Dandelion

Chapter 6

                                                                               Under pressure

I have been in many uncomfortable situations in my life but let me rightfully state that in just a day, I have topped them all, over and over again and this day was yet to be officially over as the clock on the commode which I gazed at displayed that the time was a quarter to 12.

It had never crossed my mind that one Midnight was gonna find me in bed with a stranger, cuddling me warmly and patting my head, waiting for me to fall asleep on his warm and what proved to be a quiet firm chest. However, there was no way I would allow myself to fall asleep in the presence of an unknown man who despite how nice he has been behaving, I can still not trust. 

I have a certain crazy someone that is after the life of this body who I occupy now so I definitely can't sleep carelessly but at the same time, it was proving difficult to resist as his soft touch and toned down humming was working like magic for my nerves and my body which to my displeasure was getting way to relaxed in between his arms. I suppose this body must be used to his otherwise there would be no other explanation to how at ease my muscles had fallen wrapped under his body warmth.

"Sleep, my baby. Leave your worries for me to carry, and rest."He mumbled above my head and at that moment I couldn't help but think that this man named Tian, seemed to have real feelings towards Zein. Who would hold you like that and wait for you to fall asleep without having some strong feelings for you? Who would kiss someone the way he did earlier on my neck, without even waiting to be asked or told anything? He sure seemed like someone who is in love with Zein but was she in love with him?

If yes why did she had a boyfriend that was not him? Why was she dating the son of the owner of the entertainment company under which she is signed? Could her relationship with him have occurred out of business purposes? However, if that was to be the truth why did Ren seemed as caring and dear towards her? He definitely looked at me as someone worried about his dear girlfriend. Maybe he was the only one that had feelings for Zein.

Yet again nothing would stop her from loving them both or loving none. Ah seriously, her real life is way more dramatic and twisted than any TV drama I have seen her play. I really wonder, how did she get herself caught up in all this. I have heard that life can get messy but to this extend? 

I am jealous to a degree though, despite how messy her life is looking so far at least it feels vivid. It feels exciting. My life was nothing but a monotonous line, full of dullness. A life in which feeling alive required effort from me. Sometimes it even required to lie. Pretend as if I was alive and I could feel that. Could she have possibly felt as dead as I did in mine, in this life of hers? I guess I will never know but I will consider her lucky for one thing, if not the beauty she holds and the wealth she has gathered. And that thing will most likely be this guy that is holding me right now.

There was someone who seems to love her. Someone who runs to her just with a simple text, not asking about time or anything. If it was me, the only one whom I could text and have them running to come to me would have been a pizza delivery.

Damn. How nice must this woman have been for someone to love her this much? I surely can't help but envy her and feel bad that she is no more at the same time. If she was to have gone to my body then that meant that she is dead and if she had not then the whereabouts of her soul were still unknown. Either way, I don't know if there is a way out of this body but even if it was, I am not planning on leaving it.

This is my chance to live. This is my chance to happiness and I won't let any crazy fan or stalker ruin this for me. I will solve whatever this may be and I will live the most out of everything that this life has to provide me with. This time I won't be a dead soul within a living body. This time, I will feel the joy of being alive to my bones, no matter what.

I felt the determination crawl under my skin and I couldn't help but be surprised with my own self. It's been ages since I last was so fiery about something. It made me excited and it also made me want to laugh at the irony. All my life I wondered what was it gonna take to make me feel alive and now I got the answer. I had to die to feel such strong emotions again and that fact was as strange as it was ridiculously hilarious yet I restricted myself from making any noise, being vigilant by the presence of the man who was still holding me.

Despite how much I waited for him to fall asleep, the minutes ticked away making only me feel sleepier and at a certain moment I couldn't help to close my eyes and let them rest only to my surprise to open up again, in a room full of light and a voice that was yelling at me to hurry and get up.

I looked at Elia in utter confusion for a bit as he stood by the side of the bed, pulling the blankets that were over me." Zein! Why didn't you hear your alarm clock? You have an interview today, did you forget completely?" He spoke, and as  I left my still sleepy eyes to wander over his face, I could tell that he seemed distressed to say the least.

"Sorry." That was all I replied as I let him drag me out of the warm sheets and on my own feet.

"Quickly go take a shower. I will fix the place a bit. The makeup artists will be here in soon enough." He uttered as he started pushing me towards a door which I assumed to be the bathroom and in which after I stepped inside, I was reassured that it was so.

I stretched a bit my arms and approached the sink, intending to splash some water to my face and wake me up a bit but as soon as I faced the mirror I couldn't help but be a bit startled by the face that looked back at me. "This is gonna take some time" I mumbled under my breath, addressing the fact that having this body and this face was something that would require some time till I adjust to it fully. 

Even though I woke up aware of my situation and thankfully uttered nothing stupid in front of the manager, being someone whom I am not made me still feel weird and detached from this reality. Was this really not a dream? 

"Pst, Babe." A whispering voice reached my ears suddenly making me turned around immediately fearful of who was that spoke to me. However, I soon got to know that there was no intruder that had broke into my personal space but it was Tian who seemed to be hiding behind the curtain of the bathtub , wearing the clothes he was wearing yesterday.

"You have to get me out of here. He came so suddenly, I didn't have time to escape." He informed me making me recall the last memory I had from last night which was none other but me being in his arms in bed. Apparently, I didn't manage to stay awake and had fallen asleep but it seems I wasn't the only one that had done so, as he had not left the apartment either. Oh, this sure is troublesome. 

"Zein~My love. " A knock was heard on the door making me look towards it with shock visible in my eyes as I couldn't help but recognize the voice of the man that called to me.

"Take your time, love, don't stress yourself. I am here now so I will take care of the reporters that will come to interview you. You can come to the living room whenever you feel comfortable and ready, okay?" Ren spoke in a tone that made me understand well that he meant good but his existence itself and the mentioning of reporters coming inside this apartment had my blood freezing in my veins.

If they find Tian here, Zein's reputation will be over in a blink of an eye. I need to do something before that happens, but what?