TEST DRIVE: A Night of Forbidden Desire

Vonda waved her hand in the late afternoon sun. It moved a few times, and her gesture was answered by a honk from Max before his car pulled out of the apartment building’s security gate. Slowly fading from view, and after making sure her retinas no longer caught Max’s car, Vonda continued her way.

“Aww… just finished a date, I think, Miss Scott.”

Vonda’s footsteps, initially headed for the elevator, stopped. She decided to approach Rika Bones, a receptionist in the building who had called out to her earlier.

“Didn’t you see me get out of the car earlier?” Vonda asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. “That means I didn’t walk, Miss. Why would I be walking around?”

Rika laughed. “Miss Vonda, you’re something else. Always joking around.”

“What kind of joke is that? I was serious,” Vonda said with a grin.

Seemingly not ready to end their quirky conversation, Rika leaned in.

“By the way… is that your new boyfriend?” Rika asked in a curious tone. “You broken up with Andrew?”

“Um.” Vonda looked like she was playing with her hair with her fingers and took a short break while she rolled her eyes around. “Andrew and I broke up almost a month ago.”

“So, you’re dating this one now, Miss?” Rika nodded, speculating. “Oh… the perks of being you. Not long after a breakup you’ve already found someone new. Not like me. Forget about finding someone new, I don’t even have the old one.”

“Hahaha! I feel like rubbing your head with a saw, Rika. As if I could get a new boyfriend that fast after a breakup.”

“Eh? That one?” Rika lifted a finger and pointed in a random direction. “I have a feeling he drove you home the night before too, right? He just spent the whole day with you, too. Come on, I don’t believe you when you say he’s just a friend. Friends don’t act like that.”

“Ugh! You’re really starting to annoy me.”

However, there was no seriousness in Vonda’s tone as she said this. On the contrary, she seemed quite relaxed.

“Actually, we’re just friends. Um… you could say there’s an important life-or-death matter that makes us spend a lot of time together.”

Rika smiled knowingly with a teasing twinkle in her eyes. “I know. People often say that the person you love the most is your life and death companion.”

Vonda’s laughter erupted immediately. She shook her head in a natural reaction to Rika’s words. She realized that their strange conversation would continue endlessly, as if the chickens would crow again, if she did not stop it right away.

“Alright, enough. I’m going back. I need some rest. Tomorrow’s another working day.”

Rika nodded understandingly. “Have a good rest, Miss.”

Once in her unit, Vonda immediately went to the bathroom. Spending all day outside enjoying the weather had left her feeling sticky in some areas. As she turned on the shower, stood under the stream of water, and began to massage her scalp with the fragrant shampoo lather, Vonda enjoyed her evening shower.

Still feeling full from her late afternoon meal, Vonda decided to skip dinner from her evening plans. Instead of stuffing her stomach with more carbohydrates, she decided to spend the evening relaxing. She opened a magazine in her room, accompanied by soft background music.

“Ah.”

Vonda felt so good. A satisfied stomach, a cheerful mood, well… it all made her feel like she was living in a world without burdens. Until her phone rang, and Vonda happily answered it.

“Good evening, Mom.”

That was the greeting Vonda immediately offered to Riley on the other end, and a similar reply came back.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Good evening, Vonda. I hope I’m not disturbing you? Calling you at this hour?”

Vonda put the magazine down and adjusted her sitting position for more comfort. She knew she would need more than five minutes to chat with Riley.

“Hehehe. You’re not disturbing me, Mom. It’s not that late. Besides, I’m just chilling in my room. Reading a magazine.”

A small sigh of relief came from Riley. “Oh, that’s good. Have you had dinner, Von? I made some spicy fried chicken. It tastes different from the usual fried chicken you have. I promise. If you want, I can deliver it to you right now. How about it?”

Hmm. A tempting offer.

“It sounds really delicious, Mom.”

“Really.”

“But…”

“But what?”

Vonda hesitated, torn between the feeling of fullness in her stomach and the drooling that had begun in her mouth. She was caught between two conflicting options.

“I’m actually still full, Mom. It’s just…”

“Have you eaten yet? Um… did you eat fast? It’s not even seven thirty yet.”

“Actually, I had a late afternoon meal, Mom,” Vonda explained. “Max made me eat a whole duck. That’s why my stomach is still pretty full.”

“Ah.”

Vonda briefly considered starting a stopwatch to see how many seconds of silence would follow Riley’s realization of that fact. Moments later, however, something made her eyes widen.

Reflexively, she covered her mouth where the words had slipped out. Her eyes darted from side to side as if she had just realized what she had said.

“So, you guys went out today, huh?”

Vonda swallowed when she heard Riley’s question. She was embarrassed. Thankfully, Riley had contacted her via a regular phone call instead of the usual video call.

“Um… I can’t really say that we went out, Mom.”

Riley’s curious question came promptly and did not surprise Vonda.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Thinking that Riley would probably find out the truth sooner or later, Vonda decided to answer honestly.

“Well, you see, Max and I went to his cousin’s newlywed house, Mom.”

“Ah! You mean Lucas’ house?”

“Yes, Mom. We had lunch there, and when we got back, Max invited me to dinner again.”

Vonda bit her lip. It felt natural to reverse the facts when talking to Riley. Max had invited her to dinner again, but only because she could not enjoy lunch at the newlyweds’ house.

“Oh, I see.”

For some reason, Vonda was sure she could hear happiness in Riley’s voice. She even had a hunch that Riley was smiling broadly on the other end. It was a little strange, but Vonda was convinced that this time her hunch was not wrong.

“Well, that’s okay. Maybe next time I can send you some fried chicken? Before I cook, I’ll make sure the two of you aren’t left alone like this.”

Vonda’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. What did she mean?

“Hehehe. Okay then. You rest, okay? You must be tired. Goodbye, future daughter-in-law.”

Vonda blinked, shaking off her surprise, and answered quickly before the call ended.

“Sure, Mom. Goodbye.”

Staring at her phone with the call history displayed, Vonda suddenly frowned. She tilted her head to the side.

“Well… actually, a midnight snack of fried chicken isn’t a bad idea.”

Vonda let out a long sigh and chuckled softly.

“You’re such a stomach.”

*