With her eyes shut, Kasie rested her head on Ivan's shoulder and murmured, "I'm sorry. I feel so bad for you."
Ivan cast a sidelong glance at her and said, "Why? I'm good."
"Wow! You don't even know it."
Anything Ivan was about to say was stuck in his throat.
After a while, he pulled her into his arms and asked softly, "Where do you live?"
Kasie didn't resist. Instead, she settled herself in his arms easily. "I don't know," she grumbled.
'I'm sure Debbie knows, ' Ivan thought. 'I'll call her.' But he decided against it. Debbie was with Carlos now, and he didn't want to disturb them.
He pinched Kasie's nose softly and said playfully, "Then I'll have to take you home with me."
"Okay," she stammered.
Ivan didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
He also lived in the same apartment complex as Debbie, though his apartment was in Building 5 and Debbie's was in Building 2.
The reason he chose to live in the Champs Bay Apartments was that Debbie was right there if his mother suddenly came by to check up on him. It would be easy to grab her and maintain the fiction of a happy marriage—at least until his mom left.
When his car reached Building 2, Ivan asked the driver to stop.
He opened the car window and had a couple cigarettes before he finally saw Carlos' car approaching. He saw Debbie and Carlos emerge. Then Decker also sauntered over.
Despite his playful suggestion, Ivan had planned to take Kasie to Debbie's apartment and have her crash there. But things had gotten complicated.
After Carlos' car pulled away and Debbie and Decker headed for Building 2, Ivan directed the driver to Building 5.
He got out of the car, scooped Kasie up in his arms and walked into the elevator. Then he set her down, draping one of her arms around his shoulders for support. After he made sure she wouldn't fall over, he pressed the button.
Kasie opened her eyes and saw Ivan through blurry eyes. "Ivan, it's you!"
"Yeah, it's me." Ivan sighed helplessly.
"What's wrong with me? Why are you holding me up? Why can't I stand up?" Kasie burped, and the elevator was full of the smell of alcohol mixed with rather foul breath, thanks to a night of drinking.
Ivan explained patiently, "You're drunk, and you wouldn't tell me where you live. We're going to my place."
"Your place? What's wrong with mine? Need directions?"
'Is she inviting me?' Ivan wondered.
The elevator came to a halt on the third floor. "No. We're here already. You can crash here."
"All right. But you can't tell Debbie. She might get mad. I'm her bestie, but I'm alone with her husband," Kasie said with a guilty look.
'I'm pretty sure Debbie won't get angry. She'll be glad to hear it, ' Ivan said to himself.
He scooped her up again and took her to his bedroom. After gently placing her on the bed, he said, "Get some sleep. You'll feel better tomorrow."
Kasie was about to wrap herself in covers when Ivan ran over to her quickly and took her shoes off.
After tucking herself in, she gave Ivan a smile and said, "Mom, I feel dizzy. No bath tonight. I'll do it tomorrow."
'Mom? Do I look like a chick to her?' Ivan rolled his eyes. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Fine. Get some rest. I'll grab a shower."
"Mom, you're so nice to me."
Ivan didn't respond and walked into the bathroom without another word. He was worn out too, and felt like doing nothing more than washing up and going to sleep.
The next morning, when Kasie woke up, she found herself in a strange room. Much to her surprise, she was in a man's arms. He was only wearing boxers!
She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw it was Ivan.
But then she got nervous again. 'Oh my God! Where are my clothes?
Did we screw?'
Thinking of this, she immediately scooted to the edge of the bed and sat up.
Her thrashing around woke Ivan up. He opened his eyes and grumbled, "Hey! I'm trying to sleep here."
"Ivan, d-did we…did we…?" She couldn't even finish. Tears welled up in her eyes. They were in bed, and undressed. A perfectly natural conclusion.
Ivan sighed and said, "Make love? No. I took your clothes off so you'd sleep better."
"Really?" Kasie felt relieved.
"Really! If you don't believe me, get up and walk around."
"Why?" she asked in confusion.
Ivan turned over and explained, "To see if you're sore. Go ahead."
Kasie did as she was bidden. She took Ivan's night gown and put it on for modesty's sake. She walked around a bit. Nothing. She visibly relaxed and took a deep breath.
She crawled over the bed, getting close to Ivan and sat on her feet. "Even if we wanted to do anything, we can't. You're married to my best friend. Not happening."
Ivan opened his eyes again and teased, "You mean, if Debbie and I split up this morning, I can make love to you this afternoon?"
'What? I didn't say that!' She rolled her eyes and stood up, about to walk into the bathroom.
However, Ivan grabbed her wrist. She asked in confusion, "Yeah?"
"I don't need to work this morning. Let's go back to bed."
"I…" Kasie racked her brains, but couldn't see a reason why not. In fact, she didn't need to work either. She had a shop in Shining International Plaza, but she only needed to carry out inspections once in a while.
She tucked herself in again. Ivan pulled her into his arms and rubbed her face with his rough chin. She giggled and complained.
The next moment, she was pressed against the bed.
She blinked her eyes and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I want to kiss you." Somehow, Kasie looked incredible in his night gown. It was really turning him on.
She didn't turn him down. "Just kissing, nothing else."
"Sure." He pressed his lips against hers.
After a while, Kasie complained, "Hey! Slow down! I said nothing else. Why did you take off my gown?"
Ivan said with a smug smile, "I didn't take off your gown. I took off my gown."
Kasie didn't know what to say to that. He made sense.
Debbie, on the other hand, picked up her daughter from Carlos' manor and dropped her off at kindergarten. Lucinda was waiting there in the classroom. Actually, it was well into the semester, so Piggy was a late addition.
At kindergarten
Her classmates liked Piggy a lot. They gave her gifts and always wanted to play with her.
Debbie hid outside the classroom so she could see how it went. Piggy was not used to so many people around, and she wasn't having fun. When a boy touched her dress, she even pouted her mouth.
'Did she pick up any weird personality quirks from Carlos? Oh no! She's a neat freak too, ' Debbie thought.
Luckily, what Piggy did next made Debbie feel relieved. She accepted one of the gifts and thanked the giver softly.
She then started taking gifts from the other kids and thanked everyone. "Mommy will buy gifts. Tomorrow," she promised.
