Few minutes later…
Marija and Oni are standing on the dock and staring at each other in silence.
Marija observed Oni most of the afternoon and evening, and even now in this dark... Marija does not see anything special about Oni no matter how much she looks at her.
Marija wondered, why is Jesse so set on being with this girl? What kind of a spell did she cast on him? Marija is a bit shorter than Oni, but her breasts are larger compared to this teenage girl, and she has curves in all the right places, while Oni is… lean.
How Marija sees it, Oni IS only a teenager, and eventually she might develop in an alluring woman, but right now she is nothing special and any grown man with healthy needs would pick Marija over Oni. At least that is what Marija thought.
Oni felt that she is losing her patience. Why is Marija not saying anything? She called her here just to stare at her? Creepy.
Michael will be back any minute, looking for her to dance with and instead of waiting for him there, Oni is standing here with Marija.
Oni smiled bitterly. Considering how coldly she is treating Michael, why is she concerned that he will not find her near the dancefloor?
She scolded herself for being childish. No wonder he calls her 'little girl' and treats her like a child… because she is acting like one. Why is she worried about Michael's wellbeing and missing him when he is not around, but when he is in front of her, being nice and caring, she is cold and pushing him away? Oni told herself that she needs to decide if she will give him a chance or not... and stick to it. This situation is driving her crazy, and she can imagine that it's not easy for Michael either.
Oni wondered, what would Michael think if he sees her here, facing Marija on this dock? What if they start fighting? Oni is confident that she would have an upper hand. And considering that guys usually save the weaker one, a damsel in distress… would Michael save Marija? Of course, he would. He is a gentleman, doing the right thing, regardless of who is hurt in the process.
Oni thought that if she rips Marija to pieces quickly, Michael will not have the chance to save her. Marija is a scandalous woman. Is she worth saving? Maybe Michael sees her differently.
Oni realized that Marija is the first woman she truly… hates.
"Did you call me here just to stare at me in the dark?", Oni asked, irked that Marija is just observing her.
Oni has a dark skin (she is an African girl), and the dock is not lit up, so there is no point of Marija staring at her. How much can she see? Or maybe this is some game of silent intimidation, Oni thought.
"I see you have spunk. No wonder Jesse likes you.", Marija said dejectedly.
Oni noticed that Marija called Michael as 'Jesse', but she has no intention of correcting her. If Michael didn't inform Marija about his change in alias, that is not Oni's problem. Actually, part of Oni is happy that Marija is not aware of this.
It took a second for Oni to process the sentence properly. Did Marija say that Michael likes her? Where did she get that? Did Michael tell her something? Oni's heart was beating like crazy, and she was frustrated that just those few words got her excited to the point of almost hyperventilating, but she needs to stay calm (at least on the outside). "Did you call me here to talk about him?"
"No. I called you here to talk about you.", Marija responded with a smirk.
Oni was confused. "What about me?"
"Jesse said that you rejected him, but I see how you are looking at him. Acting all pure and innocent, but actually, you are seducing him. Am I wrong?"
"How am I seducing him?"
"Don't pretend to be ignorant!", Marija hissed. "No matter what you do, he is by your side because he pities you. He sees you as his little sister. Do you think that he is interested in a relationship with you? Hmph! He is only with you because he sees you as an innocent and pure girl. Doesn't he call you 'little girl'. For him you are a challenge because you pushed him away. As soon as he wins you over, he will discard you…"
Oni was confused. Did Michael tell this to Marija, or is she making it up. He is calling her 'little girl'. He called her as such many times. Does he pity her? Little sister? No, that can't be. Michael told her that he does not want to lose her and that she is his light and that he wants to create happy memories with her and that there will be no other women and that they will date... and even though she is heartbroken and not ready to accept him, she believed him.
Oni told herself to stay composed. This is not the time to get carried away in negative scenarios and to allow this woman to rile her up. She can think about all that later because right now, she is facing Marija who obviously does not have good intentions. What does she want? "Why are you telling me this?"
Anger bubbled within Marija with every Oni's word. Why is Oni acting all innocent? Marija thought how she spent only two nights with Jesse, but who is this teenager to stand in the way of her third one? If Oni is so clueless, she should get a glass of milk and go to bed by 10 PM and leave the night for grownups and not spoil her fun with Jesse!
"I want you to get out of the way. Stop holding Jesse back, he is mine!", Marija screamed.
Oni took a step back and looked at Marija in disbelief. Why did Marija raise her voice? Why is Marija looking at her like she did something really-really wrong?
"You are delusional.", Oni said under her breath.
Marija sneered. "Oh, no, sweetie. You are the delusional one. I am a real woman, who can give him what he needs…"
Oni remembered that evening at the Chateau: Marija and Michael holding each other and laughing and… her temper started rising. If not for this obnoxious woman, she would still be happily in love. Why did she destroy it? And now she came here to flaunt her shamelessness?
Oni gritted her teeth. "Yes. You gave him what he wanted. To him and to whom else?"
Marija's eyes flashed in outrage. "That is none of your business!"
"But you made it my business. By dragging me here for this pointless show of superiority you came up with, you made it my business. Tell me honestly, why are you after him? Because there is no one else? Or because he rejected you?" With the help of Eve-lens, Oni saw that Marija's eyes widened in shock and her health stats showed increased heart rate and blood pressure… and Oni knew that she hit a nerve. "I am right! He rejected you. You feel that you need to win him back. You were talking about yourself… it is you who will discard him as soon as you win him over. And you said that you are a real woman who can give him what he needs? Why did he dump you then? Tell me… why did he dump you if you can give him what he needs? Why don't you use your womanly charms to win him back? You can't... can you? You are delusional. Go to a doctor and check that head of yours because some of the screws got loose if you think that talking smack at me will make Jesse like you. You are useless woman in a desperate situation, who is doing things without thinking..."
Oni's words hit Marija in her pride, cracking it a gradually and she snapped.
"You!", Marija screamed and rushed toward Oni with an intention to push her off the dock. Or maybe to scratch her. Probably both.
Oni swiftly took a step on the side and gave Marija a slight nudge on the back.
A high pitched scream from Marija died off suddenly.
'SPLASH!'
After a two second-long silence, a hurricane of curses in several languages assaulted Oni's ears.
Marija tried pulling herself up, but her upper body strength is lacking, and she plunged back into water, which made her curse even louder.
Oni wished that there is a noise cancelation feature on the ear studs so that she can make this annoying woman shut up.
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