Chapter 16: 15 | the fourth wall
Someone was calling my name. Everything felt hazy, like an alternate reality. "Aria..." I felt his hand caress my face. So tender. And his eyes were filled with lust, guilt, fear, and something else. Something I wasn't ready to hear.
I wasn't me. It was like I was watching this scene unfold through someone else's eyes. I felt my hand lifting to his lips. "Ssh..."
Pushing a strand of his hair away from his face, I palmed his face and he leaned towards it before taking a hold of my hand and placing a kiss on my wrist. His eyes hardened, his jaw clenched, and then I felt it.
"Michael!"
And then I woke up gasping for air. Blinking furiously, I tried to calm my racing heart when I noticed I had an IV on my wrist. Furrowing my eyebrows, I stared at it for a good minute before looking around and realized I was in some sort of medical room.
I heard the door knock before it opened to reveal John and a nurse in light blue scrubs. They were talking lightly with John reading the charts and the nurse leaning close to him before John's eyes lifted to mine and lit in happiness. I watched as he sped walked towards me and then flitted my eyes back at the nurse who stood back watching him. When she caught me staring at her, she quickly composed herself and gave me a polite smile before leaving to get the doctor.
John squeezed my hand and I smiled at him. "I'm glad you're fine." He gave me a gentle smile and tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. He had a dark blue sweater on that only brings out his blue eyes behind the glasses. His hair was slightly ruffled as though he had been running his hair through it and I felt my hands itch to ruffle it even more. The nape of his neck begins flushing again when he noticed I was shamelessly checking him out.
He was just so charming.
When the doctor came by, it turned out I had just passed out from dehydration and stress and reminded me to take better care of myself. I joked about eating apples every day but didn't exactly receive much laughter from the audience. When John left the room briefly to help with the forms for discharge, the doctor stayed behind.
He studied me for several seconds before clearing his throat. I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow, feeling slightly apprehensive from his heavy stare. "Ms. Jin, there were several traits I noticed that might play a role in your sudden... attack. Since it is out of my specialty, I will leave some of my well-known contacts for successful therapists."
I felt my heart race and panic at his insinuation. Clenching my fists under the blanket, I tried to level my voice and maintained eye contact. "I'm fine. Thank you."
He released a disappointed sigh before nodding and walking away.
Once he was out of the room, I pushed the covers away and stormed to the bathroom. Turning on the faucet, I washed my face with cold water before looking at my reflection in the mirror. "I'm fine." I repeated to myself to the mirror. The girl staring back at me didn't seem convinced.
"I'm fine," I repeated again. Licking my dry lips, I brushed through my hair and dried my face in an attempt to look better. Remembering my bag on the couch, I quickly walked out to retrieve it before walking back into the bathroom with my makeup bag.
I applied my favorite shade of lipstick, mascara, and combed out my eyebrows before finishing off with a light blush to bring color to my skin.
I smiled at my reflection. "I'm okay." I whispered back.
"Are you sure?"
My shoulders flinched and I glared at John for stepping unnoticed. Packing up everything into my makeup bag, I nodded and gave him my best confident smile. His gaze faltered a little before he cracked a small smile and pushed his glasses up. "You look beautiful."
I gave him my best flirtatious smirk before pushing my hair off my shoulder and winked. I made sure to brush my chest against his shoulder before passing him. I felt him tense and giggled, loving the effect I had on him.
»»---------------------►
The ride back to my apartment was mostly quiet. We listened to the radio and talked mostly about nothing. It wasn't until he pulled over by the lobby did he bring up about our night together and the missed coffee date.
"Will I be seeing you for coffee soon or do I have to do a better job at our date night?" His eyes glinted, almost teasingly.
I felt myself giggle before giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Coffee's good for now." I reminded myself that he had good intentions and that I shouldn't be bothered at how he left so easily.
I was just being over-sensitive.
Just as I pulled away, I felt his hand around my hair pushing me back into a deeper kiss and when he finally did release me, I felt dizzy and breathless. Gulping to myself, I lifted my eyes towards him and nervously exhaled when he gave me a ghost of a smirk.
He tucked his hands back into his pants pocket before sitting himself back into his car. I stood there confused as his eyes once again found mine before hardening and driving away.
The way his personality changed so quickly, and easily, almost alarmed me. And it made me curious how he can be shy one minute and cunning the next. As though he had a different personality.
Just like you.
A dark voice whispered in the back of my mind.
»»---------------------►
Michael was furiously working on the next song for their upcoming performance. He and his band had been doing small tours around local towns and busy cities to bring a name for their band.
They already had a good following, with some fans even following their tours one after the next.
For a brief moment, his mind wandered on the girl he had locked eyes with at his last performance. She had stared at him as though they knew one another, and not like one would between a fan and a singer (he wouldn't consider himself a celebrity anyway). But like they shared a history.
The more he tried to place a face to a name, the more his head throbbed. It didn't felt that she seemed so familiar to him. Those pensive eyes...
And that hair.
A memory came to mind. But only momentarily. Of a little girl with fiery red hair over bubble gum pigtails...
But that was all he could recollect before the door was pushed open by his bandmates. He rolled his eyes and shut his songbook.
They had all just came back from the grocery store and it was clear that Nate, his bass player, was tipsy. Beth, his guitarist, and also occasionally his f*ck buddy, strolled in with a bag of snacks and drinks. Walking over to her, he lifted the bags from her and put them away.
She only nodded as thanks before cracking a beer open and lifted herself onto the bar watching him. Beth was beautiful, and he was sure she was one of the reasons they had several male fans following their band. She had long curly brown locks that accentuate her face and sways just above her hips with every move she made. Her eyes were always covered in a liner that always sharpen her gaze and gave her a mysterious seductive look. She didn't have to try.
She smirked as she noticed him watching her, and leaned over the bar. Her tank top revealing her cleavage and her jade pendant falling right above her chest.
Michael chuckled before turning away and placing the rest of their groceries away. He wasn't exactly in the mood, and he contemplated calling up his parents if they knew anything about the girl from his memory.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone