecca removed her hand after a while, only to come back with a genuine question.
"Sure, just drop me a text, and I'll help you."
"That's fantastic!" The girl clapped her hands in enthusiasm before turning away to talk to the others seated at the table. "I'll text you."
"Okay."
I nodded innocently, unaware that Althea was glaring daggers at the girl who happily skipped away and began talking to Len and the others.
"Althea?"
"... Nothing!"
Althea tilted her head away and concentrated on her meal. It seemed like she wanted to get her mind off something, but she couldn't keep her inner peace for long.
"Yo! Desir, long time no see!"
"Desir? You're here? Has the sun risen from the west?"
"Desir! Haha, you're just as muscular as I remembered!"
One by one, friends from my past came up to me to catch up. The reunion dinner was a social event, after all. It made sense for my fellow alumni to walk from table to table just to talk to friends that they hadn't seen in a long time.
Most of the people I'd talked to were shocked to see that I had a stunning girlfriend by my side. Some of them were even interested in getting to know her better. However, a small percentage, namely of the female gender, started to get a little touchy-feely with my body.
And well, I understood that they weren't trying to flirt with me or anything. They were just genuinely interested in my well-built muscles, which were hard to find in most men. I had been through this many times in the past and had mostly gotten used to it.
Alas, Althea didn't see it that way.
"Wow, Desir! Your biceps are-..."
Before yet another girl could hold onto my arm, Althea's hand snapped into action. Her fingers gripped hard on the girl's wrists, locking the poor lady in place. Althea's lips were curled into a smile, but her face was far from friendly. There was an invisible pressure, one that felt as if the whole world was crashing down, weighing on her victim's body.
And like a gazelle that had been caught by a lion, the girl shivered as Althea stared her down.
"Let's leave it at that? Shall we?"
"E-Errrr, yeah!" Fearing for her life, the girl pried away from Althea and shuffled her feet away. "L-Let's catch up next time, Desir!"
"O-Oh…"
As my former classmate disappeared from the area. A tense atmosphere descended on the table. Robin, Jorge, Sophia and Taylor turned away, some of them even opting to walk around to escape from this awkwardness.
And with Althea's immense pressure, there weren't many girls that opted to come greet me anymore. And when only Len, Sienna, Althea and I were left alone, the girl breathed a word I'd never thought that she would say.
"Those bitches…"
Althea muttered it softly, but as we were all focused on her, her words resonated through the table as if they were a chime in a temple.
"Don't worry, Althea. They weren't serious about their advances." Sienna came to my help with her own encouraging words.
"..."
"Let's go cool down in the restroom, shall we?"
"Okay..."
It didn't take long for the two girls to disappear from our sight. Gulping, Len leaned over towards me and whispered: "Is it just me, or has Althea become more possessive over you?"
"That… certainly seems to be the case."
"Jesus, who would have thought that the young and innocent girl would become an overly attached girlfriend?!" Len slapped his forehead and let out a bitter laugh.
And honestly, I felt the same helplessness. I knew that Althea had a possessive side, but I'd never thought that it could grow to this extent.
"Be careful, Desir."
"Hmmm?"
"I know that you're not that kind of man, but if you ever cheat on Althea… You should prepare for the boat ending."
"... It won't happen."
As much as I wanted to deny Len's words… I could definitely see Althea doing that. Still, since I wasn't going to cheat, my head was secure… I think.
However, just to be sure, I'll ban Althea from ever learning how to drive a boat.