Chapter 13: What If...
After a while of walking...
Leo finally saw his apartment complex, a sense of relief washing over him... He sighed, and then quickening his pace until he reached the stairs of his apartment complex and ascended them...
As he stepped into the corridor of his apartment, his eyes widened...a sight both endearing and heartbreaking met his eyes...
Sarah was hunched over, right in front of his door, tears silently streaming down her face...
"Babe?" he called out, hands on his hips, a knot forming in his stomach...
Sarah's eyes widened at the sound of Leo's voice... She sprang up in full speed, throwing herself at him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck... More tears welled up from her face, blurring her vision...
Leo felt her hands tremble as he hugged her back. "Babe, it's okay. I'm back," he whispered, gently patting her back, trying to soothe and ensure her...
He slowly pulled her away, pulled out his handkerchief, and tenderly wiped the dampness and sweat from her face...
"Babe, what happened? Are you going to jail?" Sarah's voice was shaking as she whispered, her hands still trembling with fear...
Leo remained silent. Not because there was a problem, but because her concern was so incredibly cute and sweet. He just wanted to savor her worried expression for a moment longer...
"I'll use all my savings and hire a lawyer! If I have to, I'll take all the blame!" She started crying again, fresh tears tracing paths down from her cheeks... "I just don't know what to do!"
He leaned in and kissed her forehead, then pulled out the change the taxi driver had given him after he paid with the 5,000 yen...
Her eyes narrowed. "Money?" Then she started to cry again. "Babe, did you steal from the taxi driver?"
"Huh?" Leo gently pulled her cheeks. "What do you take me for, son of Hitler?" He sighed. "Immediately after you ran away, I found 5,000 yen in my other pocket, so I paid."
He patted her head softly, tracing each strand... "So don't cry. I'm not going to jail."
Sarah hugged him again, tightly this time, burying her face in his clothes, sniffing...
"It's okay," he murmured...
After a few minutes, she finally let go of him, a little bit calmer now... Leo then unlocked his apartment door, and then they both stepped inside...
Sarah made a dive for the bed, burying her face in the pillows... Leo locked the door from the inside and started to peel off his Luffy cosplay costume...
"Babe, come on, let's go take our bath," Leo said, but Sarah just mumbled something into the pillow.
"One minute, please."
"If you don't get up, I'll be calling you by your name for the next week," he added, a playful warning in his tone...
Sarah grumbled for a moment and then slowly pushed herself up from the bed, yawning widely. Suddenly, she stopped...
"Babe, I forgot! From tomorrow... no, the whole of next week is my movie shoot."
"So that means you're leaving tomorrow, then?" Leo questioned, squinting his eyes.
"Hmm, yes, babe. So I should sleep early." Sarah walked past him, stretching languidly. She grabbed a towel and headed into their bathroom. Leo stood there, frozen...
In that moment, deep in his emotions, he had momentarily forgotten his own struggles, lost in the joy of her presence... But with her quick reminder, all those anxieties came crashing back, like a truck hitting him squarely in the chest. He felt his grip on Sarah loosen, as if the gap between them was widening with every passing second...
Emptiness. Unfulfillment. Stagnation.
What if Sarah found someone better, more good-looking than him, on the movie set?
Or what if she lost interest in him because she found better things to worry about?
What if she became so super famous that their being together again was no longer possible?
What if he was just a quiet part of her life, a chapter she outgrew while he was still rereading it?
What if her dreams bloomed bigger than the spaces he fit in, and fame became her only language?
What if she didn't hate him, didn't even remember how things ended, just that they did?
What if he kept waiting while she kept flying, too far to even hear nor remember his name anymore?
What if the story was never about them getting back together, but about him learning how to let go?
He kept imagining all sorts of dreadful scenarios until, in that moment, he felt a sharp, throbbing headache, a migraine taking hold of him...
He swallowed hard...
"Babe, are you not coming? Jeez, after all the shouting!" Sarah's voice echoed from the bathroom...
Leo's eyes grew watery, but he fought back the tears. He grabbed his own towel and walked into the bathroom, joining Sarah...
"Babe, what took you so long?" she questioned as soon as he stepped in.
"Nothing, babe." Leo hugged her from behind and then turned on the shower...
"Ouch! Babe, it's cold! Turn on the heater!"
"I can't see it," Leo responded, shielding his hands from the spray of water...
After a while of struggling and arguing in the shower, they finally got out...
Sarah went ahead, got dressed, and then launched herself into bed, clinging tightly to the pillow...
Soon after, Leo joined her, and they both fell into a peaceful sleep...
(At 3 AM...)
Sarah quietly got up, retrieved her black bag, and went into the bathroom with a cup of water...
Five minutes later, she emerged, putting away the black bag, and then rejoined Leo, who was sleeping soundly like a child. She hugged him tightly, closed her eyes, and drifted back to sleep...
("cluck cluck")
The next morning.