[1.5] Existence
Answer: A toy she designed! (I know my jokes are horrible... ><)
1.5
They arrived in front of Yuri’s apartment compound and Tiffany put the car mode on Park. There was an awkward silence at first. Perhaps it was because Tiffany expected something from Yuri. Eventually, Yuri daringly leaned over and gave Tiffany a peck on the cheek. Afterwards, Yuri saw Tiffany smile and she smiled as well. Yuri decided to lean over again but this time, leaning towards Tiffany’s lips. The kiss was tender and innocent enough for Yuri to stop shortly after. They continued to kiss but had to stop after hearing a knock on the glass window of the car.
“Ma’am, you have to move your car.” The security guard on duty had said. It was obvious that he had probably seen the kiss as it unfolded.
Tiffany made a waving gesture without making eye contact. It was obvious she was upset with the interruption. She looked at Yuri and smiled gracefully. She leaned over one more time for one last kiss.
“Text me okay? I’ll be in meetings in the mornings but I’ll be free in the afternoons.”
“Okay.” Yuri said as she gathered her belongings. It was a bit of a disappointment that her date with Tiffany had to end and Tiffany would be out of town until Friday but there was nothing she could do about it.
“I’m gonna miss you.”
“I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Have a safe trip and I’ll text you when I’m inside.” Yuri said as she exited the car.
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Yuri made her way to the building she lived in. The complex she lived in had multiple buildings, including a common area where mails were deposited. She decided to head to the mail depository and upon arriving there, she noticed that Jessica was there as well, seemingly clutching a letter. She looked like she was hesitating and Yuri was curious as to what the letter was. From the looks of the envelope, it seemed like it had printed markings on it, like some sort of bill but Yuri could hardly catch a glimpse. Besides that, Jessica’s expression bothered her a bit. Jessica looked like she was sad and uncomfortable, the exact opposite from the optimistic Jessica that she saw at office or at home. She thought that perhaps Jessica had more complicated reasons to be homeless or to be working for the same company as her. But she knew that no matter what it was, it seemed too deep for Jessica to confide it to her.
So Yuri decided to give Jessica some privacy and left. She walked towards the apartment they shared and thought about how things with Tiffany had progressed. It happened fast, faster than she had ever perceived but Tiffany’s company had been great. She enjoyed their date and it seemed like it could be a lot more than just casual fling. It was new, it was different, and the best of all was that the feelings seemed to be mutual.
Arriving to her room, everything looked just like how she had left them. The loneliness was there although she didn’t find the need to entertain it. She had just a great night, for heaven’s sake.
She settled down and decided to change to more casual clothing. When Jessica comes back, Yuri and her would go to the supermarket and pick up some food for the week. Maybe do something different tonight, like going out for dinner for instance, or whatever Jessica may like.
Right after she had finished changing, she heard the door opening and Jessica entered with a small amount of letters in her hand.
“Hi, I see that last night went well?” Jessica said slyly which made Yuri smiled slightly.
“I guess it did.”
“I’m so happy you went. Tiffany’s a great girl right?”
“She was. I didn’t expect her to be so forward and yet so-"
“Yeah yeah, I get it. It’s been the same in the past.” Jessica set down the letters on the table albeit one. Yuri had noticed that it was the same letter she was holding previously but Yuri decided against saying something about it. It wasn’t her place to pry on Jessica’s business.
“I’m gonna change into something else and we can go. Do you wanna eat before we go grocery shopping?”
“I haven’t but we can, there’s a cheap restaurant close by.”
“Sure.”
Jessica smiled and proceeded to her own room. Yuri noticed that the letter was still clutched to her hand tightly.
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They both ate a good amount at the restaurant and caught up with each other. Jessica was out seeing old friends from high school, and Yuri told Jessica about where she had gone last night with Tiffany. Whilst conversing with Jessica, Yuri had noticed how Jessica seemed to be sometimes over expressing her joy to the point that she seemed to be putting up a front. Yuri wondered if Jessica had always been like this, seemingly forcing herself to look and act happy.
“So I saw that you got the promotion, Yuri.” Jessica said as she took a bite of her meal. “The envelope arrived today with a big congratulations written on it. I left it on the counter next to the fridge.”
“Oh, I didn’t even know it was real. People spreaded rumors but I always assumed they were fake.”
“Nope, it seems like it’s real.” Jessica took a sip of some soup while Yuri observed her. Jessica was indeed quieter than usual and perhaps even down. Yuri didn’t understand why but she didn’t want Jessica to feel interrogated.
So she slowly sipped her own soup and resumed eating.
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Leaving the restaurant, it was already 4 P.M.. It had just started raining and luckily, they were in the part of town that had overpasses and covered walkways that prevented them from getting wet from the rain. They proceeded to get a taxi to go to the plaza with the supermarket but it was still raining then. Not being too fond of the rain, Yuri suggested something else to kill time while they waited for the rain to stop.
