Two Diaries: His and Hers

A girl jumped and ran in circles, stopping every few seconds to dance a bit. Her lovely hair flew beautifully, the wind blowing it to one side of her face. Standing next to the kitchen sink, a boy watched intensely, his eyes moving swiftly with every movement that the girl made.

"What are you looking at?" the boy's mother asked after she realised that her son had been staring outside for too long.

He was startled; and he quickly turned around and promptly dropped the blinds.

His mother chuckled,

"You're closing the blinds, you don't want me to see outside?" she laughed gracefully.

The boy stood with his back to the window, and he spread his arms, his face showing without doubt that he did not want his mother to look outside.

"What were you looking at, Jeremy?" she asked again.

"Nothing!" he snapped and remained fixed to his spot.

When his mother walked over to the window, Jeremy moved shyly to the side, and used his hands to cover his eyes. Sharon looked outside to see little Kiara dancing beautifully, looking like a fairy with her hair flying in the air.

"I was not looking at anything!" Jeremy's voice was shaky.

The mother simply smiled and ruffled her son's hair. He ran off and went into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"Jeremy is in love," his older brother Jacob mentioned casually.

"Stop saying that. You'll make him feel very uncomfortable. He's just a child," Sharon said with a smile.

"He's a nine year old boy in love," Jacob stated as a matter of fact.

In his bedroom, Jeremy slowly moved to the window and opened it. The view from the kitchen window was definitely better than the view from his bedroom window. But he did his best to watch her.

What a beautiful girl, he thought to himself. And then suddenly, Kiara looked up, and her bright eyes met Jeremy's.

"Come down, Jeremy! Come, let's play!" she called out happily.

Jeremy smiled and ran down the stairs. He passed through the kitchen, and when he ran out, Jacob winked at his mother. Jeremy knew that they were talking about him, but he ignored them and continued to run outside.

He walked into their neighbour's yard, and Kiara quickly pulled him by the hand.

"Come into our house, come see, my mum baked a cake!" Kiara beamed with joy.

Jeremy ran in, and the two of them walked towards the dining table.

"Do you know that soon I will also be baking cakes? My mum said she's going to teach me," she smiled.

"My mum also loves baking," Jeremy said.

He poked his finger into the cake and licked it.

"It's so nice and sweet," he commented.

"What is nice and sweet?" Kiara asked while she opened some drawers.

"The cake," Jeremy answered without much care.

"Jeremy! What did you do? You ate the cake?" Kiara let out a scream.

"Yes," he widened his eyes. "Why not? I just took a bit of the cream, it's so tasty!"

"My mother will be so angry! Jeremy, don't you know that you should not take anything without asking?"

"Well, I know. It's just that, I thought it was not a big deal." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Come, let's fix it," Kiara lifted the tray in which the cake sat, and she placed it carefully on a bigger table. She looked at the dent for a while, before she looked up at Jeremy,

"I wish we had something to fill up this dent?"

"Is there no leftover cream?" he asked.

Kiara looked around and saw a bottle of whipped cream. She quickly grabbed it and filled up the hole. It looked ugly. She took a spoon and tried to level up the cream, but the more she tried, the uglier it became.

"We've ruined it!" Jeremy said, fear starting to creep over him.

"You have ruined it, I didn't do this!" Kiara whispered.

She quickly lifted the tray and placed it back at its original place.

"What are you going to say to your mum?" Jeremy asked.

"I'll just say I poked into it by mistake," she smiled at him.

"B...but why do you have to blame yourself when it wasn't you who did it?"

"I have to protect you, after all I'm older than you," she smiled at him again.

She quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him outside. Since Kiara was running, Jeremy had no option but to run as well. They only stopped when they were outside in the lawn. Jeremy, breathing a bit heavily from the excitement and the running, pulled Kiara close to him and whispered in her ear,

"Kiara, I told you what my brother always says, didn't I?"

Kiara frowned and pulled away from Jeremy. "Jeremy, are you talking about that love thing? Well, my mum said we're both too young to talk about love..."

"You told her?" he asked in a suddenly hoarse voice.

"I didn't tell her! She saw all the notes that you wrote to me." She whispered back.

"Kiara, you were supposed to hide them!"

"I did! But my mum found them, she always finds staff," she shrugged before going on, "Jeremy please don't talk about love. We're too young, and besides, I am older than you. My mum said love is for mature adults."

