Take My Breath Away

"One glass, nothing less or more!" Blair insisted, haggling the amount with him.

"Then forget it!" Wesley declared in a final tone.

"Come on! Look, it would only be wasting the drink if I took just a single sip from an entire glass," she argued stubbornly as they walked out of the parking lot, haggling over the amount like a needy child. As they came out of the warm building, the cold air blew on their faces, and Blair felt a chill. She clutched her clothes tighter and moved closer to him.

Wesley noticed her movement and could see her shiver too. He grabbed her hand to keep it warm. "I'll drink the rest of it," he promised, still in no mood to budge.

"You're taking the fun out of it. Forget it. I don't want to drink it anymore," she complained.

"Okay" was all he said. He didn't try to convince her otherwise anymore.

Blair felt tricked now. Was this what he had wanted all along? In any case, Wesley took her to a beverage bar and ordered a cup of milk tea for her.

When she was served the warm cup of tea, she held it in her hands and asked before taking a sip, "Does this taste good?" She had no idea about it because she scarcely drank it. Her usual preference was fruit tea.

Wesley himself had no idea about the taste, and he merely shook his head. "I don't know."

"Then why did you buy this for me?" Blair rolled her eyes.

"I just heard that girls like it," came an honest reply. Wesley was wondering if she would be any happier if he also bought her some oden. Thinking that it might be worth a shot, he decided to go ahead anyway.

As Blair sucked the pearls greedily through the straw, Wesley took her to a snack bar selling oden. "Want some?" he asked her, deciding that it would be better if he asked her first.

Blair rubbed her belly, whose fully occupied volume could be seen from a certain angle. "Yeah all right. But just a little. I'm still quite full."

"Okay," he responded simply.

Blair picked out a few snacks and checked them out.

After that, they continued to wander on the streets; Wesley was holding her tea for her while she ate her oden. "How did you come to know about this place?" she asked.

"I came here with Garnet yesterday," came another short and honest response.

Blair's hand was midway to her mouth and stopped in the air when she heard that. "You brought her here too?"

"Yes."

"You bought milk tea for her too?"

"No. The line was too long. I didn't have the time to wait."

"So, would you have bought it for her if you hadn't been in a rush?" She stopped to look at him.

"Yes," he replied bluntly.

'Listen to him. He is so...Aargh!' Blair ran out of words she could use to describe him. He really knew little about girls. She was pissed at him now. But he wouldn't understand things through anger. She would have to explain like a primary school teacher. "Wesley," she began after taking a moment to calm herself down.

"Hmm?"

"Would you stop going shopping with girls?"

"Including you?"

"Of course not. I meant other girls. Since you don't want a girlfriend, you shouldn't get their hopes up. When you go out shopping with Garnet, she might misunderstand things and end up believing that you are interested in her," she said with an earnest look on her face. Wesley frowned.

It baffled him how girls could misunderstand things so easily. "Okay," he agreed shortly.

"Will you stop buying them milk tea and oden?"

"Yes."

"That's all well and good. But what if Megan wants you to go shopping with her. What if she wants you to buy some food for her?"

"I'll ask Carlos to go with her." Wesley suggested the simplest option.

"He doesn't spend much time on her anymore," she reminded him. It was true! Carlos had been reluctant to even let Megan come with him and Debbie when they had gone to New York to celebrate Spring Festival. But his grandma had wanted to see her so bad that he eventually had to agree to take her with them.

After Carlos had fallen for Debbie, he spent very little time with Megan, and consequently, more responsibility had fallen on Wesley.

"Then I'll ask Damon to do it." Wesley said his next option.

"Nuh-uh! Damon has to take care of his wife," Blair said.

Wesley felt a little stumped. Who was left now? He thought of Curtis. But no! Curtis was married too. So, that only left him... "I'll ask a bodyguard to go with her."

Finally, Blair nodded in satisfaction and decided to give him a reward. She lifted the cup of milk tea to his mouth and said, "Drink some."

"Can I choose not to?" he asked. There was milk in it and he hated it.

"Of course."

Wesley was relieved.

"Don't treat other girls, including Megan and Garnet, the way you treat me," Blair continued. To be frank, this was getting tiresome. Earlier, she only had to deal with Megan. Now there was this Garnet too.

