Author's Note: Hello Readers, I apologize for the delay but here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy and stay tuned for more.
Edwin P.O.V:
After that weekend was pretty much an average week at work, and at one point during our lunch break, Jasiri and I revealed to our colleagues that we are now dating each other. All of them had very positive reactions and surprisingly, Vuruga and Bupu actually betted on whether or not we would begin a relationship or not. Vuruga ended up winning and now Bupu owes her a hundred dollars. I also revealed to Makini that Kendall, the friend we met up with at the reunion, was the girl that she accidentally hit in the head with a volleyball in high school. She was quite shocked when I told her this because she told me that she has not thought about that in years and she never really told a lot of the museum staff that she went to Baker High.
Makini was like "Wait Edwin? You went to Hemingway? I can't believe it. My high school volleyball team played them frequently. If you attended any of the Hemingway vs Baker games back then, we could have actually met or been in the same location while we were in high school, despite the two of us going to different schools."
"Yeah, it's kind of crazy that there could have been times where we could have encountered each other before I started working here." I said.
Beshte also told me that he went to Baker with Makini and remembered Makini telling him about accidentally hitting someone in the head by spiking a volleyball, but he was not there because he thinks we was busy with something else at the time.
The rest of that week was pretty routine and the Friday Night meeting of the Human-Hybrid Alliance mostly consisted of a group activity in which we basically introduced ourselves even further and discussed internal struggles that we all go through sometimes. There were also a few people that shared today in front of the entire audience but I was not one of them. Also at some point, I learned that news of me and Jasiri's relationship spread like wildfire among the group, even to both hybrids and humans who have no connection to the genetics department or personal connection to me outside of work.
The most interesting part of that week happened at the time when the museum president sent an email and notice of a mandatory Saturday gathering of all museum staff of all shifts for what was said to be a delightful surprise regarding that new project that is being worked upon on the staircase between the main and upper floors. So I got up early Saturday morning, had a small breakfast and since it was a nice day out, I decided to take the Blue Line to head towards the museum. I got off at Washington to transfer to the Red Line Lake stop and got on the Red Line to head to the museum.
The train stopped at the Jackson stop and as the doors opened I saw Jasiri in her human form enter the train. I raised my hand to gesture to her. She then looked at me with a sly smile forming across her face as she started to approach me. She then sat in the empty seat next to me and we shared a brief hug.
"Hey Edwin, how are you?" Jasiri said in a calm tone of voice.
"I'm fine Jas, how about you?" I replied.
"I'm fine, though I was a little surprised about Simba's notice about a meeting for all departments on the architectural project. Although when I knew him from the Pride Lands, he seemed to be one that gives surprise speeches once in a while but not exactly in a manner exactly like this." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, I was wondering why he requested staff from every department from every shift to come." I said.
"Yeah, I am curious about that too, the night security and custodians probably just finished their shifts. They probably want to go home and rest." Jasiri replied.
We then saw that we were approaching our stop to head to the museum. The both of us got up from our seats, the train doors opened and a voice boomed from the trains intercom as we exited the train.
This is Roosevelt. Doors open on the left at Roosevelt.
After exiting the train, we both went upstairs to get back above the ground and we actually stopped at a nearby doughnut shop to get some coffee and the two of us just shared a single doughnut. We decided to talk as we walked to the museum.
"So Jasiri, I found out at last night's Human-Hybrid Alliance that several people that I don't really even know, both hybrids and humans, actually know about our relationship. Even when I have no problem with people knowing about us, I'm curious, have you told anyone else at the museum after we told the colleagues of our departments plus Beshte?" I asked.
"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing because at last night's meeting a few individuals I know from outside the fossil preparation department congratulated me on our relationship but I never told any of those people. So far the only people I told outside the department, or even outside the museum were Rani and my friend Cindy in California. What about you?" Jasiri replied.
"Other than my colleagues, I told MaTembo because I have to fill out a form about dating a staff member of the museum. Don't worry she said that there was not really any problem with our relationship in regards to work codes since we work in different departments, the only thing is that we can't participate in public displays of affection during work hours, but other than that there is not really much work-based ramifications on our relationship." I said.
"Yeah, Makuu gave me the same form and said the exact same thing to me. So essentially we just have to refrain from public displays of affection during work with handshakes being the absolute limit, but there are no rules against the two of us having a relationship outside of work. I guess we found something to look forward to at the end of each work day." Jasiri replied.
