hell or flying | Chaelisa

Chapter 21

"I have to say, you handled the bike ride much better than the first time," Lisa complimented as we made our way up the stairs of her apartment complex.

"You took me for a ride more than once, though,"

"I know, I just expected you to have troubles with it again since it's probably been a while. Unless you practiced without me," she glared at me playfully.

"Don't worry, I didn't," truth was, has it been anyone else, I'd be beyond terrified. It was because I was with her, that I wasn't nearly as afraid as I would be have been, have the circumstances been different. I didn't tell her that, however.

"I know you have already been here before," she started when we reached the front door and she fit the key into the lock of her home, "But I think you didn't really pay much attention to the surroundings,"

Chuckling, I ducked my head down, not wanting the younger girl to see me blushing, "Not really,"

With that said, Lisa opened the door and walked inside, with me following closely behind. The first thing I noticed upon walking inside was the cold temperature residing inside, making me shiver slightly and goosebumps rise on my arms.

Lisa seemed to notice as well because she let go of my hand and walked over to the other side of the room, closing the middle part of the industrial window, stopping the cold, night air from flowing in. Rubbing the length of my arms, I walked down the small hallway, and once I stood in the middle of the loft; I took a moment to look around the unfamiliar space.

Though Lisa's apartment building was a former warehouse much like the one Jensoo lived in, her apartment was much smaller. It didn't have two floors and a large space unlike theirs. The Thai lived in a loft that, though not a lot, was smaller than the first floor alone of the one where the two Korean women lived.

The flooring was made of some cold, grey wood, fitting in with the grey brick walls, with only a carpet on its left side, where the living room area was situated. The colorful native American Indian rug sat under a yellow couch, much like the one that used to be in her college dorm, two brown couches, and a wooden coffee table.

Right next to it was a small kitchen, with a black fridge in the corner. Shelves filled with various herbs and spices lined the wall. She even had a rosemary plant in the left corner, at the end of the wooden counter. And though the kitchen was fairly small in size, there was also a kitchen bar with three stools. Above her stove was a metal kitchen hood with various pans hanging from it off of little hooks and it was clear to me from how many things she had around, that Lisa must've worked on her cooking skills.

In front of me was, not so neatly, made bed, with dark green covers almost falling down its side and a few pillows scattered at the head. Seeing as Lisa coming to see me was a spur-of-the-moment decision, I figured she must've been tossing and turning for a while before taking off to see me.

Above the bed sat a modern artwork that kind of reminded me of a map with the golden lines painted across the black background, some thicker - like a river, and some thinner - like streets and tiny alleyways. The bed itself had a wooden nightstand on each side with small lamps sitting at the top and books on the bottom shelf.

On the right wall next to her bedroom were metal pipes she transformed into a make-shift closet, seeing as a variety of clothes hung down from it, all her shoes sitting on the floor underneath. Right next to it was a metal sliding barn door that I presumed was the bathroom, but it was closed shut so I couldn't be sure.

The whole place felt a lot warmer now that Lisa not only closed the windows but also turned on the heating. Not only that, but the yellow glow coming from the lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling all around the loft made the atmosphere inside feel warmer, as well. And of course, there were a lot of plants scattered all around us, making the place look, and feel, a lot cozier.