Black Orchid | BEOMKAI

Chapter 23

It was an indescribable feeling; impossible.

Maybe this was how people felt after a near-death experience. They can't even speak. They can barely think. They were so sure they were going to die, yet here they are– alive.

Impossibly alive.

Yeah.

That's how I was feeling.

With my hand in Kai's, he led me to his house. And as he did, I wondered a multitude of things. Once in his conservatory, we pushed our way past the hanging Ivy and noticed the tables were littered with pottery. His work had only increased in its intricacy and detail. Inside the house, we came into an L-shaped open kitchen. I could smell freshly baked bread, spices, herbs and a crispness to the air that reflected the outdoors. Kai fired up his gas stovetop, placed an old copper kettle on the burner and turned to me with a smile. "Come here," he said with a hand reaching out to me. Stepping forward, I was cuddled by him once more, I smiled like a lovesick idiot and God it felt nice.

Really nice.

'Nice' is too weak of a word, isn't it? But my brain was hardly working, anyway, so cut me some slack.

The kettle came to a whistling boil and Kai made us some of his rose tea, but from somewhere behind me I could hear fluttering, like the wings of a bird and a very familiar chirping–

No.

No, it couldn't be–

"Toto?" I whispered and Kai arched an eyebrow.

"Toto?" he asked. "Like the nineteen-seventies rock band?"

Shooting past Kai to the living room, a blur of green flew straight at me and landed on my shoulder.

"What?!" I carefully cupped the bird in my hands to look at it carefully. "No fucking way..." Its little black eyes blinked at me curiously and began nibbling at my finger– a little too hard.

"Oh! He's..." Kai paused and I could feel his gaze move back and forth between the bird and myself. "Wait.. you know him?"

"He was mine..." I could have almost cried again, but I felt like I had no more tears. "I– .. I let him go free the night I arrived back in L.A." Toto hopped happily back and forth between my fingers as I slowly shook my head. "How on earth did you find him, Kai?"

Kai appeared thoughtful as he carried the tea to the table in the living room. "I looked out my window one morning and I saw him perched in one of my trees," Kai said as he sat on the couch. "He looked dishevelled and very hungry, so I fed him a tomato and he stuck around after that."

Looking back at Toto, I whispered in disbelief: "What are the odds?"

"I got a cage for him but he didn't like it," Kai chuckled. "So he comes and goes from the outside to the inside as he pleases."

Toto flew off and out of an open window.

"Unbelievable.." I said and sat next to Kai.

"I can't believe he used to be yours!" Kai smiled brightly, pouring the tea into cups, then mused: "Well.. I guess he still is, huh?"

"I guess so..."

My eyes glazed over as I watched the steam rise from the cups. Reaching for one, I let the scent of the roses flood my head and my thoughts began to settle. Deep silence stirred between us and I don't think either of us knew how to pry open the box of mysteries that sat beneath the quietude. The same clock ticked on the wall and suddenly time was on my mind again.

"It's been over a year," I whispered and cautiously brought my eyes to Kai's. He gave a slow, thoughtful nod. His cheerful expression had vanished and was yet again struggling to tell me the truth.