The July bar that night was packed to the brim. All tables and seats were taken by Dean’s supporters. When they heard that he was performing new songs, which were due to debut in his new album, they had booked all the available tables.  Chef Junhoe, Daniel’s good friend, had reserved a few tables for Daniel and his friends, which made it easier for them to enjoy the showcase comfortably. Tasha and Sierra (sans Amanda) shared a table with Gwen and Daniel; Gwen was relieved with this arrangement, as she had a buffer and she wanted to avoid any unnecessary arguments with Daniel, if she could help it. 

The 15th floor residents (Jaebeom, Jinyoung and Mark) also arrived early and secured themselves a table close to the Lahlings. As much as Daniel hated it, he had to keep things civil between him and Jaebeom. He didn’t like the idea that his Gwen was close to Jaebeom.

Why did they have to live in the same building?

Call it a guy thing but he felt that Jaebeom had other intentions. Although he didn’t say it out loud, he knew that something was going on. Jaebeom on the other hand, kept it equally civil and didn’t want to cause any problems between him and Daniel since he didn’t want to lose his friendship with Gwen.

The silent rift between Daniel and Jaebeom, eased when Dean made an appearance with his band.

I’m going to have to put my guard up. Daniel prepared himself.

If I’m going to have to fight for my share of Gwen tonight, I better start now. Daniel takes a shot of his Tequila while eye-ing Dean and his crew setting up shop. I will have to make sure these two guys keep their filthy hands off my Gwen. Daniel squared his shoulders and cleared his throat.

“Sweetie, I’m going to say ‘Hi’ to Dean, you wanna come?” Gwen asked Daniel innocently.

“No. You go ahead.” Daniel took another shot of Tequila, hiding a soft growl.

Gwen got up from her seat and walked towards Dean and his crew.

From afar, Jaebeom watched Gwen and Daniel, trying to find the right time to greet them. The July Bar was dimly lit but he saw where Gwen sat when he came into the bar earlier and waved to say ‘hi’. Truth be told, he was happy to see her and the girls already seated and having their early dinner. He didn’t think it was a good idea to come too close to where Daniel was, since he heard a little snarl from Daniel from the last time they met. So he politely nodded from afar with Jinyoung and Mark seated with him at their table.

When Gwen walked past him, he almost choked on his food. It was his first time seeing her all dolled up, working her way towards the stage. He couldn’t take his eyes off her dress and how well it looked hugging every curve and muscle on her body. He had to shake his head off the images that screened through his head of him tearing her dress off, as he noticed the gold zip that lined the back of her dress from her neck all the way down to the back of her thighs. 

Oohh there’s a zip… Jaebeom’s eyes widened. His stares were interrupted by Mark who was snapping his fingers in front of his face.

“Dude, checkout Peaches. I’ve closed his gap twice and it’s still gaping. Look!” Mark pointed at Jinyoung whose eyes were transfixed on Sierra, 3 tables away. “It doesn’t look like I’m having any luck with you either. Do I have to start wiping drool now?” SNAP SNAP. What the hell is wrong with these guys? Mark was amused.

Jaebeom eyes didn’t leave Gwen, as he continued to watch her greet a group of guys standing next to the stage. He saw her smile shyly, pushing her hair back behind her ears, while being introduced to the rest of the guys in the band. Watching her freely speak to the guys made him feel a surge of heat rising up in his ears. Then it suddenly struck him.

If I’m feeling this way, I can’t imagine what Daniel’s going through.

Then he glanced towards the table where Daniel and Gwen sat earlier and saw Daniel balling up a fist. Jaebeom watched him stand up, straightened his shirt, looking ready to pick a fight. Ignoring Mark’s snapping fingers, he got up and rushed to stand between Daniel and the tables that separated them and the stage where Dean and his band was.

“Bro, not here, please. I know what’s going on in your head now. Believe me, this is not how we want to spend the night here.” Jaebeom said in a quiet voice. “I’ll send Ira over. Trust me, you don’t want to create a scene.” He tried to calm Daniel down by resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t be condescending. You and I need to have a talk.” Daniel sneered back, eyes not leaving Gwen.

