"I made you breakfast!" Kuvira calls out, through the door.
I instantly jump up, grab the fire extinguisher by my bedside, and open the door.
"How big is it?" I ask, scanning the room to find a fire.
But instead, I find a clean kitchen and a table set.
"What's your problem?" Kuvira asks.
I set the extinguisher down.
"I don't know." I reply, rubbing my eyes.
We take a seat at the table and I move a strand of hair behind my ear.
Kuvira takes a sip of her coffee as she studies me.
"This is the first time in months, you ever called in sick. You don't look sick." Kuvira states, grabbing a piece of bacon.
"I'm just under a lot of stress." I reply, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Well lucky for you. You get the apartment to yourself, today."
"Why? Do you have a date with Baatar?" I tease, trying to find some humor, in my situation.
"Ew, no! My co-host Opal and I are interviewing…" My best friend starts drumming the table.
"Alicia Keys." She says with excitement.
"That cool."
My response makes my roommate frown.
I need to pull myself together, this is not Kuvira's fault. I shouldn't be taking out my frustrations on her.
"I'm sorry Kuvira, I care trust me. Is she performing? Wait. Let me guess. With your background and all, I bet she's singing Girl On Fire?"
This gets my friend to smile again, "No-"
"She's singing No One!" I shout, making her laugh.
"No,she's not singing at all. She's coming on our talk-show to talk about life."
"Sounds like my type of show." I tease.
"Yeah, it's big deal. That's why Opal and I, are heading to the station early, so we can prepare."
We continue eating in silence and my mind keeps wandering to all of Korra's texts, that I haven't responded to. I know, it's wrong for me to ignore her, but being fake upset with her is helping me lose feelings for her. I was afraid that Mako would ask me if I was upset with her, at work today. So I decided to stay home, instead of facing the music.
I also got a few message from Bolin and Baatar, asking about my whereabouts. All I had to do was send a picture of a box of tampons and the messages stopped. I wish I could talk to someone about this, but they will say the same thing, which is 'Leave it alone, she's taken'!
I wouldn't blame them, I would give the same advice. It's just out of all people, why Mako? I'm not trying to be some sort of hero who saves Korra from her toxic relationship, but something is off about Mako. Then again,she could be perfectly fine in their relationship, and I could be overreacting.
"So how did your coffee date go?"
"What?" I ask.
"You told me you were going on a date with this girl, last week."
"When did I tell you that?" I ask.
Kuvira rolls her eyes.
"It was the night before and you were asking me where your jeans were. I told you I didn't know and you started crying, mentioning some Starbucks date."
The memory comes back to me and I feel even more humiliated. It was such a simpler time back then.
"It was alright."
"Alright?"
"SHE'S TAKEN." I yell out.
"Awww, Sami. Wait? Why would she be on a date, if she's taken?"
I put my bagel down.
"It wasn't really a date, I just mistook it. Which was my fault,completely. I didn't read the signs."
"Unrequited love, huh?"
I laugh to hide my pain.
"It's not love, I hardly know her."
She shrugs.
"Well, that's that. No point, in moping around about it. She's taken, get over it! "
My friends gets up and grabs her coat, after such a blunt response.
"Excuse me as I... make history." She runs back over to me and gives me kiss on the cheek.
"Good luck, Mom. Try not to scare Alicia Keys." I tease.
"I will try my best!" she replies, before exiting.
My friend is right, I need to get over it. Simple as that.
As I'm watching tv, I get a picture message in Baatar, Bolin, and I's group chat. Apparently, they're doing Secret Santa and they're picking out the names.
I put my phone down and turn up the tv volume, so I can hear my favorite show Quantico. As I'm anxiously waiting to see what the character Alex Parrish does next, my doorbell rings.
Great, my pizza is here! I put the show on pause, grab my wallet, and head to the door.
The moment, I swing open the door, I come face to face with Korra.
"Hey." She says, nervously.
I hug my body, even though I'm not wearing anything too reveling. Actually, I think I would have been less embarrassed, if I was. Right now, I'mm standing in front of Korra, wearing Super Mario pajamas shorts and a black v-neck.
" Hey." I reply.
How does she know where I live?
"This is weird, I can't believe I did this." She says nervously.
With her white Under Armour long sleeve shirt and vest jacket, to accompany it, she most likely came from a run.
