Seasons

Kill The Time

Anntonia's POV:

"But! There's always a 'but'! I think your country was a very strong contender during the edition of Miss Universe in 2016." Fabienne said. We were talking about the past Miss Universe winners while walking back to the studio.

She happens to be a great fan of Zuleyka Rivera, which makes so much sense because I somehow see similarities in her facial expressions to what Miss Zuleyka usually does based on what I've watched before.

"I do believe 2018 was one of the best editions of Miss Universe."

"Totally! Not gonna lie, Thailand pulled a very, very extreme production that year! Such a blast!" She excitedly said, clapping her hands while walking energetically.

I didn't know how she could be so hyper even though the temperature is too cold. She even lent me her leather trail blazer because I was complaining earlier about getting chills.

I stared at Fabienne, who was just smiling non-stop while we were walking. She's like the human representation of sunshine.

You can never tell when she's feeling down or sad; she always has this warmth and comforting energy that makes you feel like there's nothing to worry about her.

"I want to eat ramen," she randomly said and tucked her hands into the pockets of her leather jeans.

"I think I have it." I said, remembering that I like to bring instant Thai foods with me, yet, I haven't eaten some of them during the competition.

"You have what?"

"Come to the room later. I'm sure I still have a lot in my reserved luggage."

"You will give me?" She stopped walking. I was weirded out to walk when she's behind, so I stopped to face her too.

"Why not?"

"Really? I just actually blurted it out. Got no intentions to actually grab one."

"I expect you to do the same when I crave Mi Goreng." I jokingly said. Fabienne scoffed and laughed loudly as we continued walking.

"Looking so happy."

I shut my eyes closed when I heard a familiar voice at the side. When I opened my eyes, Fabienne was already looking at my side. I chose to look at her to see her reaction, but Fabienne was just calm, and she's looking at her like she did nothing to be guilty about.

But I do.

"Michelle," Fabienne said to acknowledge her presence.

"I see no traces of Miss Laos here," Michelle said. I was fidgeting my hands on my back and soothing my wrist to stop what I was feeling.

I felt Fabienne's hand on mine, and they were softly rubbing it. I looked at her and noticed how she just looked at Michelle. When she noticed that I was looking, she met my eyes and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Anntonia," Michelle called and reached for my waist. Fabienne stopped holding my hand and slightly pushed me towards Michelle. "We gotta go."

It's almost like muscle memory when I lifted my hand before she even lifted hers. She reached for my hand and pulled me closer to her side. I let out a small smile. I will never get enough of being physically close to Michelle; it's a different type of warmth.

However, I looked at Fabienne. She was smiling, but her eyes were something. She was looking at Michelle, so I looked at her too, and the two of them were actually sharing glances. There's some sort of communication through their eyes that I cannot comprehend.