DEAR MY LOVE, LILI

CHAPTER 12

Those little jumps Rosie made as she was going for the jukebox machine across the restaurant formed a bigger smile on Lilianna's cheeks, thinking this was the girl she used to remember; cheerful and bouncy. Even the idea of listening to music already kept Rosie on the ground, let alone having a melody playing in her ears. And it was impossible for Lilianna to stop Rosie at this point, knowing how exciting it was for her best friend ever since they were both teenagers. This was exactly how Rosie had acted back in school whenever there was any celebration; dancing her way to the middle of the garden while dragging Lilianna's hand along.

And it was no different for Lilianna too as she only followed the singer's steps.

"Alright, let's see!" Rosie said, letting go of the other girl's hand when the list of songs sparkled for her passion.

Lilianna took a few seconds more to stare at Rosie, paying attention to how focused her friend was in reading the song titles before she grabbed some money from her pocket.

"Lili, do you want to pick a song?" Rosie turned to Lilianna, who was busy counting coins on her palm.

"Umm...that's okay. You can choose." Lilianna responded with a quick smile and brought her eyes to her hands again. She would love to pick a song, especially if she could find Rosie's on the jukebox selection. But her worries were fixed to her budget since she wished to pay for the dinner, and she really wanted Rosie to have any songs that the girl liked without restricting her coins.

All she wanted was for Rosie to have a good time with her, even if she had to lose this month's bread money.

"Oh my God!" Rosie exclaimed, startling Lilianna's mind from her train of thoughts. "Barry White!" She instantly turned to the girl again, her finger taking one coin from Lilianna's hand and shoving it into the machine. "Do you like this song?!"

Lilianna had no idea what song Rosie had picked since she was distracted earlier. But she was sure to herself that she didn't listen to a lot of songs, considering the limitations she had to even buy a cassette. Trusting Rosie in handling the jukebox was the most she could do, she never used one before anyway. And her hand was caught once again by Rosie when the girl gently pushed it back into her pocket.

"One coin is enough," Rosie whispered as she came closer, making sure Lilianna's hands were empty for her to hold. "This song is enough."

The loud violin intro started to fill in the room as Rosie's shoulders moved to the rhythm, her body swaying to the beat and pulling Lilianna closer to her at the same time. She smiled at the doubtful look on her best friend's face since Lilianna had always been shy about dancing, and Rosie would never give up on convincing the girl to join her even though she had ended up dancing alone every time she tried in those school days.

'We got it together didn't we?'

'Nobody but you and me'

A bold and manly voice of Barry White started the song as Rosie mimed those lyrics, pretending to sing them in front of the other girl.

"Rosie-" Lilianna pressed her hand on Rosie's chest when the gap between them had become so narrow, but Rosie clutched onto it instead before placing it above her shoulder.

"The first, my last, my everything." Rosie began to sing the song while having Lilianna in her arms. "And the answer to all my dreams."

Lilianna didn't know what was happening to her, she was panicking about what Rosie was doing with her dancing this close in public. It wasn't that she wasn't used to it, Rosie had always danced in front of her before. But it was never like this. She had her fingers locked with Rosie's and her other one was behind the girl's neck, while their chests were firmly pressed together. It wasn't only about being seen this way with a superstar, but also being this close to Rosie Bradshaw, who she had not met for five years.