Alter Ego: His Sultry Lover

She couldn't believe that she had said it out loud. How long had she kept it inside her heart, keeping it a secret from everyone around her, pretending to be okay?

"When was the last time you spoke to him?"

"I never really call him directly. He likes to talk through my mother." She grimaced when she remembered.

"And they live in a different city?"

"Yeah. I come from across the country. I haven't seen him since the last holiday when I went home to meet them." She sighed.

"You should go some time. Or call him directly. It's the same solution like the one you gave me, but I think it will work in your case too. What say you?"

"I'll see what I can do."

- - -

Q. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, what would it be?

"I am already a superhero. Why would I need extra powers?" he joked light-heartedly.

"I am sure there is some power that you want even though you have everything that you can ever want!" she played along.

"Well, about that… I want to read people's minds. What say you? Would you want this power?"

He worked in an industry where everyone had different motives. Even his damn manager didn't want him to get rest because that would mean less money for them. In a world where you couldn't trust anyone, one would have to read minds to live properly. That was the only way to find out who was real and who was not.

"Why would you want to read others' minds? Imagine being in a room full of people and they are all thinking at the same time. You will get a headache. Have you thought of this possibility?" She shuddered. It would be chaos and a migraine mixed into a bowl.

"Not really. I think I would get selective mind reading… like reading minds at will. That will make sure I hear only what I want to." How exciting would that be?

"There's nothing glamorous about hearing thoughts if you can't catch something thinking something embarrassing!" she joked.

"Why would I want to catch someone thinking something embarrassing? I don't want to know about the color of their poop or what their spouses told them at home. I just want to know what they have planned for me. I don't want to be backstabbed. That's all."

'Ah, honesty. How good that felt.'

"So, if someone imagines stripping you naked and doing inexplicable things to you, would you like to know?"

'Being the lecher that he was, he would probably love it.' She snickered.

"Are you talking about yourself?" he teased. "Because if it were someone else, I would listen to their idea with disgust and come running to tell you so that you can cleanse my mind of the image."

"You are so loyal…" she clucked her tongue.

"I thought you liked me that way," he protested with a pout that she couldn't see but could definitely hear.

"I do!" she replied. "But I don't want to know what other men and women want to do to your body. I'll get all jealous and I don't like being jealous."

"Let's move on from the topic, then. What superpower do you want?"

"I want to have the ability to grow plants at will," she said proudly.

"Like in that superhero movie?" he asked, scrunching up his brows. He did remember a coming of age superhero movie where the students rode on a flying bus and went to a school that was floating in the sky. He just couldn't remember the name.

"Yeah."

"That seems like an amazing power to have. But why would you choose that?" he asked, confused.

"I have never been able to keep any plants alive, but I love them dearly. I want to grow plants and one day live in a house where the walls are decorated with crawling plants."

"That sounds like a plan. But you can just keep a gardener!" he said matter-of-factly.

"I would have to pay the gardener. I am too broke." They laughed.

- - -

Q. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future, and anything else, what would you want to know?

"I would want to know when my next success would be. That way I would be able to predict if my next project at work will be good or bad."

"And what do you hope it will say?" she asked softly. They were both tired from the day's work and only speaking because they loved to hear each other's voices. They weren't even in a mood to flirt like usual. After a day of hard work, it was nice to lay in bed and speak about your day to someone.

Weren't they doing just that? Just that they didn't realize it yet.

That was something to think about.

"If I am lucky, they would say it would happen for my next project," he said in a strained voice. She was certain that he was very nervous about his next project which he had, like every other thing in his life, kept under the wraps.

"You have been working day in and day out on this project. There is no way you are going to fail," she reassured as she reached for the bottle of water on the bedside table.

"So many people put in the same work as I do and still fail," he told her. She trembled and thought about what she should say for a moment.

"I would say luck is an incredible part of our lives and it isn't as hard as people make it sound it to be." She paused. "Luck is a skill, baby. And you can't tell me a man like you isn't skilled. I can hear it in the way you carry yourself and speak. You won't fail." He sighed, smiling at her encouraging words.