“Hey, do you wanna watch a movie? The rain seems like it won’t be stopping for a while. We can do groceries after it stops.
“Um, sure.” Jessica seemed to have no opinion. It was almost as if Jessica’s mind had been elsewhere.
“Sir, can you go further down the mall two blocks down? You can drop us at the movie theatre.” Yuri signaled the driver. The rain was pouring and although it seemed fine earlier this afternoon and it obviously caught a lot of people unguarded. Many people were eager to take the taxi they were in.
Finally arriving to the theatre, they decided to watch a double feature with the most interesting titles, Thar: The Dork World and X-Men: A Documentary about Former Men. Yuri thought that perhaps they would be entertaining enough that Jessica could feel better.
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Halfway through the movie, Yuri noticed Jessica’s head had landed on her shoulder. Jessica had fallen asleep. Yuri decided to let her rest and as she did, she thought of Tiffany and what she might be doing. Tiffany was probably relaxing at home for her day off, most likely sipping wine with soft music playing in the background. Yesterday was a dream for her. She was definitely attracted to Tiffany, by how radiant and confident she was.
Reminiscing the kisses they shared and all the touching they’d done were something that put Yuri in a daze, and she wasn’t paying attention to the movie anymore. Every little thing that Tiffany did, she loved. She wanted more and more each time.
She looked at the girl on beside her right now. The girl she had shared her first kiss with, and now a dear friend. Jessica had helped her with a few things and more importantly, she had introduced Tiffany to her which Yuri was really thankful for. Looking at her sleeping, Yuri wondered how this whole love thing worked because she didn’t know anything about it. If Tiffany was hers, what did it truly mean? The implications of owning someone, its limitations, and the responsibilities she had to own up with. She wondered how Jessica’s last relationship ended.
Jessica shifted in her sleep and Yuri was brought back to reality. She lifted the armrest up, helping the other girl to rest a bit more comfortably. Lately, Yuri had been concerned about Jessica because of how little she knew about Jessica’s past. The incident about the letter made Yuri conclude that perhaps there’s more to her story than just debt. Perhaps, there were more serious but painful things. As she held Jessica, she planted a kiss on her head. For Yuri, it was a reminder that she’s there for Jessica as a friend even though she barely knew her. Jessica seemed genuine and sincere, persistently being mindful of her actions.
The movie was almost ending and looking at her watch, it was close to 7 P.M.. The documentary was 1 hour long, and because Jessica was still sleeping, Yuri decided to just do the groceries tomorrow. Besides, since it was Saturday, it would be a challenge to find a taxi when everyone is going out. Maybe they ought to just go home afterwards.
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When the movies ended and the lights turned on, Jessica woke up. She looked around to adjust to her surroundings before she realized that she had fallen asleep. Being terribly embarrassed, she apologized to Yuri but Yuri assured her that it was okay.
Stepping out of the theatre, they realized that although it had been dark, the rain was still pouring heavily.
“Well, this sucks.” Yuri said as she scanned for any taxis around the area. “There seems to be no taxi anywhere.”
“The subway is probably out as well due to all the flooding.” Jessica replied.
Yuri checked for a few more minutes and saw a sedan with a light on top of it. She stepped out near the edge of the pavement to catch its attention but as she did, she realized the “occupied” sign was the one that was lit up instead.
“Yuri let’s just stay for the night.” Jessica said as she pointed at a hotel, a few buildings away from where they stood. “I think they have a restaurant downstairs too.”
As much as Yuri wanted to stay in the comforts of her own home, Yuri decided for the weather to have its way. The rain seemed like it won’t stop anytime soon, and she was feeling tired already. But with the thoughts of last night’s events with Tiffany, it was going to be difficult to fall asleep tonight.
“Alright. We can go to the supermarket tomorrow morning.”
Right when they started to walk, her phone rang and she took out as they walked on the dry side of the road. It was Tiffany.
Hi I just got home from a business dinner. I’m really tired. But I mustered up the courage to ask, do you think you can come over and give me a massage tonight?
After that, she knew it would be twice as hard to sleep with her mind being quite restless.
She wanted to reply and just ask for a ride to go home but part of her wanted to spend more time with Jessica although she didn’t know why. Maybe it pained her to see Jessica feeling in such a down state. Dinner will most likely help, and some talks here and there. So she decided to go against it and just spend time with Jessica for now.
I’d love to but I can’t, something sort of came up. I’ll tell you tomorrow because my battery’s dying.
She put her phone back into her bag and she gave a smile to Jessica while waiting to be seated at the restaurant. Jessica smiled back, although it wasn’t the same.
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