CH 2

Two years later…

Zel and Emilia have been together for a year and a half now. Eventually, he wasn't quite sure how to live life without her. That's when he knew to marry her.

"You may now kiss the bride!" The priest looked at the couple in front of him. The man was very handsome, but the woman was just as beautiful. They might just be the most beautiful couple he had ever wedded. But they also looked like the happiest couple he had ever had the pleasure of wedding as well.

"Kyaaa!" Tina loudly shrieked as her friends turned to face each other. Feeling their romance being something that she wants to have for herself.

"Woo!" Karl was also ecstatic as he was there when the two first met each other. It seemed like it was just yesterday as well. Zel looks really happy, and he certainly looks better than he did a few years ago.

"Beautiful." Zel turned his head to face Emilia, only to find that she had already faced him. There was a veil that hid her face which had already flushed red. Zel then took the hem of the veil and lifted them up, revealing the beautiful face he had seen every day for the past year.

Emilia couldn't help but smile at her husband's praise. She watched as he seemed to be still appreciating her, causing her embarrassment to reach another level.

"Kiss me." She spoke seductively, even looking him in the eyes while doing so.

"..." Her words seemed to have not reached him as he just continued to watch her. It was even worse when she saw him giving her a smitten smile, as if he had never seen her smile at him before. He stood there, unmoving. Like he was taking a picture.

"Kis- Mmm." The request had already been granted by the time she was going to repeat her order. She wasn't expecting it at all as she felt her legs give out from the surprise, only to be carried by his strong arm that wrapped around her waist. The two had closed their eyes, savoring the feeling of their now strengthened bond.

'My wife.'

'My husband.'

"Wooo!"

"Save it for later!"

"Congratulations!"

" Gasp. Gasp. " The married couple only went back to reality when they reached a point where they needed to breathe. Their little show was causing the people around them to feel somewhat intruding on the beautiful couple. Though the moment didn't last so long that the celebratory atmosphere got ruined.

"Let's go, my wife?" Zel leaned down to look at Emilia in the eyes. His face saw still as smitten as ever, causing Emilia to feel glad about her decision to marry him.

"Carry me, my husband." Emilia lifted her arms, only to find that Zel had already lifted her up in a bridal carry. The man then ran like an idiot towards the church door. He was about to kick the door out of habit when he felt Emilia pinch him in the chest.

"Idiot, this is a Church!"

"Oh, hahaha!"

One year later…

Zel and Emilia were still a family, but it was only the two of them. It turns out that Emilia was unable to have children. The two were able to accept that fact, moving on with their lives even though their family would never grow bigger than the two of them. But Zel had a plan for that.

It was already night when a door bell rang. Zel who had immediately understood who was on the other side of the door sat up, gave his wife a kiss on the cheeks before he lifted his wife to the first floor in a bridal carry. The wobbly adventure had caused the rather sleepy and confused Emilia to wake up due to fear and excitement as she felt the journey downstairs to be the most dangerous thing they had ever done since their marriage. Even more dangerous that when he wanted to go sky diving.

As Zel didn't want his wife to be seen in her sleeping wear he let her down and fixed her clothes. He then opened the door when he felt that it was fine. He opened the door to see a woman holding on to a small box, similar in dimensions to a shoe box.

"Good evening sir, Gulp . Huertazuela? Here's your little bundle of joy!"

A young woman who held the box felt her mouth get dry when she saw who opened the door. The woman inside was wearing normal sleeping wear but the man was only wearing pajama pants with nothing on top, revealing his masculine body. Something he had neglected to do something about due to his excitement.

"Good evening! Thank you for the service!" Zel happily took the box with him. He wore a smile when he felt the thing inside move. He knew that they only packed it like this a few seconds ago as it would have suffered of it was done earlier. He hurriedly placed the box on their living room table while allowing the young delivery woman inside to introduce them to the present later.

"Honey! Open it!"

"Me?" Emilia watched the box intently. From the rattling noise coming from it, she knew there was something alive inside. Her hands trembled as she opened the package, only to see a tiny figure inside.

"Happy Anniversary baby! It's a kitten! She doesn't have a name yet, why don't you name her?" Zel then opened the cage to pick up the kitten slowly. He then lifted it up to be on equal eye level with Emilia who looked at the kitten lovingly.

" Gasp! Sniff. Sniff. " Emilia who didn't respond to her husband was holding her hands before her face. Covering her mouth in shock as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Uh, honey? Did you not like it?" Zel panicked when he saw her get teary eyed, so he hurriedly went by her side to console his wife.

"No, I mean, I love it, it's just... so cute!" Emilia took the adorable kitten in her arms. The small thing mewled at Emilia, causing a smile to appear in her teary face.

"What's her name, honey?" Zel moved closer to his wife, giving the kitten a gentle petting which made it purr. Seemingly satisfied with his gesture.

"Elise... Her name's Elise." Zel had never seen Emilia give a more delightful smile when talking about the kitten. He was sure that he made the right decision, hopefully his wife would understand that he loved her for her. They didn't need to have a child to be a family.

"Ahh! Let me hold her!" Zel tried to see if he could get the kitten, but his wife had already started running towards their room upstairs. Zel who was watching from the side felt that he did good. He turned his attention to the delivery woman and gave her a thumbs up. Receiving a humble bow in return.

The night ended with the loving couple having a tiny kitten sleeping in between them as the darkness took over the night.

One year later…

When Zel arrived back home from his work, he found Emilia presenting him with a choice. To live the rest of their lives in an adventure or to stay here and lived as they were doing then. In his mind, there was no choice really, choosing the former as that's the life he wanted to have in the first place.