"What does it matter that you're eleven years old? I didn't say we're in love. I simply said Jacob is the one who teases me. He says I love you." he said shyly, his eyes evading hers.

She took his hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze. She was hoping that Jeremy was going to look up at her, but his eyes remained fixed on the ground.

"Do you?" she whispered.

"Do I what?" Jeremy finally lifted his eyes, but quickly looked down again.

"You just told me that Jacob thinks you are in love with me. So are you?"

"I...I don't know if I'm old enough to be in love. My mum never told me anything about love. But...but I think once I am old enough, when I am Jacob's age, I'm sure I will be in love with you." he said in a very low voice. Kiara had to bend in to hear what Jeremy was saying.

"But I'll still be older than you. When you turn fifteen, I will be seventeen." Kiara explained.

"I know. What does it matter anyway, that you're older than me?" the boy asked with a frown.

"Jeremy you don't understand these things. My mum said in a relationship, the man has to be older than the woman. My dad is over forty, my mum hasn't turned forty yet." She said to him, studying his face for a reaction.

"Well, I can wait until I am in my forties and then I will be allowed to fall in love," he said.

"Jeremy, you don't need to wait until you're in your forties. You can start dating once you're sixteen, I guess." She smiled brightly at him.

"So when that time comes, maybe I can come to you and ask you to be my girlfriend. What are you going to say?" his eyes were hopeful.

Kiara thought about it for almost half a minute and then said, "I'm sorry but I might say no. Because, I'm going to turn sixteen before you. So then, by the time you also turn sixteen, I'll be with someone already. I'm sorry." The sincerity of her apology could not be missed.

Jeremy looked very hurt. He looked at her fumbling her fingers, and he hated the fact that she was older than him.

"What if you don't like the boy as much as you like me? Will you leave him for me? You can always leave him, you know," he tried to convince her.

She tilted her head slightly to the left and said, "well I don't know. I might leave the person, but I might not. It depends."

"It depends on what?" he asked eagerly.

"Umm, it depends on who I like the most. If I like you more, I will leave him." she tried to reassure him.

"Do you think you will like me more?" he asked.

"Umm, I guess so."

He was not really happy with her answer, but he decided to let it go. He turned his head, just in time to see Jacob peeping from around the corner of their house, looking straight at them. Jacob did not try to hide, but instead he laughed out loud.

"He always follows me around and listens to us when we talk," Jeremy complained. "I don't like big brothers."

"Do you think he heard us?" Kiara whispered.

"I don't know." Jeremy sounded really irritated.

"Let's go and sit near our swimming pool. That way, he won't see us, and he won't hear what we will be talking about."

With that, Kiara ran towards the swimming pool, and Jeremy looked at his brother, stuck out his tongue at him before following Kiara.

They sat on the chairs which were scattered next to the swimming pool.

"Now he can't hear us!" she announced it with so much joy that it sounded like they had just won a trophy of some kind.

"What are we going to talk about?" Jeremy asked excitedly.

"We're going to talk about dating, and then we will play ball. We need to decide on which one to do first." she answered, equally excited.

"I only want us to talk about dating. We can play ball tomorrow." He said.

"What do you want to talk about? You can ask me what I will do when I turn sixteen. Ask me now." Kiara folded her dress under her legs, pulling it down to cover her knees.

"What are you going to do when you turn sixteen?" he asked, sitting up in his chair, very alert, listening attentively.

"I...I guess I won't start dating right away. I will wait until someone I know also turns sixteen. Then I will ask him to be my first boyfriend. What do you think he will say?" she asked, fidgeting in her chair.

"I know what he is going to say." Jeremy smiled.

"What?" she asked with a grin.

"He is going to say yes," he smiled.

Lee-Anne walked slowly towards her manager's office. The lady was very stern, and asking for time off, especially on a busy night, was one of the things she never wanted to hear about. After hesitating for a while, Lee-Anne knocked at the door.

"Yes!" the manager already sounded irritated.

Lee-Anne slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. She looked as if she was ready to run away any minute, but she managed to talk,

"Excuse me...I...there is..."

"Just say what you want to say!" the lady screamed at the top of her voice.

She sounded so angry that Lee-Anne was not sure if she could go on. But she had no option,

"I'm sorry to...."