"It's just…. you weren't replying to my texts and I thought you were mad. Then you didn't show up today at work, so I got worried. So I went through Mako's employee files, found your location, and walked/jogged here. I run when I feel anxious. That's besides the fact that, this was a bad idea. Now realizing, you seem to be chilling and from the wallet in your hand-you were probably thinking I was some delivery guy- so once again, I disappointed you-ugh this is bad-I'm sorry. I'm going to go now."
Before she can turn away, I grab her hand, which feels cold, making me feeling guilty for being the reason she was out in the first place.
"No, its fine come inside."
What are you doing Asami!? Let her walk away! Don't invite her into your home. This is the one place, you can be yourself!
I step aside as she comes inside, then I shut the door behind me.
"You can sit anywhere."
She nods and takes a seat on the couch
Great! Now every time you sit there, you will think of her. You really lost your control Asami!
I Ignore my thoughts and turn off the tv. Which was a bad idea, because I could have used it, as a distraction.
I take a seat in a different chair adjacent to hers.
"You have a nice home." She says looking around the room.
"Thank you."
"You also have a huge DVD collection." She adds, pointing to Kuvira's and I's DVDs.
"Yes, my roommate and I are avid TV lovers."
She nods, as she taps her is so awkward, I should just apologize.
"I'm sorry." We both say in unison.
"No, I'm sorry Korra, I should have replied to your texts. It's so unlike me to do, such a disgusting thing like that."
She shakes her head in disagreement.
"No, It's understandable. I put you in an uncomfortable situation. Even though, I never told Mako about what you did."
"Really?" I ask.
"Yes really. All I told him was that he's going to lose me and his company if he doesn't start appreciating us. That's all. I didn't think he would have talked you . I didn't bring up your name once in our discussions. Well… I did when I told him how much fun, we had together the other day"
My face starts heating up again and I try to push down such emotions.
"Asami, I really enjoy hanging out with you. I don't have many girlfriends, taking in fact most girls I encounter I beat up. But I don't want us to stop talking, just because of a misunderstanding. I miss you, even though we only met each other twice, but that's how connected I feel with you. I hope I'm not freaking you out, with all of this. I'm not over obsessive or anything. I don't really need friends..wait that came out wrong."
I watch as Korra grows impatient with herself and I find myself giggling. I thought, I was the only one who needed to collect herself.
"I get what you're saying."
She looks up at me defeated by her words "Really?"
"Yes, I feel the same way. I just got freaked out, because of Mako."
She raises her eyebrows.
Way to go Asami. This is what honesty gets you! Now you have to tell her, you have stronger feeling for her.
"Mako?" she asks.
The doorbell rings and I'm saved. I hop up and make sure it's the pizza guy this time. I open the door, grab the extra-large cheese pizza, and give the delivery boy a tip.
"Did you eat?" I ask, setting the pizza on the table.
"No not yet." she replies.
"You can have some. It's not like I was going to eat this big thing by myself." I say, biting my tongue.
Of course, I was going to eat it, by myself. Shit, I would have eaten two boxes by myself.
I grab two plates from the cabinet and hand her one.
"Take as much as you want, I know athletes need to stay fueled." I tease.
"Thank You! Tenzin keeps me on a strict diet. He would kill me, if he knew about this."
"I won't tell, if you won't"
"Sounds good to me." The moment she takes a bite, the pizza suddenly drop back onto her plate
"French Toast!" she yells, which makes me spit out my food as well.
"What?" I ask.
"I burned my tongue." She says, tapping her foot rapidly.
I rush to the fridge and grab some ice, place them inside a paper towel, and hand it to her.
"Here."
she takes the make-shift ice packet and she places it on to her tongue.
We head back over to the couch and I'm waiting for my food to cool down. Despite the hard lesson Korra learned, she takes another bite from the slice that caused her harm.
"How can you still eat it, when it burned you?" I ask, in disbelief.
"Sometime you go back to things that hurt you the most. Even though, the sauce burned me, I know there was still that savory taste that came with it."
Tell me about it.
"So French toast?" I ask, remembering her outburst.
"Haha, sorry about that. It's actually a funny story, if you want to hear it."
"Sure."
"There was a time where I would... curse like a sailor, when things weren't going my way in matches. "
I laugh, picturing her curse out the refs or who ever got in her way.
