Requital hope

Fifty-eight

"Do you love him?" She asked.

"O-of course. More than you could ever know!" I answered.

She smiled. "That's good to know."

"Y-you're okay with it?"

"I'm okay with it. Does that matter though? If you two are happy together then that should be enough." She said, offering another smile. "I can tell Zhan's happy being with you. As I said earlier, he acts much differently around you than when he's around anyone else." I couldn't hide the blush creeping onto my face.

Just as the conversation ended loud noises
started coming from a couple isles over. It
sounded like people shouting.

"Ooh, I love drama." Yanli said excitedly, clapping her hands. Before I knew it she was on her way to the isle with the source of the noise.

I was surprised by the person that stood there in front of us. It was Sarah. It seemed as if she and another girl, one I've seen around school were in a fight.

"I'm not telling you again, I won't pay for that." Sarah yelled, clearly upset.

"You break it, you pay for it." The girl
responded in a snooty tone.

"YOU bumped into ME!" Sarah yelled, using hand gestures.

"You're a lying bitch" The girl huffed, flicking her head away from Sarah. Sarah scoffed at her. Their heated argument was drawing a lot of attention, it even pulled Xichen out of the woodwork.

One of the workers came over. "What's the
problem here? If you two don't settle down we're going to have to throw you Out."

"This asshole wasn't watching where she was walking and bumped into me, dropping a load of crap on the floor. Now she wants me to pay for it." Sarah boiled "I have a car to pay off. I can't afford to spend it on some rich chick."

"Ooh, I like that spunk." Yanli came waltzing into the fray. "Look, I can pay for all the damaged goods, so you girls can be on your way." She told them as she pulled out her wallet. She handed two-hundred dollar bills to the worker trying to break up the fight. He nodded and walked off. Sarah and the other girl studied Yanli closely, wearing looks of suspicion. The moment she looked this way our eyes locked.

"Yibo?" She said my name, confused.

"Hey Sarah." I tossed a little wave. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Neither did I." She raised her brows. "My parents forced me to head to the store in their stead. I'm trying to get it done early so I have spare time."

"Why are you shopping all the way out here?" Xichen questioned, popping out of the dissipating crowd.

"I live in the area, idiot." She rolled her eyes.

Xichen shrugged at Sarah's hostility. "Right."

"You guys are friends?" Yanli asked, very confused. Xichen nodded.

"We're going to see a movie, you have to tag along!" She implored.

"I left work early so I could have some free time after all of this.. maid labor, so I'll pass." Sarah declined her offer.

"Don't be that way, we're all friends, right." Yanli pressed, taking hold of Sarah's hands. Sarah looked up at me wearing a look of distress. I just smiled at her, there was no denying Yanli what she wanted.

Sarah pondered for a moment. "Well.. I do technically owe you for earlier." She gave in. "Alright."

Just then I felt a hand land on my back. I quickly snapped my head back to see Zhan, a soft smile resting on his face.