Through The Fire

EPISODE 4 : Gail's POV

I woke up the next morning and notice that Aki, Mich and Faye are no longer in the bedroom. I look at the clock on the bedside table, and it reads quarter to nine. Anne is still peacefully sleeping beside me, she has a scheduled flight tonight going to Japan, and she will stay there for 3 days, so I just let her sleep. I got so drunk last night, but I still remember everything. And I meant EVERYTHING.

 I took a deep breath as I recall everything that happened yesterday.

Anne mentioned to me the other day that she invited her friends to come over, so I get to finally meet them. I know they've been friends for a long time, I saw some of their group photos and I also knew about Anne's history with Aki.

I saw pictures of Aki before and Anne mentioned a lot of good things about her. Their breakup did not go well, but thankfully, they were able to save their friendship in the end. Aki is such a charismatic woman. She has this aura in her that seems to attract people towards her. I knew she was attractive based on the photos that Anne showed me, but I did not expect her to be that beautiful in person, and most importantly, I did not expect that she will have this kind of effect on me. The attraction and the emotions that I felt the moment I laid my eyes on her caught me off guard, and I don't know how to react on it.

When Anne introduced us for the first time, I felt something inside me that I have never felt before. When our hands touched, It felt like there was an electric current that went through my veins and jolted my whole body. I can't help but be mesmerized by her beauty. Her effect on me and my body is driving me crazy!

Since then, I became hyper aware of her presence. Even if I'm doing something or if I'm talking to someone, I know exactly where she is and what she's doing. It's so weird because I've never been like this with anyone. I cannot explain what's going on with me.

After dinner, we all sat down in the living room to watch a movie while drinking our beers. I'm still observing her every moves without being too obvious, I just can't stop myself from doing it. She's reading a text message from her phone, so I had a chance to stare at her beauty. Good thing everyone is busy watching the movie. I got lost in my thoughts while still gawking at her that I did not realize that her attention was no longer in her phone. She's now looking back at me with confusion on her face. I was so embarrassed that she caught me staring at her, but I tried to brush it off by smiling at her. Aki smiled back, but I can tell that she's wondering why I'm looking at her like that. s**t.

A Few hours later, we managed to empty a bottle of Jack Daniel's. I'm such a lightweight when it comes to alcohol compare to the four of them. I know I'm playful when I'm drunk and Anne knows it too. I was playing with her hair to tease her because she doesn't want her hair being touched. She swatted my hand, and I acted hurt by that, so she immediately apologize. I was just joking though, so I just laugh at her.

Anne and I have been seeing each other for almost three months now. I love spending time with her, and she's really sweet and lovely. I consider myself bisexual as I used to date both men and women. But lately, I've been more drawn to women because men are so annoying, and I feel like I always got along with women so well. Anne and I met through a mutual friend of ours. We are both flight attendants, but we work for different airlines. We hit it off as friends since then, and we always hang out when our schedule allows us to. I like Anne. She's funny, smart, caring and most of all beautiful. We get along really well. After few more weeks, we became too close to be just friends. We got super drunk one night and one thing led to another, and we found ourselves naked in bed. Instead of being weird about it, we played it cool and since then, s*x is just normal for us. We never talk about putting any label on what we are doing, we are both adults having a good time and that's all that matters. I like her and she likes me, and who knows, maybe this thing can turn into something more.

But now, a certain person is creating havoc on my emotions. Emotions that I have never felt before. It's so strong, and I'm having a hard time controlling myself when I'm around her.

A familiar voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts. Aki informed the group that she will just go outside for a smoke.

The four of us stayed inside while Aki is smoking outside. Anne is telling us story about her latest travel in New York, but my mind is somewhere else. I know I'm no longer thinking straight when I stood up and followed Aki outside. It's as if my body has a mind of its own.

I saw her just a few steps outside the door holding a cigarette and seemingly in deep thoughts. I leaned against the door for support because I'm having a hard time standing still due to intoxication. I just watched her there for a few more seconds before I finally decided to get her attention.

" You know that's bad for your health right?" I asked her.

She looks at me with confusion on her face, so I pointed at the cigarette in her hand and she finally realized what I'm talking about.

She said she knows that it's bad but we were born to die anyway. I can't help but laugh at her answer, because I already heard that from Anne before when I confronted her on her smoking habit, it's no wonder they are friends.

I told her the story of how I stop Anne from smoking, and she just made fun of Anne and said that she's so whipped.

She then noticed how I leaned at the door for support, so she tried to teased me about it.

" You’re drunk". She jokingly mocked.

 I quickly thought of a good counter to her remark and said that she's pretty, but then I realized what I said and I got worried. The last thing I want to do is to make her feel uncomfortable around me. I can no longer take it back though, so I just tried to be nonchalant about it. I noticed how her cheeks turned red with that remark, and she tried to hide it from me by turning around while shaking her head, but it's too late because I already saw it. I can't help but laugh at her reaction and I can hear her laughing also. I'm glad I got that kind of reaction from her because it made the situation less awkward and weird.

There's a few seconds of silence between us when suddenly, Anne hug me from behind and planted a kiss on my cheek.

What are you guys doing in here? She asked.

Nothing. Just getting some air, I calmly answered.

She said that there's still few cans of beer left on the fridge, so we went back in the living room again to finish it.