"True, and they can't touch us on weekends so you can say that anything goes at the end of our Friday work and to complete the response to your previous question, I also told my mother and my friend Marino. But I assume no one in the museum knows either of them so my only guess is that Makini must have spread it to people she knows because we all know how talkative she can be." I said, which provoked light laughter from Jasiri.
"That's true, she can hold a conversation with literally anyone for a long time, so yeah I think she might have contributed to it. Also, why did you specifically tell that guy Marino from the reunion about us?" She replied.
"Actually, he texted me wanting to apologize for the reunion and he said that while those other people were making fun of you, he felt bad that he stayed silent and did nothing because he never encountered any situation like that, and he wanted to make sure that both of us were alright, and the mention of our relationship just popped out for some reason." I said.
"Oh okay, you can tell him that I'm fine now and the past was the past. Also, on another topic, I think it's a little hypocritical for Simba to impose strict rules against PDA among employees, while he allegedly breaks that rule all the time." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, and it annoys me how many presidents and CEOs can be like that sometimes. For example, the CEO at the previous lab I worked at, Genico, barely acknowledged me as a human whenever he visits the lab and calls me Elliott and even Warren one time, which shows he did not give a damn about knowing me or the other researchers and the lab. Also, as you know, many politicians seem to have similar tendencies." I said.
"True, sometimes it's shocking how Simba seems to be increasingly hypocritical because he was not always like this, he seemed like a fair leader when I first met him in the Pride Lands, but I guess I don't know him like the Pride Landers do so I am not completely sure if he was even a fair leader since I only meet him on few occasions before the drought and when I met him during the drought he was on survival mode, so I never how he acts as a leaders outside of times of mass urgency. Based on what I have seen of him as CEO of the museum, in my opinion he's okay but there are also times where I think he could be a little egotistic and pushy sometimes." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, I notice that Simba rarely socializes with museum staff outside the business sector in a casual manner." I replied.
"Except if he is related to them like Kovu in the artifact conservation lab, or Vitani, or….you know….Kion. Sometimes I think Kion inherited a lot of the personal flaws his dad has but for some reason...they are magnified in Kion." Jasiri said in a more saddened tone.
"That is unfortunate...He's probably not going to be a fan of me once he finds out that we are dating, despite having very limited encounters with one another." I said, which provoked Jasiri's eyes to widen and glance at me for a bit.
"What's wrong Jasiri?" I asked.
"It's just that I never thought about what Kion might want to do with you if or when he finds out about us dating. Although I am protected from Kion by the restraining order I placed on him, but you are not and I'm just worried he might try to take advantage of that to potentially harm you." She replied, which caused my eyes to widen because like her I have not previously thought about that and I started to become a little nervous that I might now have a potential stalker on my hands based on the stories Beshte and Jasiri told me of Kion's violent tendencies.
"Woah, you're right, I didn't think about that. What do you think I should do about it?" I asked.
"I was thinking as for now, in times in which the two of us can be together either in the museum or at our personal time, we can stay close to each other so that if Kion tries anything on you, he would risk getting arrested for violating the restraining order I placed on him. Also on the bright side, this could mean that this could potentially increase the amount of time we spend together." Jasiri said as she looked at me in an alluring manner, which I reciprocated in return.
"I'm liking the sound of that plan." I replied.
"Also sorry to change the topic, but just out of curiosity, many of the hybrid staff members that I encountered at the meeting last night who seemed to look at me with curiosity to some extent, do you by any chance know why because I know you have dated humans before and I know from the shares of previous meetings that there are like two other employees who are hybrids that are also dating humans, so do you by any chance know why some people are taking curiosity into me?" I asked.
"Oh I highly doubt it's anything against you, I guess they got curious because it is the first human-hybrid relationship between two staff members of the museum they have seen because before us, no human or hybrid staff members ever been in a relationship with each other. Also I guess they got curious because you are the first guy I really dated since I ended my relationship with Kion and they want to see what's going on and to make sure you aren't similar to the way Kion. Plus, every time one of us dates a human, all the hybrids, including myself, get curious about the details. For example, we got curious when Anga from security started dating a human named Fabian and we also got curious when Timon started dating his boyfriend Gary." Jasiri said.
"Oh okay, cool." I replied.
We just continued to talk to each other in a casual manner until we arrived at the museum, we got through the security point, scanned our IDs and we headed to the main floor of the museum.
