LOVING A MANNEQUIN

Chapter 34: Teasing Her

*NO ONE POV*

In the waiting chair outside the door of Melanie's room, Barbie was spacing out as she was eating a hamburger.

She stopped chewing when Angelo's face suddenly appeared and approached her. His eyes were full of admiration and fondness as he stared at Barbie and even pressed their foreheads together with his hands silently clasped inside the pockets of his gray slacks.

"Are you missing me?" Angelo asked in a low voice.

"So much!" Not on her senses, Barbie answered.

Angelo moved away smiling. Only then did Barbie realize what she had been said. "No. I don't miss you. Why do I miss you?"

Angelo traced his index finger at Barbie's nose, "It is bad to lie. Your nose will grow long if you keep lying.”

Barbie stupidly touched her nose which made Angelo laugh even more. "You see?"

Barbie pouted as she slid away. Angelo moved close and pulled her chin. He no longer laughed but he stared at Barbie immergely again.

Slowly, he brought his face closer and stuck his lips in the corner of Barbie’s mouth.

Barbie backed away with a red face like a ripe tomato. She acted disgusted. "You are shameless Angelo. Why did you kiss me?"

Angelo also backed away slightly when Barbie tried to strike him. His lips drew a sly smirk, "You are thinking too much. I did not kiss you. I just took the food that stuck to the side of your lip."

"What? If that's the reason, you can just tell me or remove it by hand. Why did you use your mouth?"

Angelo motioned down, pointing his snout to the hands that were squeezing inside the pockets again. "My hands are busy and heavy. I'm too lazy to pull them.”

"You are taking advantage of me." Barbie acted angry and turned away again.

"No way. Why would I do that? Besides, for me it wasn't a kiss at all."

"Then what do you call it?" Barbie turned around when Angelo did not answer. Right as she turned around, she did not expect that their lips were going to press with each other.

For Barbie, the world seemed to stop rotating and the sounds of her heart that pounding fast was as loud as the sound of the church bell. She felt like she was floating in the cloud until she didn't realize, she closed her eyes.

“Do you like it?" Angelo teased her while flicking his fingers in front of her face, causing her to wonderingly open her eyes. And as she opened her eyes, his foolish smiles were straightly exposed to her.

"Angelo!" Barbie slapped him. Angelo, on the other hand, laughed as he accepted her gentle blows.

"That can be called a kiss. Oops, I didn't pull you. It's you who initially kissed me."

"Bastard!"

Angelo was about to speak when he spotted a familiar someone in the distance. He immediately stood up which surprised Barbie.

"Barbie, I need to go back to the shop. See you later. Bye bye." Angelo did not wait for Barbie to answer and he left quickly. Barbie snout as her astonished gaze followed the man's back.

"Miss Heavenward, I am here to visit Melanie." Suddenly, a voice behind Barbie said and as she turned around, she saw Addorro holding a bouquet of flowers.

Barbie smiled at him, "So it is you Mr. Smiles. Just come in there." Barbie waved her hand close to Addorro's face as she noticed him stared at the direction where Angelo was going. “Mr. Smiles, is there a problem?”

"I seem to be seeing a certain person. Miss Heavenward, that man who just left, who is he?"

Although Barbie was puzzled by Addorro's sudden inquisitive attitude, she still answered it well. "Auh, he is my good friend. Why? Is there a problem?"

"Nothing." He shook his head. "Perhaps, I really mistook him as someone I know."

On the other hand, in the boutique shop…

"Barbie oh Barbie, now that there are a lot of customers, you did not go to work." Anica's dramatic complaint in the air as she tidied up the messy clothes in Barbie's place.

"So you're really here." Suddenly, a familiar voice behind Anica said. This was the voice that caused her to have nightmares last night.

She pretended not to hear him.

"Don't act like a deaf person. I know you can hear me." The voice said again. Since Anica still ignored him, the man quickly approached. He pressed his body to Anica's back while whispering to the ear of the stunned girl. "If you keep ignoring me, I have no other choice but to kiss you."

Anica was alarmed by the man's threat and so, she suddenly faced him. Because of what she did, she lost her balance. She almost laid down but Eric's arms quickly wrapped around her back and they stared at each other.

They swallowed at each other's gaze.

Eric averted his eyes first and immediately put down Anica. He pulled his collar and adjusted his shirt. Then he pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Anica without looking back. "Here, take this. I need you tonight. So I want you to dress up and come to that place."

Anica accepted it and asked, "Why am I going if you say so? I don't want to.”

Eric turned and looked back at her seriously. "You don't have any other choice.”

Afterwards, he turned around and started walking away but he stopped again, and said, "By the way, don't come late. I am not that patient."