Rule No. 1: No Romance (GirlxGirl WlW)

Chapter 20

"Go ahead then," I eye her curiously.

"Ladies first," she says a bit awkwardly.

"We're both ladies and if I recall, I was the one putting forth the question," I raise my eyebrows. "So, please do start."

She clears her throat, averting her gaze for a moment before letting them fall back on me with the tiniest bit of renewed confidence. "Well, you're obviously very beautiful, you're smart, you're a perfect leader even though you may be a little bit mean... sometimes a lot, but for some reason, even when you're cussing at me, everything about you just makes my heart flutter," she cringes at her own words as they leave her mouth. "This is so embarrassing, why are you making me do this?"

"Anything else?"

"Can I start with things that I don't like now?"

"Are there any?" I side-eye her.

"Maybe," she smirks.

"Sure, I'll make sure to add mine as well, even though I have a feeling it will greatly outnumber the 'like' list."

"Ok, let's not then," she says, jokingly rolling her eyes. "It's your turn now. I'm very curious, I didn't think you'd have one at all, let alone a list."

"A list?"

"You said you'd list yours."

"Oh," I chuckle. "I happen to only have one, I don't think it fits into the definition of a list, my mistake."

"You're brutal, you know?" She pouts. "I'll take it anyway."

"You're an interesting person, Louise."

She eyes me, waiting for some kind of elaboration. "Ok?"

"That's it."

"Interesting in what way? That's very vague," she crosses her arms. "And only one thing? Don't you think I'm sort of cute as well?"

"I didn't think appearance would be included, since the whole point of this conversation was to point out things we liked about each other that weren't superficial."

"So you do think I'm cute," she says, immediately changing her attitude. I simply shake my head, going back to my hamburger, it's not bad at all but far from being the best in the whole city. "You didn't answer my question, how unfair after I've embarrassed myself for life in front of you."

"I want to get to know you more, I'm not sure why you pique my interest so much, to be honest... sure, you're physically attractive and sexually satisfying which are the superficial reasons we were talking about but that has never been enough of a reason to make me pursue someone."

"Then... if you find out everything there is to know about me, are you just going to leave?" She looks at me with curious eyes before letting out a small chuckle. "Joking."

⁂

"Esthy my love, when are you visiting your poor mother? I can leave this earth at any moment now—"

"Mom, you'll probably outlive us all," I sigh through the phone. "I'll visit soon, don't worry."

"How soon is soon for you?" she asks, and I could just picture the way she'd look at us with her eyelids lowered whenever she detected bullcrap. "You keep prioritizing your job over your family, when was the last time you were on vacation? And I don't mean Holiday leave — a real vacation."

"Not you too," I groan under my breath. "I've been thinking of using them, don't worry, I'll let you know."

"We could all go on a little trip, your sisters and the kids... I heard Caleb is back, he could come as well," she says with a complacent tone.