Chapter 6: Dodged A Bullet

Chapter 6

As Zack stood outside knocking at the door, Alex regaining his composure, stood up and placed a finger over his lips, signalling to the panicking Olivia to keep quiet.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Another knock followed, but this time more louder and impatient.

"Mom, open up" Zack’s impatient voice rang out.

The floating chibi, placed her hands over her mouth, with a hint of smile in her eyes.

[Ohhh, looks like someone’s in trouble]

[I am so going to enjoy this]

Zack’s voice rang again, this time sharper.

"Mom! I know you’re inside, the lights are literally on and your car is still around. Please open up"

Alex lowered his fingers slowly, and carefully tiptoed over to Olivia, careful not to make any noise, and whispered softly.

"You need to take a deep breath and relax, cause right now. If you panic, he will notice."

Olivia’s quickly nodded and took a deep breath. It was obvious that she was forcing herself to calm down, pulling herself together for Zack’s sake. Alex quickly flashed a glance around the living room. The room looked normal enough, but panic had a way of convincing you that everything looked suspicious.

He leaned closer to Olivia again,

"Go to the bedroom, change properly and make sure that you look neat and tidy, so that he doesn’t suspect a thing."

Her eyes flickered towards the hallway.

"What about you?" She mouthed silently.

"Don’t worry, I can handle him. Now go, before he starts to get more suspicious."

Olivia hesitated for half a second, then gave a nod. She stood, picked her disheveled clothes on the floor, and slipped up the stairs as quietly as possible.

[Good call, your plan sounds like it might actually work]

[... Or not. Guess we will see]

The chibi’s response left Alex flabbergasted, wondering whether this was truly his system.

"Aren’t you my system? I thought you were supposed to be be helping me come up with something to get out of this mess."

[Uh... no need, I noticed you’ve got this one so I’ll leave it all to you. Besides I’m having way too much fun]

"..."

Deciding to ignore the chibi’s remarks, Alex quickly picked up his clothes, wore it. After making sure everything looked fine, he turned towards the door, took a deep breath, knowing that panicking would only make this worse. Then reached for the door and pulled it open, just as Zack knocked again.

Zack with damp messy hair that clung to his forehead, stood there in his training clothes with his sports bag slung over one shoulder. His brows furrowed the moment he saw Alex.

"Why were you guys taking a lot of time to answer the door. And where’s my mom?" He said with a suspicious face, while looking around.

Alex leaned against the doorframe, trying to keep his tone casual.

"Chill dude, she’s just upstairs. Her clothes got stained while preparing the food, and you know how she is when her clothes gets dirty."

Zack nodded in agreement, but his eyes still glanced around the room, not fully convinced.

"Dude relax, it’s not like something bad happened, so why are you giving me that weird face."

Before Zack could respond, footsteps echoed from the stairs. Soon Olivia appeared, now changed into a clean blouse and skirt, her hair quickly fixed, though a few strands were still out of place. She paused when she saw Zack standing there, then scolded him.

"Why were you knocking so impatiently, like something was chasing you down here? And I thought you had practice young man."

Zack scratched the back of his head,

"Sorry, Mom. My sneakers spoilt on the way to practice, so I had to come back and get another pair."

Then he turned his gaze to Alex, and swept his eyes through the living room before returning to her.

"But mom, why did you guys take a while to open the door."

Alex chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Bro, you’re acting like a detective or something. You forgot your stuff, came back, and now you’re interrogating everyone."

Zack shot him a look.

"I’m not interrogating anyone. It just feels... weird."

Olivia’s expression didn’t change, but her fingers curled slightly at her side.

"Weird how?" she asked.

"I don’t know. The house smells... kinda weird."

Alex smile stiffened for half a second, then he shrugged.

"It might probably be the food or the cleaning spray. You know you always do overthink every little thing."

"Sigh.Yeah I guess you’re right." Though his tone didn’t sound fully convinced, he chose to let it go.

Zack walked past them and headed upstairs.

"I’ll grab my shoes and go"

As soon as he disappeared upstairs, Olivia breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was too close..." She whispered, But Alex didn’t respond, his eyes still remained fixed on the stairs.

The chibi floated beside him, grinning.

[That was a close one. Five more seconds and he might have noticed something]

[Though I’ll advise you to leave here, because he doesn’t look really convinced]

Alex nodded, agreeing with the chibi, then turned toward Olivia.

"I should go now. If I stay any longer, it might make things uncomfortable or even worse, he might figure out something."

She looked at him with hesitation written all over her face.

"... Are you sure?"

"Yeah I’m sure. Besides I still have something to do later,"

Olivia bit her lips, then nodded.

"Then please be careful."

Alex nodded, then moved towards the door, and walked out. Only when he was sure that he had gone far away did he finally release the breath he had been holding since.

"Phew! Thank God I dodged that bullet. That was really close,"

But his face quickly filled with regret,

"Hmmm. too bad I couldn’t fuck Olivia. Oh well I’m sure I’ll still gain another chance afterall, where there’s a will there’s probably a way."

The chibi floated upside down in front of his face, grinning from ear to ear as her tiny legs kicked lazily in the air.

[Okay, okay, that was really close. But come on, don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it a little]

Alex shot her a questioning look.

"Enjoy it? I nearly got caught."

He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.

"But I’ll admit it, it was a bit fun. By the way aren’t you suppose to give me my reward? Afterall I did complete my mission."

The chibi’s grin widened as she floated backward lazily.

[Relax. I said you’d get it, didn’t I?]