My vision went blurry, and I blacked out for a moment. When I opened my eyes again, Terrance and Toby are sitting beside me.
"Mrs Sophie, are you alright?" Toby said anxiously. "Should I call a doctor."
"No, I'm fine."
I sat up and checked my body. Fortunately, I am unhurt. But didn't I fall down?
"Mr Terrance managed to catch you before you fell." Toby explained, as if reading my mind.
I glanced over at Terrance. He is looking at me from some distance away. If he caught me, why did he let me go and leave me on the floor. Did he really hate me now?
"I-" I tried to start an apology to Terrance, but he interrupted me.
"I'm sorry I walked away."
Of course, I didn't blame him. Didn't I do something similar after seeing him with Eleanor?
No, that's definitely different. I shouldn't have been acting so friendly with Toby just after having an argument with Terrance. But Toby is our friend, whereas Elanor is the enemy.
Toby helped me as we all got up off the floor and dusted ourselves off.
"Don't get it wrong, Toby and I are just friends." I said, glaring at Terrance. He nodded but didn't say anything. "So, what were you talking to Eleanor about?"
"You were talking to Mrs Eleanor?" Toby's hands formed into a fist. Did this guy really have a thing for Eleanor?
Terrance didn't reply, but just looked at the umbrella in his hand. Wait a minute, he didn't have an umbrella with him this morning.
"You let Mrs Eleanor borrow your umbrella?" Toby asked. Wait, what? I tried to piece it together. So, this morning, before he came to see me, Terrance had bumped into Eleanor and allowed her to borrow his umbrella.
"Is that true?" I asked.
Terrance nodded and I scowled at him. Really, I am much calmer now. Although I am still not happy with him doing that, this is much better than what I had imagined.
Toby laughed and I stared at him. What is he laughing about? "You really are a nice guy, Mr Terrance, but you should think about Mrs Sophie's feelings too. For a moment, I felt angry on her behalf."
"Ha? What are you talking about? Aren't you angry because you like Eleanor?" I asked.
Toby raised an eyebrow at me. For a moment, he seemed puzzled.
"Ah! Did Charlotte tell you my…" Toby slapped himself in the forehead. "No, no, it's not like that. I just find foreign girls attractive. It's not like…"
Toby's voice trailed off for me as he gave a series of explanations, including details about body proportions of female foreigners versus female mainlanders. Terrance seemed to be listening to Toby with interest. This had to be shut down fast.
"Pervert." I said, giving Toby my coldest stare. His explanations topped dead. "I-I..."
Toby looked down, overcome with shame, and staggered a little. Terrance quickly went to support Toby's body.