Flick!
The sound of a lighter echoed among them. Orlando leaned back on the bench as he took a long puff of his cigarettes before releasing a ring of smoke into the air. Almost imdiately, the scent of tobacco assaulted their nose. While Orlando seed relaxed after the first drag, Anthony scrunched his nose in distress.
Despite owning an entertainnt agency and was not a stranger to its nightlife, Anthony remained resistant to the sll of tobacco or anything of the sort. He could never get used to it no matter how many years had passed. Even his father who was addicted to smoking had to stop because Anthony wouldn’t get close to him due to the sll.
The strong scent of chemicals and herbs was never to his liking. In fact, his dislike eventually led to a series of diseases from cold to sore throat and mild sinusitis whenever he was in close contact with those things.
Hence, whenever his appearance during etings and parties was confird, everyone would respectfully stick with alcohol. Though many still scorned his habit behind his back saying that the man was childlike, this habit proved to have saved him many tis within the dirty industry.
Thus, upon seeing that Orlando was leisurely taking a drag near him, Anthony instantly burnt with indignance. He didn’t hesitate to snatch the cigarettes and stomp on it a couple of tis. The series of action was done so rapidly that Orlando didn’t even have ti to react.
Harvey let out a peal of laughter. "Did you suffer from sudden bout of amnesia to suddenly smoke in front of our baby?"
Orlando was speechless. He pursed his lips and shot a disdainful look at Anthony, but the recipient appeared unperturbed. "How you chose to stay within the entertainnt industry and even take over your father’s company is still a mystery to ."
Anthony leered at his buddy with a pair of scornful eyes. He sneered, "Because your mind is the one broken. Your eyes only capture the beauty of its nightlife while mine regarded it as a place of art, potential, and skills. Sothing that’s completely different from just profit."
Harvey, "..."
Orlando, "..."
Great, here cos the artistic guy within their peer.
"Alright, alright! My mistake! I apologize."
Orlando raised both of his hands in defeat, but his expression was not one of grief. Orlando was always the chill one among the five of them.
Although he always put up an oppressive front during work, he was actually the peace lover. He didn’t mind giving in to those whom he was close with if that ant they could avoid any confrontation.
He never liked unnecessary bickering, especially when it ca to a small issue. He was even worse when it ca to handling an awkward silence like now.
Both Jas and Oliver sat on the bench across from them in complete silence with their eyes shut and arms folded in front of their chest. Orlando was helpless looking at this scene that felt like they were ditating instead. Not to ntion they were currently sitting at the hospital’s garden.
What a perfect balance of nature and peace...
This was why Orlando had smoked in the first place. The man sighed. "So, are either of you going to talk or are we just sitting here until the girls are finished?"
Both Anthony and Harvey were also getting frustrated. In the end, Harvey was out of patience and led the topic himself, "So, since when did you have feelings for our little sister?"
In that instance, both n snapped their eyes open. Though Jas appeared composed, Oliver glared at him from the side. Jas rely glanced at him with a raised eyebrow before answering Harvey.
"And is that any of your business?" He asked nonchalantly.
Anthony pursed his lips. He rubbed his face before exhaling a long sigh. "Yes, I believe it is!" His voice raised at this point, accounting to his loss of patience against Jas’ arrogance and nonchalance.
"Any of us here will be concerned. I don’t know the full story, maybe Oliver did, but in the present, I can only see you as nothing but a perverted old man who has grood a child."
Orlando choked from Anthony’s straightforwardness. anwhile, Oliver seed content and Harvey was practically frozen in place. It was not like he was too innocent for this but to openly accuse one’s friend felt rather disconcerting, especially when the person was their best friend. Well, the whole ordeal was, in fact, made him uncomfortable.
"So, help us understand the situation, Jas. We’re not here to judge you, at least not . I’m trying my best to understand and maintain our trust."
Orlando leaned back and cast a furtive gaze at Harvey. The latter also looked back at him. They were both surprised by Anthony’s sudden outburst. In any case, they agreed with him so they remained quiet, waiting for Jas’ response.
Sighing, Jas finally opened up, "I don’t know. I just realized it two days ago.
Upon his answer, the three n breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God, their worst assumption didn’t co true. They were already worried that Jas might’ve manipulated Kyra and led the poor girl on. Still, it didn’t entirely curb their worry as the two of them were separated by ten years of gap.
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Then, what is this dating talk all about?"
Jas knitted his brows at Oliver’s distrustful tone. "I told you, she agreed to date last night."
