Chapter 21: 13.3

Feb 16, 2014, Sunday.

I've never slept naked before. Or slept with another person in the same bed before. And I've definitely never slept naked with another person in the same bed before.

But today, I wake up naked on my bed, with RJ's equally bare body pressing against my back.

Her arm slumps over my waist while her breath tickles the back of my neck. I feel my heart rate increasing. I cannot believe RJ is sleeping next to me. RJ. RJ!

If I had not been thoroughly exhausted by the end of last night, I would not have fallen asleep next to her like this.

Ignoring my thrashing heart, I reach for my phone on the side table. It's eight o'clock in the morning.

Oh, and ten new messages from Clementine. My heart sinks.

"Good morning, Chloe," RJ mutters from behind me. I must have woken her up when I reached for the phone. A few soft kisses land on my back as her grasp on my waist tightens.

I take some time skimming through the messages before turning around to face the drowsy girl. RJ extends her arms and I snuggle into her embrace, indulging in the soft pillows of her chest.

"Good morning, RJ. How was your sleep?"

She plants a few kisses on my head. "So good. Best sleep I've had in a while."

I chuckle as I bury my head further into her neck. She still smells like shampoo. My shampoo.

The memories of last night trickle back. So much happened; so, so much. I did things that I never thought were possible; I felt things that I never knew could be felt. And RJ is so gentle and so gorgeous.

I take in a deep breath to calm myself. "Clementine texted me, by the way."

RJ tenses up under me. "What'd she say?"

"She said she notified the guy's family about him coming to the bar. Since the bar is known for privacy and keeping secrets and stuff like that, many customers reveal a lot to us. So... when they violate the bar's policies, Clementine violates their trust too lor."

"What? So he just gets snitched on?" I can hear RJ's teeth grinding in anger. "That man should be jailed lah!"

"I don't think Clementine goes to the police unless it's, like, really, really bad lah. This is the typical punishment she doles out. And she also says she's firing Mang... I- I mean, that- that colleague who... you know..." My voice quivers and I gulp. "She's- She's going to be blacklisted from all affiliated bars and clubs, which is, like, all of the night scenes in Singapore lah. She's basically blacklisted from this line of work... forever. Clementine's influence is huge."

"Wait, the person who let that man in is a fellow bargirl?" The anger in RJ's voice rises. "What the fuck is wrong with people sia? I know she's a girl but I'm still going to punch her fucking face—"

"RJ..." I lift my head and pout at her. "Chill lah. She's already punished."

"Not punished enough."

I sigh. I know why RJ is angry, but I still feel bad. Mango did betray me last night, and what she did was terrible, but she has been a colleague and a friend, even if our friendship did sour. I know how much she needed a job like this. Everyone in Tropic Falls does—we all desperately need to get money as fast as possible, and in the safest possible way. This is really going to hurt her.

And as for the man, well, I just wish to erase his memory from my mind forever. I let out another sigh.

"Don't be so angry lah..." I cup RJ's face and kiss her on her brows until the creases disappear.

"Not angry lah," RJ mumbles, tugging my waist and pulling me back into her embrace. "I should check my phone too."

Her hand flounders about on the side table until she grabs her phone. There is a long pause before she utters, "Ah, fuck lah."

"Why?"

"Twenty-four missed calls. Siao."

I frown. "What? Why?"

RJ scrolls through her messages and groans. "Fuck lah. I forgot to tell Lobang I wasn't going back to his place last night. And my phone was turned off 'cause I was angry with Jon lah. They probably think I got kidnapped or something." She inches up against the headboard, still keeping one arm around me. "Sorry ah, Chloe, I'm going to call Lobang now, okay? Before they call the police or something."

"Okay."

The moment she presses the call button, a loud scream comes blasting from her phone.

"ARRRR JAYYYYY!"

"Oh my god, shut up lah, Lobang!" RJ snaps, wincing at the sound. "You're destroying my ears sia."

"Where are you?" the familiar loud voice wails. "Jon said you two had a big fight and then you just disappeared sia!"

"Yeah, sorry, I had to leave and cool off."

Logan is no longer shouting so I cannot hear what he is saying. But my brows furrow more at his last sentence. RJ and Jon had a fight yesterday? Was that why she had to leave the study session early?

RJ continues her conversation. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm okay... Oh, nothing lah, I just went somewhere to cool off... A bar lah, got a drink... Yeah, and then I stayed over at someone's place." She glances at me. "No one you know lah. A hookup."

My heart drops while Logan's voice increases.

"Nice lah!" he screams. "RJ, you got game sia! Teach me, can?"

"Shut up lah." RJ pinches the bridge of her nose. "Okay lah, I'm gonna go now. See you, uh, in school, I guess. Bye."

Placing her phone back on the side table, RJ curls back up against me. "Sorry about that, Chloe."

I let her warmth envelop me once again, but my insides remain cold with unease.

"RJ..." I whisper, "am I... am I a hookup?"

