Amir and Nathan arrived at where Aena and the others were gathered.They were standing and had drinks on their hands.
Aside from Aena, there were three women and one man.
Aena had long, thick and black hair.
She was 21 years old, 5"5" tall, slim, and had brown skin.
Aena too was gifted with good looks but not as blessed when compared to Amir.
Their parents, Abbas and Amira, weren"t bad-looking people. Their looks were above average, especially Amira"s.
However, Amir was like someone who won the genetic lottery.
If you saw him for the first time, you would be taken aback for a moment by his handsome face.
Even racist people would admit that he was a good-looking person.
"Look at who I brought," said Amir.
Aena and the others looked at Nathan.
"h.e.l.lo," said Nathan.
Aside from Aena, regarding the 4 other people, Nathan knew 3 of them.
When Aena saw Nathan, she almost hid the drink on her hand but stopped herself after remembering that they were at Womania.
The reason why she feared Nathan was because he reminded her of her father and the South Muwinians that she met.
Uncle Abbas was very strict when it comes to her so they often had arguments.
And when she began attending college back at Muwin, in the first couple of months, she acted like she was still at Womania.
However, one day, she messed with a South Muwinian man and things got pretty rough real quick.
In the South Muwinian culture, if you"re a woman and act like a man, don"t be surprised if you get into a fight with a South Muwinian man and they retaliate at you as if you were a man.
Fortunately, she didn"t get hurt, at least physically, because a group of North Muwinian men immediately came to the rescue.
But because of that experience, it finally dawned to her that Muwin isn"t Womania and remembered how she used to behave years ago before she and her family migrated to Womania.
As for Nathan, although he appears to be "friendly," she suspected that it was nothing but a facade, making her feel a little uncomfortable interacting with him.
Nathan, of course, noticed Aena"s fear towards him. However, he doesn"t know why nor does he care about it.
He already had problems his own problems to deal with. He could care less about the problems of others.
As long as she didn"t bother him with her antics, everything was fine.
Now for the other people with Aena…
The first person a black woman.
"Oh, Nathan. How are you? It"s been a while," the black woman said and hugged him.
He hugged her back.
"I"m fine. Thanks."
Her name was Moanna.
She had a very cute face and was fat.
However, Moanna isn"t technically fat. She was at best chubby.
But from Nathan"s perspective, given that he spent most of his life living in Muwin and that Asians generally have a leaner skeletal frame compared to whites and blacks, his beauty standards are based on a Muwinian"s perspective.
So to him, she was fat.
Now, of course, there are some people who prefer fat women and there"s nothing wrong with that.
Everyone has their own preferences.
After Amir graduated high school back at Muwin and moved to Womania to study for college, Moanna was one of the first people he met and got acquainted with in college.
And since then, they have remained best friends.
She was also very close with Aena and Amir"s parents.
To Aena, Moanna was like an older sister.
However, there was a sad story to this.
Based on what Nathan has observed, Moanna has feelings for Amir.
Although she tries so hard to hide it, given Nathan"s own experience before with Vincent and Karen, he was able to spot it right away.
And perhaps Amir is also aware of it.
The second person he was familiar with was a Caucasian man.
His name was Alexandre but prefers to be called Alex because according to him, it was a gender-neutral name.
He was good-looking, had a great and s.e.xy physique and loves to dress flamboyantly.
And just like Moanna, he also got acquainted with Amir back in college.
Alexandre hugged him.
"Hi, Nathan honey bear."
He hugged him back.
"Um… Yeah, h.e.l.lo."
And the third person he was familiar with was a Caucasian woman.
It was Ida whom he just met this morning back at the apartment.
They shook hands.
"Nice to see you again. Finally with clothes," Ida said with a smile.
Nathan smiled and said, "Same here. Nice to finally see you without messy hair."
"Oooh~ What"s that supposed to mean?" said Alexandre.
Ida ignored it and just continued smiling.
