VII

"You look so perfect standing there

In my American apparel underwear

And I know now, that I'm so down

Your lipstick stain is a work of art

I got your name tattooed in an arrowed heart

And I know now, that I'm so down (hey!). . ."

The unearthly descant - sounding more like a frustrated harangue from a rat that had been starving for months - escaped from Oriana's mouth as she bounced from one couch to another, the daily newspaper folded into a cylindrical shape, resembling a microphone held in her paws as the music - from artistes unknown to Emerald - continued blasting through the speaker, making Emerald's ear throb from the noise.

She really had no idea how she sounded. Even the grunts from a gravid donkey in labour sounded more bearable than the sounds that left her throat. At some point, she let out something similar to a strangled cry, leaving Emerald to worry if she was perhaps choking on her own saliva.

Emerald wondered if maybe she would have to move out of her own house or perhaps temporarily stay in a sauna to let off some steam of frustration and to just relish in the peace and quiet that clearly Oriana wasn't qualified to give, at least not anytime soon.

"Let's get out, let's get out

'Cause this deadbeat town's only here just to keep us down

While I was out, I found myself alone just thinking

If I showed up with a plane ticket

And a shiny diamond ring with your name on it

Would you wanna run away too?

'Cause all I really want is you. . ."

Her voice came out in a treble screech, almost as if she were cawing. It was a truly unpleasant and torturous sound to be compelled to listen to. Emerald let out a groan as she shut her eyes and inhaled deeply; her body was bouncing gently on the couch she was seated on as Oriana continued to leap from couch to couch in immense ecstasy.

Abruptly, the bouncing and high-pitched shriek came to a halt followed by a loud thump, an 'oomph' and a string of rainbow colored profanities. Emerald opened her eyes just in time to see her friend slowly lift herself off the ground while rubbing her head with a small pout on her lips.

She threw an ominous glance at the spot Oriana continued to rub before she adjusted herself to sit properly on the couch after the unceremonious episode her friend had just displayed.

"What weird addiction might you be sporting this week, McStuffins?" Emerald asked blankly, earning a glare from Ori for using her ignominious middle name.

This was already a regular thing with her friend. Every week she always had something new and eccentric to bring to the table. It always turned out to be frustrating and nettlesome most times but Emerald couldn't deny that these weird habits of Ori's actually helped to spice up her week one way or the other.

She had thought it was just something that would pass with time but it's been going on for over a year now and Emerald had come to a conclusion that it was now a part of her friend.

"Addiction? What do you mean?" Oriana's glare had morphed into a confused expression as she unfolded the microphone model type newspaper and tossed it onto one of the little coffee tables.

"Last week it was some Japanese guy in a mermaid movie and now, it's some. . . What? Boy band? I used to think it was a monthlies thing just like your mood swings but you couldn't possibly be on your period for over a year non-stop, could you?" She elucidated.

Oriana rolled her eyes at her friend before grabbing the control for the stereo as she began scrolling through the playlist displayed across the screen of the LED TV.

"Firstly, my sweetheart, Lee, isn't a Japanese man, he's Seoulite - a South Korean and most importantly, he isn't a weekly or monthly addiction like you claim. He's forever embedded in my heart," she said with a dreamy sigh as her eyes held a longing look.

Typical Oriana

"Secondly, 5 Seconds Of Summer isn't just an ordinary boy band, it's a group of four drool-worthy, basically walking sex gods and I still can't believe you don't know them," Emerald rolled her eyes in response, choosing not to say anything.

'What happened to Lee is forever embedded in my heart?' Emerald thought.

Now Oriana was practically drooling all over as her eyes glazed over. She conservatively held to her chest, the pack containing the compact disk of their songs, both old and new as she continued scrolling through the album.

All of a sudden, she turned her head towards Emerald, completely ignoring the existence of a bitch named 'whiplash' as her eyes were wide open in excitement and her feet bounced against the floor. Emerald could sense the giddiness roll off her friend in waves as she looked like she had made the biggest discovery in the world, or rather, she looked like she had been told that Lee Min Ho was coming to pay her a visit.

"Mera! Do you know that good girls are just bad girls that haven't been caught yet?" she shouted, a huge smile playing at her lips.

Emerald wasn't at all fazed by what her friend had said. She knew she must have gotten that saying from somewhere but deciding to play along for now, she asked,

"Really? Wow! How did you come up with that?" she tried to sound enthusiastic but she couldn't keep the ennui from seeping through her voice.

"Oh, I came up with it myself. You've gotta admit, I am pretty smart," her smile had been replaced by a proud smirk and a smug expression.

Time to burst her bubble.

"Hmm. . . You sure? Because I'm quite certain I heard the exact same line from one of your walking sex gods' songs," Emerald remarked as she watched the smug look drop from Oriana's face and her cheeks turned pink from being caught lying.

"Well. . . I. . . Uhm, the thing is I-"

"Ori, stop. You don't have to steal some mediocre line from a movie, song or from anywhere for that matter just to impress me or prove to me that you're smart. I mean you work for a bloody news agency for Christ's sake and you're not just anybody there, you're one of the people that help in gathering these juicy news updates we read, see and hear every single day.

