After cutting the vegetables, I placed them around the marinated chicken pieces and slid the tray inside the oven. Washing my hands, I strolled towards the living room where Dad was busy reading a magazine.

"The dinner will be ready soon." I said and flopped down beside him, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Tiffany just called, the woman who lives-"

"I know who is Tiffany Dad." I informed him, earning a nod from him. How could I ever forget anyone who was related to Adam? That guy had messed me up, caused me to spend the whole week like an effing irritable person. I bickered with Sophia once, scolded Emily twice and even argued with Naoh but the last case was nothing new. He just smirked in return and came back to tease me after an hour.

All because one particular egoistic son of a biscuit couldn't come and talk to me once, let me explain what I wanted to say or hear what he had to tell me.

"She has invited us to dinner tomorrow night." Dad told me and I almost choked on the air. After a whole week of not talking, I was supposed to sit in front of him and torture myself for hours.

"Umm.. Can I ditch? I've a test." I said, using my most innocent face. Dad contemplated for a minute whether it was okay for me to skip this and at the end, he sighed and agreed.

"Fine."

...

"Emergency. I need an outfit." I called Sophia who let out some incomprehensible words from the other side of phone.

"Are you even awake?" I asked in panic and heard a yawn from the other side.

"It's fucking 1pm on a Sunday morning. Of course I'm not awake." she blubbered and I let out a groan.

"I need your help Soph. Tiffany has invited me to dinner tonight and I don't have one fucking decent dress in my closet." I whined, letting out a weird noice.

"But didn't you say you were skipping it?" she said, her voice finally started to sound awake.

"I was. But Dad has an important meeting tonight so he can't come. And now, I have to join the dinner and apologize from his side." I complained, wiping the drops of sweat from my forehead. I was getting really anxious at the thought of having a dinner at his house.

"You have a whole closet filled with every type of outfit. Why do you want a new one?" She asked as I heard the noise of water running from the phone. She brushed for two minutes and I stood there, listening the weird sounds his mouth made throughout the preocess.

"Are you not listening to me? It's a dinner at his house. A formal dinner. I need some new clothes." I screamed and then realized how rude I sounded. "Sorry." I whispered, wishing she had heard it.

"it's okay Al. I understand. I'll pick you in an hour and we will buy something." she suggested and I finally felt relieved.

"Thank you so much Soph. Love you." I spoke in a happy voice.

"I don't need your love babe. Just buy me a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses and you're good to go." she laughed and cut the call after I assured him that I'll buy her one.

...

After searching through each shop of the mall for two hours, we finally found a blue jumpsuit for me.

When I returned my house, it was already five so I had to rush in the bathroom first without relaxing for few minutes. After drying my hair, I styled them in a high pony over my head.

It didn't took me much time to dress up because I decided to wear very light makeup, just some BB cream to hide my freckles and a nude lipstick. The outfit suited me really well, it didn't look eye-catching but it wasn't drab either. Overall, I looked decent.

Dad had sent a tea set wrapped in a gift paper through his secretary for them. It was something Mom used to do, bringing some household items whenever we were invited for dinner anywhere. Guess she instilled some of her habits in Dad too.

Right on time, I left my house and reached his, knocking lightly and then waited for someone to open it. I didn't have to wait much as after almost twenty seconds, the door opened and I faced a very excited Tiffany. She hugged me and looked around, probably wondering why Dad was not there. I explained her the reason and after nodding in understanding, she finally let me in.

"I'll be in the kitchen. Why don't you go and sit with Adam in the dining room? I'll join you soon." she said and I swallowed, my heart started racing at his mention.

Giving in, I slowly stepped towards the dining table which consisted of a rounded grey wooden table and four comfy-looking chairs surrounding it. Adam was seated on the left, his eyes focused on his mobile screen. He momentarily lifted his gaze and watched me as I sat down opposite him, the whole time my face burning under his scrutiny.

"Wow! Look who is here. Did Noah get bored of you already?" he seethed, his voice dripping with venom.

Instead of retorting angrily, I plastered a fake smile on my face and replied, "You don't have to worry about Noah and me. Things are pretty good between us."

His face remained expressionless but I didn't miss the ticking of his jaw or his knuckles turning white, clearly indicating that my words did their work pretty well.

No further exchange of words happened between us until Tiffany came with food. I inhaled deeply, the delicious scent of the Alfredo pasta, grilled vegetables and garlic bread reached my nostrils. She somehow balanced all three dished in her hands, her presentation skills definitely better than me.

While she served the dinner, Adam and I exchanged few glares. And even though I was angry at him, I couldn't help but admire the way his T-shirt hugged his toned body, highlighting his huge biceps.

"It's been so long since you visited Adam." Tiffany said to me and I stammered in return, the tasty pasta suddenly turned tasteless for me.

"She was too busy hanging out with Noah." Adam spoke before I could, his tone still venomous.

"Noah Brown?" Tiffany asked, her voice suddenly turned tense as if she was bothered by the revelation.

"Hmm." I muttered, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

She just smiled at me and didn't ask further but her furrowed brows depicted her inner turmoil. I had no idea how she knew him, maybe Adam told her about his fight with Noah. Maybe!

After dinner, all three of us moved to the living room. I sat with Tiffany while Adam sat on the other couch, looking uninterested in our conversation. She told me about her job, her boyfriend, her future mother-in-law who was, as she quoted, a pain in the ass who didn't want her Jewish son marry her. She even told me about her boyfriend's sister who was, as she quoted, a pompous bitch.

"Adam! Why don't you take Alicia with you to your room? She must be getting bored. I'll check on the dessert." She said and left for the kitchen, leaving us in an awkward state.

"You don't have to.. you know.. Take me to your room." I said to ease the tension.

"Why? Did Noah tell you not to go to a any boy's room alone?" he said, his face stiffened with anger.

"Just stop it Adam. I don't need Noah to tell me what to do. He is just my friend." I gritted, my grip on the mobile tightening.

"Friend? Friends don't kiss each others." he spat and my jaw hang low. So apparently, Noah pecked me that night. Great!

"He didn't kiss me. I stopped him in time." I stood up in response of his accusation. I don't know why I was telling him when he obviously didn't think so highly of me.

"It didn't look like that." he muttered, standing up to match my glare.

"Why does it matter to you? Even if he kissed me, why do you care?" I challenged, stepping closer to him, my voice still angry.

"Why do I care? Are you really asking this?" He closed the distance between us, standing only few inches away from me.

"Yeah. Maybe I like Noah. Maybe not. In fact, I'm just a naive, immature girl. Why does it matter to you?" I asked, eager to hear his answer.

"Because I fucking lo.." he stopped himself before he could complete the sentence. He ran his finger through his hair and groaned in exasperation before stepping away from me.

"Because I'm a fucking idiot." he shouted before walking past me, leaving me with my heart pounding inside chest and knees wobbling.

Lo--? Did he? Can he? Oh fuck!

________________________