Meanwhile, Amir pulled out his phone and checked it.
Nathan ignored them and proceeded to greet the last person of the group.
It was someone he wasn"t familiar with.
She was a slim and tall Caucasian woman sporting a buzz cut colored in purple. She had gla.s.ses, a nose ring, and had a few visible tattoos on her neck, arms and ankles.
And speaking of tall, she was already as tall as Nathan. Add in with her heels, she towered over him by 3 inches.
He was about to offer his hand but the woman hugged him, catching him by surprise.
"Hi, it"s nice to finally meet you. I"ve heard so much about you."
Nathan hugged her back.
"Is this the movie producer?" Nathan thought. "Me too as well."
After hugging, the woman said, "Oh, Amir told you about me?"
Nathan"s eyes widened for a quick moment.
"s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t! Why did I say that? I"m not 100% sure if she"s the movie producer. For all I know, it could be Ida."
He immediately tried to play it "cool".
"Yeah, Amir… Um… He told me great things about you."
"Oh, like what?"
Fortunately, Amir immediately came to the rescue.
"Brie, I"ve mentioned to him that one of my best friends who is a big shot movie producer from Iust.i.tia and is also dating Kreshna, a famous actress from that thriller movie released last year is attending the party."
Brie lightly slapped Amir"s arm.
Pah.
"Oh my G.o.d. Stop saying embarra.s.sing things like that. I"m not someone famous, you know."
"Ouch! You still like hitting people. I"m going to sue you and take some of that big shot movie producer money of yours," Amir said jokingly.
"Go ahead. I don"t even have that kind of money."
They both laughed.
As for how Brie and Amir became friends, Amir already graduated from college when they met at some high-cla.s.s private party.
They dated for 3 months before breaking up and decided to remain as friends.
"Heh~ So this crazy-looking tall b.i.t.c.h is really the movie producer."
Nathan studied her features.
To be honest, Brie was really beautiful that she could pa.s.s as a runway model. However, in his opinion, the purple hair buzz cut, nose ring and tattoos diminished her beauty.
There was also the height issue. He felt conscious that a woman was taller than him.
Excluding her height, maybe her fashion choice is probably what the people in this country or back at Iust.i.tia find beautiful.
In fact, he has seen a number of people dressed like her here in Womania.
"She scares me…"
And as for her name, it didn"t ring a bell.
He has never heard about her.
"Should I ask what movies she produced to pretend that I"m interested?"
He thought about it for a moment but then decided not to. It was still too early to suck up for a potential business partnership.
"Brie honey, if you"re not famous, let"s exchange lives then. I"d rather be a movie producer and spend my life with movie stars than be stuck all day doing paperwork in some dungeon. Oh, and you can keep that actress girlfriend that you"re dating. I prefer d.i.c.k," said Alexandre.
Everyone laughed.
"Alex, didn"t you say last time you were bi?" said Moanna.
"I changed. I now identify as a woman with trans experience."
"What the f.u.c.k is a woman with trans experience?" Nathan thought.
"Brie, I read from the tabloids that you broke up with Kreshna. Is it true?" said Aena.
Just like Moanna, Aena also looks up to Brie as an older sister.
Brie chuckled and said, "Aena, don"t believe those tabloids. They"re all fake."
She then turned to Nathan.
"Whatever Amir said to you about me, don"t believe him. I"m just a normal person."
Nathan flashed a very warm, friendly smile and said, "Sure."
"By the way, Brie honey, that girlfriend of yours,iIsn"t she going to star in that upcoming love story movie with Christopher Hensing?" said Alexandre.
Christoper Hensing was a very famous movie star in Iust.i.tia.
"Um… Yes."
"Oh my G.o.d, did you meet him?" said Aena.
"Yeah, I met him twice at a private party. He was super friendly," said Brie.
"Hold on, honey. What kind of private party? Is it the kind where everyone gets naked?" said Alexandre.
"Oh my G.o.d, Alex," said Aena and Moanna.
