Chapter 20

"Why aren't you eating?"

Alice perked her head up from a paper into my eyes. I silently munched on a pastry bought from the cafeteria.

"It's my grandfather's dinner party soon."

"...Uh… huh?" I inquired with a frown.

Realizing what she thought was normal, wasn't for me, she explained, "Appearances. I need to look petite and very pretty."

"That's… You have to diet for your grandfather's birthday party.."

"It's something normal for my family. Girls upon hitting their teenage years diet whenever there's any important social event. I didn't usually go to these events, so I'm not very good at dieting…" She patted her tummy.

"You don't need to diet. Doesn't sound like a very good reason to me… Just eat."

She shook her head, "I'm fine. By the way, would you like to come to the party?"

I stared into her eyes while parting a piece of my bread. Wrapping it with a napkin, I reached my hand out to hand it to her. She ignored it and merely stared back at my eyes.

"Yes? Or no?"

I wiggled my hand, bringing attention to the bread.

"Are you going to answer?"

"Are you going to not switch the topic? Eat."

She sighed. "I'll eat whatever and as much as you want after the dinner party."

I shook my head, "I don't understand why you need to diet. It shouldn't be that important since you're beautiful either way."

"Thanks… Don't say it with such a straight face…" She scratched her cheek and looked to the side. Then she looked back into my eyes, "I want to. Please respect it."

Seeing her resolve, I nodded and took back the bread. "Okay. And sure, I'll go. When is it?"

She smiled, "My grandfather was birthed on September 10th."

"Okay, I'll write that down," I tabbed it on my phone. "So…" I drawled.

"Hmm?" Her eyes frowned in realization, "You're going to say something that will annoy me."

"Haha… September."

"..."

"Your great-grandparents got… frisky on New Year's, huh?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hey, wait! Stop!"

"You wanna keep talking?"

"Stop stop, stop!"

"I'll cut your salary after cutting your tongue…"

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"Stop speaking for me."

"Okay, okay."

"You're still talking."

I shook my head quickly.

"Anyway, what are your thoughts about this situation?"

"Hmm. You meant about suddenly being in the past?"

I nodded.

She supported her hand on the table and caressed her chin.

"It came as a surprise to me. You know, I actually came here a year before, but it seems you came here just a few months ago?"

Smart. "Correct. It felt really weird and my personalities were overlapping, until a few weeks later when I finally became my adult self."

She laughed. "No wonder you were blushing so easily at the beginning. Remember when you said I was the girl of your dreams?"

"Ohhh. Yea. Actually, that was the day I woke up with memories of the future. I thought it was all a dream and I just blurted out that you were in my dreams, when it all happened…"

She nodded… "Mind if I verify something real quick?"

"...What is it?"

"Y'know… what if we're from different universes and experienced something different. What if you're a different Ivan that I know, and I'm a different Alice that you know."

My curiosity was piqued and I immediately agreed with her train of thought. As always, my manager excels at thinking even if she's not the same one.

"Well, seeing how you always threaten to cut my salary, I would say you're the same. I agree though, let's verify that."

And so we spent a short time recounting stories and experiences.

All of them overlapped, and I had a warm feeling in my heart recalling all those memories.

In the middle, the conversation went from verifying our identities to just reminiscing memories and good times.

"I still remember I was such a bitch to you at the beginning," she laughed.

"Was? You kept being a bitch since the start and it has not stopped."

Her eyes turned into ominous smiles. "Yes?"

"Wench."

She raised her hand and aimed it at me.

I raised my eyebrows, trying to see what she would do.

She flashed her hands to my bicep and began pinching the skin.

Sparks of pain flew from her pinch, but I maintained a calm face. "Weak. I've gotten used to it from the many times you've done it."

She pouted and stomped her feet. "Not fair."

"You remember that one time we had a meeting at the executives and uhh… what's his name?—"

"Frank! Oh my god, I remember. He had a hole in his pants and we had to maintain a straight face because that guy was as insecure as a teenager in puberty."

…

Sometime later, our lunch break ended and we had to pack up our things to go to class.

It had been a long time since I had felt this feeling. Just hanging out with someone and being annoyed that time passed so quickly.

The good thing was that we shared classes, and we were very advanced in our knowledge.

As a result, we could finish up things quickly and the teachers didn't mind if we went to the back and chatted.

Still, the privacy and the mood we had before had been interrupted so it was not the same.

"I think we should just invest in the companies we know are going to rise and live a long good life."

She smiled. "Oh… we?"

The meaning had completely slipped from my mouth. "Uh, I mean…" I trailed off.

Nothing I said would help me out in this situation. So the next best thing was to overwhelm her back and prevent her from teasing me.

"Let's get married."

Her amused smile quickly morphed into a shameful one and she quickly covered her face.

"...Don't say those things so easily…"

…

Seriously.

"I am not at all used to this side of you," I confessed.

