In your Arms

Chapter Three

It was almost 5 o'clock when she arrived at Simon's place. The first thing she did was to check voice messages on the phone. There's no single message from Simon. Her eyebrows furrowed as she checked her mobile phone as well. Still no messages. He hasn't contacted me since he left, she thought.

She neatly stacked the canned goods she had bought in the grocery to the kitchen counters and placed the cold cuts and vegetables in the fridge. Amity fixed herself dinner before she took a quick shower then changed into her pj's. Once finished, she took her dinner towards the living room and opened the flat screen TV and surfed along the channels. She stopped when she sighted Grimm, she forgot it was the series' airtime schedule already. It was hers and Simon's favorite. They usually watch it together every Saturday night. Amity looked at her food on top of the living room's center table. She had made shrimp tempura and mixed veggies, another favorite of Simon's. Amity sighed, she's not used to eating alone. But that's not just it, she found herself missing her friend already.

How come he hasn't called or texted me yet? she pouted her lips. She took her cellphone and messaged him asking how he's doing and if he already ate. She wanted to add the he should call her ASAP but it may be too much. After all, they were just friends.

Amity had been fond of Simon the first time she met him. He was caring and always reached out to her. And most of all, she felt secured. As months passed, her infatuation with Simon grew stronger. And she could feel that it's not just infatuation but more likely she had already fallen for him.

Oh she hated her feelings! Because Amity knew that whatever she does she will always be nothing but a little sister to him. And she couldn't help not to feel sorry for herself. She can't even help herself from not being malicious every time their skins touched, or if they sit beside each other while watching TV or if Simon wraps his arm around her while they sometimes walk in the park. She feels ashamed of herself because of such things, while Simon was oblivious to her thoughts and feelings.

Of course she had tried every way she could think of just to have these damn feelings for him disappear but the more she tried, the more she failed. Amity went out on dates but to no avail. She decided to give up, and from then on she hadn't stop loving him secretly. The more they stayed together, the more she falls in love every single day.

Amity didn't realized she'd been sitting on the couch for almost three hours. She looked at the wall clock in the dining room and found out that it was already 9 o'clock. She stood up and went towards the kitchen to wash the dishes. Amity was already rinsing the plates when all of a sudden her cellphone rang which made her head automatically turned towards the living room where she laid her phone on the couch. She quickly took a paper towel from the kitchen counter, hastily dried her hands and almost ran towards the living room. She fumbled for her phone that's almost being covered by the pillows hoping that the caller could wait for her to pick up, her heart is beating fast with the anticipation that the person calling her was Simon. Amity smiled as she grabbed her cellphone and was hoping to see Simon's face only to find out that the caller was her friend Therese. Her smile slowly faded and went into a pout. Even clearly frustrated, she pressed the answer key button and mumbled a short "hi" as she answered the call.

"Hey, Jordin! You sleepin' already?!" Therese's voice sounded like she's hyped up even if it's a bit late at night already.

"Uh.. No, not yet. I'm washing the dishes." she answered in an almost hollowed tone.

"You just finished eating? It's kinda late you know."

"Yeah, I was watching a show and was totally hooked up, I didn't noticed the time."

Therese chuckled. "You're always really focused huh?" She giggled again. Amity rolled her eyes.

"Why'd you call?" Amity tried not to sound irked.

"Uh, yeah. Well.. Tomorrow's Sunday and my folks will be gone for the whole day, so I was kinda hoping if we could like, you know, hang out? I mean, we don't have class and I know that Simon's also not there right now so I'm thinking that maybe we could go check out some places and do some girl bonding stuff?" Therese's voice sounded unsure but expectant.

Amity blinked a few times. This girl.. Is she really.. Does she really think--

"Yo, Jordin?"

"Yep, still here." she muttered.

"So? Are you in?"

She could imagine Therese's eyes gleaming with anticipation. Amity closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. "Okay, I'm in." she almost cringed. Her friend shrieked on the other line.

"Yay! I've finally made you agree! This is so awesome!"

Amity smiled. She couldn't help not to be amused by how jaunty Therese is.

"There's this movie I wanna watch, and a new coffee shop I wanna try, and in the afternoon we could check out this poetry reading stuff and--"

"Hey, hey. Easy girl. Alright we'll check it all out tomorrow. Make sure you'll have a checklist." she laughed. Although that poetry reading stuff made her wince once she heard it, she wasn't a poetry lover.

Therese snickered. "Okay then. Cool. It'll be our first hang out. Am so glad."

"Yeah sounds good too." she replied. This was indeed the first time she agreed going out with Therese, most of the time Simon's her company if not herself.

"A'rightie then, see yah tom! 10am at the cinema, let's watch a movie first! G'nightie Jordin!" Therese's voice was perky.

"Copy that." she answered as she hung up the phone.

Amity came back to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes. She went to the bathroom afterwards to brush her teeth and lay on her bed since she felt sleepy now. Before she could close her eyes she fiddled again on her phone to check if there are any texts coming from Simon but still nothing. She gave out a heavy sigh before turning off her bedside lamp and drifted off to sleep.

It was 7 o'clock in the morning when she woke up the next day. She spent several minutes in her bed yawning and stretching and repeating the process over and over again. As soon as she can fully open her eyes the first thing she did was to check on her phone. Simon hasn't attempted to call her yet, but her face lit up when she checked her inbox. She received a text message from Simon at around 3am telling her that he arrived safe and hadn't texted her right away because he had problems checking in at the hotel he was staying. He promised to call her if he'll have free time and told her to be careful while he's gone. A wide grin spread on her face. Simon had always been mindful when it comes to frequently checking up on her. Every time he goes to work and she goes to her art class Simon calls and text her from time to time, it became a routine to her and she had liked it. It made her feel that Simon was really concerned and thoughtful, she couldn't help not to jiggle with the thought. She sent him a reply in an instant telling him she was fine and will go out later with Therese to hang out. She promised she would take care of herself and hoping he'd do the same for himself as well. Amity smiled as she added typing "I miss you" at the end of her message and she bit her lip and jiggled once she saw that it had been sent.

She briskly stood up from her bed and did another stretch while looking at the sun's rays peeking on her bedroom window striking her face. Today will definitely be a wonderful day.

It was three hours before her rendezvous with Therese and so she fixed herself some breakfast, cleaned the place, and then took a shower and dressed herself up. She picked a black sleeveless top to match her red tartan skirt, her high cut black boots completed her outfit. She let her hair loose and made it look a little bit messy. A smirk went across her face as she saw her reflection in the mirror, she looked badass. Amity looked at her bedside clock, it was 30 minutes before 10 o'clock. She grabbed her sling bag that was on top of her bed, went out towards the door and left.