Black Soda Drink [exo]

VIII

We slept in the same bed that night, only after I insisted for the billionth time that the couch wasn’t a good place to sleep. It was only when he got really tired and fed up that he relented. By the time I got into bed after him, he was already knocked out.

It took a while for me to fall asleep because I kept giggling at the way he grumbled out words in all his different languages. When he had finally quieted down, I turned to my side of the bed and fell into a sound sleep.

When I woke up though, I wasn’t staring at the closet. Instead, I was inches away from Kris’s face.

I sat upright, looking around. I unhooked my ankle from his and he mumbled something before I squinted at the clock.

“Kris, wake up.”

One of his eyes opened and he stared at me as if he didn’t know who I was. “What are you…” he whispered but then shook his head.

“You’re going to be late for work if you don’t get up right now.”

He turned onto his back and rubbed his eyes, groaning as he stretched out. I pulled my legs in to avoid getting hit by his foot.

“I’m hungry.”

I stared at him incredulously and pushed my hair back. “But you don’t even eat breakfast in the mornings.” I jumped out of bed and sighed. “Go get ready and I’ll make some eggs and coffee for you.”

He was dressed and waiting in the kitchen for my eggs in five minutes. He had never been this quick before, but he scarfed down the food in only a few bites.

“Hey, this coffee’s pretty good.”

“It’s your own coffee…” I pointed to the bag that I found sitting in his pantry.

He gave a sly grin. “Maybe it’s because you made it. That’s why it’s so good.”

I turned back to the dishes in the sink as he left for work so he wouldn't see my blush. My mind filled with other things to distract myself from thinking of Kris. I needed to go for a job interview later today as well. Something to give me some income while I wait for my script to scrape in the real dough.

-

That interview went…okay. Most of those questions I hadn’t expected at all and I had to wing it on the spot. I kept thinking back to my script and how the woman wouldn’t have known what to say to the angel either. She would have had to wing everything as well.

I walked slowly down the street, thinking about how my script could get better and more realistic, but then I spotted a familiar face behind a window.

I looked up at the sign above me. It was a bank.

That was the bank Kris was working at. I knew because, well, he was right there.

I looked around, wondering if anybody noticed how jumpy I had gotten all of a sudden. It was midafternoon, maybe he’d like a coffee and a muffin. The café was just down the road and I hurried over.

I took my time picking out what to get for him. Maybe I should get a box of donuts for his coworkers, too.

No, that seemed like too much.

With my paper bag in hand, I walked back to his bank, only to stop short at the window. He was talking with a woman. She was really pretty, I noticed. They were laughing. He was holding a cup in his hand. It must’ve been coffee but all I could see was that her hand was practically stroking his arm.

I looked down at my cheap coffee, realizing it was a stupid idea. Companies provided their workers with unlimited coffee. I shouldn’t interrupt him in the middle of work anyway, especially not when he was talking with somebody else.

I sighed. This idea was stupid and I'd look clingy if I went in right now. His coworkers would probably tease him and he'd get annoyed. But...I mean...he did kiss me last night.

I bit my lip and spun on my heel. I'll eat this food myself. He needs to stay in shape if he wants a movie role anyway.

I was just about to walk away when screams rang out around me.

My hand came up to cover my mouth as I saw everybody in the building fall to their knees and cover their heads. All except one masked man, holding a gun and shouting something that I couldn’t hear.

I held back a scream as I crouched down, frantically looking for my phone through everything in my purse. My hands were shaking as I pulled it out.

The phone call to the police felt like a blur because all I could concentrate on was the man with the gun. When it swung anywhere near where Kris was hiding, my heart stopped beating for a second.

The woman that was with Kris was trying to pull him away from the safety of the desk but he was staying put. I tried to mentally beg him to go. There was an open door right behind him and if he could get behind a wall, he’d be safer than hiding underneath a table.

I heard sirens and almost sighed in relief. But the robber inside the bank heard them, too. He was shouting again and then he was grabbing a woman by her arm. He held a gun to her head and that was when I had to tear my eyes away.

I couldn’t watch this. These things happened in movies, not in real life.

The police cars were coming down the street and when I looked back into the bank, I saw that Kris was gone from his hiding place.

My phone rang just as the policemen came out of their cars.

“Get out of there!” Kris’s voice was low but deadly on the other end of the phone.

“What?”

“Don’t just stand there. Go home. Get somewhere safe.”

“What about you?”

He sounded so angry with me even though I just wanted to help. “Stop worrying about me all the time. I need to stay here with my team. Go home, Yuan. Now.”

I hung up on him. I stood behind the officers as they did their job. Kris didn’t call me again. I didn’t call him back. I waited with the muffin and coffee until they both got cold.

The robber was arrested. The lady was safe.

People rushed out and I stood on my tip toes looking for Kris. Reporters were crowding around me, trying to talk to the witnesses and I pretended like I was just a passerby.

There he was.

With his blond hair and everything. I wanted to run up to him and tell him that I was so happy he was still alive, but he was busy. The woman he’d been talking to was crying against his shoulder. Why was she crying? Nobody had died.

My feet wouldn’t let me walk towards them. Instead, I walked back to the coffee shop and ate the muffin by myself. I drank the cheap coffee and worked on my script. I ordered another coffee so nobody would kick me out.

I stayed there all day because I didn’t know how to face Kris.