Hiding behind a post on the side road, I spied on the two of them to identify their relationship.
Jillian is a shy-type loner and I can never imagine her having a friend, so my gut instinct tells me that the person she's currently with is a bully.
However, that's just my speculation, and I can't judge too soon. With that in mind, I stayed hidden from afar and observed how they interacted.
To my surprise, they're actually talking casually. I can't hear their conversation from my position, but I can tell that Jillian was speaking comfortably which is out of her nature.
I think I was wrong to assume that the person next to Jillian was a bully, instead, I now perceive them as close friends even though my inner thoughts deny the visible fact.
After concluding my thoughts, I decided to walk over to them and say hello. But as I got closer to the coffee shop's facade where street lamp gleamed above their heads, their faces loomed out from the almost dark night and I sighted their gentle expression.
I was taken aback the moment I saw the 9 of Clubs with Jillian. I can remember Liam mentioning her name yesterday and base on the way he speaks, 9 of Clubs seemed to be a nice person. Her expression was profoundly pleasing and approachable, and for all I could recall, her name was Celia, the most respected Prime.
Jillian noticed me strutting towards their position and she instantly beamed at me.
"Thank you for waiting for me." I said.
Jillian shyly slip a strand of hair behind her ear as if she was inferring something.
"So, shall we proceed?" I asked.
Celia spontaneously stepped in, looking somewhat disappointed. "Ehem-ehem…" she clears her throat. "Mister Leo, it appears like you're forgetting something crucial."
Celia talked openly even if we're not yet acquainted.
But Celia was correct, I indeed forget something.
To fix my blunder, I glanced at Jillian who was wearing an adorable apron dress and complimented her. "You look decent tonight." I said to Jillian without enthusiasm in my words.
Celia subtly squinted for a split second, "You could've chosen a better wording, but that works too." She smiled.
I can tell that Jillian put effort in picking a dress, but on the other hand, Celia was on a plain fuchsia pink t-shirt tucked into her trousers. If I have to guess, Celia wore this bland outfit so that she won't outshine Jillian's dress since Celia looks gorgeous.
Celia is a very considerate person, hence she's known as 'everyone's friends'.
At any rate, what made me confused is why is she with Jillian? And why are they friends to begin with? I thought Jillian invited me to accompany her because she's too shy to go to the coffee shop alone, but if she had a friend like her, she should've not invited me in the first place.
But since I'm already here, I suppose I'll be their third wheel for the night. However, if the two of them are actually close friends, I have to know how much Jillian told Celia about me. I'm certain that Jillian is well aware that I will leave her in the dust when the information that she's under my protection leaks, so she probably won't tell Celia about our secret connection. Either way, I still have to make sure that Celia doesn't have knowledge in that matter.
"I wasn't informed that you invited someone else, Jillian."
"Sorry for not letting you know. She's Celia, my close friend." Jillian said.
So that clarifies everything. Since I have control over Jillian's loyalty, that means I will also have the ability to gain the 9 of Clubs benefits if Celia is sincere in being friends with Jillian.
I never expected getting Jillian on my side would be this overly beneficial.
"Fret not, Leo, I won't be a burden to your date with Jillian." Celia grinned mischievously.
"Umm… It's actually not a date." I said.
If Celia deemed this occasion a date, then does that mean Jillian violated my conditions?
"I'm just kidding." Celia giggled. "I know that this dinner was just Jillian's way of apologizing for accidentally beating you in the previous test."
~So Jillian didn't break my conditions, after all. That's good to know.
"I see that you're aware of the occasion. So does that indicate that Jillian also invited you here because she did something to you that she wanted to apologize for?" I asked.
"Um. Actually-" Jillian said, but was interrupted.
"Nothing in particular." Celia blurted, then drifted the topic. "Anyways, I'm quite hungry, so we shall go in."
Celia then led us inside the coffee shop. She guided us so casually and she even greeted the food counter attendant. It's as if she's accustomed to this place and had been here many times.