"What~? Don"t tell me you girls aren"t interested in hearing how long is Christopher"s d.i.c.k is."
"You"re such a s.l.u.t," said Moanna.
"Well, at least I"m an honest s.l.u.t," Alex retorted.
Listening to the conversation, Nathan looked at his watch.
6:02 pm.
He planned to leave at 6:30 pm.
"I think I"m gonna need another drink if I want to survive this."
"Excuse me, guys. Hae-won just arrived. I"m going to bring her over," Amir said as he put his phone inside his pocket and left.
Aena snorted.
Nathan looked around if there were any waiters nearby carrying drinks.
Unfortunately, there was none.
"I"m going to get another drink. I"ll be right back," said Nathan.
"I"ll go with you. I need one as well," said Ida.
"Oh, I can get one for you," said Nathan.
"No, no, it"s okay."
"Okay."
Nathan and Ida left together.
And as they were on their way to get drinks, Ida initiated a conversation.
"I didn"t know you were Amir"s cousin. I thought you were his roommate or something."
"What is this white b.i.t.c.h trying to say? I"m too ugly to be his cousin or do I look gay?" Nathan thought. "Well, at least you know now."
"So what do you do?"
"I work at an online news publishing business."
"Oh, I used to write during my spare time back in middle school up to college."
"Oh, that"s nice."
"I"m an interior designer."
"Oh, that"s so cool."
"What"s the name of the company you work for?"
Nathan sighed inwardly.
He wasn"t particularly interested in talking with Ida, especially after she mistook him for being gay -- at least from his understanding.
And plus with his so-called lone wolf, he wasn"t the type who likes to do small talks.
He only talks if there"s a purpose.
And so far, he doesn"t see any purpose in talking with her.
And no, it wasn"t because she wasn"t Asian or anything.
Ida was beautiful and all.
In fact, Nathan could only dream about talking to a girl like her, let alone sleeping with her.
However, he just wasn"t interested.
Maybe it"s because of insecurity or jealousy towards Amir or he thinks it"s a subtle form of incest that it just felt wrong -- though it"s another story if Ida is even interested in sleeping with him.
And yes, there was Fatima from 3 years ago back at Muwin, but his perception of life has long since changed.
"The Young Progressives."
"I"m familiar with that site. You know, one time I read an article on that site about --"
Nathan decided to shut her off inside his mind.
He wasn"t listening anymore and proceeded to autopilot by replying with "I understand" and "That"s great."
When they grabbed new drinks, Ida was still talking non-stop and Nathan was still on autopilot.
He was surprised.
Within the short time they left the group and arrived here to get new drinks, she already told him many things that would normally take a person to say in 15 minutes.
He doesn"t know how did that happen, but somehow it did.
And because of that, he decided to coin her as Machine Gun Mouth.
His phone vibrated.
Bzz…
"My friend had this friend who knew a person --" she said.
"Excuse me for a moment," he said.
"Okay."
He pulled out his phone and saw that there was a text message from Amir.
[Cuz, please watch over Aena for me. I"m bringing Hae-won over.]
"Hae-won?" He squinted his eyes.
He returned his phone to his pocket and ma.s.saged his forehead.
"Sigh... Why am I getting caught in this drama? Can"t I just have some peace of mind during my day off?"
"Business matters?" said Ida.
He turned her with a very warm and friendly smile.
"Ugh! Right, I"m with Machine Gun Mouth. I really didn"t expect this from such a beautiful-looking person. She wasn"t even this talkative when we were with the group. What the h.e.l.l!" Nathan thought. "Oh, it"s nothing. Just someone I know."
"I see. Your girlfriend?"
"No. Let"s go back to the group?" Nathan said. "And why isn"t she sticking with Amir? d.a.m.n you, Amir. Do I look like someone who has so much free time to waste? Why the h.e.l.l did you even invite her to this party if you"re not going to entertain her? f.u.c.k me sideways!"