"Say what you need to say!"

"OK, may I have time off. My mother and my father are critically ill in hospital. They were involved in a fatal car accident. You can check it online, it is the trending topic. I really need to go to them, I...."

"Tonight our hotel is hosting the Pinkertons! Do you have any idea who the Pinkertons are? This is an opportunity of a lifetime for us, and the best you can do is to mess it up?" the woman frowned and threw a look of hatred at poor Lee-Anne.

"I understand, but please. Please, may I be with my parents. I am their only child, I am the only person they have, please..."

The manager looked at Lee-Anne and uttered a few words before she marched out of her office, roughly pushing Lee-Anne out of the way

***

Kiara had just finished making dinner when her phone rang. She quickly answered it and after a while, she walked to her parents to tell them,

"Mum and dad, Lee-Anne is asking if I can stand in for her at her job. The hotel where she works is hosting the Pinkertons, and she has to be with her parents."

"Is that allowed? Did her superiors allow that?" Travis asked almost absent-mindedly.

"She said her manager approved. Besides, the manager knows me from the last time I worked for her for just a month. I can go and waitress there tonight."

"What do you say, Aletha?" Travis yawned loudly before coughing violently.

"Cover your mouth, for crying out loud!" Aletha hated it when Travis sneezed or coughed without covering his mouth.

"Sorry," the man mumbled.

"If you want you can go," Aletha spoke to her daughter. "What time will you be back?"

"Oh, I forgot to ask Lee-Anne," Kiara said.

Aletha nodded her head and said, "I also need to go and see Lee-Anne's parents, don't you think so, Travis?"

Travis shook his head and asked, "hmm? What did you say?"

"Do you ever pay attention? I'm saying wouldn't it be prudent for us to go and see Lee-Anne's parents?"

Travis stared into space for a while, followed by, "I don't know. We hardly know each other. Our daughters were classmates, that's all that connects us. Kiara and Lee-Anne are not even friends." He shrugged and picked up his glass of wine to continue drinking.

Very much irritated, Aletha just shook her head and walked away.

***

When Kiara arrived at the Two-Sons hotel, everyone was running up and down, making sure that everything was in place. Since she had worked there before, she knew the place well, so she rushed to see the manager first, collected a waitress uniform for herself, and she dressed up.

In the bathroom, two other waitresses were fixing their hair and make-up. Since Kiara had come just at the last minute, she had not brought any accessories with her. She simply made sure that her face looked good, and as she was about to walk out, one of the girls said,

"Let us give you some of our makeup. Here, you can use my kit."

Kiara thought about it for a while and then answered, "no thank you. I think I will be fine just as I am."

"She already looks very beautiful without makeup. Some people are blessed," the other waitress commented before she turned to the mirror to finalise her makeup.

Kiara slowly walked out and headed to the lounge area in order to get her duties for the night.

"Where are those two useless girls?" the manager was shouting to no-one in particular, moving towards the exit of the hall in which the event was to be held.

Kiara and the woman almost bumped into each other, and apologizing profusely, Kiara stood very close to the wall, making way for her angry manager.

"Who are you by the way? Kiara, am I right?" her voice was loud and angry.

"Yes, I am Kiara Noels."

"Listen, I assigned two girls to receive our guests, and only heaven knows where they are. Now I want you to stand in their place. Welcome the guests warmly to Two-Sons Hotel. You know who our guests are, don't you? The Pinkertons, and they are already here. Go and wait at the entrance. You are to smile at them and be as polite as you can."

"Yes ma'am."

"And if they say anything, even if it irritates you, you shall smile. Understood?"

"I understand," Kiara nodded her head.

"Why on earth are you not wearing any make up?" the lady looked at Kiara from head to toe, and her frown softened before she said, "you're beautiful all the same. I think you look perfect even without make up. Now go!"

Kiara walked briskly, breathing in and out heavily as a way of trying to calm herself down.She stood at the door to see a silver luxurious car driving in. A man dressed in black came out and opened the doors.

The hotel staff meant to open the doors too, but there were some bodyguards who would not allow anyone to come near the Pinkertons.

_Wow!_ Kiara thought to herself. _Finally I get to see the Pinkertons in person._

The old man who came out first was undoubtedly the man who people referred to as Master Pinkerton. He was very old and dressed in an extremely beautiful suit. This family was well known and admired by many. They ran various businesses, including hotels, hiring of cruise ships, boutiques and various other things.