You're perfect at your job and if that doesn't show that you're smart, I have no idea what else would. You're the smartest girl I know, Ori so don't you dare belittle yourself, you hear me?" she heartened Oriana who gave her a grateful grin in reply.

Emerald smiled before her eyes darted to the slight bump that was beginning to protrude out of Ori's head where she had earlier fallen. She knew her friend wouldn't remember to treat the bump and tomorrow, she would try to use some makeover to shield its brutal existence.

She sighed before getting up and walking into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she grabbed the icebag and simultaneously reached for the Ziploc filled with the chocolate chip cookies her mother had baked for her and Ori before walking back to the living area and tossing the icebag at Oriana.

"Use that if you don't want to appear at work tomorrow with a growing purple horn," she settled on the couch before taking a bite out of a cookie, stifling a satisfied moan at how delicious it tasted.

Her mother was an excellent chef and baker and her meals couldn't be more mouthwatering considering the fact that she had a well known restaurant down in Boston and Luca, her boyfriend, was also glad to help by being in charge of the Italian dishes section.

"Speaking of work, considering the fact that you seem overly joyful today and not carrying about your grumpiness - which has been going on for about a week and a half now- I'm guessing you guys now have something to publish?" she asked as she watched Oriana slip down the couch onto their vintage red, black, white and grey rug, placed right in the middle of the living room, before reaching for the Ziploc bag to grab a cookie.

"Hmm. . . We mfwinally hanve swome weally juishy infwormatiom. Youm hamve mo idea how hamppy everyone wams todaw, ewsmecially Mr-"

"Ori! Manners. Swallow before you speak," Emerald scolded as she shot Oriana a glare, putting an end to her misery.

She couldn't take it anymore. Unable to understand what her friend was saying, coupled with the horrible sight of saliva and cookie particles spouting out of Ori's mouth together with her jumbled words didn't sit well with her.

Passing Emerald a sheepish look, Oriana swallowed while rubbing the icebag against the side of her head, mumbling an apology.

"So what were you saying?" Emerald finally asked, making herself comfortable on the couch by sitting with her legs crossed underneath her body. Bending towards the side of the couch, she reached for her water bottle sitting on the floor before taking sips; her eyes were still trained on Oriana who was starting to reach for another cookie.

"I was saying that we finally have something juicy to publish and you wouldn't believe who had dug up the piece of information!" she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming as she was unable to sit still. She was practically bouncing on her butt, giving Emerald an expectant look as if prodding her to ask 'who' had.

"Uhm. . . You?" Emerald answered uncertainly.

"Me! I did! You have no idea! After spending the entire afternoon wandering around Battery Park, I decided to take a break at some cafe, which looked exquisite by the way. I was sipping my iced tea when two guys and a lady walked in.

One of the guys looked really nerdy with his big glasses and his oversized knitted sweater which looked like something his grandma would make for him for Christmas - an ugly Christmas sweater, if you may - while the other guy looked really good."

"So you were ogling on the job?" Emerald snickered.

"I wasn't ogling, I was observing, plus it's what I was asked to go do. Besides, you can't blame me for admiring God's creation, such man candy. He looked hot, he was tall with quite an amazing build. His blue eyes were just so heavenly and oh! his hair was just spec-"

"Ori! Focus."

"Sorry. So as I was saying, when they got seated and placed their orders, they began talking and I couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation and I assure you it's not because I wanted to hear what angel eyes sounded like.

They were talking about some wine company in Napa valley and as their discussion went on, I figured out that they were actually employees working in J.K. Empire and they were talking about the J.K. wine industry in California," she gushed as she swayed her hands, gesturing enthusiastically.

"And bam!" she suddenly slammed the newspaper against her left hand, making the abrupt noise reverberate round the living room.

When had she even picked that up?

"That was how I found out that a new type of wine would be released in a few weeks. Not exactly certain about when it would be out but the first batch should be ready for the world in two to three weeks. This is the perfect scoop, Mera and when I had reported back to Mr. Hyde, he had been elated.

Fucking euphoric that he had actually pecked both my cheeks multiple times! Everyone was ecstatic, yeah some were jealous especially Botox Barbara but I don't give a fuckity fucking fuck! Mera, do you know what Mr. Hyde said? Do you?!" she shouted as she jumped to stand in front of Emerald.

Emerald had never seen her friend this happy since she got her cherry popped two years into college. Even when she had her first skinny-dipping, she wasn't this elated and admittedly, Emerald couldn't contain her own joy as well as her face broke into a grin.

"What did he say?" she replied with enthusiasm as she unfolded her legs and sat up on the couch.

"He said if I could keep it up, then my promotion was inevitable and imminent. Mera! I could get promoted anytime soon!" she squealed as she jumped around, doing crazy dances.

Emerald laughed at her friend's antics as she watched her wiggle like a salted earthworm, which was trying to free itself of the sodium chloride on its skin.

