Can't I Touch Your Heart?

Chapter 24 I Hate Myself

So, Ember was the amiable one, with a charming personality emitting positive vibes, Loraine was that one rude British boy that most white girls crushed upon while Maple was just a weirdo, gay for his own brother.

"He's not gay," Ember perhaps read her mind, "He's a narcissist,"
"That doesn't make any sense," Rhea said, "Wait...Yeah, no, it doesn't make any sense,"
Loraine kicked Maple in his stomach and Maple fell back. He began kicking him on his stomach, "What in the bloody hell are you doing, you perverse twatt?!" Loraine shouted.
"Wait, this isn't bad either!" Maple grabbed his leg, "BDSM!"

"Huh?!" Loraine looked disgusted as he looked down at him. He moved back and rubbed his lips with the ends of his sleeve. Maple got up and began crying, "You don't love me anymore?"
"I never loved you," Loraine looked away with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Ember! This betrayal is too much for my weak heart, give me support" Maple hugged Ember.

"There there," Ember brushed Maple's hair. Rhea looked at them, ready to protect Ember in case Maple jumped on him next. But surprisingly, he didn't.
"Wait, I feel so out of place here." She finally realized her situation.

"Hold on, what is that doing here?" Loraine pointed at Rhea.
"I invited her! For fun!" Maple held Rhea's hand.
"And you just shamelessly made your way in?" Loraine asked Rhea.
"I was practically kidnapped," Rhea explained herself.

"What a slapper" Loraine went inside the building.
(Tn// Clapper: British slang for stripper) Maple followed him inside while clinging on to him.
"Slapper? Who did I slap?" Rhea mumbled. Ember looked at Loraine, his eyes filled with abhorrence. He shook his head and looked at Rhea, 
"What would you like to eat?" Ember asked.

"What about my bicycle?" Rhea asked back.
"I presume you can eat that but I suggest you don't," Ember took after Loraine in some ways and Rhea noticed it.
"No, you dumbass. I'm asking where is my bicycle?!"

"Er...Let's go to my room," Ember grabbed Rhea's hand and dashed towards the lift, with her complaining continuously. When they entered his room, the first thing she noticed was a guitar kept on his white sheets. Her face lit up, "YOU PLAY GUITAR?!"
"Yes, I do actually," He smiled.
She picked up the guitar and asked him to play something for her. He sat on his bed and she sat on the carpeted floor, looking up at him.

He pressed his fingers on the strings and his fingertips ran through the strings. She looked at his thin, long and pale fingers, his red fingertips and his pink nails. His golden hair shining here and there on his skinny hands. As the melody began, she bobbled her head slowly. He laughed as he looked at her and mimicked her.

"That was so beautiful," She smiled, "You play so well,"
"Just good dexterity," He smiled back.
"What does that mean?"
"I'm good with my fingers," He smirked.

"I see,"
Ember stared at her for a while and she looked down. The room was quiet and so were they. He looked at her affectionately. She smiled shyly as she looked down, very aware that he was looking at her, "Tell me some nice Danish word again," She decided to break the awkward silence.

"Hmm," He looked up, "FORELSKET!"
"And, what does it mean?"
"It describes the euphoria you experience when you're first falling in love,"
"Oh," She looked at him and quickly looked aside, "How do you even know when you're falling in love?"

"I guess," He kept the guitar aside and sat beside her on the carpet, "Perhaps, when you can't experience anything without wishing the other person was there to see it too,"

She looked into his eyes, blue like arctic ice, but if you stare into them, they burn with more passion than any bright fire could. He smiled as he looked into her eyes. She looked at him with her minds in the clouds, finding shelter in another skin as her hands felt hot, 

"Rhea?"

It's a blue feeling. As free as the ocean, as authentic as love.
"Thank you, Ember," She said.
"For what?" He laughed.
"For finding me,"

"Oh, no problem,"
"I don't know if you'll stay forever," She said, "And don't worry, it's okay. We can't control some things. But know that even if you're not here to stay, I'm happy the universe allowed your soul to stay by,"

He looked at her, "You're gonna make me cry,"
She giggled, "Really now? Man up, will you?"
"I can't. For you alone, I'm weak," 

She got up and turned away, "It's getting dark, I'll go home now,"
"Okay," He smiled, "Have a safe journey. Chuck will be waiting for you downstairs,"
"Okay! Bye!" She ran away. He looked at the door. Suddenly, his phone buzzed. It was Nikki's message.

Meanwhile, Rhea walked into the lift. It stopped at the sixty third floor. The lift opened and Loraine walked in. He glanced at Rhea and then looked away, agitated. She stared at his face. He had emerald eyes like a wild cat and furrowed, blonde eyebrows. His eyebrows were lighter than Ember's and he had no facial hair, not even that peachy fuzz like Ember. And unlike Ember's fringes, he had a side part, with fringes falling on one side of his face. He smelled of cologne, a poshe smell infact. He had a spectacular side profile, a stronger jaw and sharper features.

She was observing everything that was physically different in him except for the eyes and the more she looked, the more different he seemed from Ember. Finally, he turned towards her and caught her staring. She quickly looked away to hide the fact that she was observing him.
"Say," He finally spoke. His voice was deeper and more nasal, maybe because of the difference in accents since Ember and Maple's voices were exactly the same.

"What?" Rhea looked at him.
"Must you feel so chuffed after making my brother lose the plot," He sneered.
Of course, he had to use British slangs to confuse her and she wondered what he meant to say.
"What?" She rose her left brow in confusion.

"Seriously, I can't process why he's so benevolent towards paupers like you living in absolute penury. What can this impoverished nation provide except for leeches. You, you only persecute him by your sheer ignorance," Loraine crossed his arms.
"I can't understand a word you're saying" 

His English was at a different level, it seemed much more on the intellectual side than a communicative one. But, he didn't do it deliberately. He took after his mother who used to confuse his father just like that with her magnanimous vocabulary to express simple feelings. Therefore, he never drank tea, he willingly consumed the dark beverage.

"How are you so stupid? What I am saying is not hard to understand, even a bloody slave can get that," 
"No, it's how you're saying it that makes it hard to understand. Make it simple, will you?" Rhea rebuked him.

"My brother came here especially to meet you after ten years. He travelled a thousand miles and landed in this shitty country with it's bootless and exasperating people just  for you. And when he finally met you, he realized you are not any different. If anything, you're worse. How could you forget a childhood friend you made so many memories with? Does anyone ever mean anything to you? You let him go so easily, yet you shamelessly find shelter into him again. You emotionally destroyed my brother and I will always hate you for it. Always. Does that make sense to you now, you plonker?" He rebuked her back, "I hope you sleep with this in your head,"

The lift's door opened and he walked out of the lift, leaving her with her thoughts and guilt. The guilt that would emotionally destroy her and eat her next.

-To be continued

Loraine Helberg 
Can't I Touch Your Heart?