Panic crawls up her face as she stares at me. "No lah! Sorry, Chloe, I just said that to get him off my back lah. I didn't mean it at all, really. I figured you probably didn't want Lobang to know about you, so I came up with something."

"It's okay, RJ, I get it lah. But I just... I don't know, what are we?"

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"What do you want us to be?" RJ asks hesitantly.

I chew on my lip. What do I want? I do not think I know. I am not like RJ. She has all the confidence I do not have—confidence in the way she presents herself, confidence in her sexuality. Meanwhile, I am a ball of confusion.

After a long wait, RJ changes her question. "Okay, okay, let's do this one step at a time. Did you... enjoy last night?"

"I- I did..."

"Do you want to do it... more often?"

I feel my face burn with the question. Tugging on her waist, I mumble into her skin, "I mean, y- yeah, if- if we can lah..."

"Okay, good. Do you like spending time with me?"

"Of course."

"If you're free today, do you want to go out on a date with me?"

"Oh. Where to?"

"I don't know yet lah. Somewhere. Do you want to?"

"S- Sure."

"Okay, good. Last question." RJ sits up, her stare is as dark and as intense as ever. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Girlfriend? My mind whirs wildly at that. Girlfriend? I am not even sure what being a girlfriend entails. Can I even be a girlfriend? I work at Tropic Falls, and RJ clearly hates that.

And do I want a girlfriend? Can I want one before figuring out my sexuality? I enjoyed our interactions last night, but what if it feels good to be touched like that no matter who's doing it? I don't have any experience with boys, so there's nothing to compare to.

RJ notices my prolonged silence and changes the question again. "Not girlfriend then. How about just: person I'm dating?"

For some reason, that makes me feel weirder, so I shake my head. "No, no, girlfriend is fine lah. I'm... I'm willing to try, I think."

RJ breaks into a smile as she pulls me into a hug. I let myself melt into her.

"Okay, good," RJ says. I can hear the grin on her face. "We're girlfriends."

"I- I don't have any experience though."

"That's okay lah." RJ shrugs. "I'm not an expert either. We can learn together."

I was sure RJ would be a lot more experienced, but before I can ask her more about that, I hear clanking noises from outside my room.

"Oh, that's my mother," I say, sitting up.

RJ props herself up on the bed and wiggles her eyebrows. "Should I go meet her like this?"

I cannot help but give her body a scan with the way she's posing. Then, I shake my growing blush away. "Cannot lah!" I whisper, jumping out of the bed and tossing some of my clothes at her. "Quick, you can wear my clothes."

"But I look better without clothes, right?"

I ignore the cheeky smirk—and the stunning body—and hurriedly don a simple T-shirt and shorts. Begrudgingly, RJ climbs out of bed and does the same.

As I'm combing my hair, RJ hugs me from behind. Her lips find the exact spot on my neck that makes me weak, and I have to suppress a moan. Spending hours last night exploring each other's bodies definitely gave her a lot of ammunition against me—and she is not afraid to use it.

With all of my willpower, I wriggle free from her grasp. "RJ, come on lah. My mom is outside sia."

When we finally make it out of the room, Māma is placing a giant pot in the middle of the dining table. Her eyebrows raise slightly at RJ before she breaks into her usual smile.

I clear my throat and greet, "Māma, zǎo ān." Good morning.

"Zǎo ān, bǎo bèi nǚ ěr," my mother greets me back. "Zhè wèi méi nǚ shì shuí nē?" Good morning, dearest daughter. Who is this lovely lady?

There is an unexpected nervousness in RJ's voice as she stutters out a reply in the most broken Mandarin Chinese I have ever heard, "H- Hello, ma'am, good morning, I'm... Ruijun... uh, from, uh... school."

My mouth drops open. RJ is so good at everything she does that I did not expect her to be bad at speaking Mandarin Chinese.

"She's my classmate," I pipe up to save her.

"Oh, I've never seen you before! Nice to meet you, Ruijun." Māma taps her pot enthusiastically. "Come sit! I prepared enough porridge for more than three people!"

"Thank you, Māma. We're gonna go wash up first though."

With that, I drag RJ across the living room to the small bathroom at the corner. As I fumble around the drawers to find her a new toothbrush, she stares at me in bewilderment.

"You speak Chinese at home?" she asks in English, finally not stuttering and in her comfort zone.

"Yeah, my mother is from Taiwan mah. She's not very good at English. You leh? I'm guessing you speak English at home?"

"Yeah, my parents are westernized as fuck." RJ folds her arms and leans on the wall. "But I'm hurt leh, Chloe. Why did you tell your mother I'm your classmate? Not nǚ péng yǒu?"

Once again, my mouth drops open. RJ's Mandarin Chinese is terrible, but she sure knows how to say the word 'girlfriend' perfectly.

I gulp. "I- I don't know... I'm not sure how my mother will take it..."

"Kidding lah." RJ chuckles as she kisses my forehead. "Let's wash up and then eat the porridge your mom made, nǚ péng yǒu."

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