CHEAP THRILLS

     Tears welled up in Faith's eyes as she stood there. Someone came and tapped her from behind. She blinked away the tears before turning to see who it was. She didn't recognise her at first, but she almost burst into laughter when she recognised Nora in a disguise. 

      "Nora!" 

      "Shhh," Nora said and removed her shades.  "You must not cry." 

        "I suddenly forgot that I wanted to cry. Why are you in disguise?" 

        "Long story. Let's go pay for these items and leave here." Nora tried to wheel Faith's trolley away but Faith held her. 

      "Are you by any chance stalking me?" 

       "Stalking you?" Nora chuckled awkwardly. How can I stalk you?"

      "Stalking me or not, I'm glad you showed up." 

      "Should we go and drink together?" 

       Faith peered into her face.  "No, thank you. I'm avoiding too much alcohol so that my ulcer would look better after a month of this torture of seeing a psychiatrist." 

      They join a short queue at a counter.  "You know, I have been thinking. I'm not saying you are mentally unstable or anything. I'm just saying, these doctors are aware of what they are doing. If your doctor sent you to a psychiatrist then you should trust her, there was something she saw that made her do that, " Nora said and moved with the queue. 

     "Nora, it's just a small stomach problem." 

     "Then, why does it keep getting worse even after taking all your doctor has prescribed for you?" 

      "Because it is stress-related, Nora." 

      "Do you know if it's emotional stress?" 

      "Nora, please not you. I...I...that means it should be bleeding by now because I'm hurt." 

      Nora locked arms with her.  "I'm into this field and I'm not saying anything is wrong with you, but I just want you to give the doctor your all, don't hold back anything, you might be surprised at what you might find out." 

      Faith looked at her and smiled.  "You know what I keep thinking about? I keep seeing you at Noah's place beating Belle up. It's hilarious." 

     They both laughed. Nora started taking out the item and putting them on the counter, as the person in their front paid for their item. 

     "I can't watch her mistreat you. One of us needs to be crazy, right?" 

       "You are of true African descent." 

      "I've told you that a couple of times." 

     The cashier said the total price, Faith paid with her card and they grabbed the bags and left the mall. Nora offered to give her a ride home since it was not late yet. She dropped her off in front of the blocks of flats where Faith resided. 

      "Do I need to help you take these things up?" Nora teased. 

       "No. Stop teasing me." 

      Nora grinned.   "See you then." 

      "Ciao," Faith said and got off the car and went over to the back seat to retrieve her goods. She stood by the sidewalk, waving and watching Nora's car until it disappeared completely. She turned to start her journey way up. 

     The apartment was quiet when she got in. She strained her ears to pick any sound, but it was a faint music sound that she heard coming from Ethan's room. She pulled off her coat and went straight to the kitchen to drop off the items she bought and went over to Ethan's room, knocked twice and opened the door. Ethan was seated on a single-seat, his back to her and Ed Sheeran's  'Visiting hours' played from his phone. 

      She slowly went into the room, but Ethan seemed not to notice. His back was to her and his head was hung and tilted to one side. She got closer and found out that he was staring at Charlotte's picture in one hand and had a glass of drink in another. She walked to his front. 

      "Hey," she said softly and squatted in front of him. 

      Only then did he realize he wasn't alone. He looked up at her, his eyes were filled with sorrow. She brought a seat closer and sat in front facing him. 

      "Are you alright?" she asked him, rubbing his hand gently.

    He looked at her, his eyes were glassy and he shook his head. She stood up and went closer to him. 

      "Come here," she said and pulled him towards her, placing his head on her abdomen and patting his back.  "Everything would be alright." 

       "I miss her," he muttered. 

        "We all do, we all do," she said. 

    They stayed like that for a while, tears ran down Faith's cheeks as she thought of Charlotte. Then her mind wandered to other things, but she stopped herself before she could go deeper, Ethan needs comfort and she was supposed to console and comfort him since he had done the same to her countless times. She didn't want to be selfish by making it about her tonight. 

      In truth, she had come home to cry on his shoulders after her brother's attitude at the mall, but she turned out to be the one to lend a shoulder, so for once, she would cheer him up tonight, the way he cheers her. She wiped her tears and made sure her face didn't give any hint of tears, then she pulled away from him, sat down and smiled at him. 

        "Since we are both sad, why don't we drink, make merry and temporarily forget our sorrows." 

     He chuckled lightly, his eyes fixed on her.  "I like the sound of that," he replied. 

     She smiled and stood.  "I'll go get my glass then," she said cheerfully. 

    He didn't say anything as she left the room, he gulped down the drink in his glass and looked at Charlotte's picture she was smiling broadly at him.

       "I know you asked me not to fall in love with you, but how could I not, when you were so sweet and lovely?" He chuckled.  "It was funny how you always shipped me and her together, It got me confused at that moment because I was falling for you but all you did was make me look at her, you made me understand that excitement I always have in my stomach whenever I see her, you made me understand that I have fallen for her long before you came into the picture and I realized that I couldn't leave you like that, I couldn't bear it. 

      "When you revealed your sickness, It felt even more difficult to let you go. I don't know, but for some reason, I held you tighter, I guess that's the best thing to do, I couldn't leave you at that time. Then you left my hand. It hurts so much but it made me realise Faith and I had undeniable chemistry, so I'm asking you for permission to love her now, I'm asking you for permission to explore that chemistry, I know you have given me that permission, long before you left, but I'm accepting it today that you have set me free. I know she might not be ready now but I'm willing to give it a try. 

      "You knew the reason I needed a wife urgently but what I feel for her is way beyond that reason. I wish she could see my heart, I've been wearing it up my sleeves for a while now. I don't want to rush her and hurt her more than she already is, please make her happy and I will wait until she is ready, so give me your blessings and make it work in my favour, please. Thank you for coming into our lives, you made great impacts and you will always be here. " He pointed at the left side of his chest. 

     Faith came in with a Bluetooth music box, a glass and a bottle of tequila. She smiled broadly at him and he managed a smile. She set the bottle and glass down on the side stool where Ethan's bottle was and turned on the Bluetooth device and connected it with her phone. 

      She took Ethan's glass from him and kept it on the stool and stared him in the eyes.  "Let's give happiness a chance tonight. We can cry after the party when it  dawns on us that our hurt is still glaring at our faces but for now, let's drink tequila."  She raised the bottle. 

      He smiled and the smile turned into a snicker. She kept smiling and poured drinks into their various glasses. After pouring, she handed him his glass.  

      "Party time," she said and they clinked their glasses. She took his other hand and stood making him stand with her.  "Let me have this dance," she said looking into his eyes. 

      His eyes on hers, he said, "Sure." 

    She searched her phone and played Sia's 'Cheap thrills'  She swerved her body from side to side as the music played and took a few steps back still holding his hand and looking into his eyes. He looked into hers and followed her lead. She gulped her drink still dancing. 

       He loosened up after a while of dancing and drinking, they both got tipsy and they went into a drinking challenge, gulping down glass after glass of tequila. Faith swerved her butt from side to side and when she came to him and wrapped his arms around her while still dancing, he felt that uncontrollable urge to tear off her clothes while kissing her passionately.