Chapter 30: Please forgive me, Alyssa

Music Recommendation: Can't help falling in Love by Elvis Presley.
The rays of Sunlight peered through the windows of Alyssa's room and shone brightly on her face. The consistent ring of the alarm had been enough headache for her to sleep comfortably. It wasn't long after she turned off the alarm that the sun rays cast on her face, bringing her to the obvious reality that it was morning. She picked up her phone from underneath her pillow and was greeted with several missed calls from Raymond.
A message came on her phone just as she was staring at it. It was a message from Raymond, and it read, "let's meet at Exquiz restaurant before we go over to school, please. After today, you can decide to not talk to me, ever."
She did not know the response to give to him, so she just dropped her phone back, and stood up to freshen up.
Standing in front of the mirror, Alyssa made adjustments to the makeup she had applied, dabbing on the lips as she felt the lipstick was too much.
She wore a yellow floral-patterned gown with a sleeveless hand. The neck of the gown was V-shaped, with the left part of the chest region overlapping the right. The gown extended to the region between the middle of her thighs and knees, allowing for a little part of her thighs to be revealed.
The floral gown Alyssa wore was a little bit flare, having a mix of white colors from beneath her breasts to the bottom of her gown. She picked up black sneakers from the shoe rack and wore them, holding the laces tightly.
While arranging her hair, trying to pour her already packed hair as she felt like she looked better with it dangling, Raymond's message came back to her mind, and she picked up her phone and sent a message, "I will be there in ten minutes. Don't be late."
Alyssa inhaled deeply, then picked up her phone with a blue jean jacket and made her way out of the room. Not forgetting to take her black mini bag that sat lonely on the couch in her room.
The interior of the restaurant was exquisite as the name implied. Its designs had much quality, and Alyssa was left in awe staring at the luxurious pieces of furniture in the restaurant. She had always heard about it, but she never visited, to gain first-hand experience.
Making her way to the reception hall, a text came in from Raymond, informing her that he was on the first floor, at table 12. She briskly made her way to the receptionist and was directed to the first floor by a waiter who stood in waiting.
"So why did you ask to see me?" Alyssa questioned as soon as she got over to Raymond, she did not even give a smile in a way of greeting, but folded her face, trying to keep up with the attitude.
"I hope you had a good night?" Raymond smiled at her instead, ignoring the question she asked.
"My night was perfect, I slept quite good and I did not have to think of anyone or allow the stress of anybody to cross my mind," Alyssa scoffed.
"Just stop this attitude, Alyssa," Raymond voiced out in worry, pushing his hair backward. Leaning closer to her, "you are acting like you never knew I cared about you and that I feel so terrible staying away from you."
"Is this why you called me?" Alyssa probed impatiently.
"Yes! I'm going to say everything I think and I don't know if you are fine with it," he closed his eyes for a moment, and continued after opening it, "but at least I will not have to feel the pain of bottling everything inside"
"I don't want to talk about this" She gestured, raising her hand to him.
"Please just hear me out, I have been a friend, even before Sophie appeared so you won't just ditch me because of her attitude. I care about you so much, Alyssa and I hope you can put everything aside. The talks from people, whatever they want to say, I don't care. I only care about you and I hope you will give me this chance. Please forgive me, Alyssa"
At this point, Alyssa was so overwhelmed with emotions and could not stop the drop of tears that rolled on her cheeks. She thought she was tough enough to handle her emotions, but this time Raymond got to her. The embarrassment on her face was so much, that her cheeks colored crimson and her lips parted into a wide grin from ear to ear.
"Okay if you continue saying this, I might die in embarrassment", she blushed at him, tucking her ear in, "I care about you Raymond, and I'm sorry for putting you through this much stress"
"Phew... At least my effort did not go in vain," he smiled, standing up from where he sat, walking over to her.
"Mm... so you were just acting a show?" Turning her face, "I have not forgiven you."
"Don't do it dear, I may just die," Raymond said and they both burst into feats of laughter.
The joy and laughter went on and on, till they decided to leave the Restaurant for school.
Sophie made her way into the Restaurant, swaying her hips gracefully. She was used to receiving attention and compliments from people wherever she went, so she made sure to put in all effort to look good. On her way to college, she decided to stop by the restaurant to get a takeaway. Her concern wasn't necessarily the meal that she was going to get there, but the paper bags that had the restaurant's logo imprinted on them. Exquiz restaurant was one of the big ones in Carlton city, and Sophie was putting all effort into keeping up to standard.
Just as she got to the reception, her eyes caught two figures coming out of the elevator, smiling as they made their way out of the restaurant.
On closer look, she realized who the guy was and she stretched her neck, squinting her eyes, trying to see who the girl was, till the girl turned towards the side, and she caught her face,
"Alyssa", Sophie murmured, and her eyes darkened.