Goddesses Don't Get Sick Read Online Free Page A

that she’d started to sound hysterical, but she didn’t care. Fuelled by the alcohol and a sudden resurgence of bad memories, she became determined that—whatever this guy’s tricks were—she wasn’t going to fall for them. Not this time. “What is it, then? Am I just another in a harem of girls that you string along or som-”
    She was stopped short as the stranger gently grabbed her shoulder and turned her to look at him
    “I help people where I can,” he spoke evenly, not quite angry, but apparently getting close. “Yes, I have helped some girls, but never more than I did for you that first night. For them, I was just doing my job. I like to help people, Ange, it’s in my nature. But none of them meant anything to me the way you think. None…None of them were like you.” He seemed to deflate as he finished, looking at Angela with a sadness in his normally-smiling eyes as he let his arm drop from her shoulder.
    “I wanted to stay in touch with you, Ange. I haven’t been able to be in the area for a while, and I’m sorry if you thought I was stringing you along, but I wanted to stay in touch.”
    Before she knew what she was doing, Angela stepped forward and found herself in his arms, holding him close as she pressed her face against his chest. He’d blinked in surprise at her action and almost pulled away, before he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair.
    “None have been like you, Goddess,” he murmured, almost inaudibly.
    “What’s your name?” Angela asked softly. She felt his back tense slightly against her arms, before he sighed and slumped a little, as if in defeat.
    “Tuyen.”
    “Tuyen,” Angela murmured to herself, before pulling back to look at him. They stared at each other for a moment, both searching for a way to restart the conversation. Tuyen smiled softly and brushed a strand of hair out of Angela’s eyes.
    She kissed him.
    For a moment, it was beautiful—everything she had dreamed without realizing she had been dreaming it—but that moment only lasted for a second.
    Pulling back, not quite pushing her away, Tuyen stared at Angela in shock and blatant fear. Turning so quickly he almost slipped over and crashed into the gate, Tuyen bolted, his footsteps unheard beneath the pulse of the music as he disappeared into the night.
    Angela stood alone, deaf to all the noise around her as she wondered numbly what she’d done.

FIVE.
    AN HOUR LATER, most of the party goers had either passed out on any available floor space or gone home. Staggering slightly under the effects of the night’s drinking, Sharon made her way outside to see what had happened to her friend. Seeing Angela sitting alone on the curb with her head in her hands, Sharon’s first assumption was that the stranger had to be around, or had only just left. But after looking up and down the street for someone who clearly wasn’t there, Sharon’s curiosity overcame her.
    She was certain the man she’d seen had to be the mysterious suitor who had been showering Angela with gifts. What Sharon wasn’t certain about was where a man who had clearly put a lot of effort into pursuing someone would have disappeared to… without said someone. Wandering up to the curb, she sat down heavily next to her quiet friend.
    “Sooooo,” Sharon grinned drunkenly and nudged Angela. “How’d it go?”
    Angela didn’t respond. After a silence that extended for too long, Sharon glanced over at her and blinked as she noticed that tears were trailing silently down her friend’s face.
    “You okay?” Sharon asked in concern, hesitantly resting an arm around her friend. Angela stared blankly at the road beneath her feet, throat working as she tried to compose herself.
    “I kissed him,” she murmured, more a comment to herself than an explanation. Sharon’s face split briefly into a broad grin, before her drunken mind caught up with the situation.
    “That’s, usually a good thing, right?” She ventured hesitantly.