She looked at the trash bag on Natsha's hand, her face twisting into a frown.

“What the hell did you do again?”

The very next second, the trash bag was opened and turned upside down. A pile of paper boxes and plastic sticks of all shapes and sizes scattered across the floor.

Lorena narrowed her eyes, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Natsha breathed heavily, each breath strained.

“You…” Natsha planted her hands on her hips. The look on her face embodied the very definition of “utter disbelief.”

“Emily and I are just in a cooperative relationship.” She breathed as if suffering from respiratory failure. Perhaps her occupational illness had gotten a bit too serious.

“But you…” She pointed at the mess on the floor. “… you’re out here producing actual 'product'.”

Natsha clutched her chest, feeling as though she had just been dealt a painfully brutal blow.

“And you even let that person try 'it' at your home dozens of times. You didn’t even bother taking out the trash. You cherish 'them' that much that you kept them as souvenirs, didn’t you?”

Natsha rattled off her words in one go, her hands and feet moving unconsciously in rhythm, gesturing with deliberate intent. Of course, she didn’t notice Lorena’s face growing darker by the second.

Disaster comes from the mouth. It is never without reason. The ancients had warned of it. How later generations choose to use it is another matter entirely.

“I kept them as souvenirs. So what?” Lorena ground her teeth audibly.

“What business is it of yours? HUH?”

Natsha, shouted at, suddenly fell silent. She felt the person in front of her was utterly unreasonable.

“If I were to get married right this second, there’s nothing you could do except pry open those panda-like eyes of yours and watch!” She attacked her with a torrent of words. Natsha was momentarily at a loss for speech.

Before she could even process what was happening, her arm had already been grabbed and dragged away by Lorena.

“BANG!!!”

The apartment door slammed shut right in front of her. Natsha stood there blankly, staring at the door in a daze.

The door opened once again. Before even the slightest expression could change on Natsha’s face, Lorena had already hurled a glittering handbag and a pair of high heels at her.

Natsha reflexively crouched to keep the items from hitting the ground.

The door halted halfway. Natsha was yanked back into the apartment once more.

Lorena dragged her over to the “battlefield” Natsha herself had created.

“Clean it up!” Lorena gritted out.

Dazed and unfocused, Natsha gathered the materials on the floor and stuffed them back into the black trash bag.

After she finished cleaning, a one-way ticket straight to the door was handed to her. Natsha stared at the trash bag in her hand, blinking.

////////////////////////

Natsha placed the black trash bag under the table, then plopped down onto the chair beside it.

“And you even said she doesn’t exactly dislike me.” Her voice was hollow as she spoke. Her head tilted freely to one side, half of a superstar’s aura gone without a trace.

“What happened?” Emily asked, a little amused.

Natsha handed her Lorena’s pile of “souvenirs.”

Emily took it with suspicion. When she opened the bag, dozens of little sticks hit her line of sight.

“What is this?” The question slipped straight from Emily’s lips.

“Evidence. Physical evidence!” Natsha ground her teeth and let out a sharp breath.

“Can you be a bit more specific?” Emily clicked her tongue.

“I found that pile in her house!” Just recalling last night made Natsha burn with anger.

“She retaliated over the thing between you and me. She even went as far as producing actual 'product'.”

Emily frowned.

“You mean that person ‘did it’ with someone else and produced a 'product'?”

Natsha nodded decisively. Even if she only held the status of a bed partner, her feelings for Lorena were real.

“Did that person say it, or are you thinking that on your own?”

Emily hit the key point.

“I thought it on my own.” She smacked her lips lightly as she spoke.

Emily let out a breath, beginning the process of untangling the knot Natsha had tied herself into.

“Did you say those assumptions… to that person?”

“Of course!” She had never held her tongue around Lorena.

“How did that person react?” Emily leaned forward, placing both elbows on the table.

“What else besides getting angry?” Natsha lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers.

“She even said what business is it of mine. If she got married right away, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Did she mention anyone else?” Emily asked.

Natsha shook her head.

Oh. Now this is interesting.

“If it were really retaliation like you think, shouldn’t that person be smug? Why would she be angry instead?” Emily rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Natsha paused to think. That was true! If it were really to get back at her, Lorena should have been pleased with herself.

“Not to mention, not a single name was brought up when you INTERROGATED her.” Emily emphasized the word “interrogated.”

Natsha’s whole body went limp.

“Being slapped with a ‘charge’ without any evidence. Any human would boil over!”

Emily looked at her and shook her head gently.

“Have you considered another possibility?”

“What other possibility?” She replied hollowly.

“Let me ask you a small question.” Emily said. “Do you have that capability?”

A thousand question marks popped up in front of Natsha’s eyes.

Seeing her blank expression, Emily decided to speak plainly.

“Do you have the ability to produce a ‘product’?”

Natsha’s mouth fell open for a moment.

“Oh…” She felt the world spinning. “… oh my God!”

“Mhm!” Emily didn’t need verbal confirmation. Natsha’s expression was enough. “It really is oh my God.”