The two exchanged silent glares, as Sierra walked past them with Gwen linking elbows. Jaebeom let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He feigned ignorance and turned his back.

“Don’t give me that BS. You stay away from her.” Daniel warned him and pushed his index finger against Jaebeom’s chest.

“You have nothing to worry about, Bro. I’m not planning on stealing her away from you….” Before Jaebeom could finish his sentence, he could hear Dean introducing himself on stage.

“I’m watching you.” Daniel’s voice as sharp as broken shards of glass.

Jinyoung still mesmerized by Sierra, couldn’t order his food properly. Mark had to nudge him out of his trance a few times before the waiter could take his order. When Jaebeom got back to his seat, Mark pointed out. “What’s with the two of you today? JB, you’re in some sort of love triangle here I see, I thought you’ve gotten over Gwen? And you… “ Mark pokes Jinyoung’s ribs. “Sierra is there, why’re you here? Go and get her!”

While Mark was nudging Jinyoung out of his trance, Jackson made an appearance with his bodyguards hovering in his tracks, trying hard to blend in with the crowd.

“Jackie what’s up, bro?” Mark stood up to greet Jackson who sat himself comfortably next to Jinyoung.

“What’s up with Park, man?” Jackson sniggered while hanging his trench wool jacket on the back of his chair.

“He’s caught the love bug.” Mark smirked.

“I did not catch any bugs and I’m not in love.” Jinyoung huffed and pushed the sleeves of his sweatshirt up towards his elbows. “She’s high maintenance. I’ve got a lot to ‘prove’ apparently, so to hell with that.” He pretended to busy himself with the menu.

“Ira?” Jackson raised an eyebrow, hoping for Mark to answer.

“No, Tasha. She’s there.” Mark cocked his head sideways in direction of Tasha, Gwen and Sierra’s table.

Jackson turned his head. He had seen her earlier from the entrance and he knew he needed to do something drastic soon otherwise he’d lose her forever. Their ‘Talk’ had given him some insight into how she had suffered without him during the months that they were apart. He knew that nothing could replace lost time but he was determined to win her back, no matter what it took. He was going to take care of her. He was prepared to give up his job if he had to.

Jaebeom was now back at his seat, slightly shaken by Daniel’s warning tone. He didn’t want to seem like it affected him but in all honesty, when it came to Gwen he’d always have a sense of protectiveness.

I’ll just watch for now. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Watch. Observe.

The guys had their tables filled with food and drinks that night, thanks to Jackson. Jinyoung felt bad for Daniel so he invited Daniel over to join them, despite the chilly air between Jaebeom and Daniel. In the past Daniel, Jackson and Jinyoung shared a class together so they were well acquainted. The Lahlings on the other hand, shared their own private table closer to the bar (since Daniel had joined the guys), where Chef Junhoe kept sending snacks to their table, despite Sierra’s protests insisting that they were on a diet.

Sierra and Tasha were too distracted that night to be having much of a good time. Though they didn’t say much about what each other were feeling, they could feel eyes watching them from afar. Tasha saw Jackson coming in to the bar earlier with his bodyguards and rolled her eyes.

“The ‘Husband’ is here.” A smidgen of sarcasm lined Tasha’s lips.

“Enjoy yourself tonight, babe. Don’t let him ruin our night.” Sierra comforted her while sipping on her Margarita. “But let me just say, look at you, how can he not notice you tonight. You’re da bomb! I see some ies bursting to be set free!” Sierra giggled and went straight to munching on her fries.

Just then, everyone turned heads towards the entrance of the bar. The Lahlings couldn’t help but gape.

