Our Mirrored World

Chapter Sixteen - Protect

“Wow, she’s feisty,” Wayne commented while finishing up the rest of the cake, “Poor guy, was rejected before he could even stand a chance,”

Luther couldn’t erase what Zarina has just stated, it’s bugging him deeply, and doesn’t know what to do as he was astounded when Luke grabbed her wrists before she could even successfully leave.

“Please, give me a chance,” Luke whispered while he’s lowering his head, he’s getting too dizzy because of the lights surrounding that building.

“Luke, you’re drunk, you’ll probably forget what you just told me,” Zarina claimed as she tried to struggle from his hold.

“P-Please, I truly like you,” Luke sounded like he was pleading, so Zarina bit her lower lip as she was preoccupied with how she’s going to remove his hold from her.

“I-I need to go, Luke, I have to get back to that room,” Zarina used that excuse for him to let her go, but the grip was just getting tighter.

What happened next astounded Luther and Zarina as Luke pulled her into a tight hug, “Please give me a chance, I promise, I will be good and enough for you,” He whispered with his eyes closed.

Zarina was too surprised at what he had just done and was about to struggle from his hug when it became tighter.

“Luke! Let me go!” Zarina frustratedly screamed, so Luther furiously glared at what just happened and pointed his wand at the water element right in front of him. He couldn’t stand what he was seeing.

“Spring, get in between them,” Luther abruptly chanted, so a huge metallic spring appeared in between Luke and Zarina that separated them both.

Zarina harshly fell on the floor, her eyes were widened as she gazed at Luke who lost his consciousness at what just happened before them.

“W-What the? What just happened?” Zarina exclaimed while glancing around her surroundings it’s like magic appeared for a brief second and the lights were blinking too, “Luther! Are you there?”

Luther flinched when Zarina immediately called his name, so he just scratched the back of his head before sighing.

“Y-Yes, I am here,” He nervously replied and used telepathy for her to hear him, so Zarina looked at where she heard that voice as she gazed at the small mirror near her phone.

She almost gasped after seeing Luther over there, it wasn’t clear but she could tell that it was him. She closed that case for a moment as she glanced around her surroundings. It would be bad if someone saw him inside of a mirror.

When she was sure that no one was there aside from the unconscious Luke, she opened the case of her phone carefully.

“W-What the? How and why are you here Luther?” Zarina whispered confusingly, so Luther bit his lower lip before playing with his wand, “Answer me!” She demanded.

Luther just sighed before he unsummoned his wand, “I-I just wanted to see how things will go, so I attached a mirror to your phone where I could spy on you,” He admitted, so Zarina furrowed her eyebrows.

“Why didn’t you tell me? So all this time, you have been watching me or hearing my conversation from this mirror?” Zarina tried to calm herself down, it just isn’t right for Luther to do that.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s inappropriate for me to do that, so I hope you could forgive me,” Luther sincerely apologized, but Zarina shook her head.

“You did not ask for permission Luther, how could I easily forgive you about this? Do you not trust me enough to succeed for you to do that?” Zarina clenched her fists, so Luther immediately shook his head.

“No! That’s not it! I just wanted to make sure you’re safe and doing well, not because of what you’re thinking,” Luther reassured, so Zarina was silent for a moment as she heard the door of the room opening from her back.

“We’re not done talking, Luther,” Zarina threatened before closing the case of her phone and hiding it in her romper’s pockets.

“Zarina? What are you doing here? We’re just about to ask you what do you want to sing when we noticed you were gone, are you okay?”

Zarina didn’t move an inch after she heard that voice, it was Kirstin’s and the person she wouldn’t like to see as of this moment, especially in this kind of situation.

“Zarina hey are you alright--what the? Is that Luke? What happened here?” Kirstin closed the door behind her back as she helped the unconscious Luke sit on the bench beside the room.

“Zarina? Did something happen here?” Kirstin worriedly asked as she gazed at Zarina who’s still not facing her.

“He almost harassed me so I accidentally pushed him away as he lost consciousness, he was drunk,” Zarina informed before standing up, it was half the truth.

Zarina flinched when she remembered there was a huge spring that appeared a while ago, she roamed her eyes around her surroundings and sighed in relief when she noticed that it was gone, “I’m going to leave,” Zarina firmly informed, but Kirstin ran towards to grab her wrists.

“Z-Zarina, don’t leave, I’m sorry about Luke, he’s just drunk and he doesn’t know what he’s saying, but believe me, he’s a decent guy,” Kirstin heaved a deep long sigh.

“I know, he gave me his jacket before he drifted from reality,” Zarina coldly narrated before gazing at Kirstin, “I have to go now, I don’t like to sing,” 

“No, stay here please until dinner, I promise you’ll have a good time, I’ll call someone to take Luke home,” Kirstin pleaded, so Zarina looked at her intently.

“Do you badly want me to come and stay?” Zarina coldly asked because she couldn’t understand why Kirstin looked desperate.

“Yes,” Kirstin immediately answered, so she kept her gaze at that woman who almost made her working hours unbearable.

“Why? Why are you so persistent when you don’t know me that well? Why are you always bugging me before and now you’re acting the opposite of it?” Zarina didn’t realize she asked too many questions that Kirstin probably couldn't answer all at once.

“If you’re doing this to pity me, then I don’t need it Kirstin because I‘m completely fine,” Zarina grunted through gritted teeth.

It was silent between them for a moment as Kirstin decided to bite her lower lip before sighing, “No, I'm not doing this because of pity, it’s because I want to get to know you better Zarina,” She informed before closing her eyes.

