Lucky love mate coming like a steam engine

Pineapple plopped on the ground clutching his leg like a wounded warthog. His ear-splitting screeches, sounding like a kicked hyena on a bender, were so grating that Leandre felt the urge to give him another kick, transforming his howls into something more tolerable. Leandre turned to Knox, fixing him with a piercing gaze, his eyes blazing like fire, causing Knox to flinch and nervously scratch the back of his neck.

With a sheepish smile, Knox asked. "Is our friendship still on?" He has the audacity to ask Leandre after what he had done, Knox internally thought.

"The saddest thing about betrayal is it never comes from the enemies," Leandre spoke with a hint of irony that struck a chord with Knox. He can't believe Knox traded their friendship for a girl he has just met.

Knox's face warped as if he had chugged a jar of pickle juice.

Leandre was about to leave when he caught wind of a blood-curdling shout. "You hooligan! Tell me why you were hot on my tail since our pencil days." Pineapple bawled. The kick she gave on his foot was so powerful that it made Pineapple's eyes welled up like a leaky faucet. If he ever finds her again, he promised himself he would return the favour to her with a swift kick to the exact same spot, sending her on a one-way trip to pain town.

"The offer is not valid anymore," Leandre said. "Had you caught her, I would have considered." With that, Leandre stormed out.

"You betrayer! Come back when I am being nice to you!" Pineapple shouted after Leandre as he saw him sashay out of the restroom, not taking his words seriously.

"Hey, rascal." Pineapple turned to Knox and demanded. "You tell me."

"I don't know," Knox said and hastened behind Leandre to mend their friendship. "I was just trying to help an innocent soul." He said, catching up to Leandre.

Leandre abruptly came to a stop as Knox's words reached his ears. He fixed his gaze upon him as he spoke. "Her? An innocent soul?" Such a claim would be as absurd as equating a ravenous shark with a meek and docile goldfish.

"Come one, Leandre!" Knox exhaled a sigh. "It's natural for anyone to get the wrong idea if they see a man goes on holding every women's hand in public. We both know the situation we are in, but she doesn't. That doesn't give you a chance to revenge on the poor girl. You have always been level-headed with other girls. Why are you targeting her then?" Not to mention, Leandre warning Pineapple not to lay a hand on her made Knox befuddled, but he didnot bring up the topic to put him in the spotlight.

"I was not cornering her for what happened at the table," Leandre said, making his way towards the exit of the cafe. He realized his impulsive action may have left a negative impression on her, but his desperation to know the identity of his birthmark owner drove him to do whatever it took.

"Then why?" Knox's voice was tinged with curiosity.

"Why are we going to the impoundment lot?" Leandre questioned instead.

"To get your car because a girl damaged your car."

"And that girl is none other than the innocent girl you are talking about," Leandre said with a hint of revelation.

"What!" Knox came to a standstill as his mind reeled. "Cute girl hit your car? I can't believe it. She looks as innocent as fresh snow."

"Such is the mask she wears to disguise her true nature," Leandre remarked.

"Why didn't you tell me this when we were in the washroom?" Knox questioned, his voice blaming. "Wait here for a moment. I will be back."

"Where now?"

"I will be back in a minute." Knox was gone.

Knox burst into the cafe, his gaze sweeping the room until it landed on Milley, who was engaged in addressing a customer at the counter. As soon as the customer had left, she directed her focus towards Knox, and he strode forward. "Another dragon drink, gentleman?" She asked, her lips curving into a seductive smile.

"Negative," Knox crossed his hands and spoke. "Did you see a girl garbed in a disguise of wig and goggles roaming in the cafe? Is she regular here?"

"Why do you ask?" Milley's mind raced with disdain, wondering if Knox possessed such poor taste to show interest in the odd woman, who was nothing short of a circus spectacle.

She had been occupied tending to her friend's wrist in the kitchen, a thoughtless customer had carelessly scalded her friend with hot coffee. Upon her return to the counter, she realized a girl had caused quite a commotion, drawing the gaze of every customer in the cafe.

"Can you inform me if she happens to visit again?" Knox asked, his eyes alight with excitement. At the sight of Milley's uninterested look, Knox sweetened the deal, "I will give you Leandre's number." Knox bartered his friend again without hesitation.

