“That’s slander!” Alexander raised three fingers and vowed, “Honey, you’re the only person I have in my heart.”
Ever since their reunion, Alexander had become an expert in dousing his wife with sweet nothings. “I’ll accept that.” Elise wasn’t trying to pick on him for real anyway. “Come on. Let’s eat somewhere else.”
True enough, women still enjoyed hearing sweet nothings no matter what age they were.
“What do you want to eat?” Alexander asked. “Hmm… How about some barbecue? It’s a little chilly today and the grilled meat will warm us up,” Elise suggested.
“Let’s do it. Barbecue’s fun when more people are eating together. I’ll call a few others to join us.”
Alexander began making his calls. Thus, apart from the couple, those seated around the table at the barbecue restaurant later included Danny, Ariel, and Narissa, who came alone.
Danny and Elise were recently reunited after their separation, so they acted like a lovey- dovey, honeymooning couple. Elise was getting goosebumps from their displays of affection.
“Hey! Can you guys rein it in a little?” Elise grumbled before turning to Narissa. “Where’s Jamie? Wasn’t he supposed to come with you?”
Narissa was about to respond when Zephyr strolled over.
“Why didn’t you invite me along for some barbecue, Alexander? That’s not very nice of you guys,” Zephyr commented as he sat down on the empty seat beside Narissa.
“You must have been a dog in your past life.. Look at how good your sense of smell is,” Narissa said scornfully.
Zephyr glanced at her, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he picked up the cutlery and began digging in.
Danny’s eyes swept over them by chance, and when he noticed that they were wearing the same-colored tops, he joked, “When did you two start getting along so well? Look at you. You’re even dressed in matching couple outfits.”
Elise and the others hadn’t noticed this at first, but once they heard what Danny said, they realized that he was right.
Although Zephyr came across as a carefree, irresponsible guy, there was no denying that he dressed in a cool, stylish manner. His white lab coat made him look like a world-renowned scientist.
Meanwhile, Narissa was dressed in a white racing suit with color and design uncannily similar to Zephyr’s outfit. Thus, it did look as if they wore matching outfits.
Zephyr glanced at himself before checking Narissa’s outfit. Then, he joined in on the fun. “The suit looks pretty good on you, but not as good as it would on me. Remember to avoid me the next time you try to dress up all cool and stylish.”
All the while, he kept loading up his plate.
“Hey, you.” Narissa’s expression was stormy. “Take it off.” “Why should I? If you care so much about it, then you should take yours off. I don’t care.”
Zephyr didn’t even bother lifting his head. He wasn’t afraid of anything. Narissa’s expression became even more unpleasant. “Don’t make me do it mys-”
Before she could finish her sentence, Zephyr stuffed some meat into her mouth. “Here. Chew on this if you need an outlet for your anger!”
Without even waiting for Narissa’s response, he began chiding her.
“You’re too quick-tempered, you know. That’s going to stress your body out and give you health troubles. A person should live their lives for themselves, not for anyone else. If you pay too much attention to what others think, then it’ll only end up eating you up instead. You should learn how to play it cool, like me. I don’t let anything affect me. That’s why my life’s a breeze.”
Surprisingly, Narissa didn’t refute him. Although Zephyr seemed unreliable in every way, his words weren’t totally groundless. He had a pretty accurate read on her. The others around the table exchanged startled glances. Did these two work things out already?
Evidently, they were jumping the gun a little. Just as the atmosphere eased up ever so slightly, Zephyr shamelessly grabbed Narissa’s cutlery.
“Your lips touched my fork just now so you can have it. I’ll use yours instead to avoid exchanging saliva with you. Hehe.”
“Go! To! Hell!”
Narissa shrieked at the top of her lungs, and the two engaged in a battle yet again. Zephyr rubbed his ears and tapped the sides of his head a couple of times. “If you don’t want to change forks with me then just say so! Why did you need to make such a big deal out of it? My ears are ringing! You nearly made me deaf.”
“You deserve it for pissing me off!”
Zephyr rolled his eyes and chose to stay silent. A good man knows better than to argue with a vicious woman. I’ll put up with it!
The others didn’t know how to react, but true enough, these two could not interact in harmony for more than three seconds.
“I think you should exchange forks or Jamie will have a bone to pick with you when he arrives,” Danny kindly reminded.
“Little old Jamie? Nah. He won’t.” Zephyr’s eyes flickered smugly at the name. He was addressing Jamie in the manner in which Elise addressed Jamie, which clarified the relationship he had with Jamie.
Narissa knew he was up to no good. Her eyes flashed coldly. What’s this scum up to now?
Just then, Jamie arrived. “So sorry, everyone. There was a lot of traffic on the way so I’m a little late. Have you started eating?”
He pulled out a chair and placed it between Narissa and Zephyr. As he was about to sit down, Zephyr looked up and spotted the smoothie he had with him, so Zephyr grabbed it and started drinking..
“Hey, Doc. Don’t-”
Jamie wanted to stop him, but it was too late. “That hits the spot!” Zephyr burped with satisfaction. “It’s yogurt-based, huh? Did just the trick to numb the spiciness of the hot sauce. What a thoughtful guy you are, Jamie. Thanks!”
Narissa balled her fists and looked as if she was about to flip the table over. Jamie didn’t know what to say. “Doc, Narissa asked me to get that for her. She likes eating spicy food, but her stomach can’t handle it well, so the yogurt smoothie would’ve allowed her to have her fill…”
“Oh? You should’ve said something sooner.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to speak.”
Zephyr had nothing to say to that. He didn’t do it on purpose, so he cleared his throat and awkwardly shoved the smoothie across the table. “Here. You can have it back. I only had a mouthful so it should be fine once you change the straw.”
“Do you expect me to drink your saliva?” Narissa sounded as if she was about to explode.
“I’ll just order another one and have it delivered here then.” Zephyr got out his phone. “Jamie, what’s the name of the shop?”
“The shop has a limited supply of yogurt smoothies each day and they’ve sold out today, so you can’t get another one.” Jamie’s smile looked more like a grimace.
“Oh. Well, that can’t be helped. I’ll just have to get it some other time then.” Zephyr pocketed his phone before declaring, “You heard him. It’s not that I don’t want to buy you a new one. It’s just not possible right now.”
“You did this on purpose!”
Narissa couldn’t hold back anymore. She raised her fist and threw a punch. Zephyr’s reflexes were top-notch. He dodged the attack by kicking the table and pushing himself back in his chair.
However, Jamie was afraid that Zephyr would get injured, so he flung himself in front as a shield and ended up taking the punch. Narissa had put in so much force that he groaned in pain.
“Ouch!”
Narissa hit him by accident so she quickly withdrew her hand before exclaiming in anger and guilt, “What are you doing, Jamie?”
Jamie clutched his chest. He was quivering slightly as he said, “Darling, no one can treat Alicia if Doc gets injured.”
Zephyr didn’t mind stoking the flames. He began adding fuel to the fire. “Why do you keep talking about Alicia all the time? Is she the one you’re actually engaged to?”
Jamie’s eyes widened. He was almost about to tear up. “Doc, how can you throw me under the bus like that? I’m trying to help you.”
“I can’t help it. I’m a righteous man with a sense of justice.”