When we entered the well-organized coffee shop, there's only a few customers that were also from Aspro Academy students. We grabbed one of the several unoccupied tables, and the seats were neat and cozy.
Celia and Jillian sat side-by-side whilst I grabbed the opposite side of the table. Celia opened the menu and looked for something to order with Jillian.
To be honest, it was relieving to have Celia with us because she's really good at handling dying conversations. If it's just me and Jillian, then we'll surely feel awkward and we may even not speak throughout the night.
"Oh, look, they have strawberry donuts, it looks scrumptious." Celia said.
"Mm-hmm, it looks tasty, I'm craving for some donuts." Jillian said with a sense of excitement in her tone.
The way Jillian picked a food to order now was far too different from the way she ordered back then at the plane's bar. She was with Audrey and Lyn that time and she's too timid to order something, therefore she copied me and only get water. But this time, Jillian was passionately scrutinising the menu and she's freely getting every food she desires. Maybe she's gotten better at conveying her feelings, but I think she's only expressive due to the fact that she's comfortable with Celia.
While the two of them picked countless different orders from the menu, I took my phone out of my pocket and pretended to use it so I wouldn't look awkward.
"They have bibinka too, let's try it." Jillian exclaimed.
"It all looks scrummy, I was thinking if we could order all of these mouthwatering pastries." Celia said.
After the two of them chose their orders, they handed the menu over to me. I don't particularly like sweet foods, but luckily, they serve slices of bread topped with mashed avocado.
After thinking of food to order, Celia called the waitress. Then, Jillian and Celia stated their endless list of orders to the waitress. When the waitress listed their order to her note, I just finished considering what food to get.
"May I have avocado toast and water for drinks." I ordered.
The waitress nodded and repeated every single food we ordered for precisely two minutes straight, then after making sure that she got the order correctly, she went on her way to make our food.
"Is that really all you wanted, Leo?" Celia said. "You know, Jillian's a billionaire and she got everything covered, so you don't have to be frugal."
I glanced at Celia, then looked back at my phone.
"It's all good, Celia. Leo is vegetarian." Jillian said.
"Ohh… seems like you knew Leo so well." Celia smirked.
"It's not like that." Jillian replied shyly.
Jillian was wrong about me being a vegetarian. Well, she often saw me preferring veggies over anything, so I suppose it's reasonable for her to perceive me as a vegetarian. However, I'm actually only eating vegetables for its health benefits, and if I were stuck in a desperate situation, I would gladly devour meat.
While waiting for our order, Jillian and Celia have casual talks, and I, on the other hand, kept being busy on my phone like a toxic person on a date.
Eventually, I got on Celia's nerve and she straight up pointed out my unethical behaviour, but she delivered it considerately to not make me look wrong.
"Uhm… Leo, do you have something important in your phone?" Celia asked courteously.
I turned my phone off and laid it on the table.
Celia smiled at me, saying, "Thank you." "By the way, Leo, you're on the same flight as Jillian yesterday, right?"
"I was."
"So tell me, how did Jillian do?"
"She did amazing." I said in a neutral tone.
"I know, right?" Celia giggled. "I believe that Jillian can be a Prime student like me very soon."
Abashed, Jillian said, "I can't handle this flattery, guys, don't exaggerate it. I'm not that good."
"You're even humble. That's a quality of genius, girl!" Celia exclaimed.
"Indeed." I deadpanned.
In the middle of our conversation when the three of us were slowly getting along, a guy who was holding a gift bag from the other table approached Celia.
"Good evening." the boy timidly said.
Celia glanced at him with a smile and replied, "Good evening. Do you need something?"
"Uhm… It may be hubris to ask but, are you guys, uh… dating or something?"
"I'm just a third wheel," Celia smirked mischievously. "These two are dating though."
"Huh?" Jillian bemoaned. "We're not dating whatsoever."
Celia chuckled. "Just kidding. We're just having dinner." Celia said to the guy.
