Someday, I'll Find My Way Home

Axel finds memories.

Good thing that there were no images of Karl when I woke up the next morning. 

I stretched my arm that went numb after spooning Karla, who was not beside me. I hurriedly checked if her clothes were still on my apartment. I saw her clothes on the chair in the dining table, which reassured me. 

I put the blanket on my face and hugged the pillow on the side. The sunlight passed through my curtains. I could use some more sleep after staying up late thinking about Karl and my regrets and mistakes for the past years. 

I stirred when I smelled something good from the kitchen. Ah, breakfast. What a good start on a Saturday morning. I removed the blanket on my head and squinted my eyes. Karla was on the kitchen, cooking something good.

I grabbed my boxer shorts on the floor and stood up. 

She was still on one of my oversized shirts and her underwear. I wrapped my hands around her and whispered, "Good morning."

"Finally, you're awake," she told me. She was cooking bacon and eggs on the same pan. "You hungry?"

I smirked and bit the end of her ear. "Always."

She pinched my butt and replied, "You're always hungry for sex."

"Maybe."

"I raided your fridge," she said. "I never had bacon for a long time, so I cooked this. And eggs. I also cooked rice for the both of us."

I kissed her cheeks. "Smells good."

"Clingy."

"I know."

"How about you prep yourself first? You stink."

I smelled myself, and the mix of her perfume and mine only came. "I don't?"

"Your breath smells horrible."

I kissed her again.

"Worse."

And again.

"Just sit the fuck down."

"You don't want me hugging you?"

She grabbed the plate on her right and scooped the eggs and bacon. "You're interfering."

I removed my hands and held her hand to help. I smiled, then I cracked more eggs in the pan. She put the plate on the table, and then grabbed a couple more empty plates from the cupboard.

I put the cooked eggs on my plate, then I got another plate to scoop freshly cooked rice and put a loaf of bread in the table as well.

"So, who's Karl?" she asked as I sat down on my chair in front of her.

I ate a spoonful of rice and egg before I spoke. "He's one of my college friends."

"Are you guys romantically involved?"

I almost spurted out the rice in my mouth. "No!" I told her.

"Then why are you having a nightmare about him?"

I scratched the back of my head. I didn't want to tell her about the kisses we shared. "We kinda hit a hard wall."

"Really? You're not in touch with him after college?"

"We're connecting recently but, you know, it's so different unlike before," I explained. "We're so close before, but now we're barely speaking to each other."

She pointed the spoon on me. "That's the reality of friendships after college. Sometime in the future, it will eventually end."

My appetite was slowly losing when she said that. "But, what if I don't want it to end?"