Above Cloud Nine — Chapter 31: NO LESS IS MORE

Kamilla's POV

"Great. Wait for me..." I heard a pause on the other line. "Oh, so it's the dismissal of class. You don't have a reason to reject my offer anymore."

My heart is about to burst out, well not because of excitement but it is more of mixed emotions. I came back to where Karen and Rose is. They are looking at me as if waiting to tell them something.

"Girls, I have to go ahead of you, ok? My mom needs me at home and it is urgent." Gosh,I can't even make an eye contact to Rose. When I glanced at Karen, she winked at me. She knew that I will be dating her cousin again.

"Please take care, Kamilla."

"Should I call my father? Just join us because I am sure dad will be on his way too." Rose insisted. I swallowed hard when I got a text message coming from Andrei. He's here.

"Thanks but no thanks. Maybe some other time, dear. I really have to go. Take care girls! Karen, please stay with Rose for a while, alright?"

"Aye, aye, Kamilla!" Karen glanced at me again and when our eyes met, she gave me a meaningful smile. I hope Rose didn't see that.

I rushed at the gate and as expected, I saw Andrei's car stopped in front of it. He lowered the glass window and waved at me. I smiled as soon as I have seen him.

"Oh my, is that Kamilla?" My heart suddenly beat very fast when I saw Wilma, one of the best gossipers in our school. I covered my face with my book and ran towards Andrei's car.

I looked back to see if they are still looking. I bit my lip when they both stopped taking another step just to observe what I will do next. I opened the backseat and I sat next to Andrei.

"I noticed you're always in a rush. Everything alright?" Andrei asked and I can see his worried look. I smiled as I poked her arm.

"There's not a problem except for my classmates. They like to find any fault in me. Our meeting might be a big issue later on, you know."

"Oh, I see." He nodded and became silent for a minute. The car started to move away from our school gate going to one of Andrei's favorite snack houses.

"Mr. Kale, please drive us to Heaven 99."

"Yes, sir."

"Where's Heaven 99? I've never heard of that before..." I whispered near his ear which made him chuckle a bit.

"Look, I am so sorry for being a bit ignorant about the situation. I have decided to go to Heaven 99. It's a bit far from here, about 9 kilometers."

"What?"

"Don't worry. I am sure that nobody could ever know you in that snack bar because it's an exclusive bar." He grinned as he held my hand. I sighed. My, he's giving me this kind of feeling again. I thought 'butterflies in the stomach' is a myth but why am I feeling it now?

I looked at him and as I meet his gaze, he automatically smiled. "Am I that handsome enough that you really look at me like that?" He said between chuckles. Gosh, he's becoming handsome even more.

"I will lie if I will disagree. Besides, you will treat me food so I have to return the favor, right?"

"Point taken." He smiled as he held my hand tighter this time. I've never felt secured all my life, just now. The car stopped in front of a small bar that seemed like on top of a hill. It is covered with LED lights that seemed to sparkle like stars at night. I suddenly remembered the movie "The Hobbit" because of the design of this snack bar, however, it is placed on top of the hill instead of being inside a hill.

"Whoah, I've never seen this place before." I gasped with amazement. He didn't let go of my hand even if we already got off the car.

"Mr. Kale, please come with us. You can also enjoy yourself inside. Go grab some snacks, too."

"Thanks, sir Andrei." I can see that Andrei's driver is so happy about what he said a while ago.

He opened the door for me. As I stepped inside, the rustic design of the snack bar made it more homey. I love the wooden scent that greeted us. There were potted plants and minimalist designs of cats. There were abstract portraits and words of wisdom placed on the walls, too. The jazz music that's being played as background gave me this feeling of relaxation.

I am also glad that I can only see five customers in total. They were also minding their own business and were seated far away from each other.

"See?"

"Wow, this place is really beautiful."

"I know. It's one of the restaurants that I love going to whenever I felt stressed from a lot of school-related activities." He said as he gently pulled me close to one of the tables that seemed his favorite corner. It is placed next to the window overlooking the lake downhill.

"You really know where to go depending on the situation you're in. I should ask you about this one often." I replied. It made him smile. I can see that he's genuinely happy. I guess he felt successful in pleasing me about the place.

"Hello, Drei. How are you?" One of the good-looking male waiters approach us. He smiled at me, too.

"I'm good, Sean. By the way, this is my dear friend Kamilla." I felt like blushing because of the word "dear" coming from him, although I didn't like the next word after it.

"She's beautiful, Drei. Good catch." He winked.

"What?" I shyly responded that made both of them chuckle.

"No, don't mind Sean, Milla. He's just fooling around. By the way, the usual, please."

"Coming right up!" He gave Andrei a fist bump before he walked away.

"Wow. This place and everyone is really cool."

"I know you will also like it here. I ordered their signature caesar salad and roasted chicken. That's my best combination."

"That's good. It's a healthy choice." I smiled and it made him ecstatic. I can see it through his eyes. He showed me some of his video edits. He's also taking pictures of our food orders before we eat. I never thought that he's taking pictures of me whenever he gets a chance.

I admit, I love the food and I am also starting to love the person who ordered me this food. I smiled as I cupped both of my cheeks while facing him. He chuckled as he placed his camera in front of me. Before I can even react, he already pressed the button and got that shot of me smiling really wide.

"That's seemed unfair." I said while pouting my lips. He chuckled a bit as he stood up. My heart almost fell down as he sat beside me. He leaned closer as he clicked on the screen of his camera. He proudly showed me my stolen shots while leaning even closer to me. I can almost smell his breath and his face closer to mine, we're almost inches apart!

"Wow, I've never seen such a beauty even if you're eating a mouthful already."

"Oh my goodness! I know you're just telling me these things so that I will allow you to keep my pictures, am I right?"

"Well, let's just put it that way, too." He chuckled as he nodded. I smiled as I agreed right away. I have a choice to let him delete my pictures but since he's enjoying it, then I just let him have it.

While we're enjoying looking at more pictures, I received a text message coming from Karen.

"Hey Milla...did you two went out for a date again?" My goodness! I can imagine Karen's cute giggles as she type this one.

"Yep. Gonna update you as soon as I reach my room. We're going home at this moment." I smiled as I put my phone inside my pocket. Andrei glanced at me but he never mind asking who I am replying to on my phone. As usual, he sent me home, three meters away from our front gate to avoid our gossiping neighbors.

"Hi Karen!"

My best friend screamed with excitement as soon as I called her. She's really silly.

"What happened? Gosh I am so freakin' sorry, I just couldn't wait to hear from you."

"What do you expect? Of course we only ate snacks, that's all."

"Really? Why? Nothing more?"

"You're crazy! Of course there's nothing else. What do you expect, a proposal?" I chuckled as soon as I said those words.

"Who knows? I mean, c'mon. Please try having a boyfriend. We can keep it a secret, I promise."

"Gosh, and what if my mom will swallow you alive for being a 'bad influence' to me, huh?"

"Bad influence my ass! She's already used to me,you know."

"I don't want to see you double-dead, so it is still a 'no' for me."

"Hey, on a serious note, though. What if Andrei will confess his feelings to you one day? Will you accept it?"

Gosh, for the first time, Karen is not being herself. She's being damned serious and it made me think about it as well...

What if there's a possibility that it will happen sooner? What should I do?