"Sure. Okay, so as I was saying earlier, my friend had this friend who knew a person --"
"Oh G.o.d, please make me deaf."
Nathan returned to autopilot.
He also quickened his steps.
When they returned to the group, Ida became quiet once again.
Amir hasn"t yet returned with Hae-won and the group was talking about movies.
Nathan secretly glanced at Ida.
"What the h.e.l.l? Why do I feel like she"s looking down on me? She isn"t willing to show her machine gun mouth to them, yet with me she doesn"t care?"
Unfortunately, the possibility of her being interested in him never crossed his mind.
But then again, if she was really interested, one could also argue that she would"ve tried to present herself in a more pleasing manner.
So who knows.
Nathan decided to stand right next to Aena.
When Aena saw him standing right next to her, she stiffened for a moment.
He noticed it but didn"t care and just listened to the conversation to kill time.
"You know, I just that there aren"t that many big-budget action movies that feature a brave and strong woman of color as the main protagonist. It"s always a white woman that"s being represented," said Moanna.
"Yes, it"s sad to know that that"s still true in Western society. However, white women also suffer from the same thing. Studios typically prefer to cast male characters as the main protagonist and the woman is only there to be saved by the male protagonist, because G.o.d forbid a woman capable of defeating a man is shown in the screen or people would lose their mind, especially those bas.e.m.e.nt-dwelling, neck-bearded man-child trolls," said Brie.
"Men have such fragile egos," said Moanna.
"But compared to us brown and black women, at least white women have it better. They"re seen as the ideal leading lady," said Aena.
"Yes, but it"s us black women who are the ones that are oppressed the most. If you take a look at studies conducted by experts regarding dating, it"s black women who are considered as the less desirable compared to other women," said Moanna.
"As a white woman, I"m very sorry about that. And if you ask me, all I see is a strong, beautiful and independent woman and men are just intimidated by you," said Brie.
"Yeah, they know they can"t handle a real woman," said Moanna.
"Facts," said Aena, Alexandre and Brie.
"I think that among the men, the white male is typically chosen as the ideal main protagonists," said Ida.
"Heh~ Machine Gun Mouth decided to join in? Her mouth must"ve started to become itchy from staying quiet," Nathan thought.
"Hold on. I know I"m a white male so I"m well aware of my privilege. But as a member of the Alphabet Community, I"m also part of the oppressed. At least with you women, you guys are being portrayed as people in media. But for us, we"re being portrayed as nothing but animals or the b.u.t.t of the jokes," said Alexandre.
"But do you know what white women are also the most common victims of s.e.xual hara.s.sment in the Western entertainment industry? And aside from that, women still are being paid less. It"s really sickening," said Brie.
"Oh well, we all know who are the people that caused such unfairness in the Western world. It"s the straight, s.e.xist, racist white males that are in charge of the patriarchy," said Moanna.
"Amen to that, sister," said Alexandre. "Did you guys see the news last week about what happened to that person of color immigrant? He was unarmed when he was gunned down by the police. And of course, the police officer that shot that poor man was white. Totally disgusting. Makes me ashamed to be a white male."
"It"s not really surprising. That"s what they do."
"It was so horrible. Straight white men make me sick."
"They truly are. I mean, how dumb can you be to shoot an unarmed person?"
"They just wanted to flex their racist muscles."
"It"s just so disgusting."
Listening to their conversation, Nathan was trying his best to hold back his laughter.
"What about you, Nathan?" said Brie.
"Huh?"
"I heard that you"ve only been here for about 3 months. Did you experience any discrimination?"
"Oh s.h.i.t, oh s.h.i.t, oh s.h.i.t. Why did you have to ask me this, you f.u.c.king crazy-looking b.i.t.c.h?"
Suddenly, a male"s voice interrupted their conversation.
"Hey, guys."
They all looked at where the direction of the voice was coming from.
It was Amir and Hae-won.
*********************************************
Author"s thoughts:
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!
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