Silence, it’s all that hits my plastered ear against penny’s office door. I placed my palms on the door in hope that an additional point of contact could help with my hearing.

　　Still nothing

　　Giving up, I pushed off and leaned on the wall beside the door watching the city through the building’s glass wall. The view was beautiful from a far viewing all the contrasting colours to the different range of heights among the buildings each holding unrevealed story from the fade of their colour. Some from dirty money looking good to ‘I think these colours look good together’ kind of bad. Don’t get me wrong am all for, do what makes you happy but at times you have to do what makes others happy.

　　17th floor was the ‘it’ floor according to penny and I couldn’t argue since I hadn’t walked into the other floors and compared them to this. Buzzing phones, tones of customer services murmurs and scribbles of pen on paper was her description of unideal environment but potted plants and chaise longue sprawled with cashmere was the alternate version of heaven-based office not to forget personal bathrooms.

　　The door beside my clicked open as tall messy blonde-haired man stepped out, his tie was wrongly placed the cuff on his sleeves unhooked, his shirt half tucked in, he didn’t seem care or convey the least form of embarrassment or nervousness since I think we both knew what had happened on the other side of the door.

　　Instead, when his eyes met mine a casual smile pulled on his lips, ‘’hey Kira,’’ he said

　　‘’Hey Dan,’’ I smiled back as I brushed past him into penny’s office closing the door on his face luxuriously.

　　‘’Hey penny,’’ I said scanning around her office wondering where the deed could have occurred.

　　Certainly I wasn’t planning on sitting or placing my hands on some body fluid infested surface.

　　She raised her eyebrows question

　　‘’What?’’ I frowned,’’ aren’t you happy to see me?’’

　　I grab the glass of juice I had eyed on her desk the moment I walked in.I contemplate on taking a sip but god knows whose lips were on this glass.

　　‘’Am quite surprised to see you, aren’t you supposed to be in a class…’’ she turns to her watch, ‘’ right about now?’’

　　‘’I thought we were doing the no question asked since I didn’t ask why your boyfriend was walking out of officially inappropriately dressed. During work hours’’ I placed more emphasis on the last part

　　‘’seems you forgot how you had ranted to me how your Monday class schedule was messed up at the beginning of the semester.’’

　　Damn it! I should have never mentioned this to her. If I was being defensive I had my reasons of not being in class today not they mattered or made sense to anyone aside from me, but I rather she didn’t know anything.

　　‘’well, penny if you must know my class schedule is completely unrelated to this discussion and therefore is not warrant further explanation.’’

　　‘’huh?’’ she huffed

　　‘’yes, ‘huh’, why was dan here anyway? I thought you guys ended things?’’ for the umpthith time

　　She bit the corner of her lower lip as she smiled at me, ‘’ That’s what you thought Kira, and now guess what?’’

　　If her guesses where anything to do with dan I had lost my interest.

　　In a second she was seated beside me as she shoved her manicured slender long nails into my face. A shiny crystal top flashed in my eyes. Smooth curved edges perfected laid and fitted on a small crown stuck to a thin silver circle that runs around penny’s middle finger.

　　‘’wait! No way,’’

　　‘’Yes, way,’’

　　I grabbed her hand lowering it from my face so that I can examine it carefully, it is sparkly and beautiful. If I was different, I could be happy for her, but to me, it just seemed like an extra piece of shiny jewellery on a hand. Classy dick moves dan.

　　‘’This is so amazing,’’ I drew out horribly surprised by what I was seeing,

　　Dan and penny had a roller costa relationship over three years. He cheated and she’d cheated back, he would come back begging and she would take him back. I always believed they always brought the worst in each other.penny breed a cheater while dan breed a pathetic sympathetic selfless character. I have warned her about these, we had even rehearsed how she would break up with him, created a few comebacks for when he came crawling back to her. All I could think of now if the ship was meant to sink,it could go up in flames all the way down.

　　‘’I know,’’ she grins as she studied the ring on her finger, ‘’thank god I didn’t take thebreakup advice from you, this wouldn’t have happened,’’

　　‘’yes, you would have been healing, sister,’’ I murmured under my breath

　　‘’say what?’’ she turns to me

　　‘’nothing, I was just saying this was a surprise, I never saw it coming.’’ Never in a million years

　　‘’ Same here, after all, we have been through, I wasn’t expecting such a huge step from him.’’

　　‘’ yeah, some huge step,’’ I muttered sarcastically, ‘’ you know what they say, huge steps come with huge heart-breaking baggage’s’’

　　‘’ that’s stupid, love is beautiful,’’

　　‘’And love is blind too,’’I gave a sacractic laughter

　　She squinted, ‘’ I know where you are trying to drive this conversation too and it’s not happening,’’

　　‘’just don’t say I didn’t warn you, anyway I came over here to borrow some.’’ I gesticulated cash with my hand.

　　She stares at me as she shakes her head, ‘’I thought your dad gave you some last week,’’

　　‘’oh, so now you and my dad are keeping tabs on who is giving me money and when,’’

　　‘’yes because of late you have been spending the hell out of your upkeep money,’’

　　‘’seems like you guys forgot I am a college student; I have the expenses of a college student. I have a trip this weekend and I need some cash,’’

　　Dad would have gone a head to give me a lecture on how he spent his money back in school to start his company and how he wasn’t born in money like I was.

　　She goes ahead to say something but I dismiss her

　　‘’I still the one dad sent, I just need some for…,’’ I think about telling but that wouldn’t have been a good idea, ‘’…important project,’’

　　Sighing she reached for her purse and grabbed a couple of notes and handed them over to me. I hestitate before taking them from. I was used to getting a financial spending lecture or being sent back empty handed. You’d expect penny to be the cool aunt until you get a fair share of managing money, what can I say it runs in the blood,expect today.

　　‘’I hope you are doing something important with these money,’’ her voice heavy with judgment

　　I take the money from her briefly counting, ‘’you say as if a m doing drugs with them,’’

　　I had thought about it but I was the version of me who chose not to because I was a better human.

　　‘’And another thing, it would be amazing if you would come over with me to dan’s family dinner next Friday,’’

　　‘’family dinner?’’ now it made sense, giving money to me easily was clearly a bribe If I said no her move would have been to tell me I owed her. Well played penny.

　　‘’yes, he said it was a good idea to get familiar with both sides of the family?’’

　　‘’oh, really he said that?” I slowly raised from the couch stashing the money in my jean pockets as I took a step towards the door. I owed her money but definently not a visit to the family of the guy I didn’t like. i could always find a way to give the money back

　　‘’Yeah, he did and I want you to come with me,’’another step

　　‘’When did you say it was again?’’ a step

　　‘’Next Friday,’’ a step closer

　　‘’Why didn’t you tell me earlier maybe I had planned next Friday, like a date?’’

　　‘’Kira, I know you don’t date, and you have no plans next weekend,’’

　　‘’I could have a project, you never know what these college lecturers have in mind,’’

　　‘’You are coming,’’ she said firmly sure about it.

　　Holding the doorknob, I twisted it slowly, ‘’ I’ll check my calendar,’’ so that I can fit in something

　　‘’You are so coming,’’

　　Opening the door, I slipped out, ‘’ I’ll call you to confirm about my schedule,’’

　　To hell am showing up on that dinner,she knew it too.