Take My Breath Away

Flustered, Debbie quickly took back her hug and pushed away from Jared. Tears still welling in her eyes, she slowly turned her head towards the voice. Carlos held Evelyn in his arms, and Kasie stood near the door, a gift in her hands. How long had he been standing behind her? She couldn't say. But one thing was for sure—he wore a dark expression.

She felt like a kid again, caught stealing candy. But pretending innocence, she wiped her tears and kicked Jared in his shin. "Bad boy. Where's my gift? See? Tears? Why did you do that? Sasha will be jealous."

Sasha shook her head, explaining, "No, I'm not..." 'Jealous? I know you guys are just friends. I was actually moved to tears, too!' Sasha thought.

Debbie flashed an embarrassed smile, and cut in quickly, "Don't lie, girl! I know you're jealous. Ah well, moving on." She turned to her daughter. "Oh, Piggy! You're here. Mommy missed you so much."

Carlos put Piggy down, and the little girl ran to Debbie, saying excitedly, "Missed you too." She hugged Debbie's legs as hard as she could and, Debbie bent down to hug her too. Then, she looked up at Ivan and greeted, "Daddy! Missed you."

Ivan stretched out his arms to Piggy and said tenderly, "Hi little one, come here and get a hug." Ever since Debbie and Ivan got married, Piggy started calling Ivan "Daddy," just as if he were her real dad.

Ivan scooped the little girl up in his arms and played with her. They both laughed happily.

Carlos sulked silently as he watched them, his expression sullen. But no one knew why. They figured he was still jealous of Debbie hugging Jared.

Frankie was standing behind Carlos with a large gift box in his hands. The angry man walked up to the birthday girl and called out, "Hi, mother of Evelyn."

Debbie furrowed her brows in confusion on hearing how he addressed her. 'Mother of Evelyn? Why does he address me this way all of a sudden?' she wondered. It sounded so strange.

Nevertheless, she didn't think much and forced out a smile. "Hi, Mr. Handsome."

Carlos opened the big box Frankie held and said, "Happy 25th birthday!"

The whole room brightened as soon as the box was opened. Everyone stopped to gape at the gift, trying to see what was inside.

Jared exclaimed, "Huh! All I can see is money."

Kasie teased, "Sure you can hold it by yourself?"

Sasha echoed Kasie's joke, "Maybe I can help Debbie carry it to my house."

Blair said, "I wonder how much it's worth."

Ivan held his chin and guessed, "Let's see

into his arms and blew out the smoke into her face.

"Ugh..." Debbie coughed, choking on the smoke with tears in her eyes. "You jerk!" she cussed. She struggled to open her eyes, and fumbled for the pack of cigarettes and lighter on the table.

She then skillfully nipped a cigarette between her fingers, lit it, and took a drag. She then blew a smoke ring, which diffused when it hit his face.

Carlos wasn't choked by the smoke. But he was shocked by how expertly she was smoking. His bushy eyebrows crooked in anger. 'When did she learn to smoke?'

She was still doing smoke tricks. She took a long drag and kept it in her mouth, then blew smoke through her nose and two sides of her mouth. She looked like a fire breathing dragon. In a fit of anger, he suddenly snatched the cigarette away from her fingers and gripped her chin tightly, making her look at him. "Who lets you smoke?" he dropped the words one by one between gritted teeth.

Feeling pain in her jaw, Debbie pounded ineffectually at his chest. "Let go of me. You're hurting me..."

Seeing her face scrunched in pain, he loosened his grip a little and said in a loud voice, "Answer me."

Debbie stopped attacking him and spat out, "My husband!"

"Damn you!" Carlos flared up, eyes fuming in anger.

'Husband, her husband!' Hearing her call another man as husband made him feel even angrier. He had an urge to find Ivan and kill him.

Debbie smiled happily at his glum face. His jealous reaction made her feel so good.

Her smile added fuel to the fire. Carlos put out the cigarette in the ashtray. In a swift move, he pinned her down on the couch and began kissing her passionately.