“Just leave her there alone for a while.
If I go back over now, I’ll strangle her.” I said truthfully.
Because I was about to lose it—watching her and Dylan together earlier nearly drove me insane.
I hated feeling this way.
“Is that so?
Well, she seems like she’s about to bolt,”
I jumped up from the chair at his words.
Damn it!
Where did she think she was running off to again?
I unconsciously sped after her.
“Wanjan.
What do you think you’re doing!”
“Don’t follow me.
I’m done causing you trouble.
Just let me go!” she replied, still moving away.
Oh, great.
Stir up chaos, then try to make a clean exit?
Real funny.
Not.
“Wanjan!” I shouted, frustrated.
Then, to my horror, she ran straight into a post so loud it sounded painful and then tumbled down the stairs.
“Wanjan!”
And so, I ended up with a helpless kitten to take care of in my room…
Guess what I was doing right now?
I had laughed my head off when Ziff told me he had had to wash his girlfriend’s underwear.
But now I got it.
Tossing women’s underwear into a washing machine without a mesh bag was a serious rookie move…
Damn it!!
.
(What are you up to!)
This time, it was Ziff’s turn to laugh hysterically.
He called at just the right moment to check on some info he had asked me to dig up last time.
He had wanted me to track down a girl’s phone number—probably another girl he had tossed aside, from what I had heard about her reputation.
When he asked what I was up to, I told him the truth: doing laundry, which set him off laughing even harder.
What was so funny about that…
I really did not get it.
“I’m just doing laundry.
What’s so funny?
Shut up, damn it!” I groaned, sighing heavily.
(Payback’s coming back around to bite you, that’s what’s funny,) Ziff chortled, clearly enjoying my plight.
“Enough already.
Anyway, why’d you call?” I asked.
He rarely called just to talk.
Especially after he had gotten himself a woman, he became a homebody.
He rarely hit the town unless totally necessary.
Though he said he was busy doing the research, I did not believe him, not even one bit.
(That work I asked you to do, got any results?)
“Yeah, check your email,” I replied, still irritated about Wanjan’s laundry.
(Good, thanks.
Actually, I’ve got one more favor to ask.
Mind helping me out with something else?) His voice sounded a bit too slick.
I set down Wanjan’s clothes, raising an eyebrow curiously.
“What?”
(You seem to have a soft spot for little creatures.
Hang on—I’ll be over shortly.)
“What!?” I tried to get Ziff back on the line, but he had already hung up.
Irritated, I stood up from where I had been squatting in the bathroom, washing my arms and legs up quickly before heading out to check on Wanjan.
With her stubborn streak…
she had tried to run, even with her busted leg.
That girl never could stay put.
I cracked open the bedroom door and sighed, relieved to see Wanjan still curled up on the bed, though she was groaning in her sleep like a kitten.
Seeing her there, bruised from tumbling down the stairs, with fractured and nearly broken bones, sparked an odd sense of anger.
How could she be so fragile and delicate?
If I ever got too rough with her, I might end up breaking her for good.
Not long after I had sat down again, my phone rang, Ziff calling back.
Strange; he had shown up faster than usual—normally, it would take him at least half an hour to get here.
It had only been fifteen minutes.
Ignoring the thought, I walked up from the sofa and glanced out the window.
Ziff was pacing below, smoking.
Without picking up, I waved him up.
He noticed and came upstairs.
I opened the door for him.
“Hey…” I greeted as he stepped in.
“Hey…” Ziff replied indifferently.
I stared irritably at the cigarette still dangling from his lips.
“Could you stop smoking?
I’ve got a sick kitten in here.”
Ziff raised an eyebrow but pulled the cigarette from his mouth without complaint.
“Shocking.
When did the legendary pack-a-day Wills turn into this doctor with a heart of gold?” he teased, stubbing his cigarette out in the ashtray on the coffee table in front of my home theater set.
“Get to the point.
No stalling,” I said, noticing that he had brought a large bottle with him.
It took a second glance to realize there were two chubby goldfish swimming around inside.
“Are you insane?
They’ll suffocate in that bottle!” I said, snatching it out of his hand.
I’ve nearly swallowed them whole a dozen times.
That Bland Jane girlfriend of mine uses water bottles as tanks.
Doesn’t even think to use a bowl or something.
I came to get you to deal with them,”
he said, clearly annoyed, as he plopped down on the couch with an irritated look.
So, this Bland Jane…
had to be girlfriend.
I had met her once; she was actually pretty cute.
“You want me to keep them!?” I raised my voice in disbelief, unscrewing the lid to make sure the poor fish did not suffocate.