"It's not funny, I was really bad. I remember when I won this fight and my opponent was talking mad shizz. So when I sat down for my post interview, the report asked how I felt about my opponent after the match. I think I may have said more F you's than that Cee Lo green song. No...it was worse than the song. Just imagine a long beeping sound. That's what it was like, when I spoke about my ex opponent. It was really bad!"
I find it hard to believe that she could do that. Korra is like a soft teddy bear inside.
"I can't believe that. You're so sweet and soft."
Did you just call her sweet and soft? You were doing so well! Look at the reaction she's giving you. She's looking at you like you're crazy and you're! Just stop talking!
"Do I look soft? If so, you need to tell me! I have a representation to keep. I can't have anyone doubting my abilities."
"No, not at all. You look hard! You're like a giant. I wouldn't pick a fight with you. I just meant, me knowing you personally, you don't seem like the aggressive type."
she nods.
" You haven't seen me in my matches, though. I'm like a whole new person."
"Which explains your potty mouth." I tease.
"I don't have it anymore. My coach Tenzin made me go to his house every day, where his kids would make up words as substitutes, for my bad ones. French Toast, which is copied righted by a boy named Meelo, replaces the f word."
"The struggle of a MMA fighter." I tease.
She grabs another slice of pizza.
"Tell me about it. I have this big match coming up and my opponent Azula has been talking a lot of mess."
"How so?"
"Well…so far I have been undefeated and she thinks she can destroy my perfect record. Of course, that's what every one of my past opponents said, but she's really good. Don't get me wrong, I can totally kick her butt. But she's new in the game. I never seen anyone climb up the board as fast as she did."
Seeing how much this is bothering her, I try to change the subject.
"Don't worry about it, Korra. Just focus on what you have to do, in order to be the best version of yourself."
"I know! That's what everyone keeps telling me. But sometimes, people say what they think you should hear, instead of what you need to hear."
"What do you need to hear?" I ask curious.
She looks up at me with a cheeky grin.
"I don't know."
"Do you have any siblings?" I ask, in our game of 21 questions.
Korra and l ate so many slices of pizza, that we're laying on my carpet, no longer able to move.
"Yes. I have a twin brother and sister, who are fifteen. Their names are Eska and Desna and they're bad kids." She says.
"What about you?" she asks.
"Only child, guilty as charged." I answer.
"Okay, next question. How old were you when you had your first kiss?" Korra asks.
"Um I was 13. It was with a girl at space camp. How about you?"
There is a long pause and I'm wondering if I said something wrong. Then it clicks to me, I never told her I was bisexual. She knows I have a roommate, so she probably thought my collection of The L Word was hers.
I turn on to my side, so I can look at her.
"Did I upset you or something?" I ask.
"Asami, you're gay?" she asks, starring up at my ceiling.
"Ugh, bi, but yes." She groans, as she turns on to her side to look at me.
"I don't think, I can continue being your friend."
I didn't think my heart could break again, but it did . My sadness turns into rage at this point, because why should my sexuality have anything to do with my character? I'm just about to give her a piece of my mind, when she suddenly rolls over and wraps her arms around me.
"I'm kidding Asami, who you love doesn't affect me. I'm sorry, if my pause had you thinking other-wise. I was just in my feelings because I got my first kiss with a guy, when I was 16 and I felt jealous because you got yours first."
Just being in her embrace is everything and I shouldn't feel this way, she's for Mako. Not like she's property or anything, but I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be enjoying this, It's not respectful to Mako. He may be a jerk, but that doesn't mean I have to be.
"So Mako, wasn't your first?" I ask, without thinking.
"No. why? Did you think my purity ring meant, I couldn't kiss?" she asks.
I stare down at her arm, as the thermal fabric clings her muscles. I start to wonder if Mako has a ring as well. If not, does the abstinence apply to him as well?
Does she perform actions on him? Even though, she doesn't take part in sex?Wait? Why am I thinking about this. I don't want to think about my terrible boss and Korra together in that way! I don't even like hearing about them in a civil way. I shouldn't be doing this! I can't do this!
I pull away from Korra and stand up.
"What's wrong?" she asks, getting up, off the floor.
"Korra, I'm sorry, I can't do this."
"Do what?"
