Love at the Nth Time

Time Will Tell

Chapter 47

A knock on the door and the soft, pleasant voice I sought to hear.

"Seth??" I stood up, staggering and barely supporting myself on the walls and furniture I passed through. Unconscious of the time and my looks anymore, I opened the door to see Celine and Dalla behind her.

"What...are you doing here?" I asked, scowling at Dalla.

"Seth, a-are you okay? Oh my god," Celine nervously exclaimed and leaned closer to reach my back. I pulled the back of her waist to rely on her. Due to the sweet scent emanating and lingering through my nose, I got back to my senses of wearing the same blazer atop the shirt with sweat running down my forehead.

"Why are you with her?" I mumbled, trying to sound tough, yet my body was giving up on me. Celine aided me inside and the heaviness I felt dragged my back on the bed.

"What happened to her?" questioned Dalla. I pulled my body with trembling elbow on the surface to face her with blurry vision.

"Get out," I announced pathetically.

"It's fine, Seth, it's fine. She just dropped me off. You called me crying, asking for help," Celine cried, embracing me, covering her face under my chin.

Not remember I did. It was my body that moved on its own. Celine leaned her palm on the bed to look at me. A faint smile formed on my lips, and my hand reached her face. "I'm fine, now..." An abrupt retch covered my mouth with my hand, pulling myself to reach the corner of the bed and vomited.

"She needs to go to a therapist." Provoked, pupils constricted, which caught the smirk of Dalla with arms crossed over the other.

"Get outta here," I muttered, panting.

"D-Dalla! Stop, what are you- just leave if you'll only make it worse!" Glared Celine, caressing my back. I moved her hand away, standing up to push the bastard into my unit. Dalla lifted her arms, surrendered, and backed off, walking her way out. Celine held my face to turn my attention to her. "Can you stand? How are you feeling?" Closing my eyes as I held her hand, her warmth eased all the tensions.

"I'm sorry," I exclaimed, and tears voluntarily streamed down. Celine wrapped her arms around my neck, and time spent with continuous cries, a tight grip on her back, covering my face on her shoulder, and the emotions I longed to scream out, yet only whimpers coming out.

I woke up in the middle of the night and gazed at Celine sleeping beside me. A long breath escaped, and an arm over my forehead. I hardly remember calling Celine. Regardless, no one could make me feel better except her presence.

"Seth?" Eyes met hers. A soft smile appeared on me.

"Hey," I mumbled.

"How are you feeling?" Her hand touched my face. I held it engrossed by the gestures she was presenting me.

"I feel lighter. I mean, yeah, that's it."

"What happened? I-it's, I don't wanna see you like that again," she winced.

My heart pounded—a woman's crying for me. Celine had no idea behind the fortitude, and I couldn't fathom the empathy she showed, and her genuine care had played a vital part since the moment I met her. Turning sideways, I grabbed her face to stare at my eyes stung over the wails she controlled to stop.

"Thank you for...rescuing me," the voice broke beyond the emotions it carried. Even though Celine did not understand the meaning, kissing her eyes and forehead conversed otherwise.

"You can tell me what happened, like what do I need to do? Did you get sick?" I chuckled a little and caressed her cheek.

"What about the philosophy I told you first? You abandoned me without hearing my side?" I kissed her cheek. She apologized whilst the exhilaration of touching her more moved my hands to feel her waist. Her neck touched my lips and savoured her, leaving a light hickey and a suppressed moan she bit behind her lips. Her hand moved me away.

"I'm sorry. I, I got frustrated. I couldn't face you, so I just went away, but I didn't leave you! I stood still nearby, then when I went back to the parking lot, you're not there anymore," she explained restlessly. I laughed.

"Wow. And here I thought, and all the sh*t happened." She grimaced.

"What do you mean?" I sat up, and my eyes diverted to the papers on the table. I checked my black undershirt and pants that she changed. I was heavy, yet how often she managed to take care of me. "Aren't those your final output? The others I couldn't, um, reinstate because of the vomit," Celine uttered in worry, sitting up.

I sighed, and my knees lifted to support my elbow as I massaged my head because of being careless. Those designs were the portfolio I would send to London. It's not easy to create them again and all, with the limited time, it wouldn't reach the deadline. I grunted, thinking there were also figures of women involved as my flings.

Celine tapped her shoulder with mine to alter my overthinking towards her. She was smiling. "You can make them again, right?"

I rolled my eyes, and a playful smirk popped up in connection to the woman, which drove me to attack her till she fell on the bed. Trying to find a way of freedom, I caged her, clutching her legs under mine and my weight immobilizing her. Waves of laughter and delightful whining from hers detached us away from the forthcoming troubles.

