Take My Breath Away

It hadn't been that long since Portia last saw Debbie. But this wasn't the Debbie she knew. Debbie used to be humble and self-effacing, with low self-esteem. Now she was parading around with her nose in the air, all puffed up with pride as if she were the queen.

'Dammit Debbie! Your husband's just a secretary. Don't get cocky. It's not like he's Carlos Huo! We'll see who comes out on top!' she thought resentfully.

On Debbie's way back to the party, two other women stopped her in her tracks. They sized her up and down, and then one of them said curtly, "Someone wants to see you." 'I wonder who they're talking about, ' thought Debbie.

"Who?" she asked. Neither of the two women looked even remotely familiar. She'd know if she'd met them before. So it made her even more curious who wanted to talk to her, and why.

The woman in a black dress snapped, "Don't ask. Just follow us."

'This is crazy!' Debbie was irritated. It was supposed to be simple, and maybe fun. She went to the party on Carlos' behalf, but ended up coming across all kinds of weird things and hostile women. Mental note: Don't do this again. And now, why did she have to deal with some ridiculous mystery boss? She didn't. She was thinking that maybe now would be a good time to bug out of here. She had made an appearance, presented her gift, and now she just wanted to be left alone.

"Sorry, I'm busy." She passed them without giving them a second glance. Who were they? And why were they following someone else's orders? And more importantly, why were they trying to get her involved?

The woman in black shouted to her back, "Hey, you! Miss Mi wants to see you! Get your butt over here now, unless you want that butt kicked out of Y City! Just so you know, Miss Mi is Mr. Huo's woman. I wouldn't turn her down if I were you." 'Really! We'll just see about that!' Debbie thought.

The two looked at Debbie gloatingly, anticipating that she would turn around and follow them timidly to see Olga. After all, these two were at her beck and call, so why shouldn't Debbie be the same? She wasn't any better than them.

Nonetheless, to their disappointment, Debbie only paused for a second and then continued walking away.

The party was chock-full of things to do. The snacks Carlos ordered for her were delicious. She was stuffed, but when she returned to the party, she couldn't help walking towards the desserts again. She was compelled by the sweet taste of the treats, and her

sentment came from. She patted Jared on the shoulder resignedly and said, "I'll see you tomorrow. We can talk after class. Go. Have fun."

Her opinion of the woman got lower.

Jared didn't respond to Debbie. Instead, he impatiently pushed the woman in his arms away and scolded, "Didn't I tell you to wait? Besides! Are you blind? I can't afford anything she's wearing!"

Debbie burst into laughter. Jared always hated to lose face.

She hadn't expected him to talk about himself like that in front of his girlfriend. 'He must be really mad, ' she mused.

"I'm sorry," Debbie apologized, realizing how inappropriate it was to laugh at that moment. She nudged Jared and reminded him quietly, "Your girlfriend is ticked off. Go make her happy."

Hearing this, Jared stood up and left with his girlfriend.

It was finally quiet. Debbie polished off the rest of the desserts on her plate and started playing with her phone. After reading the updates in Moments on WeChat, she started to bang out a message to Carlos. "I want to..." She intended to say, "I want to go home. It's so boring. Emmett's been busy with work all night."

But before she could finish writing the message, a familiar voice called, "Tomboy."

"Eh? Back so soon? I thought you were out with your girlfriend," Debbie asked curiously.

Jared sat next to her and replied, "We broke up." He sounded upset.

"Um...What happened?" Debbie put her phone down.

They'd only just left. It couldn't have been more than three minutes. They broke up within three minutes? The thing was, they had only been together for a couple of days. Talk about your whirlwind romance.