Emotions :SideStory

(Lisa's POV)

Breakfast arrived before Valin returned. It wasn't a lot of food, so I waited for him. When he came back to his place, I asked,

"Are we splitting this meal?"

He laughed as though what I said was ridiculous, then walked to the kitchen and yelled,

"It's for you, I'm not hungry!"

Did he eat while he was out? That made me a bit sad. The delivery was chicken and waffles. It even came with a cup of spicy honey, so it was my taste—but I felt a little guilty eating without him. I sat on the couch, sulking a little when he returned with an apple and sat so close to me our shoulders touched.

"What do you want to watch?" he asked.

Even though we were barely touching, my heart fluttered like crazy.

"I'm okay with anything!" I answered shyly, so he chose the Weather Channel. Valin likes watching that for some reason, and I love it because I get to enjoy something with him. I ate and listened to him take bites from his apple. He laid his head on my shoulder while muttering something about the report on TV. My heart was racing—maybe because he's so beautiful it's sometimes hard to take.

"When you're done eating, I need to talk to you about something."

His statement made me gulp down the almost completely unchewed food in my mouth—and gag. Am I in trouble? Is it because I said I loved him this morning? I'm so dumb... Valin patted my back and after I finished wheezing, I replied,

"Alright, that's fine," but I began finishing my breakfast more slowly.

Once my plate was empty, Valin got up and went back to the kitchen. I expected him to start talking immediately, but he returned with a glass of apple juice for me, saying,

"I'm sorry, I should have gotten you a drink earlier."

His voice was shy as I took the drink from him.

"Th-that's nothing to be sorry for! I could have done it myself!" I argued.

He's so considerate of me—I don't know what to do with myself. I was thirsty, but so stressed about what happened earlier that I hadn't even thought about getting something. I started sipping the juice, then imagined that this must be what his lips tasted like right now because of the apple—and blushed.

"You..." He paused for a second and sighed before continuing, "Do you love me or are you... in love with me?"

I coughed. He took the glass from me, placing it on the table and gently patting my back again.

"I'm going to raise your arms to help open your airways," he said, grabbing my wrists and holding my arms up. Having him so close made me wish I could kiss him, but I was coughing, I even had drool on my mouth, plus he just asked me an important question.

Once I stopped, he let go, so I took a deep breath and said,

"I... if I made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry."

He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at me—like the look my parents used to give before chastising me. I turned away, and a second later Valin took my hand in his and intertwined our fingers.

"I was just caught off guard. It's okay to be uncomfortable sometimes. That's how change happens. I am not upset with you, Lisa, I just want an answer."

His voice melted me, so I relented and laid my head on his broad chest before saying,

"I love you... I've never been in love before so I don't know about that, but if I had to choose between you and water, I would choose you."

He laughed, then tried to stop before embracing me.

"Please choose water." He sounded amused, so that's a good sign.

"Just so you know, I have never said that so early in a relationship before... I promise."

Valin sighed.

"I never told anyone I loved them... ever."

His admission surprised me. He's so sweet and considerate that I imagined sweet words just fell out of his mouth naturally.

"It's scary... I imagine telling someone you love them is like admitting that you need them... I have never trusted a person enough to let them know they had so much power over me."

"O-oh." Maybe I'd been taking the words too lightly. My feelings for Valin are so strong that simply saying I like him isn't enough... but love seems like a bigger deal to him than to me.

"If you think you love me... you can say it as much as you want, but... I hope you're not upset if I wait to say it back? I need to sort out my feelings first."

Once Valin said this, I squeezed him in a hug.

"Thank you for being honest with me... I didn't say it to put pressure on you... I wasn't thinking like that, or at all, to be honest. Tell me you love me when you feel like it."

I looked up at him to see him grinning down at me. He pressed his lips to mine, parting them and massaging me with his tongue. After lighting a fire in me, he pulled away and said,

"I will always be honest with you."

