Warmth

▪ 10 ▪

I signed the last book and shook hands with the fan with a wide grin. I let out a long yawn after she walked away. My manager told me that there was an interview for a renowned magazine so I quickly pulled myself up.

"Congratulations, Sasha Kendrick. Your new book became the best seller this year too." A journalist came up to me and greeted me with a smile.

"Hello, Richard, we meet again! And thank you. I find it wonderful every time that so many people around the world read my book and showed this much love."

He noted something down before he started asking me his questions. I answered them as best as I could.

After around half an hour, the interview nearly came to an end. 

"Last few questions. Why did you give such a sad ending to the story? I mean why didn't you get the two protagonists together? Many readers were disappointed at that." He asked with a smile.

I saw my husband in the distance who had just entered the building. I smiled unknowingly even though he hadn't noticed me yet. He just never notices me first.

"I apologize to my readers for that. But I felt because I found a happy ending in my own life, I had the freedom to give whatever ending I wanted in my story. It was a bit cruel of me, I admit," We both laughed at that. "But I think that's what made the story so special."

"I agree." He nodded before noting something down on his notebook. "Last question. You never mentioned the name of the two protagonists. Should we assume that this was inspired by your own life?"

I smiled pleasantly. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Who knows."

The journalist laughed again and wrote something down.

"Sasha!" I heard a familiar voice calling out.

"I think that's my cue." I said before standing up from my chair and saw my husband approach us with quick steps.

"Am I late?" He asked worriedly. 

"Nope. I just finished." I said before introducing him to my journalist. "Meet my husband Nathan Frazier. And Nathan, this is Richard Meyers, journalist from OutBook Magazine."

"Pleasure to meet you." Nathan said politely as he shook his hand.

"Same here."

_

As we walked down the empty street hand in hand, a light gust of cold east wind brushed past us and I shivered. Nathan let go of my hand before putting his one arm around me, pulling me against his body in a side embrace. His warmth immediately filled me up from the inside.

"That story isn't about us, is it?" He asked me.

I laughed. "No! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes playfully. "Because it's suspiciously alike to ours."

"Well," I shrugged. "Ask no questions, get no lies."

"Is that how you're gonna play it?" He raised his brows. 

I rolled my lips. "Well, you shouldn't have been such a jerk..."

"You wrote everything about me being a jerk then you wrote nothing about how I dropped everything and went after you in Italy!" He exclaimed. "I even missed my last high school physics Olympiad..."

I laughed out loudly. "Hm," I mocked him thoughtfully. "I must have forgotten that part... And don't whine! It's not like it stopped you in any way from entering college."

"You forgot specifically that part? That sounds like a very unlikely coincidence." He pulled me in front of him as I laughed out loud.

He kissed me passionately, reminding me all those memories I've shared with this man and continue to share everyday in a split of a second. Feeling the warmth spreading inside me, I kissed him back as I put both of my cold hands in his coat pockets.

We pulled away and he leaned down and put his forehead against mine. We smiled.

Then I suddenly detached myself from him and started running towards the house. "Whoever gets home first, wins!!."

"This is just childish." He said, sighing. But when he saw that I wasn't stopping, he started sprinting after me at full speed.

In the end, we both reached the destination together.

_

Word count: 680

Total word count: 8460

- The End -