"But she had a bad fever yesterday and was knocked out the whole ti. How the hell did you two suddenly have a romantic conversation?" Oliver continued to pose his doubt.
At the ntion of fever, Jas was rendered speechless. He suddenly had an epiphany on why the girl didn’t rember their promise last night. All of the sudden, he also recalled how fervent their intimacy had been, it was fiery and urgent, or so he had initially thought. But now, he suspected that it was rely the girl’s high temperature and the side effect of the drugs.
In short, she was high and he had attacked her.
The urge to facepalm himself was strong. He gritted his teeth out of frustration!
anwhile, Orlando seed to have pieced the clues together and he rcilessly burst out in laughter. He even bent over while holding his stomach from being overexcited. Anthony and Harvey looked at him as if he was mad.
"Jesus Christ! You’re a fucking pervert, man!" Orlando continued to cackle.
Jas pursed his lips. "I didn’t know! Kyra responded to my approach, so I thought..."
"So, you imdiately thought it was a green light from her," Oliver scoffed. "Tell honestly, was there really a talk about dating last night?"
Jas exhaled a long exasperated sigh and unconsciously raised his voice in the next mont, "Yes! How many tis do I have to tell you? I asked her after I kissed her!"
Every single one of his friends instantly raised their eyebrows. They looked at him deadpan.
"So, you seduced her," Orlando concluded.
"Brought her to a state of deliriousness..." Harvey chid in.
"....before you popped the question," Anthony finished the sentence. He inhaled deeply before nodding. "Quite an ingenious trick."
This was precisely why they were worried about this match.
The girl was fresh out of the university not too long ago while the man held more than a decade of experience in the society. Jas might have been clear of what he wanted but it could be a different story with Kyra. For example, what had transpired this morning.
By the looks of it, Kyra wasn’t entirely thrilled by the intimate session but as a much mature man, Jas was obviously a lot more skillful in seducing her. Furthermore, Jas was Kyra’s first love and only man while Jas had dealt with a couple of won before. Though not to the point of becoming a girlfriend or having sex, the man had kissed and gone on a couple of dates.
With such a huge gap in their experiences, Kyra might very well be on the losing ground. So, they weren’t sure whether they should support this match. They would much prefer if they could avoid heartbreaks altogether.
"Are you sure about dating her?" Orlando was the first one to pop the question. "I an I’m pretty open-minded and I trust your character as well as Kyra’s decision. Though she’s young, that girl got a good head on her shoulder. So, I’m sure this thing—whatever it is between you two—didn’t happen until recently."
Jas raised an eyebrow. "But?"
Looking at his friends beating around the bush, Harvey imdiately cut to the chase, "But the girl is pretty green in terms of dating and what she’s looking for is definitely romance, while I can see that you’re horny beyond words. So, can you even keep your pants on?"
Orlando bit his lower lip and looked away. When it ca to being blunt, they could always leave it to Harvey.
Thereafter, before Jas could give his response, Oliver fired another question, "Most importantly, does your family know?"
"I agree," Anthony nodded. "You should also consider your family’s reaction. You might be able to ignore or manipulate the public’s opinion but if your grandparents objected to your relationship with Kyra, then isn’t it pretty much hopeless?"
Even though all of his friends’ concerns are valid, Jas was sowhat peeved. One was treating him like a beast while the other underestimated his capability. The frown on his temple deepened. He couldn’t understand why they had to ddle in his business with Kyra.
In the end, he and Kyra were the ones who were dating and not them. Whatever the problem was should be between them.
Pursing his lips, the man tried to restrain his temper. No matter what, these people were his buddies since childhood.
He sighed. "First of all, I’m not going to answer your question, Harvey. Sothing like that should remain between and Kyra."
Then, he turned to Anthony. "You’re right but I’m not going to give up. I will make this work."
In that instance, Oliver knitted his brows. His head whipped towards Jas and he imdiately spat the dreadful possibility.
"Wait a minute. Don’t tell ...your grandparents already knew?!"
Jas pursed his lips, refusing to answer. But, his expression was the answer itself and his friends instantly turned grave. They didn’t need to ask further to know that his grandparents’ reaction was most definitely not the best.
"This is not even funny, Jas," said Oliver.
The forr only shot him a glance before asking, "Do you see laughing?"
anwhile, Orlando was already massaging his temple. "It has to be Creighton then. So, what are you going to do?"
Jas looked at his friends one by one and finally said, "Perhaps this is the part where you can help."
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