"So, we are best friends in your universe?" Nick asked with bafflement posted on his face, embedded in his tone of voice too.
"Yes! Cool huh?!" I elbowed him as we were having lunch together.
He didn't give me any response after that, taking his hot tea with lemon that smelled so good. That was because I already finished mine and lazy to order a new one.
I took Nick's advice in my universe, which was to talk to the Nick in here just in case I needed a moral and emotional help. I knew he wouldn't be as same as my Nick, who had been such a great friend and supporter all this while, but at least I had someone here. Being alone in a fight that had high tendency to lose would make it a thousand times harder.
My heart needed someone and that someone was my one true friend.
"I have heard about this before, soul travelling" He finally said something that wasn't even related to my topic earlier. I was talking about my friendship with him but he seemed like he was more interested in the supernatural part. "But I didn't think it was possible before"
"Until now?" I tried to complete his sentence.
"Yeah until now. Finally it's proven"
"Wait," I grasped his forearm. "Do you actually believe me?"
Nodding, he raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"
"Because it's ridiculous? How can you simply believe what I told you?"
"Because you are not the Lisa Isaac I know. There's no way you can fake kindness towards me, you've been bad all along" He looked at me after he placed the cup back on the table. "And because you told me about the evening walk I had in St. James's Park with my nephew" His eyes were shining a little that I couldn't tell if it was just a lighting effect or a thin layer of tear. "Nobody knows about the-"
"The very last walk with Norman," I cut his sentence off, remembering about my Nick's story about his beloved 4 year old nephew who died because of heart failure the next day.
He flashed a weak smile at me.
"I never told anyone about that," He continued. "But if the Nick in your universe told you about his nephew, then you must be very important to him"
"I really hope so," I replied his smile with good amount of seconds. "Because I love him so much"
Baxter looked away as he appeared to be in a hard time to process everything that was told. But I was glad that he was willing to listen, at least, since I didn't really expect him to believe me. Having him willed to understand and spend his time to hear this kind of nonsense was already something to be thankful of.
"You have my number, right?" He asked shortly.
"Yeah I should have it"
I didn't even need to check in the Lisa's phone because I had his number recorded in my brain.
"Just call me if you need anything, Isaac"
"Lisa" I corrected him immediately. "I know it sounds weird to you but just call me Lisa"
"Okay," He gave me a proper smile this time. "Just give me a call anytime, Lisa"
The lunch with Baxter went well as I supposed to expect. Making him believed in stuffs I planned to tell him was one of my worries for today's visit in Chae's universe. One was down and it was Chae's turn next.
I texted her if she would love to spend a night at my place after work and have dinner together. I even volunteered to do some groceries so we could do the cooking, just like me and my Chae used to do back then. It was a relief that she said yes to me since she didn't have to work on the next day, it would be her day off.
So I went to buy food supplies, having the idea of what I wanted Chae to cook for me later at night; Salmon steak, which was one of my favourites that my Chae cooked for me in the past.
Handling those grocery bags, I saw a jewellery shop from afar once I entered the shopping area. I should have gone straight to the exit but I decided to walk around the whole shopping mall to kill the time and I found my legs stopping in front of the display glass.
"Good afternoon. How can I assist you, miss?"
The promoter greeted me in a way that was so welcoming and somehow, attracting me to buy something.
"I'm looking for something for her"
And I walked out from the shop an hour later with the culprit Lisa's credit card charged for a £6400 price tag of a diamond ring, wrapped and presented in a maroon coloured box that was tied with cute little ribbon.
I had always wanted to buy my Chae a ring before, or bracelet, or any jewellery that had its own price and sentimental value to it. But I waited for the right time, thinking of proposing her to marry me. I didn't get the chance to buy it at the end.
At this moment, in this universe, I didn't want to wait anymore. I would buy anything I wanted for Chae with this fucker's money. I would spoil the woman I loved with gifts that might bring a smile on her face just to express how much I loved her in my own ways; without any love spell, without any demon's help.
