Two

Marc peeked out of his room. There was no sound, not even from his niece Cassandra's room.

"Hmm... maybe she's taking a shower after swimming earlier," he thought. "I'd better hurry out now, rather than dealing with that boy later."

Marc quickly went down the stairs. He accidentally bumped into Kara, the household assistant who had spent a dozen years in the house.

"Where are you going, Mr. Marc?" she asked. "I cooked your favorite food, chicken garlic, tonight."

Marc just waved his hand. "I'm going to see my friends," he said briefly as he quickened his pace towards the door.

He looked back for a moment, wondering if the noise had made Cassandra realize he was avoiding her. And Marc breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see her emerge from her room.

For some reason there was a nagging feeling that he was about to leave the house. But the best way was to avoid it. What would happen if he actually slept with his own niece tonight. Ah! Sandra really almost made him nervous on his first day back home.

"Look! Who's this?" greeted Reana. "Woah! Her skin is more exotic than ten years ago. Woah, why is your boyfriend so handsome? Maybe it's because he uses a native herb ...."

"Ish! What the heck?" snapped a young woman at her side.

Marc just chuckled in response to his friends' chatter that he hadn't heard in ten years. He did not respond to the words that he only considered as a joke.

"You already have a girlfriend? Why don't you go back to Viona?" said Reana. "Viona, instead of you being single and bothering me all the time, I'd rather you go back to Marc."

Hearing Reana's blunt words made Viona feel embarrassed. She pinched her best friend's waist hard. "Damn you!"

"Hey... hey. Let bygones be bygones," said Marc. "Now let's just get on with it tonight."

Rexy lifted his glass and pressed it against Marc's. "For the four of us tonight."

Reana looked at Viona in surprise. She knew that her best friend deeply regretted the breakup of her relationship with Marc ten years ago. She knew that Viona also could not open her heart to anyone for these ten years. But why did she seem to betray her own feelings?

"Viona, are you sure you don't want to go back to him," Reana whispered.

Viona let out a long breath. She shrugged her shoulders in resignation. "I just don't want to look bad in front of him."

"Honestly, do you want to be with him?" Reana urged. "How about I do you a favor. I can make him never get away from you again."

"How? Using black magic? You're getting crazy!" she said.

Fortunately, the music was much louder than Viona's voice. No one but Reana could hear what she was saying.

"But you want to, right?" asked Reana once again.

Viona didn't answer. She was getting more and more agitated between accepting Reana's help or rejecting it. Every now and then she glanced at Marc, observing the figure of the man she had missed for ten years. And what hurt her more was that Marc looked indifferent, as if there had never been any relationship between them. Even his presence was like a meaningless void.

This time without hesitation, Viona nodded her head. "I want to. But not using black magic. I'm against that kind of mysticism."

Reana chuckled. "Did You think I'm used to that kind of thing? No, of course not."

Viona breathed a sigh of relief. At least the fear in her mind wouldn't happen. She knew that using black magic would complicate her future life.

Reana reached into her small bag. She took out a capsule from inside a small plastic bag and handed it to Viona. "Here, put it in his drink."

Viona looked doubtful at her friend.

"It's not poison!" Reana continued. "It's the medicine I used to give Rexy when I had a craving."

"But Re," Viona interrupted. "What if he gets mad?"

"Tsk! How can a cat refuse to be treated with fish?" said Reana. "Alright, just give in. I feel sorry for you too. You're three heads old but still a virgin."

Viona bit her lip. She had received that sentence many times. Not just from Reana's mouth, even from the mouths of her friends at her workplace.

Viona's reverie was broken when she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Hurry up! It's time now. They're going to the restroom."

Hearing Reana's instructions, Viona nervously opened the capsule in her hand. She sprinkled the white powder into Marc's drink.

***

"I'll go home first," said Marc.

The man realized that something was wrong with his body. His body felt heated and there was an uncomfortable feeling that bothered him.

"You're not drunk, are you Marc?" asked Rexy. "Why do you want to go home already?"

"I'll take you!" offered Viona quickly. "You can't drive drunk like this."

"But I'm not drunk." Marc dismissed her hand.

"No one who's drunk, says they're drunk," said Reana. She blinked one eye at him. "Take her to her place, Vio!"

Viona nodded her head. Marc couldn't refuse, and only obeyed the words of his friends.

In the car, the influence of the drug began to run. Marc hissed several times and tried to calm himself down.

He thought back to his niece at home. If he went home tonight, it was certain that he would not be able to rest comfortably.

"Magnolia," he said.

"Huh?"

Hearing Marc mention the name of a hotel, made Viona suddenly nervous. How could she not, with the influence of the drug, it was likely that Marc would turn into a ferocious tiger in bed.

"I can't possibly go home tonight. My niece sticks to me like chewing gum," he complained. "Don't think anything strange."

Viona swallowed roughly her saliva. "Have you really forgotten all our memories?"

"No," Marc replied. "Like history, it's impossible to forget even though feelings may change."

Viona turned the wheel, steering the four-wheeled vehicle into the parking lot of a hotel. Deftly, she placed the vehicle in line with the other vehicles.

"Thank you, you can go home now." Marc turned around and entered the hotel lobby.

But Viona was still following him. Reana had already told her that the effects of the drug would appear immediately, no more than thirty minutes after Marc took a sip. With her remaining courage, Viona followed and barged into Marc's room.

She had let go of all her shyness. Without hesitation, she hugged Marc.

"But my feelings never changed. Marc, I really regret that separation. Ten years away from you was the hardest punishment for me," she said.

Marc turned around. His vision seems blurred. Even the face of the woman in front of him could not be seen clearly. The man squinted his eyes. Now the woman's face appeared in his eyes. The figure of the beautiful girl who had been teasing him all day.

"Cassandra ...."

Marc hugged her back tighter. His body temperature was rising along with his desire to be satisfied.