Two and Two

Zero

"We have successfully rescheduled your flight. Thank you for your patronage."

She sighed in relief.

"You know you don't have to go." Zeii said. "We can—“

"Thank you." Aki cut her off. "But.. I don't think I can last."

Zeii fell silent. Instead, she pulled the younger into a tight hug.

Aki felt tears well up in her eyes as she hugged her back.

"I'm gonna miss you."

She spent the next few hours, endlessly contemplating on what to do. She had her phone a few inches away from her hands, and the airline ticket with her passport beside it.

It's over.

She jumped a little at the sound of her phone vibrating. His name lit up on the screen, and she sighed.

To be or not to be..?

She bit her lip harshly before answering her phone.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"Look, I'm really sorry," he said. His voice was husky, hoarse.. like he just rose out of sleep. "I didn't really mean to cheat on you."

"Oh, so it was an accident?" She said sarcastically. "It was just an accident that you were both naked and fell on top of each other?"

"Akira," he sighed exasperatedly. "Please, listen to me.."

"You're all the same." She choked out. "You're all the same."

"I-I'm not like him. Please, babe, give me a chance.." He begged, on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before hanging up.

He just stood by the phone, wide-eyed and unblinking. His shoulders were tensed, his hand curled over the edge of the desk and his knuckles white.

How could I do this to her?

She walked with his sister, Kulala, through the busy street of the night market. The smell of grilled squid and fish wafted towards her as glowing lanterns of red almost blinded her eyes for a second. She could hear faint music, stall owners calling out to them in Mandarin, busy people talking and bicycle tires squealing.

“Ooh, lucky charms!” Kulala beamed. “We should buy some and go to the temple.”

“There’s lots of kinds..” Aki murmured, looking through the brightly colored charms.

“Money, weather, friendship, health, love..” Kulala read.

Love.

Aki shrugged the nauseating feeling off and picked out a cute-looking charm. They climbed up to the temple to offer some money and clasped their hands together in prayer.

“Fancy seeing you here!” A bright, cheerful voice said.

“Ah, Fohya!” Kulala recognized. “What are you doing here?”

“Just walking..” He said. “Can I borrow Aki for a little while?”

“Sure!” Kulala responded before Aki could protest. “Zeii told me they’re on the way here. Just give her back soon, okay?”

Fohya nodded and pulled Aki by the arm to one of the temple gardens. They stayed over by the railing, watching the busy night market below them.

“He’s not eating, nor sleeping. He just.. smokes. A lot. And drinks. A lot.” Fohya reported in a sad tone. “He’s missed out on meetings and he’s not meeting deadlines.”