Axl: The Blood Prince (2)

We burst into laughter. I knew it. She just couldn’t say that one phrase!
Noticing that, I took her by the arm and pulled her to me. Holding her close like that was something that made me feel so weird. I didn’t know her that much yet, since I had only been with her for five days (this being the sixth). But it seemed like she knew a lot about me.
"Ahem!"
"Oh!" I realized I still hadn’t let go. I released her. "Sorry."
"Nah, it’s fine." She looked up at the darkening sky. "Do you have time for dinner tonight?"
"I guess so. I don’t hang out with anyone else but you ever since we met. You know that."
She laughed. "Get a girlfriend!"
"A girlfriend?" I looked at her, then at myself. "Not possible."
"Pfft! Nonsense! Oh, darn—" She looked at her watch. "I need to go. See ya later, maybe."
"Yeah."
"I’ll meet you at . Later at seven. Drive home safe and slow, alright?" She handed me my jacket. "You don’t have a license, yet."
"Yeah," I repeated. "Bye."

58…59…60…One.
I sat on the couch staring at the clock. I had no choice. Where else should I go? I had no friends. I knew no one; I had no one to talk to. So I decided to have a walk around town.
Eyes were on me as I walked by. I felt uneasy, but was careful not to show it. God, I’m starting to regret going out of that darned house.
"Axl?"
A woman was calling me. I turned around.
"Jann!"
"I got out early. The meeting was moved." She looked at the shirt I was looking at. "Hmm." She turned to me and eyed me for a while. Her red lips then turned into a curve. "Sexy…Come on! I want that shirt."

I looked at the mirror outside the dressing room. The shirt fitted me perfectly. And it looked better than I thought. I removed my glasses.
"See? You’re hot," she told me. "You just didn’t believe me when I told y—Ooh!" She went somewhere for a while, then came back with another shirt in hand. "Eee! Try this on. I’ll go get more while you do that." Handing me the shirt, she scrambled away to some aisle.

I was scared to go out. I was afraid of what she might ask me to wear. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about her the past few days we’ve been together, it’s that what Jann wants, Jann gets. So if Jann wants me to wear a duck suit of some sort, then that gets followed. "Frightened" as I was, I knew I couldn’t stay there forever.

She made me walk from here to there, made me stand waiting for her to finally pick a bag she wanted, made me do whatever. After what seemed centuries of wearing and stripping off various pieces of clothing, she finally decided to end the little dress-up game. To be honest, I had fun. But it drained my energy like hell!

Jann took me somewhere to eat afterwards. There wasn’t much people, but I had the feeling that the food’s going to be great. When it comes to eating food, she can be trusted. When it comes to cooking food, oh boy, you’d better have a fire extinguisher around just in case.
"I’ll be leaving the country in a few days," she told me. "And I’ll be gone for some years."
I stared shocked. "What? No, you can’t! I mean, what about me?"
"Well, you already know how to drive. How to cook. How to do pretty much everything one needs to know to live. You’ll survive."
"But I need you!"
"Don’t worry. I’ll be visiting from time to time."
"I don’t have people to talk to."
"Like I said, get a girlfriend."
"…"
"I’ll just make sure everything’s ready. Then I’ll be going."
We ate our dinner. I was too upset to want to eat, but I was so hungry. It didn’t matter what the food tasted like anymore. I just wanted to go home.
I cried in silence that night. With the pillow almost smothering me to death, I let my tears flow out. I felt ashamed deep inside; I realized that I’d been weeping a lot since last week. Darn, I told myself. You’re such a sissy.! No wonder she’s leaving you. What comfort I was giving to myself. I felt weak all the more.

The dreaded day had finally arrived. She was leaving me. The time we spent together was too short, and I wasn’t even allowed to take her to the airport! Imagine how wretched I felt.
I hugged her. She was about to open the door by then. The door that separated us and the outside world. But I couldn't let her go just yet. There was something I wanted her to know. Badly.
"Jann," I started, gathering up all the courage I had. "I—I love you."

She smiled.
I smiled back. "Bye, mum."