Fashionista

Chapter 39

By the end of June, the world had eased the worldwide lockdown for a second time. Apart from Africa that hadn't been affected to the point of total lockdown. They had it real good this time, because I can say for sure it'll have been horrible for them if it had affected them like it had us.

The amount of Italians that had died was tremendous, nearly a quarter of the population had been wiped. Down to people we knew, or relatives of people we knew. Jade said, when she came to visit, Camille's grandfather had died from it as well as his medical doctor son who followed a few days later. It now occurred to me, why Camille had seemed a bit down the day she brought the groceries over.

Here, colleges were slowly being reopened, while schools were still closed due to the age group. Churches, banks and malls were conducting daily activities in a really tight manner, but it was easing down. Like most colleges, Fashionista had resumed physical school. To begin the next Monday.

"Lia."  Daisy tapped my arm. "Are you listening?"

"Yes, I am. I prefer the yellow top, the black makes the outfit a bit boring and the yellow goes well with your hair." I replied, pointing to the preferred halter neck top.

She turned to Leo, "What do you think?"

"I think I should be back in my room by now, watching the live match between Chelsea and Manchester United." He said, huffing. "And I like the yellow too." Leo acknowledged, under his breath. But loud enough for Daisy to hear.

"Great, let me test this out with the black jean. Be right back." Daisy said, as she gathered the clothes into my bathroom. Leaving I and Leo alone.

"Leo, how have you been?" I questioned, turning my chair to face him fully hoping he would talk now.

"I've been fine, Lia. I've just really been busy with caring for my mom." Leo answered hastily.

"Your mom? What happened to her?"

"She went down with the virus, and I had to be with her." He said in a grave tone. Glancing at my shocked face, he added, "But don't worry,  I didn't get it. My black genes must be helping."

Trying hard not to switch my chair further away, (which would have been pointless as I hugged him in welcome) I inquired, "Did you go through isolation?"

"Of course, what do you think? I didn't contact it. That's why it's safe for me to come out. However, the hospital my mom works for gave her a break so she's indoors now. But negative." He explained, smiling lightly.

I exhaled in relief. "Well, I'm really happy for her. And for you. But no one knew."

He nodded his head, agreeing with me. "Yes, I didn't want anyone to know about it. You never know how word gets around, or how people would see it."

Ignoring the jibe about us spilling the news, I asked the question that had been bothering me. "Is that why you've been avoiding me especially?"

Suddenly he couldn't meet my eyes, "I've not been avoiding you. At least, I didn't plan to. Until I heard about you and Jason."

Anger flooded my veins. "So you avoided me because I liked someone else. Is that how little our friendship means to you?"

He fervently shook his head. "No, it's not that. I came today because I realized what an idiot I've been..."

"You got that right." I muttered, as he ignored me and continued.

"I shouldn't throw away a friendship because we can't be together romantically, that's stupid. If you're happy with him, then I'm happy for you." He finished, lowering his head.

I could hear the hurt in his voice when he said the being happy for me part, but there was nothing I could change. So, "I've really missed you. So come on, let's pack my stuff and go be roommates again."

As we got up I called out to Daisy, "You can come out now, we've settled. Some cloth testing you're doing there. Really setting us up."

Immediately, she came out throwing her hands up in surrender. "It worked, didn't it? And this combo really works for me." She said, gesturing to the outfit.

*****

"This is the last of them." I said, handing the box labelled 'Toiletries' to Leo, to put into his car.

"Are you sure I can't take you instead, babe?" Jason asked for third time, as he eyed Leo.

"No, there's no need. We're basically going to the same room anyway." I replied earnestly.

"Okay if you are sure. Also, call me once you get there." He smiled, as he gave me a sweet kiss on the lips.

Before my head could start spinning, I heard a huff and voice in the background. "We should really get going, the weather's changing."

Jason scoffed in mild annoyance, and tightened his arm around my waist as we turned to Leo. Was that possessiveness?

"I'll miss having you just a few blocks away." My boyfriend murmured into my hair.

"Me too. Take care of yourself." I replied, smiling all the way into Leo's car. "Bye." I added, blowing him a kiss as the car drove away.

I could see Jason standing there, looking after the car till he turned back into the complex. I sighed sadly as Leo mumbled, "He seems like a nice guy."

"Really?" I turned to face him fully, twisting the seatbelt on my waist.

He chuckled lightly, "Nah, I don't like him. But you do, so nothing to it."

"Yeah. I thought so." I said, letting the silence go on for a while till I realized Leo was content with it.

Not for me. I stretched my hand towards the car stereo and turned it on. Good thing, the K-pop boy band 'BTS' was still there so I sat back and listened to 'Dynamite' play.

"Still don't understand why you like this boy band." Leo said, shaking his head as we headed towards traffic.

"Simple. Because they're handsome, sing well and a welcome change from the movies of Kun Jyun Po, or whatever." I explained, moving my legs to the beat.

Leo furrowed his brows, sparing a glance at me. "Kun Jin what?"

"Don't worry about it, you wouldn't want to know. Just sit back and enjoy this song." I replied, shushing him and singing along.

'This is getting heavy,
Can you hear the bass boom? I'm ready(woo hoo)
Life is sweet as honey
Yeah, this beat cha-ching like money
Disco overload...'

"It's a nice song, isn't it?" I asked, when the song ended and we had started moving, albeit slowly.

"Yes, it is." He conceded. "Although I don't remember having this DVD."

"Oh, you don't. It's mine, I bought it for your car."

"Oh, alright. Well, here we are. Welcome back to school." Leo sang out, as the front gates of Fashionista were opened.

"Oh, it's good to be back."

*****

It must really feel good to be back to school, after the lockdown has been eased. I, myself, am quite eager to go back.

Well, what do you think? Let me know your thoughts.
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