"Okay." Wesley had found that as long as he said "okay" to everything she wanted, Blair was happy.

"Hey listen. I didn't buy you anything last month after my payday. Now I want to buy you a razor. Don't say no," she hastily added, seeing that he was about to open his mouth. Since Wesley spent most of his time in the army base, when she thought about the things that would be most useful to him, a razor seemed the most suitable option. He could use it every day, and think of her.

That, and a lighter too. Wesley smoked a lot; but she had already given him a lighter.

Before Wesley could speak, Blair continued, "Can I have a look at your lighter?"

He took out a nifty little lighter from his pocket and handed it over to her. It was the one she had bought him. Surprised, she gasped. "Have you been using it ever since I gave it to you?"

"Yes," he responded. He had been carrying it around with him ever since she had gifted it to him.

Blair felt like he was driving her nuts. He always claimed that he didn't like her. Then why did he choose to carry her present with him everywhere? She felt like she was getting mixed signals. It was so confusing.

She gave the lighter back to him and questioned in a feigned casual tone, "So, do you use an electric razor or a manual one?" She had been thinking about buying him a razor for quite a while, but had been afraid that he might refuse.

Since they were roaming the streets, she could buy one for him right now.

"An electric one. But you don't need to buy me a new one. Megan just gave me one," Wesley pointed out.

That came as a wet blanket. Someone had beaten her to it, and that someone just had to be Megan! "Really? When?"

"My last birthday." Wait, what? She didn't even know when his birthday was!

"How come I don't know your birthday?" Blair was mad now. And this time, she was mad at herself. How could she not know Wesley's birthday?

"I never celebrate my birthdays," he remarked.

That hardly made Blair feel better. The idea that he was using a razor Megan had bought him was eating at her. "But I want to buy you one too," she stressed.

"You can buy one for me when I need a new one," he assured her.

Blair stabbed a piece of tempura with a bamboo skewer and put it to his lips. Wesley was frowning with a disgusted expression on his face. "Alas, you've always turned me down, no matter what I tried. I've been seeing it for a long time now, but I just couldn't stop myself from expressing my feelings," she uttered with a sigh, sounding depressed.

Hearing that, Wesley forced himself to eat the food.

Blair tried her best not to laugh at the face he was making, and continued to eat her oden.

A song about New Year was playing over the speakers, making the whole atmosphere very festive. Blair finally finished all the oden she had and threw the paper bowl in the bin. "Hang on a minute. I need to go wash my hands," she told him.

"Hmm," he responded just like a patient boyfriend, and went into a corner to wait for her, still holding her milk tea in one hand. After she walked out of the ladies' room two minutes later, Blair began dragging him towards the men's section of one of the stores.

"Can you switch your razor for a new one?" she asked.

"It'll be wasteful." The one Megan had bought him was still new and working perfectly.

"You can give it to one of your colleagues," Blair suggested. This way, both she and his colleague would be happy. The perfect solution involving three people but no Megan! Blair found herself brilliant.

Maybe Wesley also thought that it was a good idea, because he nodded and agreed, "Okay."

Blair happily picked out an electric razor for him. After paying for it, she put the receipt into her pocket and declared, "l still owe you $300, 000. When I've earned enough money, I'll pay you back."

"You..." Wesley wanted to tell her that she really didn't have to pay him back, but then he remembered how stubborn and adamant she had been about it, so he agreed, "Okay, take your time."

"I'll pay you as soon as possible." Blair was aware of the fact that Wesley always worked hard. His money was hard-earned and well-deserved. That was why she had been so insisted on paying him back.

Wesley didn't respond to that promise. 'Does she really have to draw a line between what's hers and what's mine?' he thought.

As they passed by a watch store, Blair thought of Niles. She hadn't bought anything for him. "I want to buy a watch for Niles. I lived in his apartment for a long time but never paid the rent. I feel bad about it."

"Don't. He doesn't need a watch."

Wesley was rather quick to respond this time. "But he always wears one after work!"

"He has too many watches already. Even if you bought him a new one, he probably would never wear it. It would be a waste of money. So don't bother." With that, he took her hand and dragged her out of the men's section.