Standing confidently in style and visibly working the crowd, Amanda looked absolutely smokin’. With her elbow linked with an extremely tall, fabulously looking man, decked out in his finest, she stood elegantly looking up at him as he spoke to her. Amanda had her silky wavy hair down that night. She wore a skin-tight lycra tank top that opened up low, exposing her luscious cleavage and a diamanté belly ring. The front of her top may seem decent compared to her bare open back which had one lacey string tied around her waist, holding the top in place. The blue skinny jeans she had on hugged every contoured curve on her body, she looked like a runway model working the floor. The man she was with rested his hand comfortably on the small of her back while ushering her into the bar. They looked like they were an item, as their body language seemed in sync with each other.

“It’s the Yeezy dude from Gwen’s apartment.” Tasha whispered in Sierra’s ear.

“You mean the one who left his shoes?” Sierra whispered back.

“What’re ya’ll whispering about? Mandy and her new hottie?” Gwen scooted over to join their conversation.

Amanda and her date, settled into a corner at the bar, her date still with his protective arm behind her back. When they settled down seated at the bar, Gwen swore she saw Amanda wink at her. Is that her way of saying ‘hi’ ? I haven’t seen her all week, and she winks at me?!

While Gwen was observing Amanda and her date, she noticed three guys joining their group. One of them greeted Chef Junhoe and was then escorted to a private reserved table at the far end of the bar. The Lahlings were both in awe and happy to see Amanda being taken care of by this new guy. He had held her hand, kept her close to him and made sure he had her by his side the entire time.

Dean’s music began to play in the background, signaling the start of his showcase. Dean’s performance that night started off with his older music. His fans that came to support him that night cheered and sang along. Eventhough the place was packed but it didn’t feel like an actual concert. The showcase was cozy and the acoustics were very well set up. July was the perfect venue for Dean’s showcase.

Gwen, Sierra and Tasha sat close together with their elbows linked, ready to watch the show. Sierra still couldn’t take her eyes off Amanda. Though this was the longest silent treatment they’ve had amongst themselves, she was happy to see Amanda. The Lahlings knew of Amanda’s past and they’ve seen how high a wall she built just to keep out the guys in her life. Sierra was curious, she wanted to both yell and hug Amanda at the same time. The weeks that passed by had eased her resentment towards Amanda for angrily judging her with her Peaches dilemma. Which by the way, was still a dilemma.

Peaches. Sierra gulped. Let’s not go there, Ira. You have your hands full.

While Dean entertained the crowd by introducing his band members and thanking Chef Junhoe for the mountain of snacks, Sierra couldn’t help but notice two familiar faces that walked in and joined Amanda and her tall handsome plus one.

JK and Jimin. She pinched Tasha and pointed. “We’re in trouble! THAT’S IT! My heart can’t take this!” She squealed.

“OOwwww…. What? Where?” Tasha asked while rubbing her arm.

Sierra whispered into Tasha’s ear, not wanting to interrupt Gwen’s fangirl trance. “It’s JK and Jimin! They’ve joined Mandy!”

Tasha’s eyes widened as her heart started to pulse at a million miles an hour. “S-H-I-T. . !” Tasha cursed under her breath. “Do we need to hide?”

“Don’t be silly! We have nothing to hide! But how does Mandy know them? Did she invite them? Are they here for JB or for Dean?” Sierra couldn’t help asking out loud.

“Who does Mandy know? Where? What’d I miss?” Gwen glanced over looking confused. What was new?

“You go back to staring at Dean, we’ll fill you in later.” Tasha patted Gwen on her shoulder. “You have two Daddies over there looking like they’re about to kill each other.” Tasha her head at Jaebeom and Daniel glaring at Dean and then at each other.

“I can’t take this. I’m gonna talk to her. I NEED to talk to her.” Sierra stood up and straightened her miniskirt. She pulled Gwen up. “You need to come with me. Mandy has a soft spot for you. Hopefully she’ll open up if her housemate, i.e. you, talk to her.” Sierra was already pulling Gwen with her and they walked across to where Amanda sat.

“Hey, wait for me!” Tasha jumped up and scurried after them.

