"Pussy."
The single word hung in the air. Emily wore a rage-induced smile. Teeth grinding, nose wrinkling, and ears turning red. On the other hand, her boyfriend was worried. A lot of heads were turning.
But honestly? Owen agreed with his girl. This was getting far too entertaining. To end it by snitching was the definition of being a coward.
"Wait a minute." Owen got up and tilted his head, studying them. Kenward was the epitome of an attractive e-boy. Blonde hair, deep voice, and fit as well. "I know you. You're, uh, what's the name…Floppy, right? You do calisthenics and stuff." His videos were often on the trending section. Recently, he had been collabing with a certain gaming channel and really exploding. "And you're EmilyDoesStuff."
Knowing their names caused them to whiten. The intrigue from the guests became deeper. This was juicy drama in the making.
"Look, we're not here for trouble," said Kenward. "We—"
"We came to this city for a good time!" Emily cut off, scoffing. Kenward immediately came behind her and massaged her shoulders.
"Sorry about her. She's had a bad day."
"Drama? Accusations of bullying? Colour me surprised." Mary remarked, smirking. "I can already guess you're petty as shit behind closed doors."
"What—" Kenward put a hand on her mouth, muffling her voice.
"Please, please ignore her, honey," Kenward whispered.
"Hey, did you know? If you date someone that's a horrible bully, there's a very good chance their lover is also a bully. Just saying," Mary said.
Now that caused Kenward to twitch and react. "What?"
"Oh, my bad. Maybe you're just stringing her along?" Mary turned to Owen. "Babe, you know more about this than I do. Have they been collabing recently?"
"Collabing left and right for the past month." Owen circled over to his girlfriend who was still sitting and confident. "Some people have been saying they're dating." He looked them up and down. Kenward slowly released his girlfriend. "I guess the rumours are true."
"Ooh, an exclusive scoop." Mary laughed. "We can make a good buck from that."
Kenward's jaw clenched. "Why are you like this?"
"What?" Mary darkened. "You think the world should bend to your whim? Sorry, not everything should happen according to your inflated ego."
"Ken…" Emily muttered. She looked livid. "I am going to slap this bitch."
"Please don't."
"Wow, both the girlfriend and boyfriend aren't willing to defend each other." Mary looked over to the spectators. "See that? Couple of the year, people!"
Emily raised a threatening hand. Mary smirked and waited for it to come down.
Slap!
It never did. After all, Owen was with her. He slapped the woman before she could so much as lay a finger on Mary. The crowd gasped. Mary descended into laughter.
"See? That's what you call a protective boyfriend."
Kenward sprung into action on instinct. His fist was fast and developed by pure muscle. Calisthenics was no joke. Unfortunately for him, neither was Owen. He caught the punch, pulled his opponent in, and uppercutted him. Launched off his feet, Kenward crashed into his own table.
Emily, who had been watching while holding her cheek, went after him. The table snapped in half upon his sudden weight and the plates piled on him. "Ken!" she screamed.
Owen didn't think he hit him that hard. 'Sometimes, I don't know my own strength.' He didn't feel a tinge of regret. She was the one who started the physical altercation. However, people were starting to record. Not good. "Time to get out of here," Owen told Mary. He offered a hand which she dutifully took and they calmly walked out. Along the way, without messing up a step, Mary handed money to the front receptionist.
Security ran past them, hearing the commotion but not knowing what happened. Mary cackled and they left the restaurant leaving behind chaos and entering a world of dark clouds and rain. Which sucked because security was definitely going to catch up to them.
'No taxi in sight,' Owen thought, putting an arm over Mary to protect her.
Thunder rumbled. The roads were flooded with a thin layer of water. Mary was irritated by the rain and it really didn't look like a taxi was going to pick them up. They went to see if they could call an Uber.
"Ugh, the closest is five minutes away," Mary muttered. No umbrella, no taxi, rain, thunder, and a restaurant behind them that was probably going to arrest them.
"Up we go!" So Owen picked Mary up—who blinked—and began running. Splash, splash, splash! The sidewalk water was heavy and each step noticeably drenched his socks and the cuffs of his pants.
Thunder rumbled overhead, echoing through the city streets as rain poured down in sheets. Glistening strands framed his face.
"Hahaha! That was a hell of a first date!" Mary exclaimed, lacing her arms around him.
"Where should we go?" Owen asked, looking ahead. His blue dress shirt slowly became wet, clinging to his muscles. His olive-toned skin seemed to glow.
"Besides going back to finish the job?"
"Besides that."
"I came in a rush but I did want to buy Ophelia a gift."
A smile tugged at him. "Then let's do that."
***
"Say..."
"Yeah?"
Rain continued to fall in front of them. The two sat on the bench in the glass bus shelter, watching the rain in the protected encasing. The gifts for Ophelia and Isabella were bought. All that remained was for the rain to let up.
"People are really fucking annoying, aren't they?" Mary said.
"Some," Owen agreed, then smiled. "Not all though."
"You ever think about coming back home?"
"No."
"Why not? You're respected there."
"In a manner of speaking. Some of them are just afraid."
"So? Fear and respect often overlap."
"You know," Owen began, "you're lucky the rain washed away the scent of alcohol from us. Really lucky."
"Who knows? Maybe I planned this. You ever been to Dubai? They have this thing where they can control the weather. It's wicked."
"No shit?"
"Mhm."
"Are you sure it's not just Tiktok brain rot?"
"Nah, Tiktok never lies."
*****
Girlfriend #2: Ophelia Andenberg
Height: 5'6
Weight: 163 lbs
Date of Birth: June 6
MBTI: ISFP-T
Representative Colour: Yellow
Favourite Food: Sea Buckthorn Ice Cream, Brown Sugar Milk Tea, Hamburger