August pouted, staring at his housemate, Sonke, who was grinning at him, giving him a look of approval. He proudly patted him on the back, as if he was a proud father.

“Why do you look so down? I thought you said the two of you spent the night together.” Sonke said, taking a seat on the sofa, right next to him.

“We didn’t do anything.”

Sonke’s smile softened. “So…you just paid for a hotel room so that you could…just sleep?” His look turned sceptical. “You sure she doesn’t know you? She could have just said that to get pictures of you and sell them to the press, you know?”

“I’m sure she’s not like that. Anyways, she got a bit drunk after a few drinks,” August was still pouting, “but that is beside the point. When I woke up, she was gone.” He whined.

“You sound like you actually like her.” August didn’t answer and Sonke’s eyes widened. “Oh no.” He shook his head, waving his hands in the air. “No, no, no. Don’t even think about it.”

“You’re saying that because you haven’t heard the full story.” August straightened. “I’ll start after she had a few drinks. She put away her poetry book and was just cutely staring at me.”

“Cutely? Really?”

“It was adorable. Anyways,” August continued, “I was as curious as you were about whether she knew me or not, because I removed the bucket hat and moved some of the hair out of my face. She stared at me, so I asked her what was on my mind,

‘Do you know me?’ She chuckled at that, taking another sip of her drink.

‘Because you’re a celebrity, right?’ When she said that, I started panicking a bit. I thought that she really did know, but then she said, ‘Sorry, but I don’t.’ She puffed out her cheeks, blowing out the air slowly. Her cheeks were already red from the drinking, but other than her cute habits, she looked sober.

‘Then how did you know I was a celeb?’ I asked.

‘Why else would you ask me if I knew you? Only someone well-known would ask that, right.’ She smiled. She gulped down the rest of her drink, making a face as the bitter liquid burnt her throat.

I laughed and she laughed.

I was convinced then that she didn’t know me. She talked about random useless stuff for a while, and I listened. I mean, the bartender, who is her friend I think, kept on giving me nasty stares. He hates me, I swear.

She went to the bathroom and he walked to stand in front of me.

‘She’s nice, right?’ He was smiling, but I could see the threat in his eyes and I could also hear the venom in his voice.

‘Hmm, yeah.’

‘Yeah.’ He moved closer towards me, never breaking eye contact. ‘She’s clueless, but I know your type. I know what you want and you won’t be getting anything from her. If you do take advantage of her drunken state, I will tell each and every one of your fans that you’re a…’ I’m sure he wanted to say something bad, but just then, Kholwa came back. She was still as bubbly as ever.

He sweetly smiled at her, like he did not just threaten me, but whatever.”

“He sounds dangerous.” Sonke said.

August shrugged. “He’s just trying to protect his friend.”

“Friend?” Sonke scoffed. “Sounds like her lover to me.”

August shook his head. “If they were lovers she would not have been kissing me half an hour later. We kissed all the way to the taxi,” August giggled, “and then in the hotel room too.”

“And then you just slept.”

“She told me that she wanted to live like she was dying tomorrow. She said it after stopping us from going any further.” August smiled some more. “She said she didn’t want to hurt me.”

“That’s something to smile about?”

“No. I just remembered how cute she looked as she fell asleep on my chest.”

Sonke scoffed. “You’re so innocent, it’s cute.”

August sadly smiled, “It’s very silly of me, isn’t it? To like her when I know so little about her, and when she even left me alone in a hotel room in the morning.”

“It’s silly. Yes.” Sonke shrugged. “But maybe she left because she thought you actually did have sex and she panicked. You said she was drunk too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, maybe, I don’t know.” Sonke patted his shoulder as he stood up. “Don’t stress so much about her. You’ll find someone soon enough.”

Sonke left his roommate alone, hoping that August understood that he shouldn’t even think about finding a girlfriend. He was at a tender age and his career was just starting. Heartbreak could ruin him. He knew that much, and having experienced it himself, he did not want August to feel like there was nothing to live for anymore. Especially not because of love.

No one deserved that. Even if they were going to get over it someday.