I don't think he meant to be sexy when he said that, but he was. Valin then turned away from me and looked at the TV.

"Are you off this weekend?"

"I have a bit of control over my schedule, so I can take it off!" I yelled with so much enthusiasm that he chuckled again.

"Then let's go on a trip together... I have an urge to see the ocean."

"Yes!" My heart was still racing—it felt like I was in high school having my first crush. There were so many chemicals running through my body, but I thought it was impossible to feel like this about another person, again.

That's when he pulled his phone from his pocket and frowned.

"… Bad news?"

He put the phone face down on the coffee table in front of us.

"No, it's just... family drama. I don't want to talk about it."

If he starts to love me, will he want to talk about it? I hope he'll feel comfortable telling me whatever is on his mind one day.

"Lisa..."

"Yes?" I asked, moving away slightly to give him room.

Valin rolled his eyes, then hugged me, pulling me back into his lap with my thighs around his waist. I squealed.

"Do you work today?" he whispered. I wanted to say no... I remembered seeing a message asking me to come in this morning, but I never replied to it...

"I'm staying home."

After my response, he kissed me and slipped his hand into my underwear.

"Oh... have you been wet this whole time?" he teased, moving his fingers inside me.

"Don't bring that up, it's embarrassing," I retorted through kisses, then he laughed and said,

"I said it to embarrass you."

I blushed, pressing my face into his neck and gripping his shoulders.

"We're going to need to start keeping some of your clothes over here," he whispered to me, but also as a reminder to himself.

I removed my shirt, and he undressed himself. We had sex there on the couch with the news playing in the background. I was tempted to coo my feelings out loud to him again but managed to censor myself by only moaning his name. With how intense we were, I expected to feel sore like usual, but somehow my body felt fine—except for the fact that I can't cum anymore. It strains my ovaries just imagining it. I'm glad though; this means he won't feel a need to give me a week-long break again.

I still had to take a nap after we finished, and when I woke up I was in his bed. He entered the room with a towel over his shoulders, damp hair, and only wearing green sweatpants.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked, noticing I was awake immediately and catching me staring.

"Good! Real good... you look real good, by the way." I commented, not passing up a chance to flirt. He laughed, accidentally snorting—my desired reaction.

"That means a lot coming from you," he replied, drying his hair roughly with the towel.

"What do you mean?"

He met my eyes and showed off his pure white teeth.

"Everything you say matters to me, Lisa."

I felt flustered, then he sat next to me and added, "Do you want to take a shower next?"

I nodded, but thinking about having to separate from him made me drag my feet. I brought my phone with me and let my agent know I was too busy to reply earlier and that I would come into work tomorrow to meet the new clients. I wish I could carry Valin to work with me...

After I undressed and looked in the mirror, I saw that Valin had left several kiss marks down my neck and on my breasts. I'd better dress conservatively today and be sure to cover them all.

Once I was done, Valin handed me my clothes from yesterday, which he had washed while I slept. We then went downstairs, and he opened up the piano.

"It is... lovely," I commented. Every bit of it sparkled like it had been recently polished.

I watched him sit down and begin filling the room with music. His face showed so much passion, and I was entranced by his every movement. It was when he stopped that I realized my heart had been pounding like crazy the whole time.

"What... song was that?" I asked once I finally caught my breath.

"… It doesn't have a name yet." Does that mean he composed it himself?!

"I was writing it as a gift for you... there are no words yet, but maybe we can come up with the lyrics together."

He then blessed me with his happy face, and I nodded, trying to remain composed.

"Yes! I would love that!" My voice trembled slightly when I replied.

Valin got up and pecked my lips, afterward leading me to five boxes. There were a few books inside and miscellaneous things, like a globe, telescope lens, crystal plates, and an oddly heavy Rubik's cube. I could barely lift it—I'm surprised it didn't destroy the box it was packaged in.

There was one box left, but he stopped me from opening it, saying it was a surprise for later.

