C26 Chapter

Just as Angela and Dmitri were about to dig into the meal, Angela heard a knock on the door...

"Are you expecting someone?", Dmitri asked but she shook her head in response.

She looked quite puzzled, because she wasn't expecting anyone...

After some seconds there was another knock on the door; this time, louder. It seemed like there was more than one person at the door.

"Excuse me. Just give me a minute, let me check who's there", she said to Dmitri as she stood up from her seat and took her chair backwards.

"Yeah, sure ", Dmitri replied.

She walked over to the door.

"Who's there?", she asked.

"It's us!", she heard Debbie yell from outside. She could recognize her voice anywhere and anytime.

Angela exhaled in relief as she opened the door for the trio.

"Angeeeel!!", They squealed as they embraced each other in a group hug.

"You girls look like you just came from school. Plus, seeing that it's just a few minutes after closing time..."

"Yes, school hours just ended and then we decided to come straight from school to come visit you, since you didn't come to school today", Claire confirmed.

"Speaking of... Why didn't you come to school today? Have you fallen sick again? What's the problem?", Gene throwing questions at her with a face of concern.

"I'm fine, girls. I just didn't feel like coming to school today, so I just decided to sray at home, at least for today", She explained.

"You didn't feel coming to school today and so you stayed? That's quite unlike you. Are you sure there's no problem?", Debbie asked.

"Girls, trust me. I'm fine. So tell me, what went on in school today to that I need to know about?", She asked, trying to change the subject I'm the process.

"Well, Felix was suspended at school today for playing a dangerous prank on our history teacher today..." Gene recalled

"And Mark was sent to detention for, getting back at Jeff by breaking his nose with a huge padlock", Claire joined too.

"The school is fucked up. This one time, Mark who has been constantly bullied since he was in fifth grade by Jeff retaliates, abd the school gives him detention. Meanwhile, Jeff has been bullying him and getting away with it", Gene said, irritated shewn all over her face.

"Dang it! Why is it that when I decide to stay home for just one day, school gets this interesting, huh?!" Angela retorted with a mock frown, causing the girls to share a hearty laugh.

"That's not all though.." Angela said when they were done laughing

"Leo came to school today with a bandaged head. I couldn't tell the cause of his injured head. Wanted to ask him, but then I decided against it anyways ", Debbie said.

"I remember that too. He looked pale and quiet though. I would've said he usually looks angry too, but is his default look", Claire said and the girls sneered.

"Maybe it was as a result of some stupid boyish thing that he and his boys were doing. Maybe, something rebellious, as usual", Gene said and they laughed once more.

All except Angela.

They soon noticed that Angela wasn't with them in their conversation...

"Angela baby, what's the problem?", Gene asked when they noticed.

"Are you alright?", Debbie asked

" You look lost", Claire said.

Hell, she looked pale!!

Her mind trailed to the encounter she had with Leo that caused his head to cut open.

Her mind trailed off of to other messy encounters she had with Leo before then, but her mid was still focused in the most recent...

"Angela?", Claire called out and placed a hand on her shoulders.

It was when she touched Angela that Angela startled a little and jerked out of her thoughts, into reality.

"Are you alright?", Gene asked again.

"What?.. Yeah, Yeah! I'm alright... I'm.. I'm fine. .. Very fine", she stammered but put a lot of confidence, hoping they'd buy it.

"Are you sure?", Debbie asked, with a hint of doubt in her voice and on her face.

"Yeah, I'm certain... Don't mind me... My mind.. I had to...", she stuttered once more, trying hard to find what to say.

"Angela, don't you think you need to-"

"Girls, believe me, it's nothing. Come in, come in", Angela said and they walked further into the living room. They'd just realized that they'd been standing at the door for over ten minutes now.

"Angela babe, I'm famished. I must confess, it was the main reason why I came to visit you straight from school", she said as they walked.

"Foodie", Angela teased and they all laughed.

"I'm praying in my heart to the Moon Goddess that you have some good food in this hous...."

Debbie's words trailed off when they all saw Dmitri seating at the dining table, focused on his phone. They some two plates of food served on the table, one facing Dmitri abd the other facing a chair that Angela must've stood up from to get the door.

Dmitri heard the voices of the girls and looked up from his phone.

"Oh, hi girls", he said as he stood up and put his phone away, giving a short wave and soft smile to the girls.

"Ooohh..... Hiiiiiiiii", the girls cooed at him

"Angela here didn't tell us she had company. If she said so, we wouldn't have bothered coming", Debbie said rather teasingly.

"Oh, no, no, no. My presence can't stop you from seeing your best friend. Not at all", he said.

"Awwnn.. What a gentleman!", Gene said with a blush, making his own smile a little bit wider.

Angela could only but roll her eyes at the drama her friends were putting up, all in the name of teasing her.

"Looked like we were interrupting something here", Claire said with a smirk.

