Stuck in you

Hearing the tone of Lea's voice, Rachel sighed. Deep inside, she understood her feeling of surprise of anger. "Really, it was nothing serious. I was about to tell you, but then Jack suddenly showed up," Rachel said, trying to assure her,

Lea clutched her phone tightly as she recalled the moment Rachel mentioned feeling sick and wanting to leave the bar. She heaved a heavy sigh and felt her anger gear towards herself. 'How could I be so careless and did not notice that anything was wrong with her?'

She had thought Rachel wanted to go home because she was not comfortable with the environment there in the bar. As a matter of fact, when she was gone to the dance floor, Rachel was even abducted.

Thinking about all these just fueled Lea's rage and fear. If Eric hadn't gone back to grab something to eat, then they would not have realized that Rachel was already gone from their spot.

In the meantime, she felt even more remorseful. She knew that if something bad did happen to Rachel that night, she would regret it for the rest of her life, and she would be always in debt of what should not have happened. Then again, she was grateful that the worse did not come.

"I am really, really sorry, Rachel. I'm sorry that even though I knew you wouldn’t like it, I still took you to a bar. Fortunately, nothing happened to you. Otherwise, I honestly don't know what to do," Lea said softly, pulling her hair ruefully with worry.

Rachel sighed, "Please, stop blaming yourself. It was not your fault. You absolutely have nothing to do with it." As she said those words, Rachel grabbed a pillow with her free hand and hugged it tight in her arms. "Besides, it was nothing serious. I immediately came out when Jack got there, but, you know, the air was not entirely fresh."

Rachel found telling Lea about the fear and panic she had felt completely unnecessary and would only make Lea worry even more. Worse, blame herself even more because of it.

Lea inhaled a hard breath and said in a voice full of remorse, "Rachel, I promise. We won't go to that kind of place ever again."

Rachel could not help but smile, and before she could reply, Lea spoke again. "Did you hear me? That's a promise, and it applies not to just the both of us going there together but I alone as well."

Rachel felt bad and at the same time warmth in her heart. She knew that Lea fancied the lively atmosphere of bars very much, so giving up those trips there would be quite a big deal. On the other hand, Rachel still felt touched with the gesture, because her friend was willing to sacrifice that for her. Moreover, she believed in Lea's words. After all, Lea was that kind of person who would never go back on her words.

As Rachel reflected on her life, after all these years, the biggest blessing that she received so far was having a friend like Lea. With this thought in mind, she could not hold back the smile on her face.

Feeling tired and a little bit better, Rachel decided to lie on her back, and with a smile, she replied, "Lea, I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but swearing on that is completely unnecessary, especially the part when you too will give up going to bars. Again, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with you."

At the other end of the line, Rachel could hear Lea's deep sigh and waited for her to reply. When silence enveloped them for a short while, Rachel continued, "When you go to bars in the future, please don't forget to be careful amidst all the fun. Do you hear me?"

Lea let out a smile and said, "Yes, Mom." Her sarcastic remark made both of them giggle. As their giggles faded down, Lea turned serious for a moment and asked, "Kidding aside, how did this matter have anything to do with Jack? I mean, as far as I know, you two haven't contacted each other, have you?"

Hearing Jack's name made the humor on Rachel's face fade away. She did not know how all these strange things started. She guessed that they had started from the day that Jack brought Celine to her hospital.

"Well, we haven't, but I promise I will tell you all about it later."

her and Jack, she opened her mouth to change the topic, but Rachel suddenly spoke, taking Lea aback for a moment. "I heard Lucas will be back the day after

quiet, always there on the sidelines with her poker face on as if she did not want to

been by each other's side in almost every important matter or even just casual hangouts. Although they were quite different in many aspects—appearance, characteristics, and hobbies—they were best friends, sharing everything from their thoughts to

everything about Rachel, she knew all about Rachel's unrequited crush on a boy in high school, and before Rachel

man Rachel had a

known each other for a long time, and at first, Lea did not think about Rachel's feelings towards him. She always

only until the night when Rachel got drunk that Lea confirmed Rachel's feelings. Rachel rested on Lea's shoulder and called out only one name. She kept calling for Lucas,

registered for marriage with Jack, and because Rachel did not say or complain anything about it, Lea had nothing

came up the day after she got legally married, Rachel woke up without another word about what had happened that night, and so, Lea, not wanting to pry on her friend's feelings, pretended that nothing worth talking about happened as well. In fact, Rachel acted as if nothing changed in her life and went to work in the same hospital as Lucas back

back on her mind. If Rachel and Lucas did have some sort of relationship even more than that of friends, then their relationship should have already been broken off because of Rachel's

Rachel still thought about him every now and then if not often. Still, she could not guess what Rachel was thinking about at that very moment, so she decided to take the seriousness out

on Rachel's face, she replied, "Don't worry, I got you." They let out another fit of giggles before they realized that it was

lied down on her side on the sofa. Her mind wandered off,

Lucas was the one she was the most fond of, and it was true that he was also close to being suitable if not ideal lover

but Rachel knew that the kindness he portrayed her was not because he had a thing for her. She didn't

do anything to lose her friendship with Lucas. She was afraid that their friendship would be destroyed if she told him her feelings for him. With that, she decided to speak none of it, stay conservative, and keep getting along with him as they always

Rachel woke up and realized that she had fallen asleep on the sofa. Then, she sneezed and felt her nose a little stuffy. Not wanting to get even sicker, she stood and freshened up before preparing herself a bowl of hot ginger soup. Then, she walked around her home to stretch and work

cellphone started to ring inside her bag. She stopped what she was doing and took her phone out. As she looked at the familiar number,

screen without answering it, clutching her phone tighter than normal. As soon as the phone stopped ringing, Rachel realized she was holding her breath and could now sigh in relief. She placed the phone back inside her bag and continued to change her shoes, trying to forget that

a moment and thought that it was someone else, so

stopped as well and stood there, confused and wondering why he was calling her

deal. Moreover, Rachel

to ring again. She took her phone out and pressed decline. Then, she decided to turn her phone to silent mode, but before she could, she felt a presence in front of her. Rachel raised her head from

he slowly put down the hand

calls on purpose. Seeing the look on Rachel's face, he heaved a deep sigh and

placed her phone back in her bag unnaturally. "What are you

with another question, "Why didn't you

she was caught tongue tied and could not find the words to answer

realized that she was not obliged to answer that. She crossed her arms on her chest and replied, "I asked you first. What

any of it. "You do realize that I called you three times, but you did not