His wife, Lady Pinkerton, followed closely, dressed in a sparkling white gown. Kiara watched as her heart began to pound uncontrollably. She was not sure if she was going to do the right thing. She was very scared.

_Why did they have to choose this hotel, anyway?_ She asked herself.She stood very close to the door and started greeting the guests, remembering very well that their manager had strictly instructed everyone to address the three as Master Pinkerton, Lady Pinkerton and Young Master Pinkerton.

This was the way in which many people, especially those employed by the Pinkertons, called them. Since their events manager was really hoping for Two-Sons hotel to find favour with the Pinkertons, she insisted that they be addressed in such manner.

"Welcome to Two-Sons hotel, Master and Lady Pinkerton. It is an honour to have you here as our guests today at...at...at our hotel". Kiara smiled.

She suddenly realised that she was stammering due to anxiety. Hoping that the guests had not noticed, she continued to smile and led them in.

For real the Pinkertons were not ordinary people. Many people always spoke about them. The husband and wife had been blessed with only one son, who died young, leaving a son. The grandson, whose name was Vine, was reported to be seriously spoilt by his grandfather and grandmother. People said he got anything and everything that he ever asked for, and he never lifted a finger to do any work, unless if he himself wanted to.

Kiara looked at the car driving off, and thinking that there was no other guest, she began to walk away when the events manager nudged her and whispered, "wait for young master Vine."

_Oh! OK. Young master Vine._ Kiara stood rooted to her spot, starting to feel very uneasy. Of course she had heard a lot about Vine, but never in her life had she dreamt of one day being the one to welcome him to an event.

Another car parked close to the entrance, and many bodyguards came out. A young man dressed in white ripped jeans and a white t-shirt came out. He looked very uninterested in what was happening.

Shaking off the bodyguards who came too close to him, the young man walked slowly towards the entrance.

"Welcome to Two-Sons hotel, it is an honour to have you with us here today, young master Pinkerton," Kiara smiled what she thought to be her best smile.The young man stopped and looked at Kiara.

For a moment she thought she had made a mistake, or said something wrong; and she became seriously scared. She could not dare cross Vine Pinkerton, for who knew what he was capable of? Who knew what he would do if anyone made him angry?

"I'm...I'm sorry I..." she stammered.

To her surprise, Vine smiled a little and said, "you don't have to be sorry," before he walked off.

Judging by all the other guests who were at the event, one could tell that for real, Vine was spoiled. While everyone was dressed formally in suits and evening gowns, Vine wore his ripped jeans and a t-shirt, and he seemed not to care at all.

Kiara quickly walked to the spot where her manager had told her to work from, and she watched the very rich family and their guests enjoying their life. She had no idea what the event was, but it seemed to have a lot of speeches. One person after the other, they stood up to speak.

When finally their manager told them to serve the food, Kiara felt a bit relieved. She was extremely tired and she just wanted to go home and take some rest.

When she was going to the kitchen to check if some special sauce was ready, her phone rang.

Knowing that the events manager would never tolerate calls during working hours, Kiara hid behind a curtain and answered the call.

"Jeremy? I'm still busy!" Kiara whispered.

"What time will you finish, then?" Jeremy sounded unhappy.

"I'm not sure. We're only starting to serve the food now."

"Kiara, it's already a few minutes before ten."

"Ten?" Kiara was shocked. She looked at her phone and saw that for real, it was towards ten o'clock.

"Who eats at this time of the night?" Jeremy asked in annoyance.

Kiara let out a small laugh and said, "Maybe that's the way of the rich."

"OK, call me once you are done. I'll come and pick you up. I love you."

"I love you more Jeremy, I will call you." Kiara slid her phone into her pocket and rushed to the kitchen to get the sauce.

When she came back, she was directed to the VVIP table, where the Pinkertons were sitting.

Shaking due to anxiety, Kiara placed the bowl on the table, and did not know what else to do.Lady Pinkerton, realizing that Kiara was very uneasy, smiled at her and said, "It's OK, you need to relax, young lady."

Kiara smiled and took two steps backwards. She was really not sure whether to leave or to remain standing. One of the waiters came to her rescue when he came through and started serving the sauce. The young waitress slowly disappeared back to her corner.