This guy was colder than a crow.
“Yeah!” Ziff replied bluntly, grabbing the remote to turn on the TV.
Make yourself comfortable, why don’t you?
“How could I keep them, I had my hands full with just that dummy,” I muttered, already heading to find a proper tank for the fish.
They were kind of cute.
Who would think a tough-looking guy like me would go soft for cute little things?
“Otherwise, I’m not paying you for tracking down that phone number.”
“Fine.
Just the fish, right!?”
“Exactly… and now that bland girl of mine will pay attention to me and not those stupid goldfish.”
“Hey, why’d you get here so fast today?
Usually it takes you, what, half an hour?”
I asked Ziff, curious as we ate and watched the soccer game together.
“I moved.”
“With that bland girl?” I teased, and Ziff immediately turned to glare.
“Watch it!
I’m the only one who gets to call her that!”
This guy was unbelievable… What was so charming about her being bland that he was determined to keep the nickname for himself?
He had seriously gone off the deep end.
“Fine, whatever.
So that’s all you came here for?” I cut him off, itching to kick him out.
“Yeah, I just stopped by for a smoke, for crying out loud.
Every time I pick up a cigarette, that girl cries and says my lungs are charred like the toast her mom made this morning.
Takes the fight right out of me,” Ziff said with a defeated look.
I could not help but laugh, which earned me a swift punch to the thigh.
“And that’s not all.
When I go in for a kiss, she says my mouth smells like smoke and that if I kiss her, I’ll be giving her nicotine.
Seriously, where does the ditz even get these ideas…”
The more Ziff talked, the harder I laughed.
I never thought he would be such a mess.
Normally, he had never bow to anyone—usually, he was the one getting fussed over by women.
I had never seen him so at the mercy of a girlfriend before.
“This ditz you keep mentioning, is she the same girl as Bland?” I asked, genuinely curious.
Ziff’s reputation as a ladies’ man was legendary.
At one point, he was juggling four girlfriends at once, and everyone in our group was in awe of him.
“Of course, she’s the same girl!
Who else could she be?”
he snapped back, and I made an incredulous look.
“Wait, you’re seriously dating just one woman?”
“What’s with that face?
Are you saying I’m a player?” he replied with a straight face.
Sigh~ if Ziff was not a player, then this world had no Casanovas.
But the fact that one woman had managed to tie him down and even turn him into a docile little kitten was something I could barely believe.
“Quit making that face…
I don’t want to argue with her, so I just stopped by here instead.
But when I get home, man, there’ll be fireworks,” he muttered, letting out a long sigh.
“Then just break it off.
Why care…” I egged him on.
Big mistake.
He fixed me with a deadly glare.
“This one, I’m serious.
There’s no way I’m breaking up with her!”
His sincerity made me smile.
Would I ever find someone who could make me feel the same way?
Like Ziff’s girlfriend did for him?
And just for a moment, I thought of that petite girl lying on my bed.
No, I needed to stop thinking about that.
“Hey, mind if I use your bathroom?” Ziff asked, getting up from the couch.
I did not object, leaning back into the couch, letting my mind wander—until I remembered that I had left Wanjan’s clothes and bra soaking in there.
I sprang off the couch and rushed to the bathroom.
“Ziff!” I yelled, panicking.
Just then, Ziff opened the door and burst out laughing right in my face.
“Hahaha.
Oh!
This is rich, haha.”
I swear, I hated this guy sometimes.
I was about to grab his collar and give him a punch or two when…
The injured kitten I had taken in hobbled over with her leg in a cast.
“Uh…”
Wanjan looked bewildered by the sight.
And that was when I realized I had been grappling with my idiot friend.
Great…
Every time Ziff showed up, it was a guaranteed headache.
“I’m not gay, okay!?”
We were starting over—again.
Ziff, Wanjan, and I sat together on the sofa, trying to clear the air.
Whatever issues there were, it was best to leave them behind and start fresh.
Ziff would not stop staring at Wanjan, which was getting on my nerves.
It was bad enough dealing with Clay’s incessant staring earlier.
Sure, I knew Ziff was not interested in her, but it still rubbed me the wrong way seeing him looking at her like that.
“What are you staring at so much?” I asked irritably, kicking the table in front of me without even realizing it. The source of this chapter is g.com.
I was starting to get annoyed at myself now too.
“Straight up, Wills,” Ziff said, crossing his arms, while Wanjan just kept her head down.
Bet anything she thought Ziff and I were a couple—no doubt about it!
