Chapter 17: Laughter

The saying that enemies meet on a narrow road could not apply to this situation more. Lihua and Cora watched as he comforted the woman in his arms, not even sparing them a glance,

Hadn't it only been a few weeks since Cora broke up with him?, and yet he had already replaced her. Saying this guy was a jerk was a complete understatement, he was nothing but a profound douchebag and b*****d,

Lihua turned to observe Cora's expression, it was nothing but complete indifference, but she knew her best friend well, it was just a facade, hiding her hurt and unfortunately, her disappointment,

She slowly turned around and left, leaving Lihua with words stuck in her throat. A wave of annoyance washed over her as she stared at the couple and their irking PDA. She took in a deep breath deciding to take things into her hands,

"Hey Lei", she walked to him and poked him beckoning him to lower his head, "Leave these two to me, go find Cora", Even though she had only uttered a few words, he understood immediately what she meant, he walked away without another word amidst the woman's rants at being ignored,

Once he was out of sight, Lihua turned her attention back to the raving couple with an overly wide smile on her face, "Alright then, it's time for both of you to leave", the couple turned their attention away from the employees they had previously been berating and faced her with their snobbish attitudes,

"And who do you think you are to speak to us that way", The woman was the first to speak, her condescending attitude oozing from her haughty attitude,

"Well, I'm the person kicking the two idiots standing in front of me out, you have a problem with that?", a sweet smile still graced her features but it never reached her eyes, the earlier they left, the better for everybody.

He Tao snickered with his nose in the air and a smirk that Lihua wished to wipe off, on his face," It's obvious lowly birth does not allow people to recognize true socialites upon meeting them, it is not your fault, just your ill luck", He turned to the woman in his arms, "Let's go, we'll find much better jewellery at another store"

"Bye", Lihua waved seeing their retreating backs, "Oh, and, He Tao, you're right, it's not your fault, just your ill luck" her words seemed vague at first, but upon reasoning, he understood his words had been turned against him, he would have retaliated, but he had a feeling that the woman was more than she seemed,

Lihua's fake smile disappeared and the relieved breaths of the employees could be heard, the nuisance had finally been taken care of. She returned to the lounge awaiting the arrival of her friends, and she stared at different designs of jewellery to pass the time. The pinging of her phone was heard, and she opened it to check, It had no sender, only a queer string of numbers, and a message composed of two words, "I'm back"

She wasn't given much time to think about it as her friends soon walked into the lounge, there was a satisfied smile on Hu Lei, and a faint blush decorating Cora's cheeks,

"Hey you two, so what happened, I need details", her eyes lightened up with her newfound thirst for gossip,

"Wait, so that was it, I knew you two were planning something, how long did you know?", She had not expected anything that had happened today and you could imagine the shock she felt when Hu Lei confessed to her, it had never once crossed her mind that he felt that way, she hadn't exactly agreed on taking their relationship further, and had told him she just needed time to digest and think about it all,

"What?, Cora, what do mean, I just found out today", She avoided Cora's piercing gaze and looked everywhere and anywhere but her face,

"Li-Hu-A" Cora called out slowly, it was more obvious than ever that she was lying, she could always tell,

"Fine", She gave a defeated sigh, it was no use, against Cora, lying was basically useless, "I was the one who encouraged him to tell you, I don't want you sad and holed up in your house, I want the cheerful, carefree you"

Cora burst laughing seeing the concerned look on her friend's face, "Oh, Lihua, what am I gonna do with you", she said in hysterics, she knew her friend was dramatic, but not this ostentatious and overly caring, it made her heart melt, so much so, she started laughing, it didn't make much sense, but that was her only reaction to it all, pure and clear, laughter.