Zai insisted on talking in the bedroom, where he began changing clothes immediately.
I stared at the floor to keep my head clear, while he sat down on the bed beside me, shirtless, wearing only black sweatpants.
Then he pulled up my video on his tablet.
"Are you ready?" he whispered. I shook my head.
"No! I'm so nervous!" I replied, and then he kissed my forehead to soothe me. Thankfully, the video came out spectacularly, and my voice sounded so clear, I could hardly believe it was me.
I could tell Richard really pulled together the best bits of my recordings for this final version. But as the video faded out, a blurred clip of Zai and me kissing against the car suddenly appeared.
Were the cameras still rolling?!
Our heads were cropped out, but the way his hands were roaming my body and our grinding against each other was shown in full view.
Some of the comments read:
"Wow, this video is spicy"
"Michael didn't hold back in this! And this artist's voice is phenomenal."
"I've never seen such strong chemistry in a music video. Are they a couple in rl?"
That wasn't even Michael! It was Zai... But all scenes before then were of me alone or with Michael, so I see why they'd think that.
He even had a short insert in my song, so they could add Feat. Michael into the title and generate views.
Most of the comments were positive, and in a few days, the full album will be available for digital download.
"Did you give them permission to use that clip of us?" I asked.
I know my face is completely red right now. I had no idea how passionate we were being in public.
"I said I didn't care, just don't show my face," he answered. So they did ask him.
I rubbed my burning cheeks vigorously, trying to clear my mind.
"Does that bother you, Snowe? Should I have refused?" Zai asked while leaning in close to me.
It's still hard to look at him when he's half-naked, so I avoided his eyes.
"I just wish you had given me some warning! And I was so caught up in the moment! I can't believe we did that in a room full of people!"
Zai started laughing and pecked my cheek, saying,
"So... how was the movie?"
I began telling him the basics of the plot, keeping out key information to avoid spoilers. He watched my lips as I spoke and nodded a few times. Once I finished, he said,
"Yeah, I'd like to watch that with you." His voice had a slight growl behind it, which sent my heart fluttering.
Zai's life reminds me too much of the movie I just saw... the difficulties of that life are still fresh in my mind.
Several quiet minutes passed before he finally said,
"Did you have fun with Rai?" It feels so weird... I don't know how to answer him.
"Yeah, it was nice, but I was thinking of you the whole time... and honestly, he said something weird before we split up."
"Hmmm... I'll ask him about it later," he replied.
Then he looked at me, and I froze the moment our eyes met.
"Y-you... should hang out with him more. He misses you." I managed to mutter out before our lips touched.
"... I'll do that later," he whispered as he helped me undress.
"Wait! Where did you go earlier?!" I squealed, covering my chest with my arms.
"Oh... I have been neglecting one of my overseas businesses for a while. There was a mountain of documents I had to review... I tried to hurry, but it still took a long time. I'll be working from home for the most part," he sighed, nuzzling his cheek against mine before whispering, "Now are you ready to continue?" he asked as though the conversation had merely been a brief interruption.
"... I was worried that you were putting your life at risk," I admitted.
He put his hand under my chin and his thumb against my bottom lip.
"Let's... go to that pastry shop I promised to take you to, tomorrow," his offer made me happy, but I glared at him so he'd stop changing the subject. I huffed, which prompted him to kiss me and say, "I promise... to be less reckless from now on. Since I have someone worrying about me."
"... Okay, I'll accept that... but I want to know about all the businesses you run eventually. I don't want to be caught off guard if you have to rush off again."
He hummed to himself and looked at the wall for a second.
"Fine... I'll tell you all about them, as long as you aren't hiding anything from me."
I nodded.
He studied me closely before saying,
"Then... I'll open up to you, bit by bit. I'm only hesitating because some of my business had shameful origins. We were desperate for money when we first got to Earth and did a few things I didn't want you to know about," Zai admitted quietly.
I fell silent.
I wanted to tell him it didn't matter anymore. Whatever he'd done back then was for survival, and I won't judge him.
Before I could say any of that, he gently moved my hands away. Then he kissed my breasts.
"Zai..." I murmured.
"You're my wife... so I'll make sure you know everything soon," he said, lifting his head to meet my lips.
After that, he continued his advances now that I had stopped resisting.
When I woke up the next day, Zai reminded me of our date plans, so I got dressed.
I wanted to be semi-casual.
So I chose a long-sleeved, light-pink A-Line dress.
I wore black floral fishnet stockings with low heels that matched my dress.
I feel like it's important to be cute when I'm out with Zai, even though he'll smile and tell me I'm beautiful.
As soon as he saw me, he said,
"You're so lovely, it's hard to believe you're real."
The compliment was exactly what I expected, yet it pierced straight through my heart anyway.
Zai wore a black ballcap with red lettering and a loose black button-up shirt with a red T-shirt underneath.
His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, so his tattoos were visible for once.
He paired them with grey jeans and black shoes.
The shoes had red and hot pink lightning designs all over, as well as red-to-hot-pink gradient shoestrings.
And he had on the earrings I gave him, while I wore the necklace he gave me.
The Pastry Shop was called Hungry Kittens, and it specialized in making cute kitty-themed desserts.
There were even paw prints on the floor leading to each table.
It was spacious, and the tables were far enough apart that all guests could get a sense of privacy. When I sat down, a waitress wearing a frilly paw-printed apron approached the table. She had her pad ready and looked a bit nervous.
Seemed like most of the staff were women, but I spotted three well-dressed male workers.
"Oh wow, it's you again! Welcome back," the waitress greeted Zai, and I got tense in my seat, but when she turned to me and smiled, some of the initial possessiveness wore off.
"Is this the girl you made the special order for?" she inquired.
If I wasn't, she'd have just ruined our date with her dry snitching!
"Yeah... she loved it, so I wanted to eat in the shop together today. Instead of getting it to go," Zai answered.
"Hello, my name is Carol, and I'll be your meow-tress today," she said, turning to me again. I tried not to laugh.
"Hey, thank you," I replied, keeping my head down so she wouldn't notice my amusement.
She placed the menus in front of us and said,
"I can get your drinks while you decide on a dessert. Our Kitty-Nilla Latte is really popular right now. We also have alcoholic drinks that go well with some desserts."
I skimmed the menu and said,
"I want the Espresso Mewoca Milkshake."
"Me too," Zai answered, still eyeing the options.
"I can get you an extra-large with our couple of straws; they form a heart shape when in a glass together, and you get one free refill with this option."
Is it that obvious that we're a couple? I am happy, but... am I supposed to drink something like that in public?!
"Yeah, let's do that," Zai answered with a grin.
Does nothing faze him?
She walked away, and as soon as we were alone, he quietly said,
"It's so hard being so far away from you..."
He extended his hand across the table, inviting me to take it. We're only a few feet apart... but I also have the urge to be cuddled up to him, especially now that we're touching.
"The pudding from last time is a special item, so it's not on the menu," Zai informed me.
"Oh, that's okay!" It touched me that Zai went out of his way to get me a limited-time dessert before we were even together. "I am interested in the Hot Fudge Purrfect Cake," I muttered.
It was a warm cake, covered in hot fudge, with pudding on the side. It also had a cute marshmallow kitten napping on top.
The price was around twenty-five dollars, which felt much less extravagant than the dessert he'd surprised me with last time.
I'm thankful for that.
"Alright, I'll order something different so you can try some of mine," he replied, while deliberately sliding his fingers between mine.