For some reason, I felt a little scared and annoyed. I wanted to return to the office building, but Lara stopped me.
"Danny, why do you run away when you see me? Am I some kind of ferocious monster?" She lowered her head, sobbing.
It was the same old trick. Before, she always manipulated me with such a look.
"No. I just forgot something..."
"It's Luna's birthday party. She invited both of us... Danny, you..."
"You may go. I'm not interested."
Luna Jordan was Lara's college roommate. When Lara pursued Austin back then, the group of people, including Luna, offered Lara lots of suggestions. They became close and had been friends till now.
"All of them will bring a date. Don't worry... It won't be late. I swear."
Perhaps not wanting to argue with her anymore, as she started the car, I said nothing, agreeing to go in silence.
As soon as we arrived at Luna's doorstep, a bunch of roses suddenly fell from the door frame, catching Lara and me off guard.
Before we could react, Austin jumped out from the corner.
"Flowers match beautiful women! Welcome, Lara."
The atmosphere became tense, and everyone was secretly observing my expression.
They all knew that I loved Lara so deeply, so I definitely couldn't tolerate someone who sent roses to her in such a way.
But I just sat down in my seat under their gazes.
"Why isn't anyone sitting?"
Lara threw the roses aside and ran towards me.
"Danny, don't take it seriously. I'm just too close to Austin. He doesn't mean anything. He just wants to surprise me!"
"She's right, Danny. We used to mess around like this all the time. You didn't know, and that's all. It's just the interaction between friends!"
Austin's words "used to", "all the time", and "you didn't know" caught my attention. I knew what he was trying to do.
He wouldn't miss any opportunity to sow discord between me and Lara.
His tricks were so lame. He better kept them to himself.
During the meal, Austin kept putting food on Lara's plate.
"Lara, it's the braised pork you like. Have some more..."
They used to put food on each other's plates frequently and called that normal interaction between friends. It no longer affected me.
After finishing the meal, I was thinking about my plan for the civil service exam, so I wanted to leave.
"Danny, are you leaving so soon? Let's stay a little longer and hang out." Lara tried to stop me.
"No. You guys may hang out. I'm leaving. I have something to do."