Kiss Me, Mr. Liar

Thirty Three

CHAPTER 33

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Ken stepped on the gas pedal under his feet, to then leave Gabriella's boarding house. Maybe what Gabriella heard from Ken had really broken his heart. Ken chuckled, then beat the steering wheel as he continued to curse himself.

"Gabriella must be really angry, she hates me now," he said, blaming his own decision.

The thirty-something followed the flow of traffic at this hour of the day just to calm herself down at the First Club. Nothing can make him forget all his troubles except alcohol, right?

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Knock! Knock! Knock!

The sound of knocking on the door made Gabriella, who was sleeping on the sofa, get up immediately. Her gray pajamas and slightly messy hair clearly showed how unkempt she had been since yesterday. She was even able to close her eyes after three in the morning, which meant Gabriella had only been asleep for about four hours.

"Elle?"

Gabriella's eyebrows raised, she was a little surprised by the figure that appeared there. "Glen?"

The woman's gaze searched from head to toe of her old friend. Glen gave a small smile, then handed Gabriella a bouquet of flowers he had brought with him. "My condolences to your father."

Gabriella was stunned. She mumbled for a while, then replied, "Thanks," and accepted the flowers given by the man named Glen Pamungkas. "But, how did you know that my father died? Do you also ... know where I live, Glen?"

"Yesterday, I saw your story on Instagram and I got the info on where you live from your friend at the restaurant."

The long-haired woman's brow furrowed. She thought to herself, "Maybe Ken told me? But how come there's no sign that he's worried about me?"

"Elle?"

"Huh? Oh, okay. Thanks." Gabriella, who woke up from her reverie, immediately smiled a little to cover the awkwardness between the two of them. "Want to go in first?"

"Sure."

After agreeing to Gabriella's offer, Glen followed behind the woman to enter her modest boarding house. Glen was invited to sit on the sofa while Gabriella made him a cup of tea. It took a few minutes before the woman returned and sat across from her old friend.

"Drink the tea first, Glen. Sorry, I haven't had time to shop for snacks, so there's nothing here," Gabriella said guiltily.

Both corners of Glen's lips lifted up, a small smile printed there. "Take it easy. Uh, but I bought this for you." The man reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a pair of star-shaped key chains and handed them to Gabriella. "I bought a pair for both of us. This is the one that-"

"Glen," interrupted the woman of New York descent.

Making Glen's previously enthusiastic facial expression turn into curiosity. "Yes?"

"I can't go any further than this."

There was a pause. Glen seemed to need more time to digest the words released by Gabriella. He just remained silent there.

"I... fell in love with someone else."

To the point, Gabriella expressed her feelings to Glen. Not wanting to give false hope, was Gabriella's goal. However... Glen actually saw it as something else.

Glen smiled, then placed the small star-shaped keychain on the table. Putting the other one away, he said, "Not today, maybe. But I don't know about next week, do I?"

"Glen...,"

"I still have time until I return to Jogja. Is it okay if I fight this feeling until then?"

Gabriella's one breath escaped her. They just stared at each other with an awkward atmosphere they never expected.

***

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"Go back, you're so drunk," said Harry, pouring his second bottle of wine into a glass.

Ken looked up. His eyes were already heavy, making it difficult for him to open them, so he could only be seen squinting his eyes as he stared at his interlocutor at that moment. "I can't go back if Elle is still with that weird guy."

"That weird guy? Who?" Even though they were both drunk, Harry still managed to keep himself from losing consciousness too much.

"I don't know!" Ken half shouted. The man scratched his head as he lowered his head. "I saw him hanging out there in the morning, in front of his room, Elle! Argh!"

"Yeah, Wa. If you really like Elle, let's be honest." Harry raised one hand and patted the man's forehead, causing him to lean back against the top of the sofa they had reserved at the First Club. "The idiot's on the ground here!"

Suddenly Ken was crying like a child who wasn't allowed to buy his favorite candy. "Huah, Elle..."

"Ih, you're noisy, Ken" protested Harry, who was too lazy to listen to Ken's drunkenness.

It had been a long time since Ken had gotten this drunk. Even when the big man turned around, Ken was covering his face with one arm as if the man was having the hardest day of his life after all this fun.

"Elle...,"

"I think I should take you back now before I have more to deal with," Harry quipped, then gulped down the reddish-colored drink in his glass.

A few hours ago, Ken had called him out of the blue and asked him to come over to keep him company in the nightclub. Normally, they gathered at night, but Ken's sudden request came during the day when everyone was supposed to be busy working or doing other normal activities. Because of this, only Harry could make it. Alan had to fulfill his obligations at the photo studio, while Harry was unemployed that day.

Harry picked Ken up and carried him out of the club. Of course, doing so wasn't easy. Ken continued to sulk and cry like a child. Making Harry occasionally embarrassed because of his actions. Without thinking, Harry immediately took his best friend back home in Ken's car. He dropped him off, then left the man crying all day in his room.

Not caring about Ken's problems, Harry let Ken vent all his emotions that day.

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After spending more than a night crying over Elle, Ken was finally able to open his eyes there. His small eyes wandered around as he finally realized that the man was already in front of his porch in yesterday's clothes.

He hurriedly got up and cleaned himself up. Meanwhile, to relieve the occasional bruise that still ran through his temples, Ken made himself a cup of jasmine-scented tea in his kitchen. The hot steam billowing on the surface of the cup accompanied Ken in the living room. While checking his cell phone, which was just lying on the table, Ken stretched his muscles.

Kling!

The notification on his cell phone couldn't stop beeping after the flat object managed to turn on. Of the many messages, there was a message from his employee that really caught Ken's attention at the moment.

Andri: Boss, Elle has come to work today.

Ken's eyes widened in disbelief. He immediately got up from the sofa and pulled his wallet from the table, and then prepared to go to Selera Chinese Food to meet Gabriella. Ken hadn't even touched the tea he made earlier just to see Gabriella's face again.

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