Chapter 43: Little punishment

Evan must have really heard everything or half of what I said unless he didn't clean his ears today-which I thought was not possible because he always looked clean-that would cause both of his eardrums to rupture, making it hard for him to hear every single word I shamelessly said with no base reasons. But no, he heard me. Based on how he meekly reacted, I was sure he heard me. Evan leaned on his chair; his arms were crossed over his chest, his fingers drumming against his muscular biceps. I liked his biceps. Not too muscular, but not too thin as well. They were more like average, but they seemed stunning to Evan. Evan's body proportion was beautiful. I couldn't stop looking at him. I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to shrug the thought off. "Why did you follow me here?" he asked, his eyes averting mine but looking at the bustle outside the cafe. "Let me explain," I said and immediately sat on the chair in front of him, though I wasn't sure where I got my spirit to present myself to him. But when I finally met his fox-like eyes, I blushed crimson and felt thirsty. A very far-fetched moment in need of a scientific approach, considering I drank three bottles of fresh juice a little earlier. But constructing and proving such an experiment was beyond my qualification, so I cleared my throat to earn his attention. "It's not like what you think. I didn't mean to-" "Why are you even explaining?" Evan calmly asked, but clearly, he was suppressing his irritation. Was he irritated? I couldn't imagine him being such, though. "I thought you won't think about and talk to me anymore?" he scoffed. "No, I didn't mean to say it like that. I was just preoccupied with things that my words came out wrong." "Which things are you referring to?" He lifted an eyebrow. "And do I have something to do with those things? Why does it seem like I caused those things?" "Just things. Confusing, difficult, unsettled personal things. And no, they don't have anything to do with you." I scratched my palms under the table to keep calm, to think of an answer. "Oh, really?" Evan scoffed again, though that likely was not the proper term for it. It was more like he didn't believe in me. And I could not blame him because I was telling a whole lie. "Misty, you know you can talk to me, right?" "Yes, I know. But please don't be mad at me," I pleaded and even gestured my hands in a prayer position, sincerely wishing Evan would not get angry. Evan rested his arms on the table, his fingers silently drumming. He fell silent for a few moments and studied me. I also looked at him, almost unsure why I even did the same. By doing so, it was evident Evan was uncharacteristically mad at me. Maybe a little. Just a bit. Knowing him, it's not his nature to be angry easily, except that he looked flustered and affected by the shameful situation I made. "Why are you avoiding me, Misty?" he asked with the familiar concerned tone and suddenly held my right hand, his thumb softly brushing my fingers. I looked at our hands, thinking for a reason. If only it were that easy to tell Evan about my confused, unsettled feelings for him, I would. But even I couldn't still settle such feelings as though they were some tiny pieces of a massive jigsaw puzzle requiring hours or days to finish. Nonetheless, I knew, for a fact, that I had been admiring Evan ever since I started genuinely learning about him. "No, I'm not avoiding you," I uttered. "But that's what you said earlier. And you're even planning on doing so. I don't understand, Misty." Evan scratched the back of his nape and sighed. "We were okay the last time we met. Did I do something wrong? I will not do it again. I will not make fun of you anymore. Well, maybe just a little," he continuously orated as though he was the one at fault and not me. I heaved a deep sigh and smiled at the last words he said. That was so thoughtful of him. "No, you didn't do something wrong. I just. . . have to deal with things." I thought: It's not you, Evan. It's me. No, Evan couldn't simply know these unsettled feelings I started feeling for him. He simply couldn't. Evan would feel distracted and awkward and eventually avoid me as much as possible. He would move to a new condominium to get me out of his life and forget about me. And I didn't want that to happen. "You don't have to explain." Evan nodded slowly. Contemplating my scattered thoughts, I looked at him. "Sorry," I whimpered without knowing a tear came out of my eye. "Hey, hey. Misty," Evan leaned closer to me and cupped my face with one of his hands, his thumb gently wiping off the tear that had fallen from it again. "Don't cry." "You're wiping off my makeup," I