“I know it's strange for me to be like this after being so harsh to you at work, so I'm sorry for confusing you,” Kirstin continued, and Zarina agreed since it was truly strange.

“To be honest, I just find it a little distressing to see someone overwork that much and isn’t getting along with anyone else,” Kirstin admitted before gazing at her, “That’s why I decided to bug you, I want to try and see how you would react,”

“Seriously? So you're purposely trying to disagree with my suggestions for me to argue with you?” Zarina raised her eyebrows, so Kirstin playfully smirked before nodding.

“What can I do?! I tried everything to make you talk but you’re not answering, so with that technique, I got your attention, isn’t that right?” Kirstin wiggled her eyebrows, so Zarina rolled her eyes.

“But my intentions are real and pure, I want to get to know you and someday, we might...want to be friends,” Kirstin almost blushed at what she just said.

Zarina was flabbergasted, she didn’t know that someone was this willing to be friends with her, she was confident no one would approach her like this.

“Gosh, my friends would tease me to death if they heard me pleading to you like this, they know how much I wanted to annoy you and they would be surprised after hearing this from my mouth,” She whispered while lowering her gaze.

Zarina wanted to laugh at her reactions, but she knew deep inside that would be rude, so she stopped herself.

“I also want you to have fun because you've been through something that you've kept to yourself, and I know how tough you are, but a woman gets scared, right?” Kirstin looked at Zarina again, so she nodded at her.

“Don’t worry, I already cried, if that's what's been lingering on your mind,” Zarina coldly informed, so Kirstin flinched.

That's precisely what she was thinking, she assumed Zarina was keeping it all within and would certainly burst sooner or later. When that happens, she wants someone to be there for her.

“Plus, I didn’t dwell too much on what has happened, I’m perfectly fine,” Zarina added, and she immediately thought of Luther.

It’s because of him that’s why she didn’t think of it that much, he was there for her, but she is still highly pissed off at what he did to her phone for today.

“Phew, if that’s the case then I’m glad, I hope Luke didn’t remind you of what has happened,” Kirstin sighed in relief as he pinched the cheeks of the unconscious Luke.

“I know this guy at work and he talks about you a lot, but he’s shy and I was truly surprised at what you just said and he smells!” Kirstin grunted, so Zarina just watched her do her thing.

“Like I said, he would probably forget what he said to me, he’s just drunk,” Zarina sparingly replied.

“I have to get him home,” Kirstin suggested as she helped him stand up, Zarina thought it would be impossible because Luke is much bigger than her.

“You can’t carry him alone, here let me help you,” Zarina hissed before placing the hands of Luke around her shoulders.

“T-Thanks,” Kirstin shyly replied as they quietly walked to the hallways until they got down from the ground floor.

“I’ll just call for a taxi and they will take him home, his house is not too far from here,” After Kirstin said those words, she left Zarina while sitting right next to the guy that almost harassed her.

“You shouldn’t be helping him, he almost touched you in certain places,” Luther suddenly talked, so Zarina flinched before gazing around her surroundings as she decided to open her phone.

“Luther he was drunk, he didn’t know what he was doing,” Zarina sighed, so Luther just shook his head in the mirror.

“That can’t be an excuse, he almost touched you!” Luther raised his voice, so Zarina shushed him. People might find her weird if they saw her talking in the mirror of her phone.

The worse part is that they might send her to a mental hospital, “We’re not done talking about what you did just now, we’re still going to have a conversation about this, but for now, shut up or somebody might think of me as a lunatic!” Zarina exclaimed before shutting the cover of her phone closed.

“Hey, the taxi is outside, come on let’s take him there,” Kirstin arrived, so Zarina flinched and nodded as she helped her bring Luke out of that building.

It wasn’t a while until Kirstin told him the details since that driver knows Luke very well too and his parents, “Phew, now that it’s done let’s go party!”

Zarina didn’t know what happened as Kirstin pulled her inside of that karaoke room again. A lot of people got worried about them as Kirstin was the one who told them what happened.

She was worried that Kirstin might spill something out, but she found it odd that she left her name on the details.

“Why didn’t you tell them?” Zarina curiously asked while sipping on her lemon juice, Kirstin ordered another one for her since she noticed that she was fond of it.

“Some things are better to be left unsaid, plus, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, ice queen,” Kirstin playfully winked, so she just glared at her.

She laughed after seeing Zarina’s reactions, she knew that Zarina was getting pissed off again, “There we go! You’re back!” Kirstin continued laughing while pushing some buttons on the remote for the karaoke.

“Now would you please sing this, it’s from Frozen, the only ice queen I know is Elsa and you,”

Kirstin continued bugging her the rest of the afternoon, she didn’t sing, Kirstin just sang all of the music she typed for her. Nightfall came and dinner was also great as they went to a diner where all of her favorite foods are available.

“Tonight was so much fun, thank you everyone for coming!” Kirstin beamed while waving her hands at their group before gazing at Zarina who was contemplating on opening her phone since she’s anxious that someone might see Luther but she has to call for a cab.

“Thank you for coming too, ice queen,” Kirstin smiled at Zarina, so she just gazed at her before nodding.

“And to you as well for inviting me, and don’t call me 'ice queen',” Zarina rolled her eyes before waving her hand goodbye at them.

“Wow, I simply can’t believe you managed to invite her out, manager Kirstin,” Kirstin’s people went to her side while they’re watching Zarina walk away from them.

“She was different from what I expected her to be, she’s kind but cold,” One of them claimed, so she agreed with them.

“Well, who could resist my charms?” Kirstin fools around as her people just shake their heads at her.

To be continued...