Take My Breath Away

With her eyes shut, Kasie rested her head on Ivan's shoulder and murmured, "I'm sorry. I feel so bad for you."

Ivan cast a sidelong glance at her and said, "Why? I'm good."

"Wow! You don't even know it."

Anything Ivan was about to say was stuck in his throat.

After a while, he pulled her into his arms and asked softly, "Where do you live?"

Kasie didn't resist. Instead, she settled herself in his arms easily. "I don't know," she grumbled.

'I'm sure Debbie knows, ' Ivan thought. 'I'll call her.' But he decided against it. Debbie was with Carlos now, and he didn't want to disturb them.

He pinched Kasie's nose softly and said playfully, "Then I'll have to take you home with me."

"Okay," she stammered.

Ivan didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

He also lived in the same apartment complex as Debbie, though his apartment was in Building 5 and Debbie's was in Building 2.

The reason he chose to live in the Champs Bay Apartments was that Debbie was right there if his mother suddenly came by to check up on him. It would be easy to grab her and maintain the fiction of a happy marriage—at least until his mom left.

When his car reached Building 2, Ivan asked the driver to stop.

He opened the car window and had a couple cigarettes before he finally saw Carlos' car approaching. He saw Debbie and Carlos emerge. Then Decker also sauntered over.

Despite his playful suggestion, Ivan had planned to take Kasie to Debbie's apartment and have her crash there. But things had gotten complicated.

After Carlos' car pulled away and Debbie and Decker headed for Building 2, Ivan directed the driver to Building 5.

He got out of the car, scooped Kasie up in his arms and walked into the elevator. Then he set her down, draping one of her arms around his shoulders for support. After he made sure she wouldn't fall over, he pressed the button.

Kasie opened her eyes and saw Ivan through blurry eyes. "Ivan, it's you!"

"Yeah, it's me." Ivan sighed helplessly.

"What's wrong with me? Why are you holding me up? Why

and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I want to kiss you." Somehow, Kasie looked incredible in his night gown. It was really turning him on.

She didn't turn him down. "Just kissing, nothing else."

"Sure." He pressed his lips against hers.

After a while, Kasie complained, "Hey! Slow down! I said nothing else. Why did you take off my gown?"

Ivan said with a smug smile, "I didn't take off your gown. I took off my gown."

Kasie didn't know what to say to that. He made sense.

Debbie, on the other hand, picked up her daughter from Carlos' manor and dropped her off at kindergarten. Lucinda was waiting there in the classroom. Actually, it was well into the semester, so Piggy was a late addition.

At kindergarten

Her classmates liked Piggy a lot. They gave her gifts and always wanted to play with her.

Debbie hid outside the classroom so she could see how it went. Piggy was not used to so many people around, and she wasn't having fun. When a boy touched her dress, she even pouted her mouth.

'Did she pick up any weird personality quirks from Carlos? Oh no! She's a neat freak too, ' Debbie thought.

Luckily, what Piggy did next made Debbie feel relieved. She accepted one of the gifts and thanked the giver softly.

She then started taking gifts from the other kids and thanked everyone. "Mommy will buy gifts. Tomorrow," she promised.