Chapter 1
The clicking sound of high heels striking against the marble floor echoed through the stillness.
The wine-red evening gown glowed vividly against the darkness. Natsha lifted her eyes toward the wide-open door and the pair of shoes scattered messily before it.
Natsha stepped inside. A faint scent of tea lingered in the air, drifting around the tip of her nose. the kind of fragrance that could calm anyone, at least to some extent. But for its very owner, it seemed to have no effect at all.
She looked at the person bathing beneath the moonlight spilling through the large glass window. Her office attire was slightly wrinkled. It seemed that the person had heard her footsteps, for she turned her head.
Within those light-colored eyes, hazy trails of white smoke took in Natsha's entire vivid-red figure.
Lorena stood up, then immediately rushed straight toward the figure before her. Natsha's body trembled from the force of Lorena's impact.
Lorena held Natsha tightly, as though afraid that the person before her would disappear once again.
Natsha's bare shoulder, exposed to the air, felt the dampness. Warm and wet, filled with sorrow.
Natsha did not resist. She did not push Lorena away, nor did she embrace her.
"Natasha..." Lorena whispered a name.
Natsha seemed far too familiar with the emotions of the person before her. Perhaps, somewhere within her, she had already grown numb. And yet, alas, a tiny crack still quietly appeared at the bottom of her eyes.
Lorena rubbed her nose closer to Natsha's neck. Like instinct, yet she could not smell that familiar scent of orchids.
The scent of tea grew denser in the air, as though making an effort to allow the orchid fragrance to spread and answer her.
Natsha was surrounded by the scent of tea, wrapping tightly around her lungs, winding itself around her breath.
No matter how hard Lorena tried, that orchid scent still would not appear.
"Natasha, why won't you reciprocate me?" Lorena pulled away from Natsha's neck, voluntarily separating herself by only the smallest possible distance so that she could see the face of the person before her.
"I miss the scent of your orchids..." Her eyes looked dreamy, yet strangely lucid at the same time. "...can't you reciprocate me?"
Natsha looked at the woman who was gradually falling apart before her. Her eyes trembled faintly. She swallowed a mouthful of air.
"I'm not Natasha, Lorena..." Natsha's lips moved faintly.
Lorena seemed as though reality had struck her directly in the mind. She blinked her slightly blurred eyes.
"You're... what are you saying, Natasha?" Lorena let out a hollow laugh, a smile that never quite reached its end.
"Are you upset with me?" She deluded herself into believing that she had found the answer and replied to her. "I didn't mean to be late for our appointment. That day, I drove as fast as I could so I could make it to you..."
There was a confession in Lorena's words, a confession of a reality she had known all too well.
Lorena looked up at the person who stood nearly a head taller than her. Lorena rose onto her toes and moved closer to the other's face.
Her lips managed to touch the other's. Yet the lips in return remained motionless, even as Lorena continued trying to kiss her.
Natsha fixed her gaze upon the emptiness. Her eyes remained unmoving, dismissing every emotion.
The kiss did not make Lorena feel any better. The tears only fell more heavily.
"Natasha, please... reciprocate me." Lorena's every breath trembled.
"I'm not Natasha, Lorena." Twice she had spoken, both times with the same sentence, the same affirmation.
"You are Natasha. What are you talking about?" Lorena looked at the person before her, gently shaking her head.
Natsha closed her eyes. In the air, the scent of jasmine gradually spread. The moment the fragrance reached Lorena's nose, it was as though it shattered all of her delusions.
"Do you..." She whispered beside her ear. "...still want me to respond?"
The light in Lorena's eyes abruptly went out. Her body completely gave way. Lorena did not fall, nor did she collide with the cold floor.
A strong arm had already wrapped around her waist, keeping Lorena standing firmly on the ground.
The scents of tea and jasmine mingled together.
"You... are not her." Lorena murmured weakly, helpless within Natsha's arms.
"Yes." Natsha answered her. Natsha gave her a truth that could never be changed. "I'm not her."
"Why... why..." Lorena uttered countless whys.
Why could she clearly still see Natasha's face, hold her in her arms, yet there was no orchid scent that belonged to her?
Lorena's whispers grew quieter and quieter, until they finally faded away.
Natsha looked at the woman who had completely lost consciousness in her arms.
Natsha held her a little tighter. She lifted Lorena into her arms and carried her to the bedroom.
She gently wiped Lorena's small face with warm water. Only after making certain that Lorena could sleep peacefully did Natsha begin to cleanse herself.
When Natsha returned to the bedroom once more, Lorena's brows had already furrowed.
A thought suddenly surfaced in Natsha's mind. She felt that she was being utterly delusional.
But Natsha still allowed that thought to become an action.
The faint scent of jasmine pheromones gently spread through the air. Lorena's brows furrowed even more tightly.
Natsha looked at her expression and gave a self-mocking smile. She truly was ridiculous.
Natsha withdrew her pheromones.
She turned off the light in the room and left without hesitation.
If Natsha had lingered even one second longer, she would have caught the brief trace of tranquility that suddenly appeared on Lorena's face.
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