Unknown to her, all of her actions were watched closely by one of the people who sat at the VVIP table. After she left, the young man motioned for the waiter to come closer.

"Who is that girl?" he asked.

"Oh that girl? I'm not too sure what her name is. She came in to hold the fort for someone." The waiter said.

"Go and find out everything about her and come tell me." Vine stated in a carefree way.

Shocked, the waiter remained standing.

_He was supposed to find out everything about the lady? How much time was he given?_

"Go!" Vine pointed toward the direction in which Kiara had gone.

The waiter nodded his head and started to move towards that direction. Kiara was busy with her work, and the waiter went closer to her and,

"Hallo, my name is Kevin. Umm, please tell me, what's your name?" he sounded very desperate.

Kiara gave him the eye and snapped, "I'm busy! Shouldn't you be busy doing your own work too?"

"Please, it is important. I need to know your name and please..."

"Should I go and inform the events manager that I cannot work because one Kevin is on my case?" Kiara asked with a raised brow.

Kevin shook his head and walked towards the VVIP table. Vine leaned backwards and listened to Kevin whispering,

"I'm sorry young master Vine, but she won't tell me..."

"Go and find out about her!" Vine commanded before going back to his food.

Kevin left the table and went straight to the restrooms. Inside, he quickly called Lee-Anne and asked her to tell him anything and everything she knew about Kiara.

Lee-Anne was obviously depressed about her parents' accident, she only managed to say, "she's taken, Kevin. She's madly in love with her childhood sweetheart."

"OK, please just tell me more about her."

Lee-Anne uttered two or three sentences before she excused herself, for she needed to attend to her parents.

Happy, Kevin went back to Vine and whispered his findings. It was not much information, it was just general information about Kiara.

"Bring her to this table," Vine said.

Kevin walked towards Kiara and before he could open his mouth, Kiara looked upset by his presence, "don't tell me you're here to disturb me again. I need to work, and I'm sure you also need to do your work."

"No I'm not here to disturb you. They're asking for you at the VVIP table."

Before Kiara could say anything, Kevin walked away.

The young lady wiped her hands and started walking towards the table. Seated at that table was the master and lady Pinkerton, together with their grandson Vine. There were two other elderly guests, who were in deep talk with the seniour Pinkertons.

"Come sit here," Vine patted the chair next to him.

"Sit? I...I'm not allowed to sit. I'm working, so I cannot be sitting with guests." Her voice was timid.

"Well if I say sit, then you sit. Who's your manager? If they choose to fire you, let them. I can offer you a more decent job." The man sneered.

Kiara hesitated for a moment, and then she sat on the edge of the seat.

"Relax," Vine smiled. "What would you like to drink?" he asked her with concern.

"Umm, nothing, thank you. I'm good."

"Nonsense! I'll get something nice for you," Vine smiled.

Lady Pinkerton, who all the while was talking to her guests, turned and saw Kiara sitting next to her grandson. Failing to hide her excitement, she cried out,

"Oh my! Who do we have here? Vine; aren't you going to introduce us?"

Vine put his hand on Kiara's shoulder and said, "her name is Kiara. I invited her to our table. You guys are busy talking alone and I was feeling lonely."

"Of course, of course, she is more than welcome. Kiara my child, feel welcome." Lady Pinkerton smiled.

"Thank you ma'am but I really have to be working. If my manager sees me here, she won't like it at all. I will get into trouble." Kiara was feeling extremely uneasy.

Lady Pinkerton smiled sweetly and said, "you won't get into any trouble. Relax, you're a very beautiful girl."

"Thank you lady Pinkerton," she kneaded her fingers while facing the floor.

Kevin came through and placed a glass of wine in front of Kiara with, "here you go ma'am."

Kiara blinked several times, surprised at how the waiter was suddenly addressing her as ma'am. She really wished for someone to come to her rescue.

After Kevin had left, Kiara spoke in a low voice,

"I...I don't take wine."

"This one is not strong, take a sip. It's sweet." Vine lifted the glass and held it for Kiara to drink.

"Master ....I mean, young master Vine..."

"Call me Vine," the young man chuckled.

"I'm sorry I cannot do this." Kiara's voice was shaky.

"You can't do what?" Vine smiled at her.

"The wine, sitting here with you at the VVIP table, everything!" She sounded as if she was going to cry.

