Our Mirrored World

Chapter Forty Five - Awkward

“I like you Zarina, kiss me,” Luther approached her with a rose placed on his mouth, so Zarina’s eyes widened after seeing that there were still thick thorns on it.

“Luther! Take that off! Your lips might bleed!” She scolded while approaching him, but Luther was just too tall for her to reach him.

“Nonsense my love, my lips will only bleed because I’m thirsty for your love and affection, kiss me and everything will be alright,” Luther took out the rose from his mouth and leaned in to kiss Zarina.

She then jumped and rose from her bed while gasping for air, “W-What a weird dream,” Zarina mumbled while scratching the back of her head.

“This is getting more ridiculous,” She commented before fixing up her sheets and went to place her solar light and charger on her terrace.

She then gazed at the hallway towards the bathroom before playing with her fingers before she proceeded over there to brush her teeth.

Zarina was thinking of what she should say, they kissed yesterday, so what happens now? She can't give him an answer just yet.

She slowly opened the bathroom door and noticed that no one was standing in the mirror, she could only hear grunts like someone was having a hard time so she got worried for a moment.

“L-Luther, are you alright?” Zarina raised her voice, enough for Luther to hear while he’s laying on the bed Zarina made for him.

“I’m fine now that I heard your voice,” He playfully smirked while grunting. Zarina heard what he said and could hear how sick he was from his tone.

She bit her lower lip as she decided to brush her teeth, “I have work today, I’ll be back as soon as I can, are you sure you don’t need my help?” She curiously asked, so Luther shook his head even though she couldn’t see him.

“I-I’ll be fine, just go to work and come back, I’ll just sleep, I have prepared everything I need to drink, so I’ll be alright,” Luther reassured, so she just sighed before nodding.

“Alright, I’ll take a bath first before I leave,” Zarina informed and didn’t bother to cover the mirror with some cloth since Luther wouldn’t be there to look or even stand up.

After she got her towel, she immediately paced towards the bathroom and closed the door. She adjusted the shower setting before she slipped in and washed.

Luther, on the other hand, heard the showers as he assumed Zarina was taking a bath.

He reached out to the side to have some water and noticed that there’s nothing there aside from his plentiful amount of soup, extra clothes, and his medicine to recover quickly.

“H-How am I able to drink medicine without water?” He mumbled before trying to summon his wand, but he was too weak to even summon it.

“Damn it, I have to stand up and get one,” He whispered and grunted after he tried to stand up and walked towards his kitchen.

Zarina just finished taking a bath and reached towards her towel, she walked towards the door near the mirror before wrapping herself with the towel.

After she gazed at the mirror, her eyes widened after seeing Luther with a nose bleed as his grip on his glass of water tightened.

Luther was so surprised at what he just witnessed, it was just for a brief moment that he saw almost all of her, the only thing that left sane in his mind was him thinking about how beautiful Zarina was.

“W-What did you see?!” Zarina furiously exclaimed, she could feel her cheeks and ears heating up, she wanted to cry as she felt like someone had seen her nakedness.

“Zarina,” Luther mumbled while closing his eyes and wiping his nose, it was heating up because he’s still not well, “You’re beautiful,” He mumbled before turning his back at her.

Zarina couldn’t mutter any words as she could feel her whole body shaking, “I-I didn't see anything, my eyes were burning,” He lied before laying down on his bed.

He feels like his body heated up worse than usual after what he just saw, the droplets of water dripping to her worship-worthy body didn’t help him to calm down.

Luther cupped his face before rubbing it frustratedly, “So beautiful damn it,” He whispered and didn’t realize that he fell asleep without drinking his meds.

Zarina didn’t hear anything as she decided to run towards her bedroom and tried to hide from embarrassment.

She knows she heard Luther say he didn’t see anything, but why does his nose bleed and his sky blue eyes were glinting with desire and gentleness?

Zarina blushed again before she shook her head and slipped onto her comfortable clothes to cook breakfast for herself.

After she cooked and ate, Zarina prepared for her work and was wearing her heels when she glanced at the bathroom door.

She slowly paced over there and noticed no one was standing near the mirror, “I’m going to head out Luther, and I’m leaving this phone here,”

Zarina gently placed her other phone near the sink before threading her bag on the right shoulders, “I’ll be off now, stay safe and be well okay?” 

She didn’t wait for his reply as she got out of the door, she called for a taxi for her to be dropped off at work.

Zarina doesn’t feel like walking because it’ll just give her more time to think about what’s going to happen between her and Luther.

It’s just strange, she thought, he’s a wizard that’s a hundred years old and she’s just 22, what will happen if the mirror disappeared? Zarina smoothed her skirt and leaned on the side of the taxi.

She wanted to brush off those absurd thoughts from her mind, but she just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

It wasn’t long until she arrived at Milly Publishing. As usual, she was greeted by her closest guard as she went towards the elevator.

After she arrived, Kirstin was already there, but she didn’t mind greeting her as she proceeded towards her designated desk.

“Good morning ice queen!” Kirstin greeted after she sat, so she just nodded at her before starting up her computer.

“So, what did you do yesterday?” Kirstin wiggled her eyebrows, she continuously poked on Zarina’s shoulders.

She got nervous for a moment before gazing at Kirstin. Did she see them? Zarina thought as she kept on staring at Kirstin.

“Woah jeez, you’re more silent today, what’s up?” Kirstin crossed her arms against her chest, so Zarina shook her head and sighed.

She probably didn’t see them and she’s just overreacting, “Nothing, just let me work,” Zarina firmly informed before typing her password on her pc.

