Clarisse felt the world spin around her. When she opened her eyes, she saw his handsome face up close. The intense look in his eyes frightened her, and the hot, hard thing pressing against her thigh made her uncomfortable. She swallowed nervously and looked at him, "Jon... Jonathan, what are you doing?"
Jonathan looked at her flawless skin from up close, feeling her fragrant, soft body. His most primal desires surged within him as he leaned closer to her ear and breathed softly, "Don't you like me? If you like me, you have to do things like this with me."
Clarisse was so scared that she closed her eyes and shook her head repeatedly, "Then... then I don't want to like you anymore..."
Jonathan's tone turned cold as he bit her neck hard, "What did you say?"
She said she didn't like him because of this kind of intimate pleasure? Jonathan thought that maybe her affection for him was only this shallow. Having experienced a woman like Catherine, who had lived with him since college, he couldn't understand why a girl who had only been kissed once would be so terrified of such things.
Clarisse didn't have the courage to repeat what she had said. Besides, that wasn't her true feeling. It was just something she blurted out in fear. She placed her small hands on his bare chest and pleaded with him, "Jonathan, please let me go. I just came to bring you the blanket..."
"Oh? I thought you were offering yourself to me!"
His hand slid under her clothes, roaming over her delicate skin until it reached her small, rounded breasts, which he began to knead through her underwear. Her face turned crimson instantly.
She pulled her hands back from his chest and pressed them against his arm, trying to stop his movements. Then, as if gathering all her courage, she looked at him and weakly asked, "Then... will you marry me?"
In her mind, her pure and clean body could only be given to her future husband. If he promised to marry her, then she would give herself to him now.
"Marry you?"
Her question and the pure light in her eyes cooled Jonathan's desires instantly. He abruptly released her and sat up, his eyes filled with coldness, "Clarisse, you're too naive. For me, this is just simple physical pleasure."
How ridiculous! Wasn't it just about having sex? He happened to be interested at the moment, and since she had shown that she liked him, he thought a pleasant morning of intimacy would be nice. And she expected him to marry her? According to her thinking, did he have to marry every woman he slept with?
Tears rolled down Clarisse's cheeks as she bit her lip and sat up, looking at him with teary eyes, "So... you're just playing with me?"
Jonathan didn't answer her, but the disdainful expression on his face said it all. Clarisse trembled as she straightened her clothes, which he had disheveled, then stood up and said through her tears, "If it's just a game, then I'm sorry, I can't play along!"
With that, she covered her mouth and ran out. Behind her, Jonathan angrily threw the troublesome blanket to the floor, then stormed into the bathroom to take a cold shower to cool down.
Clarisse ran back home in tears. Farah, who had just gotten up and was stretching as she walked out of her bedroom, saw her coming in from outside so early and screamed in shock, "Clarisse, what, what, what? How did you come in from outside? Weren't you home last night?"
Clarisse didn't feel like responding and headed straight for her room. Farah, noticing something was wrong, blocked her path, "Where were you last night? Ah—"
Farah suddenly screamed again, startling Clarisse, who quickly looked up at her. Farah's face was filled with horror and disbelief as she asked, "Clarisse, did you sleep with Jonathan?"
"No!" Clarisse denied hastily. Farah pointed at her neck, "Then why do you have such a big love bite on your neck?"
Clarisse remembered how Jonathan had bitten her neck and quickly tried to explain, "It's not what you think..."
Farah was furious, "Then why are you crying? Did he force you?"
"No, it's not that either..." Farah's incessant questioning only made Clarisse feel more heartbroken. Nothing had happened between them; he hadn't forced her. What hurt her more than anything was his attitude and his words—that it was all just for fun.
How could she have forgotten? He had a first love that he still yearned for, the woman he truly wanted to marry. And there she was, foolishly asking if he would marry her. What did she mean to him? Just someone to satisfy his physical needs!
Feeling increasingly heartbroken, she pushed Farah aside and ran into her room. Farah yelled after her, "Jonathan, you damned man, I won't let you get away with this!"
Bruno came out of his room and gently hugged Farah from behind, "What's going on now?"