Chae would know how much I loved her, tonight.
I heard the electronic bell rang at 7:15p.m., signaling someone was at my door. I knew straight away that it was Chae since she would always reach my place around this hour after work. Having so many different feelings at the time; sad, disappointment, heartache and also love, excitement, eagerness, all mixing in the same mould, I made my way to invite her in.
"Hey?"
She did it first right after I opened the door, giving me her sweet, warmed smile that greeted my soul from the eye down to the heart.
"Hey!" I unlocked the door grill for her. "You made it!"
She chuckled. "Actually I went to a different floor"
"What?!" I forced an interest into my chest since my eyes began to water, filling up the sadness again when I remembered about what my Chae did in the past. "No way!"
"I went to the floor you brought me at first!"
"The 10th floor?"
"Yeah!" She giggled as we walked towards the kitchen. "A guy opened the door for me and I was so embarrassed!"
I tried so hard to laugh with her and I guessed it was slowly working.
You can do this, Lisa. Hang in there.
"Would you mind if we cook first?" She turned around, tying her hair into a bun as she asked.
"You don't want to shower first?"
"I guess not? Or I might need to shower twice" She grinned. "Only if you don't mind though"
She rested her body against the kitchen counter while her eyes were penetrating my already weak heart.
How can you still look beautiful with that messy hair?
"Yeah, sure"
She was just like my Chae. My girlfriend would always cook for me first as soon as she arrived from work. She would take off her uniform and place it over the bar stool, cooking and walking around with her singlet on.
My Chae was undeniably good in cooking but she was used to do it fast to chase the orders for customers, so she would tend to stain her clothes because of that habit. And my counter top was one of the proofs for her messy job. So that was her reason for not having a shower before she started to cook.
"How was work?" I asked her a question that was supposed to be asked way earlier. I got distracted by the stories of her childhood time anyway.
"Hectic as always" She laughed a little while washing the dishes. "So many people in Camden today. I have no idea why"
"I'm sorry if I trouble you, Chae" I continued wiping the dining table with a cleaning cloth. "You already cooked for hundreds of times and you still need to cook here"
"Don't say that, Lisa" She stole a look at me, flashing her comforting smile. "I don't mind cooking for you"
I just wanted to punch myself right in the face when the heaviness in my chest started to weigh down my throat.
"Thank you, Chae. The salmon tasted good"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it" She giggled again as her hand was placing a drinking glass on the shelf.
I took a deep breath, looking away from her when the sharp pain began to attack my nose.
"I'll prepare the clothes for you"
Chae didn't even get to say thank you to me as I stormed into the bedroom. I saw her from the corner of my eye, looking at me as I was leaving the kitchen but I ignored her. She didn't stop me either since I didn't hear her voice after that, which was good because the tears already flowed out.
The idea of Chae saw me crying would definitely make a scene and I didn't want it, remembering how worried she was when I first saw her outside of the cinema.
I kept my face pressed into the pillow even though I heard the door was opened that followed by her soft footsteps, approaching the bed I was lying on.
She carefully climbed next to me and I felt how gentle she put her body weight on, probably refused to wake me as she thought I was already sleeping.
I wasn't.
Then I had her touch on my back, giving me a few strokes there before she laid herself under the same blanket as me.
The urge to cry sent its troops to weaken my walls and if I didn't prevent myself from wetting the pillow, Chae would feel my sobs through the mattress later on. Because who would have thought, a cry that had been a symbol of weakness could shake a bed just like a strength would?
I turned my head to the left, which was the side Chae was lying on and her eyes were the first things I saw. She actually had her front facing me.
"Hey?"
Her smile greeted me again while one of her hands rested on the head pillow.
"Hey..." I replied back in whisper.
"I thought you were already asleep?"
