Chapter 77

(Lisa's POV)

I've been staying with Aluma and Innoccence in the family mansion for the past 2 months. I only leave to restock the fridge or go in for work when my presence is absolutely necessary because I'd hate to be away when Valin finally returns home. Innoccence decided to go through the transformation process. She sleeps heavily after the procedures Aluma performs, and Aluma seems tired on those days too, because she usually stays up with me. I like both the girls but I miss Valin, I guess he wasn't exaggerating when he explained how long this could take.

He was on my mind when I received a text as if I had summoned him. 

"Hey, sorry. Erecting a cell tower and satellite system here took a while. Things are going well, how are you?" He can contact me now! What a relief.

"I am so happy to hear from you! We're okay! Send a picture so I know it's really you." He sent a laughing emoji followed by a selfie. His hair is long just like the security system's was.

"I would've sent something better, but I'm not alone right now." I felt my face get hot.

"That was perfect. Oh, and you look good with long hair." His response was a little delayed this time but then he said,

"Okay, then I won't cut it all off... We're planning on returning in a week, so be ready." My heart soared, and he asked for a return photo of me. We continued texting throughout the day.

The others were ecstatic when I gave them the news and, more good news, Innoccence was finally done with her transformation! She now looked, like a pretty young woman in her late teens or early 20s, as she should. So that's a surprise waiting for them, but I don't think anyone except Jey would care, outside of her family. Hmm... It might be good for her to go see her family, maybe their stance has changed and they miss her. It's been 10 years, after all.

I should buy a new outfit for when Valin returns! Or would it make more sense to just dress casually? No, it's a special occasion I should treat it as such! I haven't seen him in months, I should at least buy new underwear. I feel flustered just thinking about it, I'm not sure what we'll do when we reunite. I want to be ready for anything! I invited the others to go shopping with me. It was Aluma's first time so she was running all over the store, asking what the sizes meant and trying on different things. I always thought she liked elegant clothing, but seems like her tastes are quite... diverse and chaotic. 

"What about this?" She asked, showing off the latest pants she'd picked up,

"Girl..." Innoccence began, "No. I'm not letting you go out looking like that!" She then pushed Aluma back into the dressing room and helped her change into something more fitting. I was looking through lingerie alone when my phone chimed, letting me know I had a follower request. I usually ignore those unless I recognize the name and I did... it was Dite. It's been weeks since I wrote her a song, did she just now look me up? I confirmed that it was her real account, which was more confusing. This is probably because I changed my profile picture... she must want to talk about Valin. I rejected her request and minutes later I had another request from her, this time a message. 

"Hey! I loved the last song you wrote me, I'm going to put in another commission with your company soon and it would be so awesome if I could work with you again. ♥♥♥" Nothing in her message seemed suspicious... but we don't need to be social media friends for her to say this. Her wanting access to my page feels a bit invasive. It is possible that she doesn't understand that since she's so famous and all her business is always on display. Being famous and all. Plus, her page says she's in a relationship now. Maybe I'm being too cautious. I replied,

"Oh yeah, sounds great. I enjoyed writing it, I'm off today but I'll definitely accept that job from you." A second later she replied,

"Great! I would love to work on it in person, though. I hope that's fine." In-person? I haven't returned to the office much since Valin left and the timing is so terrible, what if he comes home on the day she wants to see me?!

"Yeah, I'll do my best to make it work." After this, she didn't reply but sent another follower request... she's persistent.

Once we wrapped up our shopping and returned home I asked Innoccence and Aluma their opinion on my current situation, being sure to tell them all the details I knew of.

"She only sent a follower request after you changed your profile picture, not after you wrote 12 songs for her?" Innoccence asked. I nodded,

"It's possible she didn't even notice the picture," I argued,

"Bullsh*t." Innoccence shot back. "If she comes after my cutie pie Lisa, I'll mess up her face so bad she'll need corrective surgery to fix it." She balled up her fist and Aluma patted her head to calm her.

