Page 44 of Overdue I Love You's
Then suddenly I’m sitting on a swirly stool, facing the couches. Everyone’s staring at me. Totally unnerving. The cardboard wall is set up high between me and Rhys. It smells like fresh paint. I hate it.
Headphones are placed over my ears.
Loud, blasting, unwanted music.
I pull the headphones off.
“Please put the earphones back on,” someone says behind me. It sounds muffled. “We’re about to start playing.”
Swivelling the chair around, “Can I ask for a song change?”
“Sweetheart,” Austin scratches a finger over his brow. “It’s just a song.”
They’re right, it is just a song. But I can’t focus as is and it’s taking me ten thousand years to function so… “I know, but?—”
“You’re delaying the game,” label me officially turned off by British accents. “Everyone’s hungry. You don’t want to ruin this, do you?”
I don’t. Ireallydon’t.
Forcing a smile, “You’re right. Sorry, never mind.”
Pressure grows at the back of my neck.Push through.
Squeezing my eyes once. Then twice. Yet, it still feels like my vision’s going through a gastritis surgery.
The prodrome stage is killing me.
In for four. Hold for seven. Out for eight.
The breathing technique with my eyes closed helps the initial symptom subside until the headphones are peeled off of me and the light bursts through my cornea.
They place a deck of thick, big cards in my lap. Three in total, I see.
I look up, a camera is in my face.
Looking down…
Words are mumbled jumbled.
If a cat… no, that’s not right. Your partner steals your game? No, call? Maybe it’s card.
“Nova, you can read it out loud.”
I thought I was.
“Someone else read it,” Dean's voice breaks through.
My face feels warm.
“Yeah,” Austin sighs quickly. “I’ll read it out.”
He clears his throat and takes the card from me. “You and your partner are in a newly discovered relationship. You’ve hit your three-month milestone and you’re celebrating by going out to eat. They booked an extravagant date at a Michelin star restaurant which is hard to reserve and completely out of your budget, but you’re excited to be there because they booked it for both of you. At the end of the dinner, your partner takes your card to pay for the meal. How would you respond in this situation?”
All I hear is card, restaurant, and I’m the one paying.
“It’s okay with me,” eyes widen in the room. “If my partner used my card to pay for our dinner, I don’t have a problem with it. I’d be confused, of course. But if it’s a conversation we’ve had prior to the dinner then it’s all good.” I attempt to make a joke in the end. “Us girlies have to spoil our partners sometimes too.”
“Nova,” Hina’s the one that talks. “Maybe you misunderstood the scenario. It’s asking if?—”
