🇬🇧 Once Upon a Time #Herophine 🇬🇧 (English version)

Chapter 26 - Keys and gossip

Josephine

The alarm rings inexorably, like every morning.
I roll over in the sheets with my eyes closed, breathing in deeply a scent so familiar it seems like my own.
I have been immersed in this enveloping scent for weeks, which relaxes and excites me at the same time.
Hero.
He is my inexhaustible source of emotions that I never thought I could feel.
To tell the truth, I've never been romantic enough to think love really existed. Not in these terms, at least.
The cynicism that has accompanied me all my life is my magic power to be less impulsive and more rational.
I admit that I don't always succeed.
Almost never, actually.
But I try.
With Hero I feel rational and out of control. Two feelings that are antithetical but that have coexisted in me since I met him.

But let's get back to the alarm clock.
It doesn't want to stop playing.
I huff, pulling myself up from the bed.
At this point I'll have to get up!
I look around to understand what happened to Hero. His scent is there, but he isn't.
The water flowing in the shower is a clue not to be underestimated, I would say.
I smile thinking that this amazing guy, who chose to be with me, is now naked in the bathroom.
I might join him. It wouldn't be a bad idea.
The ringing of his cell phone brings me back to reality. It vibrates insistently on the bedside table, moving imperceptibly as if annoyed by the fact that no one is bothering to respond.

"Hero, your phone is ringing!" I scream towards the bathroom.

Nothing, he can't hear me.
"Hero, the phone!" I take the phone and take it with me. I knock on the door but all you can hear is the loud music he's playing.
The Rolling Stones blare throughout the room.
I smile thinking about how he is trying to understand my tastes, first and foremost musical ones.
He's singing a song at the top of his lungs and I smile in amusement, humming too.
The phone continues to ring but at this point it is clear that no one will answer.
I look down, curious to know who is looking for him so insistently.
Mercy's name continues to flash on the display.
Hero's sister, the one I thought was his girlfriend! I have to laugh when I remember the panic that had gripped me just a short time ago.
I press the button to turn off the sound and the music stops. At least I can continue to sing along to my favorite songs.

"Hi! Who are you?" A voice breaks into the room.
I freeze like a statue of salt.
Who the hell spoke? I look around scared.
A terrible doubt comes over me and I slowly look down at the cell phone, still in my hands.
The screen is illuminated with the image of a beautiful, blonde girl with collected hair and very familiar features.
Fuck! It was a video call and I just answered!
Fuck! Shit! Damn!!!

"I...heeeeeyyy" I widen my eyes smiling embarrassed.

"You're Josephine, aren't you?" She smiles amused.

I nod. My dry throat doesn't allow me to immediately respond with something intelligent.
"Nice to meet you! Finally!!!" She exclaims happily "Hero keeps you hidden like a precious treasure!!!"

This time I smile too, in fact I actually burst out laughing in amusement. I didn't expect such a statement.
Does he keep me hidden?
A precious treasure?
I feel something warm expanding inside my chest. The stomach twists with emotion.
The idea that he talked about me, to his family as well, excites me more than it should.
"Do you happen to know where my brother is? I've been trying to contact him for hours and he doesn't answer! The only 20 year old boy I know who doesn't live with his damn phone in his hand all the time!" Mercy snorts, shaking her head.

"I... Well... I think..." As I tell her now that her beloved brother is in the shower and that he hasn't answered her so far because until recently we were rolling under the sheets. Above. Under. Everywhere. And that I fell asleep exhausted, in his bed.