suddenly said, still whimpering, making Evan chuckle slightly. My whimpering face must've looked awful, but I had no idea why I started being emotional. The mellow jazz music playing inside the cafe was also not helpful to the situation. "It's okay. You still look pretty in my eyes, even without makeup," Evan deadpanned, and I felt my face hot as a fresh bread taken by a baker out of an oven. "Stop crying, alright?" he uttered, a reassuring smile forming on his lips. I wiped my face. "Evan, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry I-" Evan held both of my hands this time, and his touch ultimately felt safe for some unimaginable reason. "Shh. It's really okay. I'm not mad. I can't get mad at you," he softly reckoned; his voice was attached with layers of comfort that someone would wish to hear when they did something regretful. "Misty." I suddenly sensed a wave of sudden flutter growing in my heart. Something was distinguishing and likable about the way he uttered my name. Maybe, it was the softness of his voice, the quality. Perhaps, the kind of tone. Or more like his reassuring aura that he was genuinely not mad at me, so I wiped my tears again. He let go of my hands. No, don't let go of my hands. "Yeah?" "You smudged a bit of your lipstick," he snorted, which eventually became a peal of small laughter. I immediately grabbed a piece of tissue from the table and intended to wipe the corner of my mouth to clean the smudge. "Is it gone?" I asked Evan. "No. Here, let me." Without even hesitating, Evan put his thumb on the corner of my lips and wiped the smudge. My heart almost detonated at most. For as I could remember, this was the second time Evan had to touch my lips to do a petty thing I could've done myself. But why was it that I didn't have the eagerness to stop him from doing so? The moment was serious, not until- "Hey!" someone shouted. "Why are you touching Misty's lips?" When everything seemed to be a little understandable and solemn, Kayla had chosen to appear abruptly at that exact moment, making both Evan and I flustered in our seats. Evan cleared his throat, his head lowered a little, and slowly looked at Kayla with hesitance as though he was frightened to look at her intriguing face. "No reason. I was just-" "No reason, your foot. You smudged Misty's lipstick." Evan looked at me and snorted. "Sorry," he said. Kayla took a piece of tissue and cleaned the smudge herself. "Thanks," I uttered. "Nope, that won't suffice that you lied to me about meeting this man." Kayla had to actually point her forefinger at Evan, making the latter frown his eyebrow out of mere bewilderment as to why he was suddenly lowkey scolded as well. "Here!" Kayla threw her credit card at me. "Why are you giving me your credit card?" I asked. An evil, ruthless kind of smile formed on Kayla's lips before crossing her arms over her chest. Oh, no. Indeed, she was up to something I wouldn't like. "Go buy me some baking ingredients at The Baking World. That's your punishment!" she scowled. "What? No, no." I stood up from my seat. "Kayla, you know very well that I can't differentiate one flour from one another. I'll mess it up," I complained. "Misty, there's this thing called 'label' so it's impossible that you'll mess up buying." "But, but-" "No more complaints. And you won't be buying a lot of flour. Just a bit because it's only for a trial. I'm trying to learn a new recipe. I just had a shortage of some ingredients." "And what if I don't want to?" "Then I will not give you any more free pastries or bread or drinks from my cafe." I turned to Kayla and rolled my eyes at her. "I can just undergo fasting, then." Evan snorted, so I glared at him, but he just smiled. "What if I still don't want to go?" Kayla stepped forward, almost looking like she was dueling with me. "What if I tell Evan about your feelings for-" Gosh, Kayla's mouth, really. I immediately covered her mouth before she could even continue talking. At some point, I would bring a roll of duct tape to cover her mouth if she would say things relating to Evan. When I looked at Evan, he wondered why Kayla mentioned his name by how his eyebrows narrowed, so I just flashed a fake smile at him. "Alright, alright. I'll buy the ingredients," I sighed. "Great! Check your phone. I sent the list," Kayla ordered. My best friend was low-key blackmailing, and she, sure, was enjoying her silliness, so I had no choice but to follow her. "But I don't have my car with me. I just walked going here, so I'll just head back to my place first and get my car. Could you wait?" I asked Kayla. "No, that would be a waste of time. I need the ingredients now." "You know very well that it's hard to commute at this kind