Ever After

A yawn left my mouth as I waited for my code to compile. After a long debugging session, I hoped that this was the last time I had to fix this stupid bug that took me the whole afternoon to come up with a solution.

What pissed me off more was the fact that this wasn’t the project I was assigned to; it was from my coworker, who was behind on his project and had to ask for my help because he forgot about this one. Soon enough, it finished compiling, I tested it and found that it ran fine, so after I put a pull request, I looked at the time and clocked off.

With my glasses lifted, I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I dragged my feet to the living room before I let myself fall onto the sofa and next to Rachel.

“Done with your work?” She asked.

I gave her a nod as an answer as I dragged my head onto her lap, groaning as I made my way there.

She chuckled as she stroked my head.

“Good job for today.”

I readjusted my position to look at Rachel. She was staring at her phone with a serious expression.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just... typing out my statement.”

After we confirmed our feelings for each other, we had a discussion about how to handle the public reception of our romance.

“So... you really want me to post it? You know, I don’t really need to disclose this, right?”

“I don’t want to trouble you with... whatever might happen if you keep it a secret.”

“I don’t think there would be problem for me if I were to do that, but whatever makes you happy.”

Rachel continued typing on her phone, and soon enough, my phone dinged. I pulled out to see that she'd indeed posted a statement about our relationship, but didn’t give out details about me. It was along the line of “I’m now in a relationship with a woman I love,” but written in a long and professional way.

After going out with Rachel, I’d read a lot of articles about celebrities’ partners to see what it would be like when our relationship went public. Most of them mainly focused on the celebrities themselves about how they went out to do this and that with their significant other. And when they happened to write about the partner, most of the time, the partner themselves was a semi-famous person of their own, so it felt like they wrote about another celebrity but used their partner’s name instead of theirs for more clicks.

So when it came to me, there shouldn’t be a reason for the journalists to write an article about me. When I was able to reach that conclusion, my anxiety dwindled.

Still, I was a bit worried about what people might think about me being with Rachel. The people around me and Rachel were fine with it, but I wouldn’t know what her fans might think. I was a bit scared that they might think that she deserved better and something along those lines, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from being with her as long as she wished to be with me.

“So are you staying for another night?”

I hummed at the pleasant feelings of her hand brushing along my scalp. The answer to that question was obvious.

“I’ll stay over.”

“You’ve been staying with me for almost a week, at this rate, why don’t you move in with me?”

I hummed again, this time to contempt for an answer.

“I think that’s a bit too fast for me...”

Rachel looked at me, brows raised, so I continued my explanation.

“I’ve lived with my parents all my life, so it feels kinda weird to move out all of a sudden.”

“I see... You can take your time.”

Now that I think of it, didn’t she say that she moved out after she turned eighteen? Or was it nineteen?

“Speaking of, what’s it like for you when you move out? Did you have any trouble?”

“...Not much really,” she said after she thought about my question for a moment. “My uncle is as strict as he looks with the housework. When I lived with him, there was a chart for who had to do which housework on each day, so by the time I moved out, I already knew how to take care of myself.”

Rachel talked a lot about her uncle, didn't she? Most of the time, when she reminisced about her past, her uncle came up a lot compared to other people. It was almost as if...

“It sounds like you’re closer to your uncle than your parents.”

Only after I said it out loud did I realize how rude that sounded. Not everyone wanted to talk about their family dynamic, especially a public figure like her, so I should’ve known when she rarely talked about her parents like this.

“I guess I am. ...Not because I don’t like them or anything. It’s just that I see my parents as someone I have to impress... Maybe that’s why I have trouble going to them for... any reason, really. Besides, I spent more time with my uncle because I lived with his family, and he’s my manager, so it’s inevitable that I became closer to him than my mom and dad.”

Her explanation sounded reasonable, but I was rather surprised to hear that she thought of her parents that way. When your parents were great people, everyone would expect you to be as great, if not greater than them.

“Now that we’re done with our work.” Rachel stretched as she turned her attention to the clock. “Seventeen fifteen... You wanna do something before getting dinner?”

Sounded like Rachel didn’t want to continue with that topic, so I respected her decision.

“Sure.”

“What do you want to do?”

I thought about it for a second. A short and enjoyable activity that wasn’t physically exhausting...

“How about... a movie? I’ve been wanting to watch A Year with You. I heard it’s a pretty good, light-hearted romcom. I think it’s out on Netflunk already.”

“A Year with You, huh...” Rachel chuckled. “I watched that while I was in Italy.”

It was a shame that I wouldn’t get to see her fresh reaction to the movie, but hearing her laughter confirmed that the movie should be enjoyable.

“No spoilers, okay?”

“Not like I can give you any. I accidentally bought a ticket for an Italian dub, so I didn’t understand anything they were saying.”

‘So that’s why she laughed.’ I suppressed my chuckle.

Lately, I’ve gotten to learn that Rachel had a clumsy side to her, which was unexpected but endearing to learn about.

As she used the remote to open Netflunk, I sat up so that I could see the T.V. screen and snuggled up against her.

After facing the pain of navigating the menu with a T.V. remote, the show finally started.

The movie started off with our male protagonist, John Jonas, being forced to go on a year-long work trip to San Francisco in order to train the workers at the San Francisco branch. There, he met our female protagonist, Madison Klein, who hated the idea of the higher-ups pushing for a change in her system. And through a series of arguments and compromises, the two started to notice the benefit of their different way of working, as well as their feelings towards each other. Before long, John’s year-long work trip was coming to an end, and the two had to say goodbye to each other.