Skimming over the damaged designs started the next day. The thought of meeting the women featured with these bodies seemed surreal to hesitate as the particular woman currently taking a bath hadn't spoken her opinion with regards to the matter. I'd been in 8 years of a broken relationship, and I'd never want to experience it again.

Taking the risk to someone who had different values, lifestyles, preferences, and past was far greater than the woman I met way back in high school. The same nation wherein each family of ours and group of friends could mingle easily, that coming out went normal. The days turned into months while years went by as if I was on cloud nine. Then, the last time I saw myself surrounded by cops and a handcuff on my wrist behind me, dragging me away from the house, I thought it was my home.

"Are you going in?" Heeded to Celine, time would only tell what the future holds for us, yet the damage of the eight years I committed my heart to one pierced me in aggravation. Since, I wanted to take another risk with this woman smiling naively in front of me.

"Have you thought about whether I could carry you?"

"Huh?" Celine screamed in shock as I carried her over my shoulder. "Seth! Oh my god, put me down. I'm scared!" Repressing my laughter to get a hold of her, I stepped into the bathroom.

"Careful, your head," I cautioned, and saw the bathtub filled with new water. Celine screamed again. It burst me laughing, and it made me weak and dashed straight into the tub. Wide eyes and open mouth, Celine yelled again concerning the change of clothes she wore, and I grabbed her a mouthful kiss to shut up.

This was not the first time we had a bath together. Although the conversations concerning my work and hers spent our time in those moments. Water splashed through her arm as she swayed it on the surface. Cheek to cheek, the warmth of our skin touching each other increases the warm temperature in the air.

"I stopped talking to Chaoxiang Hu," she stated and continued how the Chinese man talked to her. "I don't like it when they think I'm only aiming for their money and prestige. I'd never asked if not offered. Even if I'm poor, I still have my pride," she added.

I noticed it. Conscious of Celine's appearance as she was always off the field. Her ex-boyfriend supported her, yet the cheap clothing, shoes, and accessories, and her not even taking care of her nails whilst she proposed a business to a client affirming she was dealing with her journey in her own way.

My hand trailed the skin of her arm till I reached her hand, checking her pretty fingers. I chuckled at the desire to bite them. Celine glanced up at me. I groaned heavily, resting my back on the tub.

"I feel sore all over," I whined.

"What did you do? Uh, signs of ageing," she jested monotone. I blinked over the fact that she could utter a joke in a serious tone.

"Wow, and you didn't laugh." She cracked up. Wrapped my arms around her, our eyes met.

"Let's go to a spa. It's been months since I have come for a visit." Lie. I visited a specific salon 2-3 times a week.

"Really? Well, I can, in a rush. I have to go home." She faced upfront and looked at her short nails. It was neat from afar since she had pretty hands, but looking at them closely, she was cutting them herself. Not good at it, though.

"I prefer having short nails, I always move around, and I don't notice the dirt stuck on them often." A hand clasped hers and I bit the middle area of her forefinger.

"What the-" I smiled.

"They lowked (looked) tasty," I said. Celine lifted her brows.

"Did you just hear what I said?" Laughing at it. My arms embraced her again, kissing her cheek, and my lips nibbled her ear.

"You do know we can be down and dirty, right?" She smiled, a mischievous one. I smirked and joined the light, playful kiss.

Because of the tight schedule at the office, added the business Celine and Rose had been working on the side, we came up to put aside ample time for leisure.

I chose the same salon I went to, informing them in advance, not to mention the regular visits recorded in their memory, and gave the best of the best service they could offer to Celine.

"You didn't wake me up," grumbled the best customer of the day. Funnily, the two hours we spent audaciously turned to three as her whole body massage lulled her to slumber and snoring.

"It's so f*cking hilarious. Ahh, so precious," I mumbled with a broad smile on the road.

"My goodness, I'm not going back there." Alerted, I eyed her.

"That's a waste. The salon offered you a year of free treatment, anything you liked, didn't they?" She didn't buy it.

"I feel like they know you. I'm not coming there," Celine reasoned.

"Whoa, haha! Okay, fine, I'm a regular."

"Regular or a VIP?" A blank smile appeared on me, my eyes were upfront, but her words sounded like an interrogation, as though she didn't know my profile. Her phone rang, she didn't take the call.

"Don't you like it?"

"What is?"

"Me, I mean," I grunted a little to explain it in the other way she declared. "Aside from rainbows, glitters."

She chuckled sweetly. "It's about you. Not accepting you're rich is stupid. You know I wanna achieve what you have. It's amazing."

The auto stopped like others in front, the silence I needed to think through about what she had said. Admiring the privilege I owned, the setbacks of partly blaming the position I had upon the previous relationship, and not having all the freedom to grind on what I was more passionate about, placed a new conviction happened in the present time.