When we got to the main floor of the museum, we saw that fold-up chairs were placed in front of the double staircase that lead to the bust of Marshall Field with a white sheet covering the new project right next to it. Across from those two items is a wooden podium, which I assume that the museum president is going to give some kind of speech and all that. We walked closer to the arrays of chairs to see that several others from both of our departments have already arrived, including each of our respective bosses, all in human form since it's day. So we approached where many of our colleagues are and started to casually converse with them.
"I'm a little curious, do you have any idea what this 'new project' is?" I asked Ma Tembo.
"To be honest Edwin, I have no idea what this project is, Simba never mentioned anything about this project to me, so I guess it's going to remain a surprise for all of us." Ma Tembo said, provoking Makuu, who was sitting on the seat behind Jasiri, to join in the conversation.
"Uuuggghhh! I hate it whenever Simba has surprises, they are never any good. The only good surprise I received from him was when he was willing to look past behavior I made when I was younger to give me a chance to prove myself as a leader. After that, no good surprises ever came from him. For example, the time he mentioned that the Army of Scar was attacking the Pride Lands, the time where he declared we're in a serious drought and we have to ration the Pride Lands' resources, then the time where he declared that we need to relocate since there are no longer any resources in the Pride Lands and that the lands would never return to normal conditions and...wait I forgot something...oh yeah! The time where he suspended me from work for two weeks because I broke his 'precious' son's nose when he gave out no punishment repercussions to Kion for the abuse he put Jasiri through for the eight months of their relationship." Makuu said in a sarcastic tone with noticeable hints of irritation in his voice.
"Note to self: Don't try to get on Makuu's bad side" I thought to myself.
We continued to converse with each other until we heard a voice come from the podium microphone, which we recognized as Zazu, the HR receptionist.
"Hello staff and faculty of the Field Museum, I hope you had a good morning. As part of the announcement of our new project on the staircase, now presenting, his majesty Museum President Simba Furahi." He said and then the audience around me started to applaud as the museum president came down the stairs to approach the podium. I just followed along and applauded along the rest since I don't want to be seen as rude by the other faculty members, including my own girlfriend. Though I did find Zazu referring to the museum president as 'his majesty' was a little extra. I guess Jasiri was right, he did have a bit of an ego.
Behind the museum president and podium walked in staff members that had some form of relation to the CEO, whom I remember are dubbed as the 'royal family' all sat in seats behind the podium and around the white sheet. This group includes Jasiri's ex-boyfriend Kion, who was sitting in the seat furthest from the audience in order to comply with the restraining order Jasiri imposed on him. Simba soon tapped the microphone again to test it.
"Good morning, staff and faculty of the Field Museum, I hope you all had a good morning. I gathered you all today to inform you that the new project on the top of the staircase is now complete. As many of you know, the Field Museum was founded as the Columbian Museum of Chicago in 1893 to house artifacts of archaeology, science, history and art and one of its first major benefactors, Marshall Field, to whom they eventually name the museum after in 1905. After a location change, and over a century worth exhibitions, artifacts and display changes, the museum continues to maintain the legacy of its mission, along with the legacy of Marshall Field's benefactory actions to the museum…" Simba said as he gestures towards the bust of Marshall Field behind him.
"Though it is nice to reflect on the history of the museum, I want to move on about the subject of the project. For twenty one years, us hybrids, including myself, have worked hard to adjust to the human world and I feel that we need to make our own legacies on this Earth as the humans did for millennia. So for this project, I want to ensure that despite already adjusting to the human world, that we can always have something to remind us of the good points of our past in the Pride Lands. Also I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to educate our human staff and tourists more about our past. So now, I am honored to present our newest project…." Simba said as he walked towards the white sheet behind him as the audience, including myself, started to applaud him.
He went to grab the white sheet covering the project, which he took and with the help of a few members of the 'royal family' pulled off the sheet to reveal two bronze busts depicting two male lions, with each bust attached to its own marble pedestal. The bust of the first lion seemed to have a bulkier and somewhat muscular figure. This lion statue had a wide fluffy mane, a wide nose, and firm bone structure around a face which had a seemingly tern expression on it. While the second lion's bust had a slightly less fluffy mane, a similar firm bone structure and its face had the same stern expression the first statue had.
Simba then moved towards the podium to speak again while gesturing to the first bust of the first lion.