"Same." Aluma agreed, "I do not understand some of the terms... I heard of social media but I never used it. It's a way to share pictures, so it's similar to the texting?" I thought for a second,

"It's like... you have this hallway for books where you write your thoughts, jokes, or facts about your life, with frames of pictures you've taken over the years. You can allow anyone to look through this hallway or you can make it private so only a select few people can see it. Whoever is allowed to can look at any thought you have or pictures you've framed at their own discretion, and tell you their opinion on it or just view it secretly without your knowledge." She nodded,

"I believe I have a visual... so this woman who slept with your boyfriend in the past wants access to all your photos after you changed your profile picture. That is like the door to your social media hallway?" I nodded, "Then doesn't this mean she is hoping to see more photos of this boyfriend?" I tapped my chin, "It is saying... hung up on him to me." Aluma explained. She's super famous, couldn't she have anyone she wants? And she's currently dating Micheal, who is also a big star right now, both in acting and singing... but if Valin and I ever split, 2 years wouldn't be enough time to get over him. "I believe you should be direct with this b*tch, to see where she stands." I didn't know Aluma could talk like this!

"The direct approach could be career suicide for me! If I offend her she could do her best to have me blackballed out of the music industry. She has a lot of power right now," After my explanation, Innoccence jumped up and said,

"If she does that, we break her face. No problem! She won't be able to work for a year!" 

"Why is violence always the answer with you?!"

"I have to do something with all this burning rage!" Both Aluma and I stood to hug her at that moment and she screamed "Nooo! Stop trying to snuff out my rage! It must burn on!!!" We released her after 10 seconds then she mumbled, "All I'm saying is... we've got your back... I might not hurt her, maybe, but I 100% won't let her hurt you. We're friends now." I sniffled and Aluma said,

"Accept the request and watch what she does. If you pretend to be naive, she is more likely to show you her true intentions. If those intentions are bad, we will handle it together," Aluma is a bit schemey!

"Alright, thanks, guys." We hugged again, then I started on dinner while they decided on a movie. I accepted the follower request. She didn't openly like any of my photos but I did notice the view count on all the ones containing Valin going up by at least 2-10.

Valin stayed in touch with me all week, up till his return. It relieved a load of my anxiety, yet somehow made me miss him more.

(Snowe's POV)

Zai flopped down beside me on the bed. Frustratingly, it's been a week since I've seen him because he's been working all day and night to expedite our return home.

"Hey... when we get home, we should stream that movie you saw with Rai." He offered. I giggled and replied,

"Yeah, I've been dying to see that with you." I haven't thought of Stilleto in a while. I hope Zai enjoys it. He turned to me and smiled.

"I've never been so exhausted in my life! My muscles ache and I feel like I could pass out at any moment." 

"hmm... Would you like a massage?" I said in response to his complaints. 

"Sure but... if you do that, I'm definitely going to **** you, I don't care how tired I am." I blushed, and pondered my options.

"It... has been a while... We didn't even do that the last time I saw you." 

"Yeah because of all that damn paperwork! I had no idea so many decisions went into ruling... I was hoping it would only take a week at the max to have everything finished." His reply made me laugh, then I gently gestured for him to lie on his stomach so I could massage his back. Once he rolled over I sat on his butt and got to work on his back and arms.

"You're very optimistic." I teased.

"Hey... I still wish you had informed me ahead of time but... thanks to you, creating peace with Infaniya is going a lot smoother than we anticipated... They're even going to declare that the war has ended for the people on Earth so the Kill on Sight law will be abolished. So any Afarions who aren't Feeders are safe." I could feel his body warming up during the massage, he must be flustered.

"... I'm glad everything turned out well... Of course when I started, I didn't know how well it would go... but it seemed like you really earned Smoke's respect... plus he was feeling guilty still about... not being able to protect me and ... the whole kissing thing that happened last time."

"I don't forgive him." Zai clarified. I chuckled and gave his shoulders a good squeeze. "I mean it... but I am still grateful he persuaded his brother to help... and didn't rat me out as an Afarion." After he said this he rolled over and pinned me down, "Enough about him now..."

"O-okay..." Zai's eyes dove deep into mine, holding me in place as if I was under a trance and then he kissed me, tenderly, sending sparks through my whole body.

"I want all your attention for the rest of the night." He whispered while stroking my cheek. I nodded so enthusiastically that it made him laugh. "I love you, Snowe."

"I love you as well!"