Blindspot

Chapter 33

Getting a yes from Rebecca was the easy part, finding the perfect place was the difficult part. First and foremost, it had to be private which was hard since Rebecca was already famous and Freen was gathering popularity in Thailand. Second, it had to be intimate so that Rebecca understands that Freen is taking their relationship seriously. Freen thought long and hard about the perfect place for her to ask, and in the end, she decided to have Rebecca over for dinner so she could personally cook for her and have the privacy that she wanted.

On the day of their date, Freen woke up at 6am and spent the morning agonizing about what to wear (which consisted of which shade of black and a few items Rebecca had shopped for her). By noon, she went to the supermarket for the ingredients needed for their intimate dinner date. Two hours prior to the date, Freen cleaned herself up and put on her best perfume and started cooking dinner. Throughout the entire day, Freen was a nervous wreck and she felt like time just flew by. She never thought she would see this side of herself-- full of self doubt and worrying about whether she picked the right clothes, the right dinner choice, the right perfume.
Rebecca was punctual to their date as she let herself into Freen's apartment, she knew the underlying significance of their 'date' and though she appeared calm and collected, she was also a nervous wreck inside, it was hard for her to keep her excitement and anticipation down.

"P'Freen. Wow, it smells delicious. What are you cooking?"

"Pa..Pa..Pasta." Freen stuttered.

"I didn't know you can cook Italian, I thought you only knew Thai dishes."

"I got the recipe off the internet. I hope you like it. Um... may I take your jacket? Come have a seat and make yourself home."

"P'Freen, I've been coming over to your place a million times. I will definitely make myself at home." Rebecca chuckled as she hung her own jacket in Freen's closet and walked over to Freen to give her a brief hug, "relax! You look beautiful today and is this the outfit I picked for you?"

Freen couldn't speak and only grunted, she was too tongue tied with Becky's sudden close proximity. Rebecca broke away from Freen's arms to peer over her shoulder at what Freen was cooking on the stove.

"Wow! That looks amazing! I can't wait!" Rebecca said excitedly, "I wish I brought wine to pair with it."

"Why? You and I both don't like alcohol. I have coke in the fridge."

"We should be more adult like and drink wine." Rebecca pouted, "besides, wouldn't a glass of wine look better in the picture with the pasta?"

ping

"Why pretend to be something we're not. If we like to drink coke more than wine, then we drink coke. It is just us, why pretend?"

ping

Rebecca's heart warmed with Freen's words. "P'Freen, I think your phone was ringing."

"Ignore it. It's not important. You came at the perfect time. Bec, take a seat and I'll serve you."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Freen plated the pasta nicely as she had seen on the youtube video. She used that time to rehearse what she wanted to ask Becky in her head, but when she finished placing the pasta on the table and looked at Becky from across her small dining table, Freen's brain went blank and all she could think of was how beautiful Rebecca looked from across the table.

"P'Freen? Did you hear what I said? Earth to Freen?"

"Huh?" Freen snapped out of her daze, she realized that she had been spacing out while Becky was talking.

"I was asking, what's the occasion?" Rebecca had an inkling what it was but she wanted Freen to spell it out for her so that there would be no misunderstanding.

This is it. Just spit it out. You rehearsed it a thousand times. Come on Freen. Woman up!

"Bec...these past few days with you, has...has been wonderful and unforgettable for me. And it has been brought to my attention that...that um...that we...we are friends right?"

"Yes..."
"Friends. But friends don't do the things we do. Friends shouldn't be feeling what I feel for you."
Rebecca was silent for a few moments before she asked, "what do you feel...for me?"

"I..I...don't know how to describe it, but I know that I don't think about them all the time. I don't become a giant mess worrying about this and self doubting myself over everything. I definitely don't want to kiss them or be near them all the time.

I just...I know you wanted us to be friends and I had agreed at that time because in my mind, the change was just a label that didn't define what we are to one another, but now I know and...I don't want that anymore. Do I make any sense? I am rambling." Freen took a deep breath and tried again, "basically my point is I enjoy kissing you. Wait, that's not the point...um... the point is I would like to be your girlfriend again...oh but Nam said...Bec, why did you want us to be friends again?"

Rebecca's eyes blinked like an owl at Freen jumping from topic to topic; and they were all big topics that she wanted to talk about, only not all at once. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before she spoke, "Wow, that's a lot of information all at once. Freen, I enjoy kissing you too and the past few days have been amazing for me as well. I have never thought that I would feel that way again so soon after Nop and with a woman, but it feels right to me. I think about you all the time, and I want to be near you. You take care of me so well and I adore that, but you do it so well that I feel like you don't need me. When we were together, I felt that you don't need me like I needed you and I'm not talking about attraction because chemistry is not the issue here, it is communication. I don't know what you are feeling because you never talk about it, I don't know what your concerns and worries are. You often tell me things after the fact or don't even tell me at all until someone else tells me.

You are not afraid to jump into a fire and save a stranger, but you are so closed off with yourself when it comes to feelings. I want to be there with you for all your successes, and I especially want to be by your side for your failures.
I want us to be together again, but I don't want a repeat of our past mistakes. I don't want a one sided relationship where I always lean on you and carry me. I want us to be equals standing next to one another."

ping

ping

ping

Both Rebecca and Freen looked at Freen's phone at the sound of a notification. Freen made an annoyed look and grabbed her phone with the intention of turning it on silent when she happened to glance at the message in the notification. Her face had gone completely white and her hands trembled slightly.

"P'Freen? Freen? What is it?" Rebecca asked in concern at the sudden change of Freen's demeanor.

"I-I... I'am... being blackmailed." Freen whispered hoarsely as tears welled up in her eyes and she looked fearfully at Rebecca.

Unknown Number message: Did you think you I was joking?

Unknown Number message: Don't you dare IGNORE me. I know your secret.

Unknown Number message: Don't believe me? [send image] Slut. I see you. I see everything.

Unknown Number message: That is just the tip of the iceberg. I want 5 million baht in bitcoin sent to me, otherwise I will release the rest of the pictures to the public. 

Winnie had been holding on to the pictures for quite sometime, she couldn't decide whether to slowly leak the pictures one at a time or release it all at once. She also couldn't decide whether she wanted to torture Becky a bit by blackmailing Freen on Freen's pictures because clearly Freen is an important person in Rebecca's life, or release it on all social media platforms under troll account. She wanted to create the maximum damage to Rebecca's life with the minimal connection to her. Winnie knew that if the truth was discovered, she would be crucified for life.