When Gwen and Sierra finally reached Amanda’s table, they smiled widely with Tasha at the back waving enthusiastically at Amanda.

“Hi, I’m Ira, this is Gwen and that’s Tasha.” Sierra introduced herself to the group. “We need to borrow Mandy for a few minutes, promise we’ll return her safe.” Sierra pulled Mandy up and proceeded to drag her out of July, with Gwen and Tasha scuttling after. Amanda seemed to be just as confused not really knowing what to do.

She’s gonna kill me. Amanda dreaded this very moment. She knew she had to face the Lahlings some day.

They reach the side alley outside of July where they were safe from the loud music playing inside the bar. The alley was very well lit, not too dark and creepy for a possible Jack The Ripper murder scene and it was close enough to the entrance with a view of the bouncer screening guests before they enter July. The alley was situated right behind July where train commuters would pass by after they alighted from the walkway just above them.

The Lahlings stood in a circle facing each other. The atmosphere was tense and edgy as the girls internally decide how to handle the confrontation with Amanda without making a big scene.

Sierra took a deep breath before she began. “You. My pet, how have you been?”

“I’ve missed you.” Blurted Gwen, maintaining eye contact.

“Bammie, where have you been?” Tasha made a sad face.

Amanda was taken aback. She didn’t know how to respond. Truth be told, she missed her Lahlings. She missed ‘searching for lost peaks of Ira’ and grocery shopping with Tasha and most of all, hanging out on the couch pigging out with Gwen. She’d been away far too long, she realized. Though she’d drop by the apartment periodically (Gwen was never home) but nothing was ever the same again. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to tell them about this new man, this new change.

“I’m fine thank you.” Amanda kept her posture. “I’ve missed you guys too.” She bit her lip, fighting back tears welling up in her eyes. She started to wave her hands over her eyes, not wanting to smudge her eyeliner.

If she had a magic wand now, Amanda would pull everyone into a group hug and erase that fateful morning that caused this rift between them. She’d been replaying the scene in her head so many times, she had predicted multiple endings to what would’ve happened if she had to confront the girls.

The one thing she didn’t predict was Sierra’s unusual soft approach and then a familiar scene which she re-enacted in her head came to life but with a twist.

“WHAT THE MANDY? YOU GO MISSING AGAIN IMMA KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!!” Yelled Sierra as she flew in to hug Amanda tight.

Gwen and Tasha followed suit and they maintained their group hug for an uncomfortable minute as they laughed and giggled, feeling silly and relieved.

“I don’t care what you’re gonna say but let me just tell you that this is the longest ‘I hate Mandy’ phase I’ve had in a long time. Legit dude, I HATED YOU. Like the you come and yell at us like that?!” The Sierra everyone knew was on a roll. She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Gwen then interrupts. “Yeah, da hell Mandy! You called us s! You didn’t even give us a chance to explain ourselves!”

“Girls… girls… let her speak.” Tasha was happy that the girls eased the tension building up for weeks so she didn’t wanna ruin the reunion. She tried her best to calm Gwen and Sierra.

“She called us s!” Sierra and Gwen chimed.

“I just need you to tell us why, Mandy.” Sierra had a gazillion questions flying everywhere in her head. She had to dig the most important one out first. “WHY? W-H-Y?”

“I’m thinking we should all step back and give her some space.” Tasha pulled Gwen and Sierra away to give Amanda her space.

Amanda stayed silent and took in all the angry shots directed at her. She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. She looked down at her feet as she bit her side lip. The weeks that passed had given her time to think. She was angry that day, she recalled. She was angry at everything that morning. She had only a few hours of sleep, she was cranky, she was hungry and worst of all, she had a splitting headache.

“I still think you both are s….” Amanda dragged her voice quietly in hopes Sierra and Gwen wouldn’t hear her.

“Did she just call us s again?” Sierra asked Tasha, while pointing at Amanda. “AGAIN?? Lemme rearrange that pretty made-up face—“ Sierra bunched up her gold bangles, preparing to fight.

