"Hey honey," she called out. "I'm home."

There was no response. She peeked out the back window, and saw Allan wandering around in the backyard, looking kind of like an idiot. She forgot how ridiculous it looked to outside observers when you’re logged into NeuReality.

Hopefully he’ll be done after I wash up.

After a hot shower, she headed into the living room.

"Allan?" she called out. "Are you inside?”

Still no response.

She peeked out the back window again, and sure enough he was still playing. Curiosity getting the best of her, she pressed on her right temple and logged in from where she was standing. Pulling up her Developer screen, she quickly searched for Allan’s gamer handle @Hellekith. He was located near the gates of Samsiel again, so she selected a nearby bush as her spawn point.

With a flash, she spawned behind the bush. She scanned the area for Allan, but didn't see him yet. Glancing down near her feet, she saw a slight glow beneath the bushes.

More Spawn Stones?

She crouched down, searching for more of those glowing stones. She spotted two of them, targeted to the gates of Baraquiel.

Just as she was about to pick them up however, she saw movement in her peripheral vision. She turned around to see Allan approaching from a distance. He was still wearing a mere loincloth, and his avatar had built some sizable muscles.

She quickly hid behind the bush and waited for him to pass by. She couldn’t help but croon as he approached. Suddenly, he stopped and stared directly at her. He looked like he was about to say something, but then abruptly turned to the other direction and walked away.

That was odd.

She crouched down again and grabbed the two spawn stones at her feet.

System Alert!

You are in possession of three Spawn Stones targeted to the gates of Baraquiel. Do you wish to activate a Spawn Stone?

Yes | No

Lily selected 'No' and tucked the new stones away in her inventory.

Why did he turn away? Did he know I was there? Or was it something else?

Whatever the reason, she didn't want to risk being caught spying on him, so she quickly pressed on her right temple and logged out.

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She watched him out the back window for several minutes as he walked in circles within his allocated ten foot radius before she sighed and turned away.

Wherever he’s headed, hopefully he will log off soon. She would have a nice surprise waiting for him.

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She took a shower, and then slipped into her favorite pair of panties and bra, and chose one of her more revealing outfits for him to see. Then she set out to make dinner.

She wanted to surprise him with his favorite dish, but unfortunately he wasn't responding to her messages. She tried calling him but his NeuReality phone line was either turned off or muted. She finally decided to leave him a voicemail asking for him to log out soon because she was planning a surprise for him.

After making dinner, she flipped through the channels on the TV but nothing seemed interesting enough to hold her interest. She started flipping through the channels again, but eventually she fell asleep on the sofa.

When she woke up, she checked her clock to see what time it was. It was already dark outside, and the television was still on. Cursing under her breath, she realized she must have fallen asleep watching TV.

She peered out the windows to see if Allan was still in the backyard, but saw no sign of him.

So much for the surprise.

She yawned and stretched, reaching down to rub her lower back. Her body hurt.

It didn't help that she hadn't been sleeping well lately. Ever since she and Allan started living together, she had been waking up multiple times a night. Some nights she would wake up every few hours, unable to fall back asleep.

At first, she thought it might have been caused by stress, and that it would go away once they settled into their new lives. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to sleep. She was tired all day long, but her mind refused to shut down at night.

She knew what was causing the anxiety and insomnia. The double life she was leading was affecting her mentally. She couldn't relax anymore. She always felt like she needed to be vigilant, and she never knew who to trust.

Worst of all, she was beginning to have real feelings for Allan. She wondered if she should turn herself in to her Commanding Officer and admit that she had failed in her assignment, but that would likely mean she would never see Allan again. She couldn’t bear to think about being separated from him.

She knew she shouldn't be thinking such things, but her insecurities kept creeping back into her thoughts.

She regretted being such a trusting person. If she had known better, maybe she wouldn't be in this mess. Now she knew better. And the worst part was knowing that she could have prevented it.

If only I had listened to my gut. But that was out of the question now.

Yet despite everything, she had fallen in love with Allan, and she loved him dearly. She just wished she could tell him the truth.

She sighed, frustrated with herself.

A knock echoed throughout the house, and she jumped. She looked around frantically and saw that Allan was knocking on the back door.

Lily hurriedly went over to the door and unlocked it. She opened it and he walked inside without saying anything.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You locked me out!” Allan said. "I'm hungry!"

Oh crap! I totally forgot about that!

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "I fell asleep watching TV."

"Did you eat?" he asked.

"Not yet, I made spaghetti. You know, your favorite.” she pouted, “I thought you would come inside hours ago. I even got all dolled up for you, and had other plans.”

“Sorry!” Allan cringed, “James finally convinced me to try out your company’s game, and I kinda got sucked in.”

"Well, you can't blame yourself! It's a really good game!" she smirked.

He looked her up and down, and it seemed he had finally acknowledged her outfit.

"Come here, you!" Allan said, pulling her close and kissing her on the lips, “Maybe we should wait on that spaghetti.”

She giggled as he kissed her tenderly, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him back, and the kiss grew passionate as he pulled her closer and slid his tongue into her mouth.

A pang of guilt hit her in the stomach.

If only this life could last!

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