The Headturner

Happiness and Envy

Chapter Thirty-Seven -  Happiness and Envy

When they entered Adam's house, it was like someone had turned the place upside down.

"You've been robbed." Anne gasped.

"Not exactly." Adam chuckled. "It was my fist of fury. While waiting for the ambulance, I just felt helpless and angry."

"And you ransacked your own place?"

"Just the living room."

"I'm not cleaning this up."

"Alright princess, now you rest in my bed while I clean up." Adam lifted her up and took her upstairs into his bedroom which was still adorned with candles waiting to be lit.

Anne was dumbfounded as she walked into the room.

"You did this for me?" She felt guilty again for spoiling their evening.

"Of course." He hugged her from behind and kissed the top of her head.

"I'll take care of this. Tanya and Neil will come before we know it and we won't hear the end of it."

"You need to rest." He tried to argue but thought that she needed the distraction anyway.

"Alright, you can probably handle this. But you know you're wearing formal, right?"

"Shit. Tanya will know I stayed the night here."

"Just tell her you needed to go to your office for a while and you came straight from work."

"Good excuse. Are you getting too good at cooking up excuses?" She asked accusingly.

"Well, I've had a great teacher." He tickled her sides.

"Carson. Go straighten up your living room." She said between giggles.

"You always get me to do all the dirty work." He complained as he hopped downstairs.

After cleaning up, they watched a movie and cuddled. It was satisfying listening to his heartbeat and his warmth engulfing her. He loved the sweet smell of shampoo in her hair and how soft her skin felt.

"Neil is in the house." Neil announced as he barged in through the front door.

"We're here." Adam motioned him over as they sat up straight.

"Oh lookie here. Can't keep your hands off your boyfriend, huh?" Neil teased Anne as he saw she had arrived early.

"What's up,man." Adam gave him a hug.

"I'm good. What's going on?" Neil asked with a wide grin.

"Wait. I know that grin." Adam noticed. "You dog." He chuckled as he gave Neil a high-five. Anne realised what they were talking about and left for the kitchen with a disgusted expression on her face.

"Tanya, where are you?" She sent a text to Tanya. She had to balance out the testosterone in the house.

"Hold your horses. I'll be there soon." Tanya replied.

"The house stinks of boys right now."

"LOL. I'll make sure to bring air freshener then."

"What are you doing?" Neil asked as he entered the kitchen.

"I wanted some water." She replied, while filling up a glass for herself.

"Uh...huh..." He opened the fridge. "You want soda?" 

Anne shook her head no. He shrugged and got two cans out.

"You must be over the moon, huh?" He leaned against the fridge as he popped open his soda and sipped on it.

"Yeah, I missed him so much."

"Tell me about it." He rolled his eyes. "I was the one who had to clean up after you. You ruined so many of my shirts with your mascara stains." He shuddered dramatically.

"Shut up, will you?" She poked him in his ribs and walked towards the living room.

"I met a girl." He said from behind her, making her stop and turn towards him.

"Who?"

"You don't know her yet but we've hit off quite well. I don't wanna jinx it but maybe I've moved on. She may be just the one, you know?"

Before he could say anything else, Anne hugged him.

"I'm so happy for you." She whispered.

"Get your hands off my girl, bro." Adam yelled at Neil, who laughed at Anne's discomfort.

"I was congratulating him, and I can hug him all I want." She slapped the back of his head and sat down beside him on the couch. Neil threw him a soda, laughing as he took a seat.

They had already changed the channel to "Man Vs. Wild".

"God no." Anne facepalmed and hoped Tanya would come soon.

"Let's order food, I'm starving." Neil fetched his phone and looked at Anne and Adam. "What should we order?"

"How about dumplings?" Adam suggested and Anne shrugged nonchalantly.

"Alright, Chinese takeout it is." Neil dialed 'Chen's Kitchen' which was on speed dial.

"Hola, bitches." Tanya announced her arrival, cussing unlike her usual self.

"Whoa, who are you and what have you done with our innocent friend?" Neil looked aghast and Adam had a similar expression on his face. Anne started to laugh at Tanya's antics. She had an air of arrogance around her.

"If you must know, this innocent bird is leaving her nest." She gestured at herself.

"What are you going on about?" Adam joined in, getting curious about why she was acting strangely all of a sudden.

"Anne, stop laughing. Why can't you guys play along for once?" Tanya pouted, her smugness gone.

"Okay, I'll bite. May we know where this twitter will be twittering to?" Neil feigned gentlemanly mannerisms.

Tanya cheered up again. "I'm flying off to Berkeley College in New York".

"You're going to college?" Adam cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes, Tanya is going to be the first one of us to be joining a college. Aren't you proud of her?" Anne chimed in.

"This calls for a celebration." Adam got up and hugged Tanya.

"I'm going to be the only one left to rot here." Neil sulked.

"Don't worry. We will be here too, keeping you company while Tanya earns... uh.. what are you going to study?"

"Design Management. Neil, how can you be such a party pooper?" Tanya hugged him from behind.

"Yeah, yeah I'm happy for you." He mumbled but his expression said an entirely different story.