“Now now, Ira....” Tasha quickly shot an arm out to stop Sierra from starting a boxing slugfest. “Mandy, you need to apologize.”

Gwen with her arms crossed over her chest began. “Before you decide that your bestfriend is a … wait, she is still our bestie right?” Gwen checked with Sierra and Tasha for confirmation but didn’t wait for an answer. “Ahem, as I was saying, before you be calling us s, shouldn’t you at least listen to our point of view first? Don’t you wanna know our side of the story? You should at least be on OUR side no matter what!”

Sierra’s fuming red cheeks looked as if it was going to burst into flames. If she had to hold in her anger any longer, she would just explode.

“I love you guys, I really do… I’ve missed us… me with you guys…. I’ve missed it all!” Amanda started to choke but quickly steadied herself and cleared . “Now where do I start…” She proceeds to take her gold strappy heels off.

“Bammie…. You don’t have to—“ Tasha was about to interrupt her confession.

Amanda ignores her and points at Sierra. “You. Let’s start with you. You sleep with Peaches, lead him on, make him fall for you—“

“I—“ Sierra wanted to justify herself.

“…and then you meet Laundromat dude… Yes, I know his name.” Sierra stared at Amanda wide-eyed. “Don’t gimme that face.”

“But—“

“No, listen. I’m not done. You meet JK, you fall for him. You’ve not slept with the dude, but you forgot that you had Peaches there hanging in the shadows. God knows what deal you made with him… YES YES I know about the deal, he told me. Before you go ape on him for telling me, he had good reason to, ok?” Amanda feeling righteous all of a sudden from having confessed her point of view to the Lahlings.

Sierra aghast, gaped but made a hiss. “If you know about ‘The Deal’ then you would know that it’s not my fault alone! It’s as much as his as it is mine!” Sierra’s voice went up a notch as she tries to make her point of view clear.

“What deal?” Gwen nudged Tasha.

“SSsshhh… Listen and ye shall find out.” Tasha elbowed Gwen back.

As Amanda and Sierra argued their views on who was the real victim in the three-way drama that surrounded Sierra’s love life, Gwen and Tasha played audience and mediator trying to stop World War from erupting.

“C’mon , decide already! I’ve had to go through relationships before I met Joon. I’m friendly with guys but I never let them near me. Now… YOU… You have TWO GUYS! ING CHOOSE ALREADY!” Amanda tried not to yell like she did the last time. She didn’t have a headache to blame for this time and no alcohol to sooth the tensed up feeling she had in her shoulders.

“Babes… we need to take this down a notch here.” Tasha interjected. “Bammie, you must understand, it wasn’t her choice to fall for JK. It happened involuntarily. Right, Ira?”

“I didn’t mean for it to happen.” Sierra confessed in a meek voice but as soon as she started to appear weak she stuck her chest out and straightened her posture. “But… though JK’s thighs be calling for me…” She enacts a drama scene, pretending to be a stage actress. “…Peaches and I have yet to talk about this ‘arrangement’ we have. I hate his guts. To the core I hate it. He drives me insane. But that’s what I love about him.” This was the first time she actually said it out loud. Sierra quickly covered her face with her palms.

“You need to clear the air with him then. Don’t leave JK hanging now that it looks like you’ve realized who you cant live without.” Amanda pointed out.

“I haven’t decided yet. But whatever my final decision is, I’d like you guys to be there for me and not call me a !” Sierra narrowed her eyes at Amanda.

“Sorry... my bad. You still love me right?” Overcome with guilt, Amanda surrenders.

“C’mere my pet, lemme hug you!” Sierra squeezed Amanda so tight she could feel Amanda squirming.

“Owww… wait wait… YOU!” Amanda pulled away and turned her attention to Gwen who had her elbow linked to Tasha’s, smiling widely. “I’m not done with you.”

“Uh… oh…” Tasha giggled. “Sorry Gwen, you’re on your own. I’d like to know what’s going on too.”