Why did I wake up so early?

This thought was the first thing that came to mind after I opened my eyes. The second thing was the urge to sneeze, since half of my face was covered in Helen’s extra-long hair.

Then the headache from being hungover, as well as the call of nature from all that wine I chugged yesterday, caught up as well. Well, shit.

I extricated myself from the sleeping beauty’s embrace, a healthy dose of reluctance included. With ingrained motion, honed with years of this lifestyle, I grabbed the pack of meds from the bedside table, popped a pill into my mouth, and went to the shower.

Heaven bless ‘Big Pharma’, whose miracle medicine did the lion’s share of heavy lifting in getting me back in working shape. A cold shower helped to take care of the rest, with the unpleasant side effect of being completely awake now.

I glanced at the time, nine in the morning, and did a quick mental math calculation, trying to guess how much time it would take for Helen to wake up. The result I got was a ‘couple of hours’, give or take.

I had some time to kill, and I had already skipped two days of my morning exercise routine, so my choice fell on going for a run.

***

Mistakes were made.

The pair of earbuds I took with me died about ten minutes in, and now I was left one-on-one with my thoughts.

Most of which were about one thing. Or, well, a person.

Helen.

As I was jogging, I went over yesterday’s events. Meeting. Talk. My words. Her answers. Emotions. Feelings. Results. Everything. Honestly, it all went, for the most part, according to my expectations. And it was a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Just as I thought, my interest in Helen was still as strong as ever. Just as I hoped, she reciprocated it. So far, so good. If this meeting had happened two weeks ago, I would have dropped everything to be with her.

That’s where the downsides came in. Just as I expected, I wanted Helen very much. And, just as I feared, this feeling wasn’t that much stronger than that first attempt with Bella back then, in the first life.

Nowhere strong enough to keep my nature under control forever.

I really should thank Grandpa Smith for his timely assistance, I suppose.

Still, damn, I wanted her so much. And this thought brought with it the dilemma I felt yesterday. If I had to choose, would I be able to cut Helen off? At the same time, was she alone enough to outweigh Bella and Olivia in this equation?

For fuck's sake, why did it have to be so complicated?

Well, of course Helen said she would give this a try. But, as a professional liar with a lifetime of experience under his belt, I had a hard time simply believing those words.

How much of it was a lie? How much of it was what she thought was the truth? And how much of the rest would stand up to the test of time?

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Let the time tell.

Also, now that I had some time to think clearly, another problem I had pushed aside earlier surfaced.

What will happen if I meet another woman that I already deemed as ‘interesting’ in my first run?

Faces, names, and voices went by inside my head. It was quite an extensive list, I must add: a few of those I failed to pursue, a few of those with whom I separated due to circumstances, and a few I would like to try again.

What was I supposed to do if I met one of them again?

I drew a blank.

Fuck it. I increased the pace, almost sprinting, trying to tire myself enough for my head to go blank.

Haha, yes, let’s just run away from bad thoughts.

***

This was a good run, exercise-wise.

I opened the door and walked into my apartment, feeling completely spent and drenched in sweat from all the exertion.

The smell of breakfast being cooked welcomed me. Did Helen pick up cooking as well during our separation?

“Honey!” I got my answer in the form of a greeting.

“Hey,” I waved back to Olivia.

Yeah, while I was away, my girlfriend decided to come back home.

“Go and take a shower; breakfast is almost ready.” She said this and turned back to the stove, not waiting for my answer.

I shook my head and did as I was told. A few minutes later, I joined my silly girl in the kitchen.

“What’s for breakfast?” I asked.

“The usual.” She replied. A moment later, she added, “I also brought some buns from Su’s place, but I only got enough for myself.”

I hugged Olivia from behind, burying my face into the side of her neck.

“What? Did you miss me that much?” My girlfriend asked with a hint of tease in her tone.

Instead of answering, I tightened the hug a bit more. I actually did, and not only because of this feeling of peace that she always brought me.

“Okay, okay.” She giggled a bit. “Now unhand me, or this will be burned.”

I obliged, but not before giving her a kiss on the cheek, eliciting another bout of pleased giggling.

I took a seat on my usual chair, watching how Olivia finished the cooking process. She was about to serve the table when she paused and looked at me.

“We came back around four in the morning, and Helen is very grumpy when she lacks sleep. I wouldn’t recommend trying to wake her up before noon.” I guessed her question and answered it.

Olivia nodded and placed a plate in front of me: eggs, bacon, and a simple salad—the usual.

“How was your girls’ day out?” I asked after wolfing down about half of my portion and sating that first wave of hunger.

“Hm? The usual, I guess?” Olivia shrugged in response.

“The usual?” I voiced my curiosity.

“Well, after we brought Su back to life,” my girlfriend gave me a deadpan stare. “We went for some ice skating. Followed by just loitering in the mall. Window shopping, some tryouts, and ending up in an ice cream parlor—as I said, the usual.”

“Oh.” I nodded.

“Well, Patricia had an idea about going for some clubbing, but Su shut it down,” Olivia sighed. “Something about you burying us all together if something had gone wrong.”

I nodded again. I should praise Yin for this one.

“So we ended up sleeping over at Su’s place,” my silly girl finished her not-so-detailed story. “Today Su is busy, Mimi has plans with her boyfriend, and Patricia is doing who knows what. So I returned home.”

The last part made me smile, which Olivia noticed and turned away while biting her lip and blushing.

“Welcome home, Olivia.” I teased her a bit.

Instead of answering, my silly girl stood up and switched her seat to my lap, giving me a crushing hug and a deep kiss. Which I responded to with my own.

This went on for quite some time, until a not-so-polite cough interrupted us.