"Really?" Milley's eyes lit up at the proposal. "Deal." As long as it's Leandre. Her smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Grinning, Knox gave his number to her and strode out. "Now I shall get my answer why she called him a little Giraffe."

Leandre waited in the car for Knox, and upon his return, he ignited the engine. In the process of reversing, he caught sight of a scooter through the mirror, adorned with a teddy bear sticker abandoned on the road. "Isn't the security guard's?"

Knox was also struck by surprise as he espied the scooter through the mirror of the car. "It is! It must be Pineapple, doggedly trailing us. What a moron," Knox exclaimed in disbelief. "Poor security guard. It's his only mode of transportation." Traffic must have been quite the spectacle, with drivers rubbernecking at the comedy on two wheels instead of the road.

Meanwhile, Clary rested her head against the car seat, allowing her eyes to slip closed, but with Rick's relentless barrage of questions, she had to keep awake.

"Where did you disappear to, Riri? I even ventured to the neighbouring street in search of you. I was almost convinced that someone had abducted you when you didnot pick up the phone" He abandoned Clary in an effort to strike up a conversation with his crush. Despite his attempts to catch her gaze, she remained aloof, and he eventually returned to the table, only to find that Clary was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't worry, Ricky. They would be begging to return me to where I belong in no time." Clary injected humour to ease Rick's anxiety. She was glad someone came to help, or that arrogant man would have tortured her.

"It's not the time for a joke. Your grandfather will turn my head into a little sphere with his trusty 9-iron golf stick. Your dad and uncle will turn me into a delicious burger faster than you can say 'medium rare'. Your brother will send my entrails on a first-class flight to Birdsville before you say 'birdie'." Rick said, shivering like a bowl of jell- O at the thought of Ainford's family's fierce protection of Clary.

"You forgot my grandmother," Clary added with a giggle, and Rick began talking about their family throughout the ride.

Rick dropped Clary at home, and she waved goodbye and walked inside to be blocked by her grandmother at the door, demanding to edit her pictures and videos immediately, or she would have to forget the full payment. Clary scurried off the room to get down to the business.

Completing the work in an hour, she sent them to her granny pie and slumped on the bed tiredly, calling it a day. Her mind instantly flooded with his thoughts, waking her open. "That bossy bovine! He seizes every chance to bully me." Clary muttered. "Should I make a personal request to the enforcers to show him who the boss is?"

Clary snubbed the thought, realizing she didn't know a jack about him and turned on the TV to kill some time. The moment she hit the power button, a man appeared on the screen, spouting nonsense about the zodiac sign's romance. "It's that Butterfly astrology channel again! Is this some sort of a default channel?"

She tuned in to hear what wild yarn this lewd astrologer would spin about her zodiac sign today "...Aries girls, your attraction to Leo's has been passed down from the ages, like a precious family heirloom. Put on your finest yellow frock and step outside, my dears. Leos will come flocking to you, like bees to honey, but the one to get down on one knee and propose to you is not your partner. They will sweep you off your feet and plant a smooch on your lips like a boss."

Clary: " "

"All I found was an arrogant bull, falsifiers." Clary sneered.

At the other end, Leandre lounged on the bed, watching the TV, a channel that popped up when he switched on. "....With Venus taking a sultry saunter through your love life, Leo's, brace yourself for a wild romp filled with romance! Your lucky love mate is coming at you like a steam engine, ready to set your heart_

"What kind of sick channel is this?" Leandre turned off the TV, unable to stand the nonsense. Wasn't this the same channel that Knox had sent him a video about, which talked about him meeting a lucky woman? "All I got was an arrogant criminal on the run."

Meanwhile, Pineapple was grinning ear to ear like a cartoon character, his eyes stuck on to the TV like a peanut butter to a sandwich. "Cancers are sneaky as a fox in a henhouse! With Saturn on the rise, there will be more trouble brewing with the headstrong zodiacs from arc nemesis like Leo and Aires. But don't stress, my friends! Butterfly astrology is here to save the day! Your lucky colour is white, and your lucky number is four. Step outside in a white shirt, and soon your enemies and lovers will soon succumb to you. For more information, dial our Butterfly astrology hotline." Pineapple giggled, walking to the wardrobe and pulled out a white shirt to wear in the morning.

Clary and Leandre's hands itched to dial the butterfly hotline to give a shunting for speaking nonsense, while Pineapple was intrigued to call them and know how his enemy would crumble like a cookie.