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Chapter 3: A Beautiful Tyrant

A Beautiful Tyrant

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"So, that's what happened," Zen finished narrating the entire story. "Uh... Kate. You can close your mouth now," she continued, weirded out by the way Kate was staring at her like a gaping fish out of a pond.

"I can't believe this." Kate wiped the non-existent drool from the corner of her mouth and slammed her hands down the coffee table where they both were occupying on the floor.

Zen continued to towel-dry her hair as she listened to Kate's over-dramatic descriptions of her story from Kate's own point of view. The awful stench of half-digested liquor vomit from earlier lingered inside her nose even after ruthlessly scrubbing her face and body clean in the shower, almost emptying an entire bottle of her cousin's newly bought floral-scented shower gel in the process.

"I can't believe that actually happened. I just can't." Zen moved her eyes to Kate who appeared to be lost in her own world, probably picturing some barbaric scenes of that undeniably good-looking stranger who had nothing but shit lodged up his brain.

Before Kate's imagination spiralled farther and farther away from the truth, which was possible given that Kate was the type of person who would ramble on and on about what someone said until a new issue dropped in front of her eyes and shifted her attention. As far as Zen knew, the story of her ludicrous encounter - which she oh so carelessly given her cousin to feast on - with that bigoted homophobe would stay stuck in Kate's mind for at least a week or two, so she supposed leaving Kate alone with her fantasies and going to sleep was the best idea at the moment. It had been a tiring day and the next day was bound to be even more tiring. She had to search for a new place, go to university, hand in her assignments, take back her remaining stuff from the dorm, the list was endless.

"I'm going to bed, Kate." Zen didn't care if Kate was listening as she placed the towel on the table and stood up.

Kate immediately noticed the movement and pulled Zen back to the wooden floor. "Wait. Tell me more," Kate whined.

"Kate, I need to sleep," Zen responded, tired and slightly irritated.

"I'll let you sleep, but not until you tell me something I'm really dying to know." Kate gave her a very determined look.

"What is it?"

"So how was it? How was your first kiss?"

"Kate!" Zen fought the urge to rip the flesh from her face. Kate's question had completely thrown her off-guard. There was nothing she could do to wipe out that naughty, dirty smirk Kate was giving her as she awaited her response.

Zen was never what people would call strictly feminine but she had her own sophisticated way of how she wanted to experience new things. A kiss, for example, would've appealed to her more had it been done in a nice romantic setting in the presence of nature, such as on a nice beach under a setting sun, or in a field full of flowers by the hillside, or simply in her own private room - if she had one in the future - with plenty of food served on the table, and of course, all of this should be done with the one person she would spend the rest of her life with.

To tell the truth, she had mixed feelings about her first kiss being stolen so unexpectedly, so easily, and under such outstandingly shocking circumstances by a drop-dead gorgeous guy any girl in her shoes would consider having won a million-dollar lottery ticket, but she had to admit it wasn't that horrible. She didn't particularly enjoy the kiss in any way, per se, but she didn't entirely hate it either. But stating that out loud would never make her cousin shut up about it and that was the last thing she wanted.