Farah was livid, "He bullied Clarisse again!"
Bruno sighed helplessly. Farah earnestly said to him, "Find me all the great guys you know. I want to introduce them to Clarisse one by one. I refuse to believe there's no one who can replace that heartless man! Argh, I'm so angry!"
Hearing Farah's words from her room, Clarisse couldn't help but smile bitterly. Yes, why couldn't anyone replace him? She couldn't even pinpoint what was so good about him. He wasn't good to her at all, yet she was sinking deeper and deeper.
Jonathan made himself a simple breakfast and then stood on his bedroom balcony smoking a cigarette. He heard voices from next door and looked over involuntarily. He saw Clarisse, Farah, and Bruno leaving the house, apparently heading to school.
Clarisse was wearing a white blouse and black skirt, looking calm and demure as she walked. Farah kept coming over to joke around, making Clarisse smile faintly. Jonathan felt a pang of annoyance. How could there be no sign that she had been crying just moments ago?
Every time he was with her or saw her, he was bewitched by her clear, pure eyes and gentle nature. She always made him see the good in her and remember Catherine's flaws. How was that possible? Catherine couldn't have any flaws. She was his first love, the woman he had loved for so long!
Watching them laugh and chat, he felt irritated. He stubbed out his cigarette angrily and pulled the curtains shut.
Ever since the day Jonathan hurt her like that, Clarisse couldn't seem to recover. She wasn't the type to be easily broken, having been pampered by Cesar Rollin Balas and Fadrique since childhood, never having experienced such hurt before. So for a long time, whenever she saw him, she would avoid him.
Because they were neighbors, they often crossed paths in the morning and evening. She would usually pretend not to see him, hurrying past with her head down. Of course, he wouldn't initiate a greeting either, so they would just pass each other like strangers.
Sometimes, when she left for school in the morning, he would be returning home, seemingly having spent the night out. As they brushed past each other, she could smell the scent of women's perfume emanating from him. At moments like these, she would mock herself inwardly, saying, "Clarisse, if you're not in his bed, naturally someone else is."
Farah started introducing some boys to her frequently, some were Bruno's classmates, some were Farah's own classmates, and among them were outstanding boys, but she didn't like any of them. She helplessly said to Farah, "Farah, if I could settle for just anyone, I might as well go for Fadrique; at least he treats me well!"
Farah immediately replied, "Sure, sure, I think Fadrique is good too. You've known each other since childhood, and he's been nothing but good to you!"
Unable to deal with Farah's persistence, Clarisse had no choice but to ignore her. She knew how good Fadrique was to her, but if she also liked him, they would have been together long ago. Why wait until now?
Farah leaned in, looking indignant. "I just don't understand what's so great about Jonathan that he's got you all dizzy, and besides..." Farah paused, glancing at her cautiously before continuing, "I heard he's seeing other women."
Clarisse lowered her eyes. How could she not know? The scent of perfume on him said it all.
Among the boys Farah introduced was a local boy from Miami who was very persistent with Clarisse. Despite her obvious rejections, he would wait outside her classroom every evening to walk her home.
Clarisse couldn't avoid him, especially when Farah purposely left her to deal with him. Sometimes, when classes ran late at night, she was afraid to go home alone, so she reluctantly let the boy walk her home.
She thought he wouldn't last long, but to her surprise, he persisted for over a week. Clarisse knew this couldn't go on forever, so she thought of talking to Farah to ask the boy to stop. But Farah had disappeared with Bruno these days; she couldn't find her anywhere.
That day, after the boy left her at home and she turned to enter the house, she suddenly caught sight of faint lights flickering in the black car parked next door, like the glow of a cigarette being lit. She screamed in fright. Perhaps sensing he had been discovered, the person inside opened the car door and stepped out. Jonathan, clad in black, leaned against the car, took a drag of his cigarette, and then, in the wisps of smoke, softly asked her, "Got yourself a boyfriend?"
According to his observations, the boy had been walking her home for over a week. She had professed her liking for him, so why was she so quickly seeking solace in another man's arms?