"I'm really happy for you, Ori. You deserve every bit of it and so much more, girl," Emerald smiled as she pulled her friend into a hug, making Oriana squeeze her tightly in return.

"We have to celebrate this! We really have to," she exclaimed as she went back to scrolling through the album.

"When will the news update be out?" Emerald asked.

"Probably by tomorrow. It should be on the Daily Times and certainly on E-news and other channels. It should most definitely be on air on various radio networks as well. This is really a jackpot, Mera," she beamed as she finally stopped at the song she had been searching for before picking up two cookies and stuffing them in her mouth at once.

"Good. I'll be sure to read tomorrow's papers," Emerald supported as she stood up and grabbed her water bottle and the Ziploc containing only a few more cookies, the majority of which Oriana had viciously consumed.

"Well, I'm off to bed. Congratulations again, McStuffins," she walked out of the living room but not before catching her friend falling and hitting her head again. Oriana let out another groan with additional series of profanities, while rubbing the other side of her head, different from the side with the already protruding horn.

Emerald only rolled her eyes as she trudged up her room to drown in a bit of fantasy before giving in to a much needed slumber.

▬▬▬▬▬

His bloodshot eyes stared into the mirror which was a bit foggy due to the steam that had emanated from the shower. He raised his pruned hand to wipe off the haze that had covered the surface of the mirror as he continued to stare at his appearance.

He had spent quite a long time in the shower, his mind drifting off to the beautiful and classy pest that had infested his thoughts. She hadn't left his mind since the first time they had met and the urge to even think about her had surprisingly grown rapidly when she had - on their second meeting - dared to speak those disturbing words that had stabbed right into his past.

It seemed as though even thinking about her now became a natural thing. Like his life was a desert of immeasurable acres of hot sand; his life, a torrid and arid place and she was his source of water.

She was the beautiful but dark rain cloud that was much needed in his life, yet even rain clouds couldn't take away the entire aridity of a desert. Even the biggest and heaviest rain clouds would eventually run out of water and the desert would once again be its usual self.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hands through his dripping wet hair and brushed them down his face in fatigue. He had been thinking of her again. Turning around, he walked out of his apartment-sized bathroom and made his way out of his room towards his closet.

His closet was in an entirely different room from his bedroom or rather, the entrance to his closet was in another room while his closet was a totally different part of the entire mansion. It was in the room directly opposite his bedroom and it was embedded into the ground like an underground basement but instead of the usual underground door or displaced floorboard like the normal average people had, his was encased with a transparent dome-shaped case.

He walked into the room in nothing but a towel hanging low on his waist and made his way towards the transparent dome. He reached forward and pulled the projected handle before tossing the black-rimmed plastic case aside and walking down the spiral stairs into the endless ocean of extravagant clothes and shoes; suit jackets, pants, dress shirts, and let's not forget rows and rows of casual wears.

He walked past the seemingly endless glass cases of wristwatches, shades and ties, completely ignoring his infinite shelves of shoes until he stopped in front of a particular case in the casual wears section. Immediately reaching for a random drawer, he pulled it open and settled for a pair of black sweatpants with the Nike logo on it and a fitted casual grey shirt that fit him like a glove, showing the outlines of his well defined abs.

He got dressed but not before putting on some briefs. He walked out of the closet and shut the case before completely leaving the room, switching off the lights. Walking into his room, he entered just in time to hear his phone ring on his king-sized bed.

Picking it up, he saw the familiar name flash through the screen and he tapped on the Answer button as he walked into the bathroom to return the towel.

"J," the voice came through.

"Hmm. . ." he hummed tiredly as he sat on his soft bed.

"How's it going? I heard you'll be unveiling the new wine in a few days," the accusatory tone in his voice was definitely evident.

Jordan heaved a sigh. He was too tired to deal with a nagging Keelan.

"Keel, I've been too busy to contact you or speak to you about it. My schedule has been even tighter than ever. I apologise," he mumbled as he felt his eyes drooping. His head was pounding mercilessly.

"What? Did I say anything?" he asked, the sarcasm lacing his words as he tried to act nonchalant.

"Kee-"

"Besides, I know how tired you must be with your constant trips and all. Plus let's not forget your Mafia duties. I'm gonna be the bigger person and let this go-"

"Good. Thanks Kee-"

"-on one condition," he finished, making Jordan release a groan as he fell back on his bed.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"We have to celebrate this. You and I. At the club. This Saturday. No excuses, I'll pick you up at eight. Nighty!"

"Keel?"

". . ."

"Are you there?"

". . ." he was met with silence. Keelan had hung up on him.

Jordan begrudgingly adjusted himself on his bed, not wanting to move an inch from his position. Getting under the covers, he switched off the lights with the simple snap of his fingers. He grunted in content as he felt the burden of fatigue ease off of him. His stomach growled in search of food but he was too tired to leave his bed.

Slowly drifting off into a state of blissful unconsciousness, his mind wouldn't leave the emerald eyed temptress yet unusually, he was anticipating Saturday night.

As to why he was looking forward to it, he had no answer.