How long does a journey around the world last? A lifetime is just not enough. Having traveled along the European seas, they took in everything with an adventurous spirit. Foreign food, foreign culture, bizarre places. Eventually they grew more methodical in their journey, choosing to travel by themselves. To see the world without having a plan, just living in the moment.

As Zel and Emilia were passing through the forests and climbing the mountains from Kanada to the USM, the scenery had never looked as beautiful as it did than when they felt the fresh and clean breeze on the way. They explored every restaurant, every monument, every place that was worth seeing. The USM had no trademark that they hadn't seen personally, with even the pictures of their travels having to be stored in 20 memory cards as Emilia had taken up photography as her hobby.

The wild forests of the East had them craving for the more civilized society of the South East as the food and people there have always made them feel like they've been eating tasteless food. The beautiful landscape had captivated Emilia so much that they took their time when travelling, often having to stay out under the stars to pass the night. There really were no regrets.

Forty years later…

It's already been 40 years since Zel and Emilia got married. Now Zel's just an old coot who has to receive care in a hospital. Of course, he's a little worse for wear. He can't even stand on his own anymore, much to his despair as having no control of the body he once trained to the peak had made him feel useless. His skin had also turned into what he liked to call as 'leather'.

'Maybe I should have taken it easy on those beers. But Emilia had them too, maybe that's just what good genes give you, eh?'

Alas, it seems that time is never on man's side. As he feels the embrace of this bed coming to take him away. The feeling on his feet had faded long ago, making me feel no small amount of anxiousness.

'I'll just sleep for a while. I recall Emilia telling me that little Sabrina and her daughter will come by later. I don't want to make them come all this way just to see an old man sleep. I'll get a quick shuteye before then.' Zel mumble to himself, slowly closing his eyes while keeping his sights on the resting Emilia by his side.

By the time he woke up, it was already late in the afternoon. He knew that because of the glaring sun that passed through his windows.

'Since when did I have a window from that direction?' Zel who was confused tried to open his eyes, as he was feeling quite upset at the interference of the light.

'What the hell? 'Where am I?! Where's Emilia?!' Zel jolted awake and sprung up to look at his surroundings. His worn-out and exhausted body was no more. The wrinkled hands have turned back to their old self and he felt more alive than he ever did.

"Nurse! Huh?!"Even his voice changed, but it felt rather familiar. He tried to look around and identified something that triggered his mind.

'When did I get this couch again?' Instead of the hospital bed he rested on, he found himself looking at a familiar television. The same one he had so long ago. A feeling of déjà vu overwhelmed him when he saw he was on his couch that seemed to be forever ago.

'All that? Was a dream?' He checked the date on his phone that he had long since changed, but the most critical part was the date.

[June 12, 2018]

"It was all a dream… But, that's absurd!" Zel sat up listlessly when he had to accept the reality of the situation. He kept on staring at his hands, sometimes looking at his right as if he was looking for something.

'I need to find Emilia.'

He stood up from the couch, desperate to find out exactly what happened. Why was he back here again? Who did this? Is this real life? Is this just fantasy?

'Wait a minute. Who's Emilia?' The Zel who was rushing to find his wife stopped in his tracks. He was sure he had something he needed to do. Something very important. But he couldn't remember. A harsh realization made Zel's eyes pop wide open. He tried to calm himself down and try again, but he can't remember.

"Shit!" He forgot what he saw in the dreams, they were dreams after all.

'I still need to send in that registration form for the Stock Market account.'

Zel who had forgotten what happened in his dream sat back on his couch and scanned his phone. He hastily looked towards the website of the bank he saw looking at yesterday and signed up for an account. He even opened his other bank accounts and transferred all the money he possessed to that account. If he wants to start earning money early on, then he needed to take risks.

[-Metropolitan Bank Debit Account-

($1,000 has been successfully withdrawn)

(Total Balance Remaining: $4,322.00)]

[-MetroSecurities Account-

($1,000 has been successfully deposited)

(Total Balance Remaining: $1,000.00)]

Zel looked at his bank account in a satisfied manner. However, just as he was about to go for it, a nagging voice in his head crept up on him.

'All of it, use all of it.' He didn't know what came over him, but his hands had moved back to his debit account and transferred all his savings. He even transferred his tuition fee for the next semester. If he fails, he stands to lose everything.

[-Metropolitan Bank Debit Account-

($4,000.00 has been successfully withdrawn)

(Total Balance Remaining: $322.00)]

[-MetroSecurities Account-

($4,000 has been successfully deposited)

(Total Balance Remaining: $5,000.00)]

'I got a good feeling about this.'

Zel was acting like he possessed, like he was not in control. But he didn't fight back at all. No, rather than alienate that confident feeling in his gut, he chose to embrace it. He graciously accepted it, receiving in return an assuring sense of complete hold on his future. Hopefully, it doesn't let him down or he will fail spectacularly.

"I need to tell Emilia about this. Ahh!" As confident as he was, he was still a normal man. Just as Zel was about to go and eat some food, he stopped in his tracks. Memories accompanied by terrible pain came flooding back in, and then he remembered.

His wife, his life, his dreams, his regrets. All of them were coming to him all at once and he felt overwhelmed. Her name was lingering his in heart as tears flowed out. He recalled all his decisions at that time and was growing more determined. His head was in terrible pain, but his confident eyes were glowing a radiant blue. A growing strength was inside Zel, and he knew it. Finally, just when he felt the pain was gone, he ended up crashing on to the floor, unconscious.