Kalina was sitting across the diner’s table watching Megan pound on her own head as if there were something loose inside. Bebe was enjoying the attention every passerby was giving her.
“Want my help doing that?” Kalina teased. When Megan stopped abusing herself, Kalina decided to pry for more information about Andrew. “So will you tell him about Zac?” When Megan shook her head and gave her a look of disgust, Kalina continued. “Zac will ask you about his father again!”
“He’s been good since his 14th birthday. Nowadays, he seems to worship his mentor and have forgotten about his father.”
“Have you met his mentor?” Kalina was curious.
“No,” Megan picked up her phone and tapped it. Then she showed Kalina to the Gallery on her phone. “But he does take nice pictures. Zac said TT took these last week when they visited France.”
Bebe barked upon hearing the names.
“TT?”
“Yeah, that’s what Zac calls him, he said the guy drives an Audi TT.” Megan explained and gestured Bebe to be quiet.
Kalina flipped through the photos on the phone. “How come there is no picture of this TT guy?”
Megan shrugged. “No idea!” She sipped her drink. “Anyways, I made a promise to tell Zac about his father when he turns 18.” Just the thought of that day approaching in 2 years was enough to make Megan grimace. “I am so glad he is nothing like his father. I was right to name my boy with an alphabet as far apart as his.”
Kalina handed the phone back to Megan. “Oh, I thought you named him Zachary after some biblical character.”
“That too!” Just then, a text message came to her Megan’s phone.
Kalina was wondering why her friend had an annoyed look after reading the message so she reached out and grabbed the phone. “Who is texting you?”
Megan allowed Kalina to read the text message for herself, but she didn’t expect her friend to respond on her behalf.
Andrew: Why aren’t you home? Where R U?
Megan: Out on a date!
Kalina flashed a big satisfying smile and passed the phone back to Megan. After reading the response, she gave her friend the look, followed by a sigh. “Is your job offer and accommodation still available?”
Kalina smiled deviously. “Why? Last week you were still telling me this is The Dream Job!”
“It was until he returned today.” Megan blurted. She was so tempted to tell her buddy why she and Bebe took off from the Condo, but she held back. Her phone buzzed again.
Andrew: I did not pay you to go on dates!
“The nerve of him!” Megan was truly riled up and showed the message to Kalina. Seeing Megan’s action, Bebe’s ears perked forward.
“Want me to respond?” Kalina chuckled.
“No!” Just then, Megan’s cell started ringing and the name of Madam Tang was on the display. This meant she had to answer the call.
“Megan?” Madam Tang’s voice came thru. “Andrew wants to eat seafood steamboat tonight. Can you buy some fresh oysters and prawns on your way home?”
“Oysters and prawns?” Megan repeated. Then she reasoned these foods were meant to replenishing their body after their afternoon delight; and perhaps preparation for his second rendezvous tonight with Audrey or whoever.
“Oh, and can you pick up some vegetables as well? Spinach.” Megan could hear Andrew’s voice in the background mentioning the specific type of spinach. “And see if you can find the big leaf spinach.”
“Ma, tell her to get back in an hour.” Andrew’s voice breezed past her ear as she was doing her best to stay focus on what her boss was telling her. All she caught was the one hour part.
“What?” Madam Tang’s voice trailed off to speak to Andrew. “But it’s only 2:30. What’s the rush?”
“Here, give me the phone!” Seconds later, Andrew’s voice came on. “Megan…”
“What do you want? Why do you need me back in an hour?” Megan asked with agitation. “Today is my day off. I don’t have to buy or cook you dinner, you know!”
Kalina was grinning with curiosity. She sensed Megan must be talking to Andrew just by the tone of her voice. She grinned and gave Megan her two thumbs up. Megan shot back at Kalina with displeasure.
“I’m changing your schedule effective now, you work from Monday to Friday.” Andrew gave his last word before hanging up. “Off on weekends!”
