Dave
I took off my clothes and got into the shower. The warm water, hitting my body, felt nice after a tough day.
I stood under the water for a few minutes and Aileen’s worried face kept appearing on the back of my mind.
She looked a bit disturbed, didn’t she? And was acting a bit off as well. What might be the reason behind it?
“Maybe ask her about it,” Aaron replied. “She’s the type to keep secrets unless you force it out of her.”
You are definitely right about that.
I walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist.
Quite surprisingly she was standing by the window watching the rain pour.
I saw my clothes on top of the table beside the bed and picked them up. But, she didn’t manage to notice me yet.
After putting them on, I went over to her side.
And noticed her staring blankly outside.
“Is the rain making you sad? Or is there something on your mind that you can’t tell me about?” I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.
Suddenly, she was startled by my voice and and looked behind her to see me standing.
She backed away in response and lowered her gaze, “I didn’t notice when you came. That was fast.”
“How can you even notice me when your mind is in a totally different place altogether?”
My question made her brows fill with worry.
“Huh…. what are you talking about?” She stuttered, “My mind is not”
“Oh, now you have to make up lies to tell me. Do you think I’ll believe your words?”
“Dave, you are just overthinking things. It’s just stress from studies. Don’t worry,” I explained. “You tell me what’s going on with you. Why did you seem so stressed earlier?”
“Are you telling me the truth?” I asked.
She nodded, “I am. Now, let’s sit down and hear what’s bugging you.”
“You are really nosy about other’s affairs,” I grunted, walking over to the side of the bed and sitting down with her beside me.
“Well…. it’s about Emilia. She called me in the middle of work and said that she had a dream about a little baby this morning. And told me how happy she felt being present in the dream together with me. She sounded so happy and excited that I was feeling guilty listening to her talk.”
“I know, I shouldn’t think too much about it. But…. I just can’t help it. I feel wronged every time I think about how I’m cheating on her every day. And she’s such a good person on top of that. It pains me to break her heart and tell her that I have no intention of making her dreams come true, nor am I committed to her in any way.”
“It makes me think….. if I was in her position, would I like the final outcome? Will I be able to accept the truth? And the answer only comes out as no.”
Aileen listened to me quietly pondering about something in her mind.
I reached out my hand, and placed it on top of hers, “What do you think I should do in this situation? I can’t fool her forever, can I?”
Lightning strikes the sky and suddenly, everything around us becomes dark.
“W-what happened to the lights?” I yelled, unable to perceive anything in the dark room.
“I think the power went out because of the bad weather,” Aileen replied, meekly. “Go and bring a candle or something to light up the room.”
“Uh, you are right. You stay here. I’ll look for candles.”
“Come back fast. I’m afraid of the dark.”
“I know, wait for me.”
I used the flashlight of my phone to guide me down the hallway. After a few minutes of searching, g I found two candles and brought them back with me along with a lighter.
“Sorry to make you wait,” I said, opening the door. “Give me one minute, the room will be bright again.”
I kept aside my phone and stacked the candles on the candle stand beside the table.
I lighted up both the candles and the room filled up with light.
“Done”
A pair of hands wrapped around my chest from behind making me startled.
“Wha”
“Do you love me?” she asked, abruptly.
“It’s surprising to hear that from someone who was defending their friend over me a few days ago,” I added. “Of course I love you. Do you even need to ask me that?”
“Thank you, I just needed to hear that from you personally,” she replied, removing her hands away.
I turned around to look at her.
“You are being weird today. Is there really nothing going on with you?” I asked, caressing her face.
She looked me in the eyes and said, “If a day comes when you need to choose between me and yourself. I hope you choose yourself and your well-being over anything. That’ll make me happy the most.”
Her words left me bewildered. Huh? What is that supposed to mean?
Choose me over her? Why? Why would she even say that?
“Aileen, what are you hiding from me?” I asked, grabbing her by the arm. “I can tell there’s something on your mind. You are being weird.”
“Don’t think too much about it,” she replied, looking away. “I just felt like saying it.”
“No, you didn’t! Who are you trying to fool here?”
“You”
I hugged her tightly, pulling her close.
“I would choose you over anything else in this world. No matter what stands in my way. I would never sacrifice you. Not even for myself or my well-being. Cause everything else in this world is useless without you. That’s what it means to love someone, to choose them over everything. So, never talk like this. Or else, I’ll get angry.”
She hugged me back, and we stayed like that for a few minutes in the silence which was comforting for both of us.
The pouring rain decided to take a break in the meantime, making me feel relieved.
“Will you choose me over anything else in this world?” I asked, pulling away.
She stared at me and gave a nod, “I would, ’cause I love you.”
“Thanks for loving me,” I replied, pressing my lips against hers.
She kissed back and in a few seconds, the light in the room came back on its own.
The sound of something dropping in the background drew our attention.
I looked behind me and my eyes widened in shock.