The movie got to the scene where the protagonists kissed after they made a promise to not forget each other. Seeing it reminded me of the time Rachel’d asked me to help her practice a kissing scene. The helping with her practice part itself was great, but the fact that I’d helped her so that she could use it with another actor was the part I didn’t like.

I felt a tinge of jealousy well up in my chest as I watched the movie.

“Rachel...” I spoke up. “Would it be weird if I said that I still feel jealous that you had to kiss someone other than me?”

She turned her gaze to me and smiled.

“If you feel that way, then I’ll have to reassure you.”

She lifted me by my chin and pressed her lips against mine. The sound of her lips smacked against mine before she pulled back and gave me a smirk made my heart dance in excitement.

“All gone?” She asked.

“No...” I grumbled. “But it does subside.”

“Then if it flares up again, all we have to do is kiss.”

Since she told me that...

“Then...” I readjusted my body and moved in closer to give her another kiss.

“Maybe more...” And another one.

“...” And another one.

Pulling back from her, I felt a rush of embarrassment. The old me wouldn’t be able to imagine that I would get to kiss Rachel so casually like this.

“Are you sure you’re doing this to suppress your jealousy, or are you doing this because you wanted to?” Rachel chuckled.

“...Can’t it be both?”

“Sure.”

With a smile still on her face, she pulled me in and gave me a tongueful kiss that left me breathless.

“If you can do it. Can I do it too?” She asked even though she already did it.

“Yes...”

Soon enough, the credit rolled. We might’ve missed some parts towards the end because of our little romantic act, but overall, A Year with You was a fun watch.

“Now that I watched it again, the opening segment basically foreshadows the whole movie with John writing down what’s gonna happen in his schedule book. Pretty neat detail there.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess it’s kinda in theme of him being so methodical that he can predict the whole movie.”

We spent more time discussing details of the movie, what we found interesting, what we liked. Hearing Rachel’s insights as a person who worked in the entertainment industry was interesting. The way she explained how shooting from a certain angle gave the scene a different feel, and how they used colored light to change the vibe of the scene, showed how the experience she accumulated throughout her years of acting.

“A Year with You is already this good... Can’t wait to watch Proof of Our Dream.”

Proof of Our Dream was a Lucas Wanderson’s film that Rachel starred in as one of the protagonists. While the movie was being worked on till this day, the production had released some details to the public, such as the name, synopsis, the cast, and of course the director. Safe to say when the details were released, the romance fans were hype.

“Then do you want to go to the premiere together?”

“Is there a clear date already?!”

I, too, was swept up in the hype.

“No, not yet. I’m just asking in case you might wanna walk the red carpet with me.”

I couldn’t believe what I heard. Red carpet? Me?

“The red carpet?! What? When? Where?”

“It’s for Proof of Our Dream’s premiere. The movie isn’t finished yet, but I’m sure there will be a red carpet premiere. Lucas Wanderson’s film has always been highly anticipated, after all.”

I didn’t know that actors had to walk on a red carpet for a movie premiere. Now that I think about it, I had no idea when they would walk on one in the first place, didn’t I?

“But is it even okay for me to be there?”

“Of course, you’re my girlfriend. But if you don’t want to, then I can go alone.”

I would feel guilty if she had to go alone. But from what I remembered, Rachel rarely went on a red carpet walk despite having acted in many high-budget movies before. I was curious why she wanted to attend one this time.

“Why do you want to walk the red carpet on this one?”

“Well... I’m aiming to become a top actress, so a public event like this is a must.”

Hearing that fact stunned me. Rachel, herself, had told me that she became an actress because of societal expectations and stayed as one because of the money. Living with her, she didn’t seem to have any financial problems; in fact, her spending was surprisingly low for an accomplished actress of her caliber. But hearing that fact also ignited my pride as a fan of hers.

Rachel, seeing my stunned look, continued to explain her reason.

“Back when I was depressed, I made it a goal to become a top star as a way to keep my mind from bad thoughts. But now, I decided to stick with that goal for the sake of it. My uncle, my aunt, my mom and my dad were excited to hear that, so I might as well continue.” She shrugged.

In the end, she was still the same, aiming high just for the sake of it. But as her girlfriend and a fan, supporting her was an obvious choice.

“...I’ll walk with you.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to–”

“No, Rachel, I want to! I swore to you that I wanted to be by your side. And if it means I have to go to a public event with you, then it is something I must do.”

She smiled and nuzzled up against me.

“I swear it’s not really necessary... If you go with me, they’re going to know about you...”

The thought of that still scared me, however...

“It doesn’t matter. As long as you want me by your side, then I’ll be there with you.”

Rachel let out a sigh. Her head was rubbing against me, so I couldn’t see what kind of face she had on.

“Thank you, Lena. I love you.”

Perhaps I didn’t need to see to know what kind of face she was having.

“I love you too, Rachel.”

I would have to face all the eyes that would be on me, the voices would call for our attention, and the flashing lights that would record my presence, but that was a problem for a future me. Now, there were only two of us.

“It’s already this late? I should make some dinner.”

“What are you making?”

“Shrimp rose pasta.”

Lena and Rachel. Together.