Ten minutes later…
“You sure you want to do this?” Tony was on the phone and trying to get to the diner where Kalina was waiting for him. The streets were filled with people heading into the early afternoon homebound rush hour. “Tomorrow? Yeah, I don’t think so! Better check with yours truly first!”
Tony finally arrived at the diner and said his good bye over his cell. But when he spotted Kalina sitting with another woman at the table, he turned to leave in a hurry.
Kalina quickly rose from her table and called out to him. “Aiya! Tony! Wait!” She quickly went towards him by the door. “Come back!”
Tony turned to face Kalina. “I’m not falling for your match-making trick again!”
“You wish! Unlike your boss, Megan is not a cougar.” Kalina rebutted.
Tony looked towards the table. At the same time, Megan turned around to see what was going on.
“That’s Megan? I didn’t recognize her with her hair down!” Tony noticed Megan was getting ready to leave with Bebe. “She’s leaving?”
“Yes, no thanks to your useless buddy!” Kalina turned around and headed back to the table where Megan was. “You’re seriously going to leave us now? Today’s your day off!”
Megan turned to Tony. “Why does Madam Tang give Andrew the right to change my schedule and order me to do things?”
“Umm…she does?” Tony played dumb. “He changed your schedule?”
Bebe activated her dog sense, so she barked at Tony. She knew he was hiding something and started sniffing his pants and shoes.
“Yes, he did!” Megan didn’t have the patience to wait for Tony’s answers. She figured they wouldn’t have been much use for her current predicament. She tugged at the dog’s collar. “Let’s go Bebe!”
After watching Megan and Bebe leave the diner, Tony and Kalina settled back and sat at the table. Tony pulled out the receipt from the other night and handed it to Kalina. “Here you go!”
“Cheapsakes!” Kalina read the total amount on the receipt with bewildered eyes. “$1588.00! What the fish did you two eat?”
Tony smirked. “Told you I wasn’t going to hold back!”
Kalina read the date on the receipt and her eyes protruded upon seeing the name of the restaurant.
“Hey! This is not The Riz Bowl!” She handed the receipt back to him.
“This will teach you a lesson not to orchestrate these dinner meetings for me again!” Tony couldn’t help but wondered at this moment if she found him attractive. “Am I not good looking enough for you?”
Kalina laughed at his forwardness and watched his face turned red.
“Oh gosh, did I just think that out loud?” Tony picked up the menu to cover his face.
“I tend to bring out the worst in you, don’t I?” Kalina teased. Then she spared him by not pursuing the matter and turned to the subject of her business. “I only did that because Kate has been harassing me. She said she wants to drop out and is asking for a refund.”
“But I thought you don’t charge unless you find a match for your clients?” Tony showed his concern. “Are you running into financial hardship?”
“No, but I have to charge for the lab tests.” Kalina sighed.
“Lab tests? I’ve never heard of such things. You need a lab test to find a date?”
“It’s not just a date, it is your soul mate!” Kalina emphasized.
“I see.” Tony tried to appear convinced. “But set her up with some other guy. She’s not for me.”
Kalina smiled at his honesty. “You sure? She called me yesterday and asked why you haven’t called her. She seemed to have enjoyed your company.”
Tony gave out a bashful smile. He was flattered and wanted to help her out with her business, but worried she would go overboard with setting up dates for him. “If you are going to set me up, I will want a reward from you each time!”
“What kind of reward?”
Tony looked imploringly into her dazzling yet teasing eyes. He knew she was challenging him to name his prize. So with courage, he accepted her challenge. “I want a kiss from you each time you set me up.” After the words came out, he had no idea where that courage came from.
Kalina offered her hand to him. “Deal!”
Megan and Bebe returned to the penthouse to find it quiet once again. She noticed the door of the Forbidden Room was open but it didn’t seem as if no one was inside. Megan made her way to the kitchen with the groceries and didn’t realize Bebe had wandered into the Forbidden Room. After putting away the groceries, she called for Bebe whom she thought was with her all this time.
