I felt an enticing wave washing my body when she ran her fingers over my spine. I had my eyes closed, so she thought I was asleep. When she kissed me, I opened my eyes and cuddled her.
"Good morning, my king," she said, caressing my cheeks.
"Good morning, Veronica," I said, squeezing her with my arms. She smiled, looked at me, and asked, "So tell me, Oliver, you couldn't stay those three days without hearing from me?"
"How was I going to? I felt lonely at Kentha Hotel without you. You were my only company over the phone," I said.
She laughed and pinched my nose. I stopped her. She was very pleased because I had won the competition. All of my friends were over the moon, and I knew my dad was going to be proud. While we were on the bed, she urged me to go to a bath so that we would meet our friends in the cafeteria. I went straight to bath. When I was done, she gave me my ironed clothes. I dressed while she also went to take a fast shower.
In no time, we were heading to the cafeteria. We found our friends already there, enjoying themselves. We hugged each other. They told me we were celebrating my achievement. When we were busy chatting, Mariana came with a large dish of popcorn and some snacks. Veronica was long gone aside to join Jeff and Renata in grilling some meat.
Since it was a weekend, no one disturbed our moment. We enjoyed it there for hours. Chris and Jeff were then secretly drinking alcohol. Leticia, Mariana, and Renata joined the drinking crew. Veronica looked wanting, but I don't know what stopped her. Triana and I were busy with snacks, as she was continuously throwing jokes at us. It was a propitious moment indeed.
When the sun was overhead, the effect of alcohol was noticeable to those who were drinking. Veronica suggested we move from the cafeteria and go to a hidden place so that people wouldn't notice our drunken friends. We agreed with her. Leticia added that we were supposed to go to the lab and watch some movies. It was a good idea because everyone jumped to agree with her. Jeff phoned Mr. Cruz and requested the projector. To our lucky, Mr. Cruz agreed, so Jeff and Veronica instantly paired up and headed to Mr. Cruz's office to take the projector. Chris and Leticia led the way, going to the lab. Renata and Triana were taking care of our food and purchasing more refreshments before following the lab. Everyone left Mariana and I sitting. I was finishing my drink while Mariana was drinking alcohol.
Within a few minutes with Mariana, my mood changed. She told me about the things that happened when I was away. I was surprised that even Veronica didn't mention it to me despite spending the entire night with her. If I hadn't asked Mariana about Chris' unusual behavior, she was also not going to tell me. I had probed because Chris wasn't talkative that day. He wasn't himself, and his drinking wasn't normal. Mariana even mentioned that Chris hit her and he had a pistol. That shocked me—I failed to make sense of everything. So much was happening.
We went to the lab and joined others. I didn't ask about what Mariana told me. My mind was trying to process everything. One thing was for sure, our friendship was closer to ending, as I saw hopes fading when Mariana wanted to break up with Chris. That alone was going to lead to many things—Mariana discovering her little sister's secrets, Veronica knowing my dirty games—everything was at stake.
When we were in the lab, we received the news that Marcos Mann was reported missing. I looked at my friends as fear echoed closer. To make things worse, Chris was the last person to have seen Marcos the moment he ran after him. However, he said he failed to catch him.