We would always tease each other, and mess around, but she would never react like this.

It's something difficult to get used to, though it's not a bad thing.

She uncovered her face and tried to get past her shyness. Responding to my question, she twirled her hair, "Do you not like this… side of me?"

This is one of those questions where if I answer the wrong thing, she'll be scarred for life.

She's letting my opinion influence her behavior. It is instinctive for me to recognize this situation because in the past I would take advantage of these questions and the control I had over the other.

I would not do the same to her.

"Of course I enjoy it. Seeing new sides of you and the fact that you're so comfortable with me makes me very happy."

She smiled and looked down at the floor, unable to look me in the eyes.

Seeing as we had this atmosphere I suddenly had the urge to cherish her.

Hormones are taking control.

"Hey."

She looked up from the floor and directed her beautiful eyes at me. "?"

"I want to be by your side for a long time."

That day, our souls slightly reached towards each other and our hearts became a little more honest.

…

…

…

Days later.

In my closet, I had found neat formal clothes that wouldn't make me look too bad in front of other guests at the party.

With rich old people wearing very expensive black-tie clothing, I wouldn't stand out.

There should be a small space of clemency for people my age.

Still, better to ask than be sorry…

[Ivan: Is this okay?]

[Ivan has sent an attachment: image1337]

[Alice: Yes]

[Alice: Just make sure to properly button and zip your pants.]

Huh?

I quickly went back to the image and checked to see if I had flashed my underwear at her.

[Alice: Haha idiot im joking]

I awkwardly smiled with relief and a twitching eyebrow.

[Ivan: i actually had to check…]

[Alice: Stupid]

[Ivan: btw, are u sure i should wear these?]

[Alice: I like this look of you, it's very attractive.]

[Ivan: Mm, I see.]

…

[Alice: Ivan.]

[Ivan: hmm?]

[Alice: What are you doing?]

[Ivan: Cooked lunch and just finished eating]

[Ivan: whats up?]

[Alice: Nothing…]

Alice's status remained 'Typing…' for almost a full minute while Ivan waited for her.

[Alice: I just have to tell you something?]

[Ivan: What is it?]

[Alice: ill tell you in person.]

[Ivan: Sure]

[Alice: Anyway remember that I'll pick you up so make sure to have your phone ready and be fresh.]

[Ivan: Will do that.]

[Ivan: Are you ready? It's in a few days]

[Alice: Yes. It wasn't that hard to memorize important guest names]

…

…

…

Days later.

Alice picked me up in a sleek and expensive car. The fresh air conditioner hit my face and with it an aroma of leather.

"Nice to know I have a stalker." Not really, I've shown her my house before.

"You know it. I've been stalking you for a while now," she said without skipping a beat.

My eyebrows perked up, "To be honest I thought you'd—" I looked at the chauffeur and whispered, "...be a little more restrained in front of others?"

She patted my thigh (I squinted my eyes at the action), "He's like the Alfred to my Batman."

I looked up into the rearview mirror and gave him a thumbs up to which he smiled and returned.

"You do… look like Alfred. Very cool and charming."

I looked at him smiling from the rearview mirror.

Alice laughed and tickled my leg with her thumb.

Seeing that she wouldn't take her hands off my thigh, I looked at her with a weird stare.

"What?" she challenged.

"...?" I kept looking at her in confusion.

"We already confessed to each other, so what's wrong if I grab you like this?"

I smiled. "Nothing wrong with it."

"You know, it was my first time ever confessing to anyone."

"It was cute. I was a little afraid that something bad happened when you invited me to the coffee so seriously."

"...It's not my fault my face is serious when I'm nervous."

"I get it. It's a good trait to practice for meetings and presentations." She's a great public speaker.

I glanced at Alfred. Thankfully, we still haven't given away any hints that we're from the future.

Looking back at her, I asked her: "By the way, how long have you had feelings?"

She looked at me silently and pondered the thought.

"I think it was around a month before…" she lowered her voice, "that Christmas celebration we had."

My head instantly leaped back into my memories.

Before we came back here, we were having drinks since we were out for the Christmas holidays.

I remember we hung out for a while in my apartment after eating because she was lonely, having no one to celebrate it with. I brewed some tea for us and then… my memory blacked out.

I just woke up here out of nowhere.

"I wonder why it was specifically during Christmas holidays that we suddenly…" I whispered.

"I also wondered about that… Who knows" She shrugged, and continued speaking, "...y'know we became really close a long time ago, and already since then I more or less already felt some inclination towards you."

She continued, "There's a reason why I opened up to you and felt so free to act however I wanted to… I was never like that with anyone."

I smiled.

"Remember that broccoli pizza?"

Her eyes charmed me as her face morphed into happiness while recollecting the memory.

"Yeah…"

I confessed, "That was also the first time I had opened up to anybody."

Her smile closed her eyes.

A gentle nostalgic comfort wrapped around us.