"For the humans and probably the younger of us hybrids that would probably not directly know, the first lion here depicts a lion named Mufasa, who was actually my father. He was a great king who always maintained peace in the Pride Lands while leading it through one of its more glorious periods of history. Sadly he died when I was very young due to an act of betrayal and I never got to spend the amount of time I wanted with him. So in order to maintain his legacy even after we left the Pride Lands, I had his bust made so that his memory can last even as we live among humans. Also, since I never got to spend enough time with my father before his death, that is why I added the second lion bust to depict myself so that in a way, I could symbolically make up for lost time with my father and help continue passing on the legacy that the lions have done for the Pride Lands and its residents, or in this case former residents. Thank you for coming and I hope you guys have a good rest of the weekend." Simba said as he finished his speech went to the back to talk to his family members in the back.
There was a light applause from the audience but not as strong at the last time. Although I could understand the intent of trying to pass on the legacy of their past homelands, I just got confused because Simba seemed to turn the whole event to make it somewhat about himself. Also, he seemed to only focus on the legacy of the lions of their former homelands, but based on the stories I have heard and the people I know who are hybrids, I know for sure that there were much more species than lions that contributed to the well-being of their past homeland, so I am confused why would he would just neglect those perspectives.
I was just glad that the partial ego fest was over and we only remained to help put the chairs away so that the museum can prepare to open for both the tourists and the weekend employees to begin their shifts. While me, Jasiri, and a few others were helping placing chairs away, I happened to see that by the 'royal family', I see that the museum president and the CFO, who was also his wife, and I notice that their body language does not really seem to be reciprocated to one another. For example, I see that Simba and his wife...whose name I think is Nala, seem to act pretty distant from each other and despite Simba's seemingly subtle attempts to try to be intimate with her, but all she gave him was just cold stares and scooched away from him. I guess Makuu was right when he mentioned that rumor about their marriage being on the rocks.
"What are you looking at Edwin?" Jasiri asked, which provoked me to turn around towards her and continue to help out with the chairs.
"Oh nothing, but Makuu I guess you were right when you said that there was a rough patch in the museum CEO's marriage because their body language towards each other seems distant." I replied.
"I knew it." Makuu plainly said.
"Interesting, so I guess you were right all along Makuu." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, I kind of got that from the way they interacted with each other as I walked down a hallway in the business sector one time." Beshte said.
"I'm surprised to hear about this because back in the Pride Lands they just seemed like the perfect couple. A King and Queen that everyone looked at in awe." Makini said.
"Yeah, it definitely seemed that way, but on the other hand the people or images that may seem too good to be true...most likely it is too good to be true and they are hiding something." Vuruga said.
"Yeah, Vuruga's probably right. My parents tried building that facade to other people to try to show that nothing is wrong when their marriage had many problems hiding behind those smiles. The only reason they stayed together was because they thought it would be the 'best thing for the kids', a.k.a me and my sister. Summary: it was the worst thing for me and my sister." I replied.
"Also, I think one time in the Pride Lands she did tell me that she did not like several personal habits of his. The habits she listed were pretty trivial, average mate bickering. But I remembered that the tone of her voice suggested that there was more that she was hiding." Ma Tembo chimed in.
"Yeah, I think Iheard something about that too back then but I initially passed it off as idle gossip." Bupu said.
It took us about fifteen or twenty minutes until we all finished our portion of putting away the chairs, we all went separate ways to exit the museum. Jasiri and I decided to go downstairs and head to the lower level exit. As we were walking down the lower level corridor, we started to hear footsteps near us. When we saw a woman start to walk towards us, and as they walked closer to us, we saw that surprisingly that woman was Nala, the museum's chief financial officer and the CEO's wife. We wonder why she was doing here considering the financial and administration offices are on a different floor.
"Hello you two, how are you doing?" Nala asked us.
"I'm doing well, thank you." Jasiri said.
"I'm also doing well, thank you. How are you doing Ms. Furahi?" I replied.
"I'm fine and please call me Nala. What did you think of that meeting earlier?" Nala asked.
"I thought it was fine, though I initially thought that the timing was a little bit unexpected." I replied.
"Yeah I thought that it was a little shorter than how long I initially expected the conference to be." Jasiri said.
"I see...well to be honest...I actually agree with the both of you. I tried to advise Simba against the sudden last minute arrangements, but he wouldn't budge. Also, I was also trying to convince him to use the project funding on updating and renovating some of the older sections and infrastructure of the building but he chose the statue thing. He didn't really listen to me on any of my ideas….he never listens anymore." Nala said in an irritated yet saddened tone that seemed more noticeable towards the end.
