$trings

22

[17 July]

MORNINGS WERE THE BEST in Amsterdam. That was why we woke up very early to witness the premature hours of the day. On some dawns, Hailey and Andes would not be there. Which was why I never made the mistake of going to the kitchen or the girl's room in quest of my phone.

Today, however, they were very much present, and in these early moments, they were having some kind of sex with their clothes on, right in front of Carlos and me. We were not forced to watch, but their presence was too noticeable; it was, in actual fact, pretty impossible to ignore them. Believe me, Carlos and I tried to converse – hoping to overlook their heated company – but the balustrade did not miss a chance to screech with their forceful influence, and the sounds... Gosh, the lip smacking and the chuckling and the moaning and the flirting... It was too much. Oh, as soon as I acquired the balls, I was so going to--

"Babe, we oughta have a view like this in our landscape," Carlos said, "don't ya think?"

"Absolutely!" I laughed clumsily, angling my head, and my body, away from Hailey and Andes. My man kept a cautious eye on the twosome.

"Is this you finally agreein' to buyin' a bigass mansion?" he asked me after a moment, peering at me.

"Maybe," I said with a shrug. And I crossed my arms, because I heard another nasty flirt.

My man glanced back at the duo, and he made his mouth go taut. There was silence on our part of the balcony for a moment. Then, the loud, penetrating sound of their kissing came again.

"You want a drink?" Carlos suggested, leaning down towards me and moving his gaze to mine.

I shook my head and stifled a small laugh. "You've already asked me that," I reminded.

"I know but..." – he checked Andes and Hailey and sighed awkwardly – "...this is actually kinda disturbin."

I gave a shrug, and he leaned against the balustrade, lowering to my level. "Are they dating?" I asked.

"Na." Carlos shook his head while looking around the balcony maturely. He told me, "they just fucking."

I laughed to myself and peered at the pair. And they stopped kissing. They inspected Carlos and me in turn with disapproval transcribed on their faces, while Andes was telling us, "We are dating."

"You are?" I inquired, raising a brow and facing them head-on. I did not really believe it.

Hailey fixed the buttons of her blouse, telling us, "no hey. He just said we are dating because he had nothing better to say." Carlos and I chuckled, and she peered at Andes, who was watching her with fire in his eyes. While leaning into him and lifting her right hand to his left ear, she smirked and asked him, "Should I get you a drink, babe?"

Andes kissed her on the lips. Before answering her with, "Do you wanna get me a drink?"

Hailey kissed him back quickly and firmly on the lips. Before answering him with, "Only if you want me to get you a drink."

Andes kissed her back again quickly and firmly on the lips. Before answering her with, "Do you want me to have a drink?"

Hailey kissed him quickly and firmly on the lips. Before-

"Just go get the damn drink, Hailey!" I muttered. They were annoying enough to have made me roll my eyes three times in a row.

Hailey took a moment to listen to me; she extracted herself from her situation and strutted away from the balustrade, fixing her tiny denim shorts. The table holding the pints and beers received her shortly. Our part of the balcony was muted for some time, while the three of us watched as Hailey opened one champagne bottle, picked up a wine glass and poured wine into it in silence. I couldn't help but roll my eyes when I saw her peering at us – at Andes, actually – and winking; the implementation was gorgeous enough to make Andes look down and laugh to himself.