"I don't think we can a friendship." I blurt out.
The look on her face is devastating.
"Why not?"
"It's just uncomfortable for me. Mako is …"
Korra takes off her jacket vest, exposing her abs that are showing through her shirt. She's not making this situation easier for me, because damn she has a great body!
"Why because he's your boss?" she asks, with frustration.
"Are you going to fight me?" I ask, which makes her scratch her head in confusion.
"No!"
I point to the vest she took off, laying on my couch.
"I was hot!" she yells.
" Mako is my boss! Our friendship will be complicated." I explain.
"I don't understand why it should bother you. I'm not one of those girls, who rants about their boyfriend every minute. Did Mako tell you to say this?" she asks hurt.
"No. No. No. Mako enjoys the fact we're friends. You have to understand, it's me, not you."
She laughs, not believing this.
"I feel like we're breaking up."
Yes. I'm breaking up our friendship, but if we were more than that, I would never break up with her.
"Please Understand." I place my hand on her shoulder and she flinches.
"Did I hurt you?" I ask, pulling away.
"Don't be so full of yourself." She replies.
"I told you. I have a big match coming up. I over-worked my shoulder."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"That's the least of my worries, Asami. I thought you were practical and able to separate your work life with your personal life. Didn't you work with alongside your Father?"
"Well yes…"
"Then why should it be any different? At most, it should be easier. We know nothing about each other. I don't report to Mako every time something happens, if that's what you're worried about. Mako and I both have active lives. As you can tell from our professions, we're very busy. When we're together we don't really talk…well we talk but it's a different type of talk. For example the fact that I'm a hopeless romantic."
Okay?
She laughs, seeing my confusing from such a turn in our conversation.
"I love chick-flicks and he doesn't. I want to be able to do girly things, with people who are going to appreciate it. Mako, goes to the bar and hangs out with his bros, I don't have that. I mean, I do, but there is so much you can do on FaceTime. I knew telling you that my boyfriend was your boss, would freak you out. So I tried to keep it to myself as long as I could. Now seeing your reaction, I'm glad I did, because I don't think you would had agreed to go to Starbucks with me."
She looks so broken and I didn't want her to feel that way. It's not her fault. Actually, thinking about it, my approach was terrible! How am I going to offer her pizza then end our friendship? I'm all about doing the right thing. I need to fix this.
"Korra, I like hanging with you. Meeting you in that elevator was the greatest thing that ever happened to me."
Tone it down, Asami. No, need to confess your love now! You blew it, might as well stick with the best friend card. That's the only card, you have on the table. Korra is a nice girl, you don't want to lose her. You can easily get over your feelings and be a great friend, just give it a try. When have I ever let you down?
I take a deep breath and accept my fate.
" As long as we keep Mako in our discussions to a minimum, I'm sure we can have a healthy friendship." I reply.
The last part makes me want to gag but truthfully, I think I can get over of my feelings soon.
Korra pulls me into a hug, which I wasn't expecting.
"Thank You, we can make it work. For now on, it will be like Mako and I aren't even dating!"
We pull apart and I get a text. I head over to my phone and open the boys' group chat and see who I'm Secret Santa for and my heart drops.
"What's wrong?" Korra asks.
"I'm Mako's Secret Santa." I say in disbelief.
"Really? I can totally help you pick something out for him. Wait, My bad. We aren't supposed to talk about him."
I shake my head.
"No, I would love your help."
She smiles.
"We should go shopping together right now." she says, with excitement.
" Now?" I ask.
"Yep. We can walk off our food and hang out, as well!"
"Ugh…sure. I just need to take a shower and get ready."
Korra takes a seat on my couch.
"Alright, I'll just catch up on my shows. Take your time." She then suddenly gets up.
"This is weird. You don't know me that well and I'm taking over your home. I'll just wait at a shop down the street, until you're ready."
"No, stay. I trust you you don't look like a robber." I tease.
"Looks can be deceiving." she says with a smirk.
Can we take the time to admire that Kuvira is meeting Alicia Keys. I don't want you all to get too distracted by Korra and Asami to forget about what really matters lol jk. Next chapter is Korra and Asami's shopping trip.
So much in store with this story, with spirit week, the Christmas Party, Korra's match, and many more surprises, it will be an exciting ride.
Thank you, for the feedback everyone!