of hour. Then do you want me to also walk going to the store?" Evan must be enjoying our argument as he let out some laugh at my rebuttal to Kayla's remark. He immediately looked away when both of us looked at him simultaneously. Kayla's facial expression instantaneously shifted to something familiar. So familiar that I didn't want to look at her anymore because I automatically knew that she was plotting something. And as fate would have it, Evan chuckling just ignited Kayla to come up with a bad idea. "Hmm. . ." "Kayla." My eyes widened before I softly pinched her arm. "No, I don't want to." Kayla glared at me using her terrifying no-bullsh*t looks before turning to Evan. "Hey, do you have your car with you?" she shamelessly asked him. Evan fell silent and averted his look at me as though he was mentally asking me if he should answer Kayla's question and get involved in having to endure my punishment. As discomfiting as the situation, I didn't want him to waste his precious time on me, considering how busy he was. I shook my head at him, trying to send some signal for him to say that he didn't have his car with him. "No, I didn't bring my car," Evan denoted. I almost freaked out a sigh of deep relief when Evan said that. He read my mind-straight telepathic kind of thing. How unbelievable was that? Good for you, Evan. "How in the world?!" Kayla groaned. "But I saw you leaving with your car earlier." "Ah, that? That was my manager's car. She dropped me off at my place." Evan explained. I heaved a deep sigh out of relief and even jumped a little and did some fist-pumps in the air, knowing there was still a chance to get Evan out of the situation. "Yes! Ha-ha!" I faked a laugh, but it eventually turned into a revengeful-like kind of laugh. "I don't have my car with me. Evan also doesn't have his car with him. Huh!" I clapped my hands evilly and jumped a few more times. "If you need them now, then go buy your ingredients yourself, Kayla! Yahoo! Yes! I don't need to go- "I didn't bring my car because I rode my motorcycle going here." Boom. Those words came out of Evan's mouth as an extreme bombshell dropped with no warning. Or perhaps, he purposely waited to witness my celebratory reactions first so that he could make fun of me later on. Did I hear that right? Suddenly, it was as if all my body systems stopped functioning at once, almost feeling like my soul had already left my body in complete, shattering distress. I just wanted to expire at this exact moment. "Perfect!" Kayla exclaimed with pure satisfaction as though her plan was going so well. And indeed, it was. "Can you drop Misty at the store, then? After that, you can go your way," she asked Evan. "Absolutely no! No way! I won't ride his motorcycle!" I looked at Kayla with a grimace. "Do you want me to die? There's no way I could ride that kind of thing!" It was going to be a 'Ride or Die' kind of thing the way I imagined it. "Misty, are you trying to be funny? Of course, you have to sit properly on the seat," Kayla exclaimed and pinched my arm, making me squeal a little. "And one more thing, you can always hold on to Evan! I mean, wrap your arms around his waist. Is that even difficult?" she babbled and winked at me as though she had purposely plotted this in her mind. "Abs," Kayla even mouthed and I'm sure Evan saw that. "Kayla!" I yelled at her. "And how would I carry the ingredients, then, if I would to do what you want?" "Misty, you're going to buy five items only. Also, the store has great eco-bags," Kayla insisted, so I glared at her and took a deep sigh-a sign that I had lost. Kayla always had reasons whenever I would argue with her. Evan cleared his throat. I almost forgot his presence because of the bickering I had just had with Kayla. It was so embarrassing that Evan had to see us discuss a petty argument when he could've left already to do his things worth attending to, instead of having to deal with this messed-up situation. He stood up and slid the chair back under the under before turning to Kayla. "It's alright. I can even help Misty shop the items and bring her back to you after. I don't mind." "But, but aren't you supposed to be busy with your album?" I prattled, with a deep wishful hope that somehow he suddenly would remember that he still had to settle something concerning his album. "No, not really. I already finished my schedule for this morning. I'll go back to the entertainment in the evening." "See? Evan's fine with it!" Kayla badgered. I intended on arguing back again. "But-" Kayla abruptly pushed me to Evan, who immediately caught me in his arms. "Oops, sorry." Kayla faked a laugh. When I looked up, Evan softly smiled at me. "Misty, I'll wait for you outside."