"That's unfortunate to hear, have you thought about possibly confronting him about it if this is a repeating pattern?" I asked.
"Yes, I tried several times and most of them led nowhere, I guess I just have to see where this goes." Nala replied and then she started to lightly smile after the end of that phrase.
"Also, I heard about your relationship and I would like to congratulate you two on getting together. Based on what I heard, you two seem to make a cute couple." Nala said in a soft tone.
"Thank you Nala, we really appreciate it." Jasiri said.
"Yes thank you, though I have to say how fast news and information travels around this museum, but on the other hand I work with Makini and she can be a little talkative sometimes." I said, which provoked small laughs from Jasiri and Nala.
"Sometimes? Have you been paying attention for the three months that you have worked here? She's talkative all the time and with talkative people like her and Beshte, it is no wonder why information spreads so fast." Jasiri said.
"Don't forget about Zazu, he spreads information faster than a bad rash." Nala said gently laughing after saying that.
"Anyway, I hope you two have a good rest of your weekend." Nala said before she started to walk toward the stairs that went up to the main floor.
"Thank you Nala, see you later." Jasiri said.
"See you later Nala." I said as Jasiri and I started walking towards the exit.
We walked outside the museum and decided to walk around the area surrounding the museum while conversing.
"So, it seems like that unlike her husband, Nala seems nice." I told Jasiri.
"Oh yeah, she's actually very nice! Actually all the women in that family are nice, for some reason it only seems that only the males of that family are problematic, except for Kovu but he is only related to them by marriage. It's kind of funny that Kiara, Kovu and Vitani are the only members of the Royal Family that attend our Human-Hybrid Alliance meetings because I feel like that Nala would be a good fit at our meetings and I am not sure why she does not attend. It's no surprise why Simba and Kion don't attend because Simba essentially thinks he is too good for them and Kion because...well...you know…" Jasiri said.
"Yeah, I wonder how they turned out that way since I've heard you and many of the hybrids say that they were once good and fair leaders." I said.
"Don't ask me, we've been trying to figure that out for years. Some theories include insecurities because they were once kings before the coup and drought and some say they are the way they are now because they became power hungry and decided to try to use human methods of trying to 'gain back power' and influence they once had. A few others think they each individually snapped with the new stress of human society and became assholes almost as a way to 'survive' the human world. There are others that think that they may have always been this way even back before the coup and drought, but they don't have to hide it anymore since they are no longer royalty." Jasiri said.
"Based on what I have heard and seen so far, those do sound plausible. I also heard one from Beshte, in which he said that allegedly after he got wounded from fighting this 'Army of Scar', he was prone to these temper tantrums in which he needed to take this special plant everyday until allegedly that Tree of Life healer was supposed to have fixed. The point is that Beshte had some occasional suspicions that the healer...I think I recalled that her name was Nirmala….might have not actually healed Kion, and that the treatments they gave them were mostly just diversions to avoid the Lion Guard, along with Rani and her brother to catch up to her involvement in planning that coup with Rani's uncle." I replied.
"Oh yeah, I think a few of the former Lion Guard members also brought up something similar. They said that when they were there, something about the treatments Kion was receiving seemed a little off, so perhaps that could also be a plausible explanation for Kion's violent temper, which led to him hurting at abusing both me and Rani when each of us were involved with Kion." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, and it might have also led to the behavior I heard Beshte told me about when they were in the army together." I said.
"Yeah, when Beshte first told me those stories, I was completely shocked because in the early days when Kion and I dated, during the long-distance phase, he told me a completely different narrative of his time in the army, which I eventually found out was total bullshit since his actual narrative is much darker than what I initially thought." Jasiri said.
"Beshte also told me about some of his personal experiences in the army and he had quite some traumatic experiences back then." I said recalling the coffee conversation Beshte and I had about that.
"He told me about it too, I felt so bad for him because he is such a sensitive being and he had to experience all that death, tension and bias while he was there and it essentially amplified the emotions he carried from his experiences of both the Tree of Life coup and the Pride Lands drought." Jasiri said.
"Yes, the world can sometimes be such an unfair and cruel place." I said.
"True, and we learn that the hard way most of the time." Jasiri said.