"I can't sleep"
"Why, Lisa?" She sounded worried in an instant, as expected. She even scooted closer to me and placed her hand on my back. "Are you alright?"
"How can I sleep, Chae?"
"Lisa, what's wrong?"
The worry lines formed on her forehead as she was using her softness to get me into talking.
"How can I sleep without kissing you first?"
I swore I saw her blushed. She blushed so hard until she had to slap my back and turn her body away to face the ceiling while her hand was cupping her mouth.
"Ohh God, Lisa!"
"What?" I chuckled as my eyes began to water. "I need to kiss you first, Chae"
"No, you don't-" She tried so hard to hold her laughter, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Or I won't be able to sleep"
"You did this before, Lisa!" She sounded like she was about to whine. "At first you said about your mum telling you to kiss someone to skip a beat," She was definitely whining. "Now you said this"
I couldn't distract myself from laughing as well no matter how sad I was feeling at the moment, and it was because Chae was happy. Seeing her happy made me happy in a mysterious way even though my chest was already filled with tears.
"You are right," I smiled, pushing myself up with my elbows. "I'm making things up just to kiss you"
She ran her eyes towards me, still keeping her palm against her lips. "You should sleep"
"Maybe I should," I shifted closer to her. "But can I kiss you first?"
"Do you really need to?"
She was smiling, probably still having the force to laugh again in any second, but I could hear a different vibration in her voice.
She was getting nervous all of the sudden.
"I really need to kiss you right now, Chae..."
She laughed a little before she could respond to me.
"But why?"
"Because I have been missing you"
Chae still kept her mouth hidden, so I just leaned in as I closed my eyelids and gave soft kisses on the same hand she was using to cover her lips.
I trailed her skin from her wrist and slowly to her knuckles, running my mouth against her fingers. No more laugh was heard from her as our surrounding had became quieter, until her breath and mine were all my ears could hear.
Giving nibbles with my lips, I could feel she slowly pulled her hand away and I met those soft flesh of hers right after.
I didn't want to open my eyes yet as I let her fingers touching my neck, travelling up and she held my face with her softness that I had missed so much.
Her lips brushed so smoothly in between mine as I was wetting them with my tender way of kissing my Chae's. My heart began to race, sending blood and desires to my entire body like there was no tomorrow, yet my kiss was nothing like that. I was kissing her like I owned the clock, like I had the whole seconds, whole minutes and hours all to myself; feeling each stroke of how gentle her lips moved without missing even a moment of it.
Chae accepted my kiss like she needed to be kissed by someone she loved so much. She kissed me back in a way she wanted to be kissed; gentle but hard in passion just like a woman she was.
At this point, none of us knew what we were doing, or where this kiss would lead us into. I was lost and so did she. We were both lost souls in a set of multiple universes. But I was certain that I was doing it right when she slipped off the first moan from her mouth. I knew she was comfortable with this kiss since her fingers were gripping at the back of my head a little stronger than before like she didn't want to stop.
And so, I didn't.
Climbing on top of her, I began to deepen the kiss, sucking her bottom lip and listening to her stealing my breath away in between head turns. My hands were pressed into the pillow to hold my body weight as everything felt so heavy; my breath, my chest, my head, all had became burden to me.
I never kissed my Chae this long before. She always knew when to stop, and so did I. We had our own steamy kiss moments but they never went this far. They never put me on top of Chae like this because we always had our limits.
Having her warmed air hitting my lips, her breathing slowly turned into painting, making my heartbeat gone crazier than it already was as if it matched with hers. And it was because I never heard Chae sounded this way before. Her moans were caressing my ears in such an amorous manner; sensual and so well-balanced. She wasn't being too loud but not too low either. It was just satisfyingly pleasing, and I couldn't get enough of it.
So I parted the kiss, which gave her a little surprise by the gesture when she was forced to let go of her arms from holding me in place.
Gripping at the hem of my own shirt, I pulled it over my shoulders as my body arched.
And I took it off me.