29. ARE YOU IN LOVE?

"Tell me, what happened after the kiss?" Lisa yelled out, almost damaging Lena's eardrums with her screams. "Oh my God, oh my God," she squealed.

"Lisa, I was scared to death." Lena positioned her phone on the phone hanger and relaxed on the couch in the bedroom. The lights were on and Darian was probably in his study or office.

"Scared, why were you?" She inquired.

"There was an attack at the party and he stayed back to confront our attackers. I was so scared, I feared he would be shot dead." She held her chest and rubbed her palms against it.

"Hmm, interesting." Lisa folded her arms and shifted back from the camera. She tied her hair with a band and braided the tip. "As a writer, I want to explain this to you. Would you like to listen to me?"

"Stop being delusional. You are so lost in your world of fiction that you don't even know what's happening in the real world." Lena hissed, jerking her head, she threw her hands to the side.

Lisa sighed, "Do you want to listen to me?" She frowned.

"Let's have it," Lena shrugged, "Let's listen to the crap you have to spit."

"Crap?" She snapped her fingers. "Let's forget about it then."

"Hey, talk about it, okay? What's it that you have to say?"

"Well, when people start caring about other people, especially other people of the opposite gender. It can only mean one thing." Lisa smirked at her friend, who looked confused as she was trying to process her words. "Don't stress it, I will explain to you." She sighed and smiled. "You, Lena Johnson, a best friend to Lisa Gentry, are falling in love with Darian!"

"I knew you were going to spit trash," Lena said, a scowl marring her expression. "I am not in love with him, Lisa. Besides, I have plans of getting enough money from my work at the casino, paying him and divorcing him."

"Oh, I see. You want to divorce, yet you were so scared when he was outside last night? And he senselessly kissed you until your knees turned white, and you didn't do anything to stop him." she munched on a piece of chip she had picked from the plate in front of her.

"It's nothing serious, Lisa. I just care about him the way we should care for our fellow human beings." Lena said, knowing well that she was lying to herself. What she felt for Darian was more than that, she couldn't push him away whenever he was near, and she wanted him more and more every day.

"Of course, it isn't serious but the kiss was so good you had to call me and wake me up at four in the morning to tell me about it." Lisa chuckled. "Stop lying to yourself, baby girl. I am a writer too and you know well that you can't lie to me. I see things before they happen and right now, I can see where you two are headed, but I won't tell you now."

"This is not one of your stories, Lisa. This is my life, don't relate it to a story, okay?" Lena was frustrated.

"Fine, how was the kiss? Tell me again please." Lisa pleaded, munching harder on the chips. Lena shook her head, she wondered what kind of human Lisa was. Who starts eating at four in the morning? That had always been her best friend though. She ate anytime she was hungry and yet, she was still in great shape even without much exercise, she's got good genes Lena wanted badly.

Though Lena was skinny, she couldn't eat recklessly like her friend.

"It was good, I won't lie about that. That was our first real kiss and I loved it." Lena said, her face flushing red. She stared away from Lisa before she could tease her about falling in love with Darian again.

"Oh, my God! You mean he's a good kisser?"

"Yes, something like that." She agreed.

"Perfect! He's going to be the male lead in my next book. I am using a character like him. Tall, rich, a Mafia Lord, good kisser. Damn! The book is going to be a bomb. Will you read it!" She asked her friend.

"Not interested please." Lena shoved her hands at Lisa. "So, what's up with you? What have you been doing aside from writing? Is there a guy you like yet?"

"Yes, there is. He's a fictional character though. The one I told you about before, we met each other in the book, but he has a lover. Tell me what should I do with the girl? Kill her or just make her cheat on him and then he catches her, breaks up with her, and comes to me. What do you think, huh?" Lisa asked for Lena's suggestions.

"Sometimes I wonder how I ended up with someone like you. How did I even know you, psycho?" Lena raised her voice.

"You love me and you can't deny that. So, tell me, what do you think?"

"Kill her, just kill her," Lena replied jokingly.

"Yes, that's what I am going to do. Thank you, baby." Lisa blew a kiss through the phone. "Then I will be there for him as he mourns her, and he will fall in love with me. I won't push it though, I will just let him fall naturally and slowly. That's the best kind of love."

"You should come to visit me someday when you're back in New York. There is a lot I want to show you," Lena smiled softly.

"Lena, when was the last time you talked to your father?" The smile faltered, and she glared at Lisa. "Are you still mad at him for what happened?"

"Lisa, I am not mad at my dad—" she drawled. "I just need time to get through this, I check on him through the nurses and maids who work for him and he's fine. There is no problem with him."

"Don't you think he'd want to see you? It's been three months, more than three months. You should visit him and talk things out with him. He misses you so much. You know he called me last night and we talked for hours. Everything he kept on saying was about you. He's truly sorry for pushing you into this marriage, Lena. Please, give him a chance again, stop shutting him out, he has lost his wife already, he needs you." Lisa said.

She stopped talking when Lena was staring at something else instead of paying attention to her.

"I will visit him soon, I promise that I will visit him soon." She assured Lisa. "And I will call you some other time, okay? I have to attend to something now." She blew her a kiss and ended the call.

Lena caressed her forehead with her fingers as she thought of her father. She had picked up the phone to call him many times, but each time she did, an unknown feeling of fury surged through her and she'd drop the phone before dialling his number. She knew she wouldn't have crossed paths with Darian if her father hadn't gambled and borrowed from him.

She wasn't sure of her marriage with Darian, she couldn't place her head around something that she was in his life. Sometimes she wanted to stay and other times she wanted to leave, run as fast as she could, away from the marriage. Different things seemed to be happening in their marriage, things that made her unsure of where they were heading. But no matter how hard she thought of them being good together, there was still something that didn't feel right and she doubted if she'd ever want to be in the marriage for a long time.

She was drumming her fingers on the table when the door flew open to Darian. He walked into the room with lazy gaits. She looked up at him with a smile but he avoided her gaze. Pulling out the pair of slides he wore, he lay on the bed and pulled the duvet over his body.

Lena shook her head disappointedly. That was the first time she was seeing him after she slept off in his arms the night before. After the kiss they had last night, he didn't want to talk to her this morning. With tears brimming in the corner of her eyes, she hung her head lowly, watching him as he tried to force himself to sleep.

He looked so tired and maybe that was why he didn't want to talk to her. She made up an excuse for him in her head, she just didn't want to accept the fact that he had just ignored her the morning after their first real kiss.

Faithy💓