BXBX NOVEL Chapter 32: She's Engaged?
Edward punched Keith in his gut, making him hunch forward even though he didn\'t put too much strength into his punch.
"That\'s more than enough for now. From what I can see, you\'re fine with enjoying life the way it is so there\'s no need to be so stuck up about forcing Brandon to be careful. Anyways, here\'s your share of the bonus that we received." he said and stuffed a few notes into his pocket.
Keith silently plopped himself on the couch beside Amelia and took some time to recover before taking out the money to count the amount he had received.
\'-thirty seven, thirty eight, thirty nine and forty...\' he counted mentally and then turned to look at the person whom he talked to the most in this team.
"So, we got 4 Chrons as a bonus?" Keith asked and she shook her head, "Two Chrons, a total of 100 Zens. You got forty, Clara got twenty five, Brandon took eighteen, Uncle Ed got ten and well.... I only got eight."
Keith listened to her, but he could tell that the distress she showed was just an act. He ignored her rants and glanced at the others before clasping his hands together, "Well, since our great head detective survived like a real man, don\'t you guys think that this calls for an celebration?"
"Nah, there\'s no need to waste any money." Brandon said as he put his hand in his pocket, but Amelia who seemed to have something against him for a long time, didn\'t let him go, "Hah, you stingy bastard! You took eighteen Zen and you don\'t want to spend even one on your beloved team? What kind of head detective are you?"
Before Brandon could respond, Keith placed his palm on Amelia\'s head and pushed her down slightly, "I never said he had to pay, it\'s my treat. Consider it a.... what do I even call it? Oh well, I\'m spending money today in celebration of receiving a huge bonus and also for our head detective who survived."
Edward chuckled, "Hahahaha, don\'t worry about it kid. We\'ll make this stingy bastard cough out his bonus. Today we drink until we pass!!"
"Hell yeahhh!!!" Amelia jumped up along with Clara and the two of them rushed out of the room first.
"Haaa... that Amelia is such a pain in my ass." Brandon complained and looked at Edward, "And why are you taking her side all the time, this is just unfair."
Edward shrugged, "She reminds me of my daughter. Also, you shouldn\'t be the one who\'s talking you know? You literally slept in front of her house, trying to win her heard after she rejected you."
"I... can we not talk about that?" he said, his voice slightly less loud compared to before as he glanced at Keith who was smiling.
"What are you smirking for?"
Keith blinked, silent for a second as he was caught off guard "Well, I think you two will be a great pair."
"I\'m buying you some top quality whisky today." Brandon said as he walked out of the room, unable to hide his smile.
Edward looked at Keith and motioned him to follow him out and as they walked out, he asked, "Amelia is a fine girl you know? Why don\'t you try your shot at her? From what I can tell, she-"
"I\'ve got different tastes, sir. I\'d rather go for Clara instead...." he said, not hiding much and this surprised Edward as he had never seen anyone pick Clara over Amelia. Even without her night princess ability, she always had people look in her direction during the day while Clara was mostly ignored.
Even in gatherings, she would be called "the girl who walks around with Amelia" instead of her actual name and Edward who had seen this first hand, did not know how to respond.
It took him a while to gather his thoughts and once he did, he smiled, "It\'s a good thing I guess. After all, she barely gets any suitors but it\'s a pity."
"Huh? Why?" Keith asked, not understand what Edward was trying to say, but when he heard the next words of Edward, he felt his mind go blank for a second.
"Well, she engaged and she\'s got strong values and beliefs. So, I suggest you give up on her."
"...." Keith said nothing for a while.
Indeed, he didn\'t really have plans on getting into a romantic relationship with his coworker, but that didn\'t change the fact that he had a slight crush on her. While he wasn\'t too effected by the news, it still made him a little disheartened.
"Understood." he said one word and silently followed the others until they reached a resto bar which was similar to the place where Norn used to work. It had tables outside and inside but it also had special compartments for customers if they wanted slightly better privacy.
Brandon simply got one of these compartments and ordered a bunch of food and drinks. He made sure to get premium whisky for Keith and low quality diluted gin for Amelia who began to complain when she saw the dirty gin bottle placed in front of her when everyone else other than Keith had clean beer bottles in front of them.
"Chill, I\'ll share my drink with you. There\'s no way I can drink so much." Keith said as he pushed his bottle towards her and looked at the waiter, "You can take back the gin bottle."
Hearing this, Amelia perked up and started gossiping cheerfully while Keith was lost in his own thoughts as he absentmindedly stared at Clara.