He then took me home and kissed me goodbye in front of my house. Separating was a little sad, but it calmed me when I saw he had already texted me. We kept a conversation going with all the random or weird thoughts in both our heads until I fell asleep with my phone clutched against my chest.

Usually, I would be excited to have new clients interested in a song I'd written, but I kept thinking that if I had the day off, I could be with Valin right now. Is something wrong with me... should I call a therapist?

A singer called Dite was reading over the lyrics I'd written and listening to different song samples to try with them when I got a message. My phone was on silent, and the only messages that would make noise were ones from my contacts I marked as important—right now that's just my mom and Valin. I checked immediately, almost dropping my phone, and was happy to see it was him!

"Good morning." He sent a cute fox sticker, which reminded me of him.

"I miss you so much, what are you up to right now?" As soon as I hit send, I wished I could take the text back.

"I'm at work." His response was short, but he sent a follow-up saying, "I miss you too." Effectively melting my heart.

"I'll be right back," I announced to my agent and Dite, then rushed to my office, closing the door behind me.

"I'm at work too... I wish you weren't busy or I'd ask for a racy picture from you. It would really make my day."

"Oh?" That was all he replied. A few minutes passed, and he didn't send anything else, so I tried to cover myself by saying,

"I was just joking."

Dite told me she liked the song, and we went over the contract about royalties and what I expected to be paid right now for it when I got another text. Without thinking, I picked up my phone and saw an image of Valin's bare chest and... member.

"Oh my god!" I screamed out loud, putting my phone back to sleep. Dite looked at me as if I was crazy.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh yes... I'm okay, more than okay. I am great." Did he take my message seriously?! And what does he eat to have such a great body?! I know male models who would be jealous if they saw him. I waited till Dite left with her manager before texting Valin,

"I wasn't expecting anything since you were at work." Then I scrolled up, saved his photo to my cloud storage, then deleted it from our chat history so no one could walk past me and see.

"We have restrooms here. It's your turn now." My blushing worsened after reading his reply.

"I'm at work!" I reasoned. His response was instant this time.

"So am I... You have restrooms there, right? I want to see you."

This is my fault—I brought this upon myself. Why am I always starting stuff?!

I headed to the restrooms as inconspicuously as possible and sat in the stall with the lid down. I then unbuttoned my blouse and took the most flattering selfie I could manage. He's seen me naked before, so I'm not sure if this will even be enough, but I can't imagine doing more here.

"I miss you more now," he texted. Then I deleted my picture from our history because there was no way I could stand seeing it again when I replied later, and then I returned to my desk.

I hope my blushing isn't as noticeable as it feels. This man is a temptation and a bad influence rolled into one being. I did my best to resist checking my phone until I had a decent conversation with my agent about new clients.

"Is it possible to keep tomorrow free for me?" I pleaded after she finished speaking. Angela, my agent, smirked at me.

"Oh, why? Are you going on a date with your boyfriend?"

I blushed.

"No... not a planned one... This weekend I do NEED off. How did you know I was seeing someone?" I asked bashfully.

"You've been in a good mood the past week and... you have a hickey on the side of your neck."

I gasped and touched my neck.

"Other side," she corrected, so I moved my hand to the correct spot. I thought I had hidden all of those with makeup!

"I figured you either had a boyfriend or your life was still much more exciting than mine. Either way, I'm jealous," she retorted playfully.

"Yeah... I'm seeing someone."

The shyness passed, and work was almost over, so there's not even a point in covering it up now.

"He's great," I added in a hushed tone.

"You haven't dated anyone since Jonah. I'm glad you're putting yourself out there again. You deserve it."

I tried to let her words sink in, then I checked my phone and read Valin's latest message:

"Should I come over after you get off today, or are you sick of me yet?"

I wish I were home right now.

"I'll come to your place and help you unpack. AND it's impossible to be sick of you," I sent my mushy text and let the cringey, lovey-dovey feelings temporarily paralyze me before I checked what he sent back.