Vine called out to Kevin and told him, "prepare for us a table for two, something simple and nice. Do it fast, we want to move to our own table now."

"Yes young master Pinkerton." Kevin quickly walked off with a nodding of his head.

"And hey!" Vine called out after him. Kevin turned and walked back to Vine. "Get one of my bodyguards to give you my name card. Great job."

Kevin smiled from ear to ear, thanked the young master and then went off to prepare a table for two.

"Take a sip," Vine lifted the glass to Kiara's mouth.

Slowly the girl faced the other side and refused to take a sip.

"Come on. Be a good girl now, open your mouth and drink," Vine coerced as if he was convincing a little child to eat.

"If you don't mind, please don't do that. I am in uniform and I am working. I can't be here drinking with you. And I have a boyfriend. If he were to know about this, he would be very upset."

"And by "this," what are you referring to?" Vine leaned in and took Kiara's hand in his.

"I mean this table for two. You and I." she pulled off her hand from Vine's.

"We're just having drinks. Here, take just one sip. This is a special wine that I bought just for you." Vine smiled.

Kiara shook her head and frowned.

"What? You don't like a good drink? Let me add a bit of a kick to it," Vine said as he lifted a bottle off the table. He opened it and poured its contents into Kiara's glass.

"No, leave it like that." Kiara protested, but Vine had already poured.

The events manager, because Kevin had narrated to her everything that was happening, decided not to meddle in the issues. She watched from afar as Vine lifted a wine glass to Kiara's mouth and in her heart she said, "this girl is lucky."

When Kevin announced that the table was ready, Vine held Kiara's hand and led him to the new table.

"I'm fine, let me walk by myself," Kiara hid her hand behind her back.

"Where to, now?" lady Pinkerton smiled brightly at her grandson.

"We've taken a table for two." Vine explained.

"Treat her well, Vine," the old lady looked very happy.

Vine did not respond. The two of them walked and sat at their new table, while Kevin followed with their wine glasses.

"Tell me about him," Vine smiled.

"Who?" Kiara frowned a bit.

"Your boyfriend," he lifted his glass and gulped down its contents before immediately ordering for it to be filled up again.

Kiara shifted in her seat and smiled. "His name is Jeremy Rain," she began. "I have known him all my life."

"All your life? How is that?" the man pulled his chair closer to Kiara.

"Well, would you believe it if I were to tell you that I held him for the first time when he was just six days old? We're neighbours. There's a photo of us, taken on that day when I held him. He has a copy of the same picture on his bedroom walls, and I have mine." She smiled.

She was beginning to feel very relaxed the moment she started talking about the love of her life, Jeremy.

"You're older than him, then." Vine commented.

"Two years older." She nodded.

"And you love him? What does he do? I've never understood women who love younger men," his tone was flat.

"He is still a student. He's majoring in cyber security. And he does photography too, just to get extra cash."

"Enough about him. He sounds boring. What about you? You're a waitress here?"

"No, I just graduated. I'm a computer programmer." She tried to smile at Vine. It was in vain.

"OK, listen Kiara, I'm going to offer you a very good job in exchange for just sitting with me tonight. I feel lonely. Most of the guests here are old people, as you can see."

Kiara looked around and did not say anything.

Just then, Vine excused himself as he was going to the restroom. Kiara saw the manager walking towards their table. Speaking in a very kind tone, with the utmost respect ever, the lady said,

"Kiara dear, please stop being stubborn. I can see you giving the young master a tough time. Just drink that wine, and act along with him. We need the Pinkertons to enter into a partnership with Two-Sons Hotel."

"But you cannot use me to get business. I am very uncomfortable..."

"Take a sip. Just do your best to make him happy. I will pay you double. We need that deal to go through. Please, Kiara."

The woman quickly winked at Kiara and walked away.

When Vine returned, he sat down and offered Kiara the wine again.

"I do not take wine and any strong drinks. Please try to understand." The young lady pleaded.

"Well, you're too tensed up. I need someone to talk to. Just take a sip to help you relax. It won't kill you." Vine did not put the glass down.

Slowly, Kiara opened her mouth and drank the wine. A scowl covered her face, much to Vine's amusement. She appeared even more beautiful when she frowned.

She coughed many times and violently cleared her throat before bringing her hand up to massage her neck.

"Is it that bad?" he chuckled.