《Ｌｏｖｅ Ｔｈｅｓｅ Ｄａｙｓ》

10. Secret Valentine's

Days passed since Luke's birthday, we hung out almost every day, at least Alex and I. I noticed that his sudden interest in Leela wasn't just a secondary effect of alcohol, it was real, and I started to worry. Alex just got out of a very, very intense relationship, and he didn't give himself time to process it, let alone mourn it.

Those type of relationships don't end in a heartbeat, and I didn't want Leela to become some sort of rebound to it. Also, he had a history of not being able to control his impulses, Leela herself was a witness of it, at the Halloween party. As a friend of Alex, I would have told him "go ahead, she's worth it!" But, as a friend of Leela, I would've told her "no way, he's bad news", and I would've been right on both.

Against my better judgment, I pinned my faith on him and started working on finding out what Leela thought of him. I spent two entire days in her house trying to drive the conversation to him, to get her to reveal if she at least found him attractive. After many failed attempts, I decided to break the rules and be straight forward. Anyway, Alex didn't have to know my methods, only the results.

"Alex told me the other day you were pretty" I spat out.

Leela, who was stirring a pot with pasta, suddenly stopped moving her hand and turned to me with the most confused expression, "what?"

I laughed nervously, "Yes, after Luke's birthday. I wasn't going to tell you because I thought he was just drunk, but he still says it." She looked even more confused.

"But why?" now I was confused.

"Why?" we looked at each other knowing our conversation wasn't making any sense at this point.

I struggled to continue the conversation as Leela finally decided to take a seat. She held her face with her hands in slight frustration, as if she was trying hard to make sense of the world right now. Finally, she sighed and spoke.

"I always said Alex was cute, you know that" she mentioned, but not really sure of the point she was trying to make.

"I do" I replied.

"I just don't know why now?" I guess that's what everything was about. Why now? Why not before? But I was still confused, did that mean that she liked him all along? Or was she just annoyed with his impulsive way of acting. After thinking about it, she decided to joke. "I've always been pretty."

I laughed at her comment, and agreed to it on a hundred percent. I breathed in deeply before I started talking again, for it was time to get honest.

"I don't trust him, though. Remember Halloween."

"I know," she said, "and he intimidates me a little too. He's so intense, I'm nothing like that. We're too different."

"But you still like him, don't you?" I raised my eyebrow as a little cheeky smile started to form in her face.

She looked up to me, "he's cute."

We went on with our day talking about anything else, we had lunch and then I went home. I let Alex know he had a green light but he had to go slow, and I still had my reservations about the nature of his intentions. Leela was special.

The truth is, she was indeed very pretty, her skin was pale and she had freckles, and she had dyed her hair bright red which looked absolutely natural on her. But, besides that, she was the kindest human I had ever met, I truly believed she had no malice in her soul, she didn't know what that was. And, like me, she was a hopeless romantic. That's how we bonded in the first place, our love for Pride and Prejudice and Taylor Swift songs that talk about those loves that make a golden mark on you. She also listened carefully whenever I spoke about astrology, like she was really interested in knowing what I knew. She was also a dancer so Darcy and I never missed a show because she was like our baby. I believe she's the whole group's baby, I've always said that if something were to happen to her, we would all form a human shield around her. That is one idea that we all agree on.