Chapter 8 Previous Girlfriend

• Enrique arrived at Jesse's house without delay, unlocking the door with his key. He had kept it from his previous stay, making it convenient for him to drop by for free food and drinks. Zoey had often given him a hard time about it.
• As he entered the house, he spotted the couple in the kitchen. Zoey, wearing an apron, was tasting the food while Jesse served her. At home, Jesse was a completely submissive and obedient husband.
• "Mmm... Not bad! You really did make smoked salmon! Looks like Jesse wasn't lying, after all!" Enrique exclaimed, sniffing the air as he made his way into the kitchen.
• Zoey turned around, chuckling, and said, "You must have been a dog in your past life or something!"
• "Being a dog isn't so bad. All you have to do is wag your tail at people, and you get free food every day. You don't even need to work a single day of your life!" Enrique replied, leaning against the kitchen door and lighting a cigarette.
• "Who knows? Maybe you'll become a dog in your next life, eh? Besides, I don't think your current life is all that bad!" Jesse said, chuckling.
• "As if being single isn't bad enough?" Zoey added, plating up the food.
• "Hey! You don't have to go there! What's wrong with being single? I'm not affecting your sex life by being single, am I?"
• Zoey became angry upon hearing that. She put her spatula down and jabbed a finger at Enrique as she shouted, "Oh? What's the matter? Feeling embarrassed that you're single? How many women have I introduced to you, huh? Why did you reject them all? Remember that last girl I found for you? She's pretty and recently joined our company after graduating from university. On top of that, she's very kind and comes from a decent family background. She's an amazing woman all around! She only agreed to let me find her a boyfriend because I'm her mentor. All I asked was for you to meet her over a cup of coffee, and yet, you went up and told her that you're into men instead! You scared her so much that she hated me for a few days straight! What is wrong with you? Are you seriously into men?"
• "Why don't you ask Jesse if I'm into men, then? He knows best," Enrique replied, pointing at Jesse, who was watching from the side.
• "W-What does this have to do with me? How would I know if you're into men or women?"
• "He slept with me for four years throughout our university days, so you can tell if I'm into men or not simply by examining his *sshole!" Enrique said with a cheeky grin.
• "Oh, f*ck you! I'll wreck your *sshole! Masturbating is probably the closest you'll ever get to having sex!"
• Despite being university graduates, this was how they spoke to each other.
• After fooling around for a bit, it was time for lunch. Enrique and Jesse were each chugging down a bottle of beer. They didn't particularly like wine, but they had a fondness for beer since their university days. Back then, the balcony of their dorm room was cluttered with beer bottles. However, after Jesse accidentally got Zoey pregnant, he sold all the beer bottles just to scrape together enough money for her to get an abortion. Of course, that was just a joke between them. No one really knew if it was a true story.
• Enrique and Jesse had both consumed a few bottles of beer by the time they were about to finish the food. "Ricky, Madeline will be coming back on Friday morning," Zoey said after hesitating for a moment.
• Enrique froze and remained silent upon hearing that.
• "She invited us to have dinner with her on Friday. The venue is at Green Garden International Hotel," Zoey continued.
• Enrique continued drinking his bottle of beer before replying, "Is that so? That sounds great! It's always nice to have free food, so you two should go and eat as much as you can! She went through the trouble of earning all that foreign currency so she could treat you peasants to a fancy meal, so don't let the food go to waste!"
• He then resumed eating calmly after saying that.
• "You're not going?" Zoey asked.
• "No. I don't think I'd fit in, so it's probably best if I sit this one out."
• "Ricky, I know what Madeline did was wrong, but that was so many years ago. It's time to let it go and move on. You two may no longer be a couple, but you were former classmates. Now that she's finally back after spending so many years in Anglandur, you should at least respond to her invitation like a friend. There's no need to make her an enemy. She regrets her actions too, so why don't you be a little more forgiving and magnanimous?"
• "What am I supposed to do? Give her a grand welcome at the airport with a huge bouquet of flowers? Why didn't she treat me to a meal before leaving back then, huh? In fact, she never treated me to anything! Besides, she has already experienced the good life abroad, so there's no way she'd even respect a bumpkin like me! You two can attend that dinner if you want. If she asks about me, tell her I'm dead. If she doesn't ask, then all the better." Enrique put his cutlery down and stood up as he continued, "Anyway, I'm done eating. Bye."
• "Ricky, Madeline told me over the phone that she came back in hopes of getting back together with you!" Zoey called out to Enrique as she saw him leaving.
• Enrique paused in his tracks and stood silently in the living room.
• "All these years, you wouldn't let us tell you anything about her. You wouldn't even let us mention her name in front of you, but she has been calling me a lot to ask about you. Not only does she care a lot about you, but she has also kept you in her heart the whole time. She still loves you, Ricky. She could've stayed in Anglandur and applied for permanent residence there, which would provide her with a much better future in terms of career development, but she applied to be transferred to a branch in Chanaea just to get back together with you. She knows she hurt you badly back then, and she said she'd make it up to you this time."
• Enrique sneered and turned around, saying, "Oh? Am I supposed to be deeply moved and express my heartfelt gratitude to her, then?"