Ariana stirred from her sleep as the cold air blew into the room which made her open her hazel eyes in the dimly lit room.
She blinked severally toward the sleep of her eyes before she turned to her right to see a figure sleeping on the couch beside her bed.
She had told him to go home but he insisted on staying the night here and now, it looked like he was shivering from the cold.
Ariana threw her legs off the bed before she moved toward him after she put on her slippers.
She walked slowly towards him and when she got close to him, her leg mistakenly kicked the chair which made her whole weight fly on top of a sleeping Jared.
Jared jolted up with a shock as a new weight settled on his body while Ariana tried to gain her balance back but failed drastically.
"W-What are you doing?" Jared asked with a frown as his husky voice rang into her ears.
"Getting human warmth, what do you think?" Ariana scowled.
"What?" Jared furrowed his eyebrows.
He was still feeling sleepy and he couldn't really understand her sarcasm.
"Ugh, it's nothing," Ariana scrambled up to her feet as Jared sat up.
"Aren't you feeling uncomfortable there? I told you to go home," Ariana crossed her arms as she looked down at him.
"Yeah, but I just want to make sure you are fine," Jared said before he coughed out.
"I understand but at this rate, you're the one who's going to get hospitalized with flu. Go home, Jerry, I'll be fine," Ariana murmured but he didn't say anything.
"Jerry?" she called.
"Jerry!" she kicked his foot slightly which made him jump up.
"Y-Yeah,"
"Go home and sleep well, don't you know you're causing a nuisance here?" she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, fine. Gee," he shook his head as he got up from the sofa.
"But I'll be back tomorrow morning before I go to work," he said before he put his coat on.
"Sure, get some waffles and strawberry milkshake on your way here," she snickered and he smiled.
"Take care of yourself, Ariana," he laid his hand on her shoulder.
"Get home safely," she patted his hand.
"And call me when you get home!" she hollered as he stepped out of the room.
Ariana sighed gently as she was now alone in the room.
She didn't how she landed herself such a good friend like Jared Antiano.
Friend? Were they really friends?
Thinking about it, they haven't put a label on their relationship. Since they met, they have always been caught up in one loveable mishap or another.
Well, as no one to monitor her, she might as well just get some snacks and binge on movies till she crashes!
Ariana thought as she jumped back onto her bed and took out her phone to call the one she knew would never ignore her calls. Unless she wanted to get fired, that was.
'Hello,' a drowsy voice came up from the other line.
"Kinder Joy, grab me some snacks!" Ariana said with a lovely tone.
_________________
Jared grabbed his keys from the table and put his handkerchief in his pocket before he took one last look at the mirror with a satisfied smile.
A ping from his phone made him look down as he saw a message from Ariana.
'Where are my waffles and milkshake?!?!?!!' she sent him a text message with a lot of murderous emojis to emphasize her point.
She never joked with her food.
A slight chuckle escaped from his lips as he walked towards the door, about to step out of his room when it was opened by someone else.
"Dad," Jared said shortly as he looked up.
"Jared. Where are you off to so early in the morning?" Jared's father, Romano, asked.
It was an hour earlier than the usual time his son went off to work.
"Uh...work, of course, I have a lot of things to catch up with," Jared answered, steering away from the fact that the thing he meant was a lady.
Might he mention their rival.
"I...see. And about yesterday?" Romano asked.
"What happened yesterday?" Jared frowned.
"Why did you leave in middle of the meeting yesterday? The clients called and they said they saw you leaving with a lady? Who was that?" Romano asked with a low tone.
He wasn't angry. He was just curious.
"Uh...I met a lady who needed help and I couldn't just ignore her. It was urgent and she had nobody to help other than me," Jared answered quickly.
He wasn't lying though. Just hiding the identity of the lady.
"And you left such an important meeting for a stranger?" Romano frowned.
"Dad, I couldn't just leave her in that condition. It wasn't proper," Jared defended.
"Alright, fine, but next time, call an ambulance and don't behave like a superhero. Some of them are just deceiving you for some money," Romano said.
"Yes, Dad," Jared sighed.
Leave it to his father to narrow everything down to money or business.
"Fine, see you at work," Romano turned to leave before he paused.
"Why did you spray so much cologne? Were you trying to empty the whole bottle or what?" he said as he walked out of the room.
Jared looked down unconsciously and smelt himself. It did overwhelm him a little. He must have sprayed more than usual as he was thinking of Ariana.
Wait, Ariana!
He rushed out of the room but he was obstructed by yet another family member.
"I smell something fishy," Julietta clicked her tongue at her brother.
"What is it, Juli?" Jared rolled his eyes at his younger sister.
"You spray cologne, rushing off so quickly. Rapidly checking your phone, all just for work?" Julietta raised an eyebrow as she gave her brother the look.
Julietta Antiano was the youngest child and only daughter of the Antianos family.
She had long brown locks which were always left in their curly nature and bright brown eyes filled with mischief.
She was a smart young lady with grades that always made everyone know that she was the 'brains' of the family.
And her smart eyes didn't overlook her brother's odd behaviour these days.
"Yes, I have to look appropriate for the clients," Jared said as a matter of fact.
"Uh, one might say you are trying to seduce your clients," Julietta mused.
"Stay out of my business, kiddo," Jared flicked her forehead before he walked past her.
"Hey!!" Julietta stomped her foot on the floor.