= Chris POV =

  “Be your best friend again?” I repeated, trying to wrap my head around how that felt to me. It felt weird. I didn’t want to be best friends with Sarah anymore. I wanted…

  “You said anything within your power, and you were my best friend once… couldn’t you be that person again, just until midnight tonight? I’ve been dying to talk to someone about the things I’ve been going through” Sarah said and sighed “ And I miss the heart-to-heart chitchats that we had in the past”

  I sighed and sat back. What did I really expect? This was Sarah. It’s not like her requests would have been like mine. I personally would have gone for a striptease, but clearly, the soft-hearted Sarah just wanted a listening ear. Sure, I could py ball. She has been working hard, and she should be able to confide in me. If not, she might end up confiding in that snake, Ruby, and I did not want that.

  “Sure, starting from now, I’m back to being old’ Chris, your very best friend,” I said and smiled.

  “Get!” Sarah said and stood up. “Then first, let’s go to my room; I want to sit and eat in comfort,” Sarah said and gathered up the bag of buns and sushi. “Can you bring us something to drink? I have a lot to share tonight, and this sushi would taste so good with some white wine” Sarah said and winked, and then disappeared into her room.

  I groaned and stood up. Sarah drunk was a handful, but at least I didn’t have to drive her home. I grabbed two wine gsses and a bottle of white wine from the wine storage and went to join her.

  I paused at the entrance of her room. The guest room had been completely transformed into a cute gamer-girl aesthetic room, with anime posters on the wall, neo-vintage white furnishings, and a cute white bed with pink sheets. Sarah was seated on the fluffiest looking carpet with her back leaning against the bed frame, and she had pced all the food on a small coffee table in front of her.

  “Wow, when did you get the pce redecorated?” I asked, impressed. It really felt like I was walking back into Sarah’s other apartment which we had to return to the ndlord.

  “Two weeks ago,” Sarah said.

  I paused. “How did I not notice?” I gasped. “ All this happened, and you didn’t tell me about it?”

  “I did! I asked for permission, and you gave it, but then you also told me not to talk to you after midnight again, and that is the only time you come back home from work. So yeah, how would you know?” Sarah replied and pouted.

  I sank down onto the carpet across from Sarah and sighed. “I am so sorry, I am such a dunce! I think I said that out of exhaustion; I didn’t mean it,” I said and pced the wine and the gsses down.

  “Hmph, are there any other things you’d like to tell me that you didn’t mean? Like not being my best friend anymore, for example?” Sarah asked pointedly, but I busied myself to pour out some whine for us instead of replying.

  “Anyway, what do you think of the room?” Sarah asked as she opened the sushi box and started preparing the soya sauce and wasabi in the little sauce dishes the store provided.

  “I love it! This pce really looks like yours now. “You did great,” I smiled, taking a long look around to really take it all in.

  Sarah's smile just got bigger and bigger. “Thank you. I’m so gd you love it. Now, let’s eat. I need to tell you all about this horrible ndlord I have and my new awkward work arrangements,” Sarah said cheekily as she popped salmon sushi into her mouth.

  Two hours and four gsses of wine ter, we both were lying on the carpet, having pushed aside the coffee table to make room.

  “I can’t believe Ruby did that to you. I’d have punched her if she pinned me down like that and force-fed my cake,” I said after hearing the full story of what Ruby did to Sarah during her interview.

  “Yeah, well, after working there for a week, Ruby has already cornered Mr. Ichikawa, Ms. Hana, and even Amber and tried to force-feed them cake as well. She targets people shorter than her, and she always pounces when their hands are full, so it turns out I’m not as special as I thought I was. The trouble is not the cake, it’s the alcohol content, it’s not a rational amount to add to a cake and then expect your employees to try it out” Sarah expined, pouring herself another gss of wine.

  “Yeah, well, you can still press charges if you want to; you probably must have hated it,” I said, sipping my wine.

  Sarah paused for a moment. She leaned back against her bedframe, wrapped an arm around her legs, and swirled her wine with the other hand.

  “Well, I kind of…liked it? I kind of like her. She has a real taste for life, you know? I wish I could live life as intensely and passionately as she lives. She’s not afraid to take what she wants or does what she wants; it’s commendable,” Sarah smiled.

  I sat up straight, staring at her. “But Sarah, you’re straight; I know you don’t understand cause it’s a girl touching you, but from the standpoint of a lesbian, it’s just as bad if a man did that to you. Don’t you see you were being taken advantage of?”

  Sarah turned to me and smiled a little smile “Who told you I was straight?”