We continued to walk around the museum campus for a bit, walking past the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium . We were just talking about random stuff about our lives, like most couples do. For example, at one point I started to talk about the story Pete told us about when he sprained his ankle when he joined Ma Tembo for a session in her yoga class, which we were constantly laughing recalling that particular story.
"Yeah, I can't believe that Pete tried to do that pose in Ma Tembo's yoga class. I did not think that yoga class was that advanced, or that Ma Tembo was fairly decent at yoga." Jasiri said.
"I know! I was surprised to hear it too/ When Pete came into the lab, we noticed he had a slight limp, wearing a cast boot and a slight expression of pain on his face. We asked him what happened and all he said was 'sprained ankle, yoga class, and I'll warn you in advance: Never try to beat Ma Tembo when trying to do the advanced yoga poses. It's not worth the ankle sprain.' Afterwards, all of us including Ma Tembo and Pete had a laugh about it afterwards." I said, after which we shared a laugh.
Though we were still in the Museum Campus area, we continued to walk alongside the lake and continued to talk. Then we decided to walk along the concrete walkway next to Lake Michigan, which we continued along the Lakefront Trail. As we were walking in an area in front behind Shedd Aquarium, we both stopped for a moment to take a look towards the lake to look at the Chicago skyline. We continued to look at many of the tall modern skyscrapers that make up downtown Chicago, which are complimented by the presence of some shorter older buildings that are in front of the skyscrapers, with Navy Pier located in the far right of the skyline. Jasiri then turned her head towards me.
"This is an amazing view, I never stop being impressed by the complexity and multifacetedness of Chicaago's architecture. There is something about Chicago during the summer that is particularly soothing, especially by the lake." Jasiri
"I know, I never get tired of this view, I have seen it hundreds if not thousands of times and I never get tired of it. Ever since I was a kid, being by the lake has always soothed me and make me forget about the problems I had in my house, whether it was my parents' arguing on a daily basis or being a socially awkward kid who did not have a lot of friends, I could just forget those problems for a few hours. I remembered as a kid during the summers, my mom, sister and I frequently went to at least one of the lake side beaches. My sister and I used to play in the sand by the water while my mom watched us as she was relaxing from a week working as a bank teller. My dad was never really into beaches so he did something else most of those times. If not the beach, we would also go to nearby parks or playgrounds when we were really young. If it was raining, I just entertained myself with a good book. I'm not sure why, there's just something about Chicago in the summer that feels nostalgic." I said as I was thinking back to those old memories. At this point Jasiri grabbed my hand as we both continued to look towards the lake.
"Yeah, I know how you feel, summers are always nostalgic for me too. On dry days, it makes me think back to being a full hyena cub in the Outlands. My sister Madoa and I used to play hide-and-seek and tag all day long, which I also did with my niece and nephew when I babysit them. Then when I entered the human world as a hybrid, despite me being a seven year old during my first year, I didn't really play that much the first two years because along with school, I essentially had lessons every day on how to live in the human world and perform basic skills. When I moved to Milwaukee at human age 9, it was still hard to adjust because I didn't really have any friends to play or hang out with. Although I do remember that on particularly nice days in summers, I used to go on long walks with Makuu and my human guide Chausiku around the city in general, walk around either McGovern Park or the Havenwoods State forest, and even occasionally go out for lunch and other stuff together. When I got older, I did some of the same stuff with my friend Cindy on occasion. I also remember that there were times where I occasionally took the bus to a neighborhood close to the lake and just relaxed by a bench, took a few photos and stared out to the lake. I guess there is always something nostalgic about lakes and water for some reason. Probably just the calming environment and atmosphere they nurture…..This view of Lake Michigan is also truly beautiful." Jasiri said.
"Yeah it is, but I've seen more beautiful views before." I replied
"Really? Where exactly have seen these more spectacular views?" Jasiri asked, after which I placed my free hand on her other hand.
"You…..I can look into those deep purplish-blue eyes any day for any time." I said in a flirtatious manner, which caused Jasiri to laugh a little.
"Oh stop it Edwin." Jasiri said.
"Well I can never deny the truth." I said.
"Get over here you long-haired nerd!" Jasiri said in a joking and flirtatious manner.
When then both embraced and kissed each other as a gentle breeze passed above the lake into our direction.
After about five seconds, we let go of each other and continued to walk around the Lakefront Trail, how long we were going to walk until we decided to go home, who knows, but I want to savor every minute of it and all the other minutes we will have together later on.