Chapter 104: A sip for posterity

'So this is my life now,' I thought, catching myself staring at the city's skyline glittering with thousands of different lights of the city's nightlife.

With a crystal of iced scotch in my hand, perfectly soft pillows below my bum, and the air conditioning of the penthouse working hard to keep the air fresh and just the right temperature.... -exclusive-content

I took a slow, deliberate sip while fighting off the desire to twist my face.

Still young, I never really had the chance or the opportunity to get used to drinking alcohol. And while I was aware that people rarely drank it for its taste...

"Hon! Look at all those!" Fay called out from over the counter of the bar fitted to the side of the main living area of the penthouse.

It took her only a quick show of mine to catch up on the idea of bartending. And with the use of all the tools and supplies the thoughtful management of this unit provided, she has long surpassed whatever I've taught her.

'I showed her how you should only add ice to the scotch to drink it with respect or mix it with coke if you couldn't care less and just want a fun drink,' I thought before lazily resting the back of my head against the cushions behind me and looking over at the girl.

By now, Fay already mastered the skill of arranging various elements of the drinks. She shuffled the ice out of a specially drawn freezer into the mixing cup and added just a few drops of thick juice from the freshly squeezed lime before blasting it all with some sort of fizzy drink I didn't even recognize.

She gave the mixing cup a solid shake for a few moments. And as if she was a pro-league theatrical muse rather than just a simple girl making a drink, her body didn't move a single inch, leaving all the hard work of shaking the cup to just her thin arms alone.

"Hon! Watch now!"

As calm and professional as Fay's movements were, her face was absolutely silly. Her eyes brimmed with amusement when she swung the cup open and added a few spoonfuls of some sort of starch before giving it a second round of shaking. Then, she poured the suddenly viscous liquid down a long, beautiful glass.

"The water turned into a slime!" she announced, all happy, throwing the used-up cup to the top of the growing pile of dirty glassware.

As much as she grew to like mixing drinks, the cleaning part clearly wasn't her forte.

"It's called Jello here," I corrected the girl, only to squint my eyes a little. "Or pudding?" I muttered, not even sure myself.

I've never been to a place with a bartender, so how could I know the intricate lingo of their job? Just adding ice cubes to my drink was nearing the limits of my drink-mixing knowledge! And while I could somehow make do with a solid and relatively simple recipe...

"Let's try..." I muttered, already tensing up and relaxing my face to warm its muscles up in preparation for the great show of amazement I was going to give regardless of how the drink would taste.

Ready for the show, I grabbed the spoon and scooped out a considerable bit of the fluffy jello. Yet, as I brought it to my mouth...

I failed to act the way I envisioned I would. Instead, my face froze and my jaws stopped moving in fear of stopping the marvelous show that begun in my mouth.

The fluffy jello felt like a literal cloud, slowly melting away into a soft, mellow taste of some citruses. I could feel the slight burn of the alcohol as its first drops formed and trickled down my throat... But contrary to all my prior experiences, I didn't feel even the tiniest bit of the usual discomfort!

I dared not move my jaws or my tongue, too scared of disturbing the intricate effects of Fay's creation.

"I'm lost for words..." I admitted honestly once the cloud of jello in my mouth dissolved completely. I then sharply raised my eyes and looked at the girl. "Fay, dear, I have no idea what you did, but I've never known you could even prepare a drink like that!"

Rather than acting out my amazement, I was now honestly admitting to my awe, staring at the girl as if she was some sort of a god of a barrel incarnate.

"I..." dumbfounded by the level of my amazed, Fay suddenly turned shy and humble. "I-I did my best..." she added in a tiny voice while lowering her eyes to escape my intense gaze.

"I can tell," I spoke out, leaving the drink on the nearby table and standing up to reach for the only thing more delicious than what Fay concocted. After getting my fill of the treat of Fay's lips, I pulled back a bit and took a look at her beautiful face.

'No, stop it,' my sense of reason finally came back, knocking my mind back on the right track. Because as much as I wanted to just spend the rest of today and then a few more days doing nothing but spoiling Fay to see her smile, see her bashful, see her excited...

After what happened today, there were a few topics we had to discuss.

My eyes darted over to the small package left near the main doors. It was an item that would allow me to fulfill a major prerequisite of having any serious talk on this side of the portal.

"Fay, we should talk about what happened today," I spoke in a low voice, full of remorse.

I wanted nothing more but to grab Fay's arm, throw her on the bed, and then let her embrace and cuddle me down to sleep. The perspective of falling asleep while surrounded by her warmth, her smell, softness, presence...

It was something that I had to absolutely preserve! Even if it came at the cost of pushing this peaceful, soul-warming pleasure for later.

"But we will talk in the bedroom," I announced, rising up from the sofa and moving over to where I left the small package, a brand-new device that I bought myself during our recent trip to the town. "After all, I don't want to talk when I need to think whether the walls have ears or not."