"Well, we were just about to have dinner-", He replied.

"If you don't mind...", Angela chipped in and turned to Dmitri, because any of them could say another word,

"... You don't mind if they join us for lunch, do you?", she asked him.

"Oh, no. Of course, not. They can join us. Fortunately, we made enough food for the rest of them, so they can-"

"Ermmmmm, on a second thought, were going to have to decline", Gene interrupted.

Dmitri looked at not shocked.

"But why not?", He asked.

"I thought you told you that you were hung-"

"I know what I said, but still. We're going to have to decline. We can take of ourselves", Debbie said with a sky smirk.

"It's obvious you both need some alone time. We wouldn't want to spoil and interrupted what you both were having before we barged in rudely", Claire said.

"But-"

"No buts. If you need us, Angela, we'll be in your room. Let's go girls", she said and the hopped upstairs into Angela's room.

"Have fun!"

"Eat your fill!"

"Take your time! No rushing", they said as they hopped away, blowing kissing at Angela, until they were out of sight.

Angela rolled her eyes at their childish behavior as she walked to the dining table.

She shook her head and sighed.

She knew her friends were quite surprised to see Dmitri having lunch at my house. They would be shocked, considering the fact that she wasn't usually the type to it associate with boys much.

However, she knew even more certainly that they were pleasantly surprised. They'd always wished she had a mate like them, and now they'd seen Dmitri here in her house, they'd be happy and see him as a potential mate for her.

She knew deep in her that they wouldn't let this go. They'd tease her for weeks about this, and worse, urge her to go after him.

If only they knew about Leo...

"Come on, have a seat", she heard Dmitri say. His hands pulling her chair.

"Thanks", she said as the took her place at the dining table.

"You're friends are a while bee vibe. I personally think that you're quite lucky. They are really welcoming, and quite funny, I must say", he commented and she smiled at his words.

He didn't know her friends like she did. He didn't know what they could do, so she could only smile at his words. She knew that they'd never let it go by the time he'd leave.

"Are you sure your friends are going to be alright? You sure they won't join us?", He asked.

"If he says they're fine, then I guess they are", Angela replied.

"So are you ready to eat?", He asked Angela.

"Yes, I am. By the way, you would've started to eat your food rather than to wait for me. Sorry I kept you waiting", she said.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I decided to wait on my own will, so there's no need to apologize. Since you're ready, let's dig in", he said.

Even though he was trying to be a gentleman, she could see that he was actually famished.

We both took off the plate cover that covered our food, and some steam came followed the the cover too.

"Mmmmmmhmmm", was the sound Dmitri said as he closed his eyes took a big whiff of aroma of the food, allowing the steam to get into his nostrils.

The aroma of the food drew a big grin on Dmitri's face.

"This food smells nice", he commented.

"I know, right?", Angela replied, chuckling at Dmitri's cute action.

They took their utensils and began to dig in the meal.

They took their first bite and she watched as Dmitri savoured the taste of the meal, his eyes closed again.

"Wow. This meal tastes as delicious as it smells", he commented with a satisfied sigh.

"You really do know your way around in the kitchen. Thank you for this", he said as he took another bite.

"Well, without your help, it wouldn't have tasted this nice. So thank you", she replied.

"Oh, please. Enough with the flatter. I didn't contribute much. You did the main work, Chef Angela", he said with his mouth full, and they both laughed.

"So...", he said and tried to swallow.

"Did you learn to cook by yourself?", he asked.

"No, not really. It's more like a talent. My mother knows how to cook. My grandmother was a chef too. It was more like hereditary, but watching my mother as she cooked made my skills a lot better", she explained as she ate.

"I see", he said.

"How about you? Do you know how to cook?", Angela asked.

"No, not at all. I was..."

His voice trailed as Angela's mind drifted once more to Leo and the incident that. She watched Dmitri talk, but she was lost in thoughts.

She did feel bad for hitting him in the head to the point were he had a cut, but if she hadn't done that, she would've been as good as dead.

She wondered why Leo was cruel to her...

"Are you listening to me, Angela?", Dmitri asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Ummm... Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry, I was lost for a moment. What were we saying?"

******

Leo came to school with the intent of finding Angela for what she did to him, but of course, she didn't come to school today.

He had been biting the urge to go to her house and confront her, but he guessed that her mother would be home, and he was avoiding that.

"I know what to do", he said to hi self and left his house, on the way to Angela's house.

****

He was finally there, but he'd decided even before he even got here that he wouldn't enter the house. At least not yet. Not until he was sure that her mum wasn't home.

He went round to the side of the house, and peeped through a window to check.

"Clear", he murmured.

"Wait... What?", he said to himself.

He squinted through the window to see clearly.

He couldn't believe his eyes...

He watched dumbfoundedly as he saw Angela and a guy in the house, sharing a deep, passionate kiss.