Hot for friend
8:45 am.
''Hey, are you still sleeping?"
Maxim stirred in the bed when he heard the familiar voice. It has been six years since he graduated and they went on different paths but this woman still strolled inside his dreams like she was a model walking on a runaway.
He covered his face in the pillows, rolling to the side, ''Get lost!" he snarled.
Diana who was standing near the staircase, stiffened when she heard the sound coming from what she guessed was the bedroom in the dark house.
Dark house because the door in front of her was slightly ajar and except for darkness, she could not see anything. Not even a single ray of sunlight.
He must be sleeping.
''I am sorry. I should not have disturbed you,'' she said, loud enough for him to hear so that he can rest assured and continue sleeping knowing that she left.
Maxim groggily placed his pillow aside and opened his sleepy eyes. Weird. Since when did the Diana Chen in his dreams become so obedient and submissive?
His half-lidded eyes snapped open all at once and he sat up on the bed in a flash, pushing the comforters aside in a swift movement.
He was not dreaming. Diana Chen was now his tenant. He had taken her in yesterday and they even went to the supermarket to buy formula milk for her baby!
He was not dreaming at all.
Not at all.
He almost stumbled down the bed while trying to get to the floor but he managed to balance his body before he could fall on his face, ''Diana, wait,'' was all he said in a loud voice before he grabbed his shirt from the bed.
He slung it over his shoulder and looked for the remote control.
Maxim pressed a switch and the curtains slowly slid apart, letting the sunlight filter through the glasshouse in full swing.
He squinted, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness before he altered the tint of the glass so that the sunlight was not as striking as before.
Diana paced in front of the half-ajar door and her eyes registered a sudden brightness from within his house.
Did she wake him up? Was he angry now?
He sounded very frustrated when he asked her to wait. Did he change his mind about letting her stay here?
Hmm, it did not sound that impossible. She has been here for a few hours only and at this point, she had managed to bother him with a lot of things already.
If it was her, the tenant would be out by this time.
Having lived most of her life being wilful about many things, this was definitely her karma ready to hit her back like a boomerang.
'Boom'
The half-ajar door opened and Diana deflected like a balloon when she saw the gorgeous creature standing in front of her.
Maxim was wearing a black shirt that she believed was the same shirt that he was wearing yesterday with his suit. But there was a lack of suit jacket and tie today. Rest, his clothes were the same.
His hair was tousled proving that he just woke up from his sleep. His dark eyes were slightly and she could see a few water droplets gliding down his jawline.
Her gaze roamed to the towel in his hand and she concluded he had just washed his face.
'Why am I acting like a creep? It's not like I am seeing him for the first time in my life! Argh, god, pick me up already.'
Diana tried her best to keep her expression neutral but her face was turning warm with every second that she spent carefully observing him.
Like the folded sleeves of his shirt, his muscular forearms, his toned chest peeking from his dark shirt which had its top few buttons unbuttoned.
'Stop. Stop.'
''Are you feeling hot?" he asked.
''Very,'' came her immediate reply, and the heat spread further in her body at the speed of lightning. What the hell? She could cut off her indecent and corrupt tongue right then and there!
Her gaze traveled to his face and as expected, she saw his brows tugging together.
Diana wanted to cry but she lacked tears. Since when did she become so morally corrupt that she was eyeing her friend like that?
They practically grew up together and they could easily pass off as bosom buddies of some sort.
She immediately felt guilty, ''I... I did not mean it like that. I mean you are—'' quite a piece of art and I did stare a bit to appreciate the view but I swear on your enemies that I was not feeling hot for you at all. You. are. my. friend.
She had a long speech ready but she could not finish her words because he cut her off mid-sentence, ''You are used to Air conditioners so it must have been tough on you,'' Maxim frowned as he looked at her reddening face.
''H-Huh?" Were they on the same page?
''I am sorry. I should have thought about that. The garage apartment is semi-furnished and the AC in there is not even working properly, I guess,'' Even though he was not the owner of this house, he has been to this house for enough times to know that Ryle was just a burden on Earth surface. There was not a single part of this house that was tidy enough for humans to survive.
Only the bedroom was properly sorted but that's because it made it convenient for that guy's late-night activities.
''No no... I am fine,'' So, he misunderstood the meaning of her words? Diana suppressed a smile from forming on her face, ''I just opened the window and it was good. Fine for both of us.''
Maxim frowned, still not looking convinced enough but he did not pursue the matter any further. The mention of 'both' reminded him, ''Where is the baby?"
''She is sleeping,'' Diana shrugged. The baby just went to sleep after she fed her the formula milk.
She was throwing her hands around for who knows what and then she suddenly started crying so Diana placed her on her shoulder and patted her a few times only to be blessed by the voice of her soft snores.
Diana felt like an evil witch for feeling relieved whenever the baby went to sleep but she could not help it. She was always anxious about how to handle the baby, and how to hold her properly and she was always worried that she would mess up.
Hence, the times when the little angel was sleeping were the times that made Diana believe that maybe all of this was not as difficult as she was making it out to be.
"Come inside then," Maxim stepped to the side, pointing his hand towards what looked like the living room.
Diana snapped out of her thoughts and she tilted her head to look at him. Her lips parted, "Okay."
...
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