A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

"Emily, are you okay?"
In the darkness, Emily could barely see a faint shadow, tall and slender, standing at the doorway of the bathroom.
Without a conscious thought, she pulled down a towel to cover herself, and answered,"I'm okay."
"Okay." Jacob turned away without a moment's hesitation.
The thought of spending another second in the dark bathroom all by herself sent shivers down her spine as she implored,"Please
wait for a moment, Jacob."
Jacob stopped in his tracks and walked back in an instant, as if he knew she was going to call him.
"I'm a little scared. Could you please wait for me at the doorway?
"But you've asked me to stay at least two meters away from the bathroom." Jacob replied in a calm voice, but with a hint of
sarcasm,"So you want me to stand at the door, right?"
"Yeah." Acknowledging the fact that it was her request, Emily felt embarrassed, as her face turned red immediately. However,
when she realized that Jacob wouldn't be able to see her in the dark, she felt relieved and added,"I want you to turn your back to
me."
Jacob stood still at the doorway, silently. Not having received any responses, Emily called out again,"Jacob..."
Jacob had to turn his back to her. However, surrounded by the hot steam floating in the bathroom, as soon as he heard the
sound of rushing water again, he started to get hot gradually.
'Emily, even without a conscious thought, somehow, you still manage to turn me on, ' Jacob thought to himself.
Tsk! Was it not true, that a man standing at the door of the bathroom waiting for a woman to take a shower, was similar to a
hungry wolf waiting for the little sheep to wash itself, before eating it? Too much credulity was never a good thing.
"How are you, Emily?" Outside the door, Jack had heard Emily's shriek followed by the loud sound of the door being pushed
open, which made him a little anxious as he mistakenly thought that she had fallen down,"Don't be afraid, Emily. Open the door
and let me in..."
However, both Emily and Jacob ignored his "kindness" spontaneously.

Jack got tired of anxiously waiting outside, so he started to knock on the door, making a loud and muffled sound.
However, he had no idea that Emily had replaced the old door with a very expensive and sturdy one, after she had failed to find a
new place to move to, fearing for her safety.
Therefore, despite his continuous knocking and banging, Jack still failed to get the door open.
Emily quickly washed off the foam on her body, as she had kept Jacob waiting outside the bathroom for her. Soon after she was
done, she put on her clothes almost immediately.
Seeing the shadow at the end of the doorway somehow comforted her, while she put on her clothes and walked out of the
bathroom.
Just after a few steps, she accidentally stepped on the wet floor, lost her balance and slipped—
Fortunately, she remained unscathed, as instead of falling onto the ground, she fell into the warm embrace of a man.
Immediately, she knew it was Jacob who had caught her as she could smell the same peppermint gel she had just used on her
body, on him.
Emily's face turned red in the dark, and likewise, Jacob's heart started beating faster and faster, as both of them started to feel
nervous in each other's company.
After the shower, Emily's skin turned soft and smooth. Her soft skin coupled with the fragrance of peppermint mixed with a hint of
sweetness, blew Jacob's mind.
"You should be more careful."
Emily looked up to see his face, but her head stopped at Jacob's chin, so she had to remain still, while she just murmured,"It's
too dark and I couldn't see anything."
"Don't move from your place, if you can not see."
Soon after, Jacob picked Emily up in his arms and carried her to the living room. All of a sudden, the lights came back on.
The unexpected bright light dazzled Emily, who closed her eyes tight instinctively, before turning her head towards Jacob's chest.
Needless to say, Jacob had a strong chest, strong enough to block out the bright light for Emily and to provide her with the
comfort she needed.

The sight of Emily's reaction, especially turning her head towards his chest, made Jacob's face light up with satisfaction as he let
out a tiny smile from both corners of his face.
"How are you, Emily? Please let me know." Jack's voice came barging in through the door again.
When Jack's voice broke Emily's trance, she raised her head immediately. Embarrassed, she struggled out of Jacob's arms,
stammering,"Thank...thank you.."
"Emily!" Concerned for Emily's safety, Jack switched on the electricity. However, there was still no response from Emily, which
caused him to get even more worried.
He was just about to call her, when he heard Emily's angry voice,"Are you insane, Jack? Why did you switch off the electricity? !"
As soon as Jack heard Emily's voice, he felt relieved knowing that she was safe, but he immediately denied,"I had nothing to do
with it; it must have tripped automatically."
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Needless to say, Jack had no idea that, initially, Emily had chosen to live in that community because
it was safe from power outages. Moreover, Emily had never suffered a power outage since she'd lived there. Thus, Emily
believed that Jack was responsible for the power outage.
"Emily, don't misunderstand me. Please open the door, and let me explain myself to you, face to face!"
"Go away!"
"I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here until you open the door!"
"Are you nuts?"
Frustrated, Emily decided to ignore Jack. She turned around and saw Jacob gazing at her. After hesitating for a moment, she
said,"Since there is only one bedroom and one bed, you..."
Jacob raised his eyebrows immediately, and interrupted her before she could even finish speaking,"I will not sleep on the sofa."
"Okay, no problem. I'll take the sofa." It seemed like it was just as Emily had expected. She assumed that people like Jacob
would never sleep in such a humble room as hers if there was another choice, let alone sleep on the sofa.
As a result, Emily knew that she had to be the one to sleep on the sofa, but she didn't have a problem as it was only going to be
for one night.

"Up to you," responded Jacob with a questionable expression on his face, like he had just come up with an idea.
...
It was late at night when the air outside became humid and all flowers and leaves were covered with dew, but Jack was still
there, sitting, back against Emily's door. Compared with the warmth in the day, it was fairly cold at night, and Jack couldn't help
sneezing and coughing.
Of all things, Jack had never imagined that Emily would shut the door to his face, and refuse to let him in. He couldn't understand
what drove her to become so cruel.
Despite his disappointment, Jack did not leave. He wanted to be the first one for Emily to see in the next morning.
Meanwhile in the apartment, Emily, exhausted after a day's work, already fell asleep on the sofa. She also appeared to be having
a strange dream at the time.
In her dream, she was in a big forest, when suddenly there appeared a big black snake. It was paralyzingly frightening, as no
matter how much she tried to run away from it, the snake caught up to her all the time.
At last, when the big black snake finally caught up to her, it wrapped its long tail around her, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Emily struggled desperately, but in vain. In the end, the big black snake swallowed her little by little...
Suddenly, Emily woke up in a cold sweat, trembling. She gathered herself and sat up straight.
After relaxing for a few seconds, she suddenly realized that she was on the bed of her bedroom. "Why am I here..." questioned
Emily in a confused manner.
She remembered sleeping on the sofa when she went to sleep. Sleepwalking? That couldn't have been the reason, as she knew
that she was not a sleepwalker...
Or Jacob?
Emily immediately checked the clothes she was wearing. She was relieved to find that they were complete and untouched.
Fortunately, nothing happened between them last night. Emily rejoiced in her heart.

Emily's momentary relief was cut shorter when she turned to look at the clock,"Oh, no! I'm late!"
She rushed out of the bedroom and ran towards the bathroom for a wash. After she got out of the bathroom, she saw Jacob
sitting in the living room, ready in his formal clothes. Instead of saying anything, she quickly ran to the door and looked outside
through the peephole.
Jack had really spent the night at her doorway, and he was still there.
Baffled, Emily was at a loss for words, as she didn't know how to let herself, as well as Jacob out of the apartment. Would they
have to stay in her apartment for the rest of the day? 'No, that is impossible, ' she thought.