He sighed. "That's a relief. Uhm Celia, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to give this to you." he outstretched his arms, offering the bag with a love letter attached on the handle to Celia.
Celia gladly accepted his gift after asking for his name and regarding him that she will remember him. Celia set the gift aside and promised to the guy that she will open it later, and after saying her words of appreciation for the gift, the pleased guy who thought he had a chance on an elusive girl like Celia left the coffee shop grinning.
"Wow, Celia, he's head-over-heels for you." Jillian gushed.
"Actually, this is the 4th gift I received this week."
Well, it's natural for many boys to confess their feelings for Celia since she's soft-spoken and even if they get rejected, Celia won't humiliate them, unlike Gena who was also gorgeous and admired by many. Gena spoke harshly and getting rejected by her also means losing your dignity.
It's just that Celia knows how to properly please men without entertaining them to avoid attachments.
Then, my ex-girlfriend entered through the door and strode over to the counter.
I was side eyeing her when the waitress returned rolling a cart overloaded by plates of our order. She uncovered the plates, exposing the plethora of freshly baked pastries.
The waitress elegantly laid out our orders and two frappuccino and a glass of water on the table and left.
With the endearing scent of these foods swarming their nostrils, they spontaneously devour everything on the plate that the table nearly failed to fit.
As the two of them eat like they haven't eaten for years, I was still secretly watching Selene ordering at the counter.
"Leo? Are you not going to eat that?" Celia asked.
"I like my food cold."
"mm… Okay," Celia said with her mouth full.
Just then, Selene grabbed a transparent bag package that has an imprinted trademark of the coffee shop's brand. Inside the bag were two loaves of bread and she went straight outside after grabbing her order.
When she's gone, I began eating my cooled avocado toast. Avocado toast is not particularly a hot food, but I had to reason it so that I won't madden Celia.
The two of then we're almost done eating when I finished my plate. But then, Jillian notified us about something.
She stood up and said, "I'm going to the restroom for a sec."
There's barely any customers at the coffee shop, so Jillian probably won't encounter someone at the restroom.
"I told you to eat slowly." Celia chuckled. "Just be careful and don't manifest your clumsiness in there, okay?"
"Of course." Jillian smiled and went on her way, leaving me and Celia alone together at our cluttered table.
Being alone with Celia doesn't bother me since she cuts every awkward silence and she's easy to talk to.
But that's what I thought.
Celia's typical enigmatic countenance was replaced by a wistful and serious look when Jillian left.
As I was gazing at my empty glass of water, Celia suddenly asked something that bothers me. "Are you sure about Jillian?"
At first, I ignored her and didn't avert my gaze at the glass. But she didn't stop.
"You might have to rethink about liking Jillian."
"What made you assume that I'm into Jillian?"
"You wouldn't accompany her if you're not romantically interested. But before you commit yourself to this, I want you to know that there's something wrong with Jillian."
Celia's tone sounds wistfully serious. It doesn't seem like she's slurring bullshits to defile Jillian's image in my perspective. But instead, she sounds dreaded.
Then, I was mildly surprised to hear a revelation when Celia cut right through the chase.
"Jillian is 2 months pregnant." she said, pensively gazing at me. "If you're pursuing her love, then I'll always be on watch, and I won't let you emotionally hurt my friend."
I saw this coming from a mile. There's many signs that foreshadow Jillian bearing a child and I was unfortunately expecting this from the very beginning.
But still, I'm still confused as to what made Celia assume that I'm in love with Jillian.
When Jillian returns from the bathroom, Celia's happy-go-lucky nature shades her countenance.
She only said those words because she's concerned about Jillian.
It's obvious that Celia doesn't want Jillian to know about me having the information that she's pregnant, that's why she put it up when Jillian was gone.
But then, a compulsive thought came to my mind.
I was wondering how fortified their friendship was, so I tested it.
Before Jillian could sit back to her seat, I asked a question that petrified her.
Impulsively, I asked, "Jillian, how many months has that child been residing in your womb?"