“Bebe?” She called thrice. When there was no response, she stepped out of the kitchen. That was when she saw Andrew and Bebe approaching.
Megan stopped in her steps and looked at the clean shaven Andrew who was dressed in designer clothing, looking ever so smart and handsome. However, as soon as memories of the afternoon came to her mind, her heart sunk to her stomach and she had to turn and look away from him.
Andrew looked at his watch and it was 3:35 pm. “You’re late!”
Hearing that, Megan felt a sudden surge of irritation rising from her body. She turned around to face him. “For what? To clean up after your afternoon roll!” She was surprised by her own belittling attitude towards him and wondered why the very sight of this man irritated her so much.
Andrew tried to decipher what she meant, but he couldn’t. Bebe barked at him. Jet Lag? Then the canine approached Megan.
“Next time, could you be a bit more humane and close your door when you and Madam Tang are at it again? Good thing there wasn’t any other staff here this afternoon. Nobody needs to know or hear the two of you doing the hokey pokey!” Megan finally let out her inner steam and then stooped to hug her dog. “Even Bebe was traumatized by what the two of you were doing this afternoon!”
“What the…!” Andrew stopped when Bebe barked at him. No swearing! House Rule!
“You thought we were making out!” Andrew grabbed Megan’s arm and forced her to approach the Forbidden Room. Her resistance met with failure when he picked her up like a tree log and propped her down like a statue in front of the open door. He then pushed her forward so she had no choice but to step into the room.
Megan couldn’t believe the Forbidden Room was a medical room of some sort. She recognized a few of the medical equipment and a single bed much like the ones she had seen when she went to the doctors. She realized Madam Tang must have had some sort of acupuncture treatment here a few hours ago. Instantly, Megan felt a tad embarrassed to have thought otherwise, but not enough to apologize to Andrew. “Well, if you heard what I heard, you would have thought what I thought!”
“Don’t you worry!” Andrew turned Megan around to face another room on the opposite end. It was obvious that room was indeed a bedroom. “That’s where I do my hokey pokey! And I guarantee you won’t hear a beep!”
Bebe barked and made her way into the bedroom. Being the busy body canine that she naturally was, she had to check it out by sniffing around.
Perhaps it was spitting out the words ‘hokey pokey’ or perhaps Andrew just got a shot of Dopamine; mixed with Epinephrine. There was no doubt Phenyl ethylamine was already in his blood. Furthermore, he had been soaking his entire being in Vasopressin (Love Peptide) all week long while he was visiting Zac in Spain.
When Megan turned around to face him again, her physical closeness created a sudden desire inside him. Unable to control the chemicals at work in his body, his animalistic pheromones excreted into his blood and he acted upon it.
He claimed Megan’s mouth hard with his own. When she opened hers in shocking awareness, he found her tongue and lingered there for a microsecond longer and managed to taste her mouth. When he felt her jaw muscles tensing, he immediately retrieved his tongue and released her lips just in time to watch her upper and lower teeth meet in a clash. He smirked at her attempt to bite him, but the smile was more for his own triumphant short-lived fling.
“That’s for making me wait 17 years!” He told her just before letting go of her. “When you are ready, we’ll have the real one!”
Notes on Chemistry of Love – Love Peptide – Is there such a thing?
Is there a chemical that can make someone fall in love, not merely infatuation or lust, but long lasting love and turn them into faithful spouses? Well, according to studies, it seems possible in some rodents. Most rodents like mice, rats and rabbits have a reputation for promiscuity.
But did you know, the prairie vole, a tiny, gray two-ounce rodent is among the 11 animals that mate for life? Males not only stick with one female, they huddle and groom each other, share nesting and pup raising responsibilities. In fact, the prairie vole is cited as an animal model for monogamy in humans. Could it be because of peptide hormones called vasopressin and oxytocin?