The two of them were taken aback by her straightforwardness." I… I-I … H-how did yo-you??", Miles started stuttering.
" Seeing the way you look at her with eyes filled with longing and love, it is not at all difficult to guess… She has just gotten herself out from a toxic relationship….
See.. I will neither encourage you nor discourage you…. It is all up to her.. I'll only tell you this. You can pursue her, if she agrees.. But I must warn you… If you dare to hurt her, I'll be the first one to know and the last person you will ever see…", she said.
The last sentence was laced with a tone completely filled with threat. It sent shivers down Miles's spine.
He raised his hand as a sign of promise and said," I will never even dream about hurting her..". " That's good to hear", Lara replied nonchalantly.
Liam was sad. She could easily see the love and longing in the eyes of his stupid brother, but not in his own eyes. Was he not showing enough love???
They changed the topic and chatted over a few more cans of soda before going to bed.
The next day, Lara woke up as early as she usually does and went for a jog. After her morning jog and a little workout she went in for a quick shower.
She got the dried clothes from the laundry and ironed the clothes along with hers. She went up and woke the two guys and gave them their clothes and asked them to freshen up and come down.
She got into the kitchen and started making breakfast for all of them. She decided to make pancakes for breakfast
The two guys came down after showering and sat across the kitchen counter. Their mouths started watering after getting the smell of the tasty pancakes she was making.
Suddenly, they heard shuffling noises from Lara's room. The three of them knew who it was.
Lara quickly tossed the last pancake into a plate before walking towards her room to check up on Maria.
Maria woke up with a terrible headache. She slowly lifted her body and sat up. When she looked around, she realized that she was in an unfamiliar place.
" Shit…. Where am I????", she grumbled. She was unable to remember anything she did after going to the club and drinking. Though she partly remembered being picked up by someone.
While looking around in confusion, her eyes landed on the photo on the night stand. She quickly took it in her hands to make sure she was not hallucinating.
It was a picture of Lara.
She sighed. If she was in Lara's place, it meant that she was the one who picked her up when she was wasted. This was at least much better than waking up in some other guy's bed.
The door suddenly opened. She looked up and saw Lara standing with a worried expression. Behind her, stood the two guys whom she had met at Lara's place some time back in Country B.
Lara sighed in relief seeing that Maria was up and looked like most of her senses were back to normal. Her expression then changed to a serious one.
Five minutes later.
Maria was standing in front of an annoyed Lara and getting interrogated. Miles and Liam were sitting on the couch adjacent to Lara.
The set up looked a bit like a court. It was as if Lara was both the judge and prosecutor, Liam and Miles were the witnesses and victims, and Maria was the guilty party.