“That’s just wrong, man…”
“What’s wrong?” I shot back, genuinely confused.
I glanced over at Wanjan, who was blushing madly.
No, it was not just her cheeks; her whole face was flushed, her ears too, all the way down to her neck.
It only made me more annoyed with Ziff for not leaving already.
Unsure how else to stop Ziff from looking at her, I pulled Wanjan into my lap and grabbed a light blanket lying nearby to wrap around her.
“Ugh!”
Wanjan made a startled sound, and Ziff looked at me, utterly exasperated.
“You’re seriously overprotective.
You’ve got it bad, man.”
“No worse than you,” I retorted without missing a beat.
It was true.
Everyone in our group knew by now how far gone Ziff was for his girlfriend.
“I can’t breathe,” Wanjan’s muffled voice came from under the blanket as she wriggled around.
Damn it!
She was squirming enough to give Ziff something to laugh about with the guys later.
“Can’t hide it anymore, man,” Ziff chuckled, crossing his legs and looking way too entertained.
“Whatever, mind your own business.
What were you saying before?
What’s not right?” I asked, hugging Wanjan closer to stop her fidgeting.
Darn…
Did she have any idea she was driving me insane?
“You can’t just throw a girl’s underwear in the washing machine like that, man,”
Ziff’s words made Wanjan freeze mid-squirm, and she looked up at me with wide eyes.
I did not know what to do, so I just pressed her face into the crook of my neck to keep her from seeing my expression.
“For real, that stuff needs a gentler touch.
I’d bet everything that her underwear’s trashed by now—stretched, ripped hooks, loose straps, you name it.”
I cleared my throat, feeling humiliated at being called out so bluntly while Ziff just kept a straight face like it was nothing.
“She probably can’t wear them anymore.
Just saying,”
he added and sighed with an air of a profession.
Right…
Ziff the Woman Underwear Washing Master!
Then again, there was another reason I was keeping Wanjan on my lap like this: she was only wearing one of my shirts and shorts—without anything underneath.
I hoped Ziff had not noticed, but either way, I was done dealing with his commentary.
I stood up with Wanjan in my arms and made a direct line for the bedroom.
“Hey!
The guest hasn’t even left yet.
Can’t you hold off until I’m gone?
Show some respect.”
“You jerk!” I yelled back, him and his motor mouth.
I set Wanjan down on the bed, and she avoided looking at me entirely.
“Where are all your clothes?
And where exactly is your house?” I asked since she did not have any clothes to change into.
But she did not answer, just pulled the blanket up and huddled underneath.
It was frustrating, but I was not about to push too hard right now.
Otherwise, she might just panic, and Ziff, that annoying friend outside, would probably go spreading rumors to the others.
The thought alone was aggravating.
When Wanjan did not respond, I sighed and backed off quietly.
“Just stay here for now.
I’ll be back,” I said, even though I knew Miss Clumsy here could not get far even if she tried.
After that, I headed out, and of course, Ziff was there with a grin, waiting.
“Get lost, would you,” I muttered, snatching my wallet, keys, and car keys off the table.
“I know where you’re headed,” Ziff said, throwing his jacket over his shoulder.
“So what,” I grumbled, annoyed that he had swooped in to ruin my peace today.
“Need company?” He raised his eyebrows, clearly amused.
I was ready…
to shove him out of my way, but on second thought, I gave him a nod.
“Knew it—you need someone with experience to guide you.
This kind of stuff calls for seasoned expertise,” Ziff announced, slinging his arm around my shoulder.
“You need me, trust me…”
“Yeah, yeah…
drop the wise guy act already,” I said, resigned.
In the end, we went in Ziff’s car.
We did not talk much on the way there.
Ziff puffed away on his cigarette like it was his last one on earth, mumbling about how he would be banned from smoking once he got back home.
I nearly felt high off the fumes just sitting there.
Once we reached the mall, Ziff walked straight into the women’s department with ridiculous confidence.
Really, he was impressive.
Was this really the ultimate ladies’ man in our group?
“Alright, then.
You know your girl’s size, right?”
he asked right there in the lingerie aisle, surrounded by soft colors that made my skin crawl.
I shot him a look, regretting that he had become this whipped.
There was no denying it; he had been completely brainwashed by his girlfriend.
I swore to myself… that would never happen to me.
But here I was…
calling the clumsy girl with the broken leg back in my room just to ask the most humiliating questions.
“Wanjan, what brand of bras do you wear?
And, uh… what kind of sanitary products do you use?”
Lord, help me!
End Wills’s Talk…