Kirstin just shrugged before working on her part back there at her desk, their working hours were silent until someone tapped Kirstin's shoulders.

She gazed at her before tilting her head, “Miranda? Is there something wrong?” Kirstin curiously asked, so Miranda scratched the back of her head.

“U-Um, I think the manager has a problem, she never makes mistakes and she keeps on sending numerous mistakes to us,” 

Miranda informed as they both looked at Zarina who was massaging her temples. Zarina also looked like she’s deep in thought while tapping her hands on her desk.

“I’m just worried about her, I don’t have any problems if she makes mistakes, but it’s just unusual for her to be like that,” Miranda added, so Kirstin agreed with her.

She just sighed before smiling at Miranda, “I’ll take care of it, don’t worry, just go back to your work and I’ll ask her if she’s alright,” 

Miranda thanked her before she went back to her desk. Kirstin, on the other hand, saved her work and went towards Zarina.

“Hey, ice queen!” She greeted her before pushing a recliner near Zarina and sat right beside her, “Are you alright?”

Zarina coldly gazed at her, “Why wouldn’t I be?” She sparingly replied before she started typing something from her computer.

“You see, you’re like a robot that doesn’t make mistakes, and your workmates got worried about you because you made a few mistakes,” Kirstin casually informed, so she wondered for a moment before checking her work.

She almost cursed underneath her breath before sighing in disbelief, “How could I miss this?” Zarina whispered that Kirstin heard.

“See? So what’s up?” Kirstin crossed her arms against her chest, so Zarina just looked at her intently.

“Oh come on! We talked about a lot of things about ourselves, well technically, I did, so you might as well share something with me, I wouldn’t tell anyone even your parents,” Kirstin winked, so she just sighed while shaking her head.

“There’s nothing wrong, I’m just thinking about a story about the age difference and how far apart they are from each other,” Zarina relaxed her palms on her desk.

She’s almost risking Luther’s identity here, but she has to hear somebody else’s thoughts, “So you're distracted because of a story? Jeez, alright, let’s hear it,” Kirstin gazed at her.

“It’s about a mythical creature that’s a hundred years old and a human girl that was 22 years old, things happened and they may have grown attached since that mythical creature confessed to that human,” Zarina explained, so Kirstin wondered for a moment.

“That’s actually a nice story, then what happened?” Kirstin curiously asked, but Zarina just shrugged.

“The human girl was unsure of what she would do after the confession, does love work even if they're worlds apart from each other?” Zarina hopefully gazed at Kirstin, so she thought about it for a moment before nodding.

“Of course, love is mysterious, you’ll never know what kind of love you’ll get, when it comes, it comes! You wouldn’t be prepared for it, but instead, you will just go along with it,” Kirstin claimed, so she got curious for a moment.

It was the same as how Luther explained the relationship to her. Was she wrong about her perception of love?

Does this mean she also feels something about Luther? She just shrugged and looked at Kirstin while she was explaining.

“And the age difference, there’s no problem with that if he’s a mythical creature, they’re probably the same age but just many years, you know, advance? Since they’re in a different world, mythical creatures don’t age quickly like humans,” Kirstin added, so Zarina thought it made sense.

“But I’m pretty sure that story is going to be tragic because if they’re in different worlds and also different from one another, things will be hard that will force them to leave one another,” Kirstin mumbled.

Zarina got confused for a moment, “W-What do you mean?” She curiously asked so Kirstin was overjoyed because she’s having a conversation with her.

“Of course, both of them will ask for affection, all of us would want being cuddled, being held, and if they’re worlds apart, it’s going to be difficult, aren’t you curious why almost long-distance relationships don't work? It’s because of that!” Kirstin claimed.

“Plus conflicts would be hard to solve even if they talk during calls and or magic well since it’s a mythical creature right? What’s the title of that story?” Kirstin curiously asked, so Zarina flinched while thinking of a good reason.

“U-Um, it’s a story of mine, Our Mirrored World, since they’re talking through a mirror,” Zarina bit her lower lip, she’s lying with a straight face and she couldn’t believe she does it naturally.

“Wow, that actually is a good story, in my opinion, you’re just confused about how to continue it huh? No wonder you're so into it,” Kirstin tapped Zarina’s back, so she just sighed.

“Thank you for listening to me, Kirstin, it feels good to let it out of my chest,” Zarina sincerely thanked her before smiling, so Kirstin’s eyes widened.

“Did you just smile?!” She exclaimed before standing up on her recliner, which captured almost everyone’s attention. Zarina pulled her to sit down and glared at her.

“I don’t smile and you know that, so shut up,” She coldly stated before secretly smirking, she knew that Kirstin wouldn’t forget what she just saw a while ago.

“I feel like I needed to pray or something, I’ve been blessed!” Kirstin overreacted, so she just shook her head and proceeded to go back to her work.

After she finished doing her part, she immediately got home to check if Luther was alright. Aside from that, she couldn’t brush off the fact that Luther and she might have a tragic relationship.

She doesn’t want that to happen, so what should she do? “Human? Is that you?” She almost jumped after locking her apartment door.

Luther’s voice sounded much better, so she paced towards the bathroom to look and sighed in relief after she saw that he looked better.

She thought about all of what Kirstin told her. If she ever admitted her feelings to him, what would happen to them both?

Would it be like those long-distance relationships that Kirstin told her about? Would there always be conflicts because they're far apart from each other?

“Zarina? Can you hear me? Yahoo? Oh my wizards have you gone deaf?!” Luther exclaimed, so she just glared at him.

To be continued…