*Luna*

When I opened my eyes, daylight peeked through the heavily curtained living room, catching small particles of dust that moved lazily over the narrowed head of Chase. He was inches away from me, flipping through the newspaper in his hands. His large fingers almost covered the headline of the main article as his eyes were in deep concentration to what he was reading. He was dressed in a blue T-shirt with the State of Louisiana words sewed into it and dark jeans. I smiled, and then winced.

A tiny spark of pain in my neck cleared the drowsiness I felt after opening my eyes. I must have fallen asleep overnight and endured a neck cramp by how I lied down. But I don't remember how I got into the living room. The last thing I remember was falling asleep on the porch swing. I lay still for several minutes, taking deep breaths, calming breaths as I try to gain control of my sporadic emotions. I'm sure he moved me from outside to inside, but instead of lying me down in our bed, he chose the couch for me. I guess that was generous of him. I don't even hear Sarah anywhere, and I wondered what's going on with her.

Chase's eyes peered off the newspaper and flashed my way. "Good morning, Lu. You feeling okay?"

Luna.

"Chay," I whispered, trying to hold back my spiralling emotions with his nickname for me. See how he likes to have his name shortened. "My head hurts."

"I'll get you some Advil, then," he said, hopping up to grab a glass of water and some pills for me. Making his way back to where I am, he helped me sit up. "I hope this will help."

"Hopefully," I replied, and then knocked my head back and swallowed the medicine right away. "You picked me up and placed me on the couch instead of the bed?"

"Yeah, well," he said, standing over me, "I finished my shower last night and came downstairs to find you passed out on the swing. So I thought bringing you back inside would be better for you. Would you like me to make some breakfast?"

I shook my head and glanced around. "Not now," I murmured, noticing he didn't really answer my question. But I'm not going to worry about it. There are other things that are more important. I peered my gaze around the living room, then locked eyes with his. "What is Sarah doing?"

"She is playing in her room, quietly. It's almost eleven in the morning. You were asleep for a while."

I realized that. I'm just tired and exhausted. "It's Saturday. Normally she likes to watch her morning cartoons."

"True," he replied and sat beside me. "But she knew her mommy was asleep and didn't want to disturb her."

"Oh." I stretched out and arched my back a little. He then moved closer and engulfed me into a heavy embrace. "Chase, I'm still trying to wake up here."

He stiffened. "I know. But nothing's wrong with giving my girl a hug. Right?"

"No. There's nothing wrong with that." I kept my eyes peered down at the coffee table and noticed the many wedding magazines and broachers he had pulled out. "You've been planning, I see," I mumbled into the crease of his neck.

"Of course. Especially for the backyard," he said, his voice soft and tender. "Do you want to know what all I have planned so far? I want to get your opinion too."

I nodded. "Okay."

We hopped up, and he took my hand, leading me to the doorway of the slidding doors.

"Picture this. A large tent settled on the left side of the yard, and then on the other side will be the chairs that lead up to a small alter." Wrapping his arms around my waist, he rests his chin on my shoulder. "Sarah will be dressed in a white gown and will scatter small flowers down an isle between white chairs that I could have brought over from the church. The forest back there would be a beautiful setting for pictures, and for our first task as a married couple we could walk down one of the trails together. It would be a new tradition we could do on our anniversary each year, because walking down a path as one is like living life together as one; a challenge. What do you think?" His brows rose. "If that sounds a bit too much, then we can think of something else. My suggestions were probably silly."

I shook my head. "No, they weren't." And I meant that. His suggestions were good. I could see us getting married the way he'd like to.

"What do you think?" He shifted around my body and stood directly in front of me, gazing at the expansive yard. "We could leave out the bit about walking a trail, but what about the ceremony part?"

"That doesn't sound so bad," I replied, unsure what to say. "You've thought about this a lot."

"What part of giving you the wedding of your dreams did you not understand? Whatever you want, I want to provide that for you."

"I know. And it's a great idea," I said, narrowing my eyes.

"But something is off about your enthusiasm for the idea, Lu."

"No. It's just that-I don't know-maybe we should talk about this sometime later this weekend. I just woke up, and I'm still sleepy." Which I wasn't lying. My body was drained of energy at the moment.

"Okay. Well, I'm going to meet with the guys at Phil's house and text you in a couple of hours. I'm sure they're waiting for me."

"Yeah. Sure. That's fine. I will gather Sarah and we'll have a girls day." He chuckled and smiled.

"I'll go give her a quick hug and kiss before I leave." He wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me to his chest, then connected his lips to mine. "I love you, Luna."

Then he let go and made a mad dash up the stairs. I turned around and strolled into the kitchen and surveyed all the food we have. But then, I began contemplating on what I was in the mood for and eventually became a indecisive person. So once Chase was gone, I walked into Sarah's room to get her ready to take her out.

After getting us some donuts and fruit juice at a local convenience store, we made our way toward my studio so I could place a memory card with pictures on it down on my desk. On the way there, we devoured the donuts quickly; chocolate sprinkled ones with cheery icing filled in the middled. Those were always Sarah's favorite, and I later came to crave them, too.

In the middle of pigging out, I glanced over to my right and saw Amir sitting in the passenger side. He smiled and reached for my hand as I shivered when he drew soft circles with his thumb around my knuckles. Then he pressed a tender kiss around my palm.

When I glanced back, Sarah covered her mouth and giggled.

"What's funny, Ladybug?" I asked her.

"I saw you happy, Mommy! You have a beautiful smile." I smiled back and passed her a glazed donut.

"Thank you, Sarah. It's a beautiful morning with my baby girl. The sun is shining, and the air is crisp," I told her, and took short glances at Amir admiring the outside view of the area.
He stopped by, which made me happy.

I glanced back and forth between her and Amir, loving what he was wearing. He was in a red shirt and white pants with his hair styled to the side. If I wasn't driving, his scent would bring me to my knees. It was a sea breeze kind of smell that was refreshing and cool that simulated my insides.

As I came to a red light, I peered back to him. "I wasn't expecting to see you," I said, smiling.

"Well, you know I can't stay away for too long," he murmured as I took a quick glance at Sarah, who was busy watching her cartoon on her DVD player.

"Just showing up anytime you want is quite a speciality you have there, Mr. Khan."

"I'm just checking on my girls," he said, laughing.

The light finally switched to green, and I turned the corner. "What have you been up to all day? It's around one in the morning in Pakistan."

He laughed. "It's actually eleven at night and the same day. I went to the laboratory for a bit and visited my parents."

Crossing an intersection, I looked both ways and gazed at him with a cheeky grin on my face. Sarah was still watching her show, so I asked him while she wasn't listening, "You didn't happen to pop by while I was sleeping, did you?"

He shook his head and grinned while gazing down at his lap. "You know me too well, Luna." He cleared his throat, and I pulled over to the side of a long highway in front of a small park. I needed to rest for a second. "Actually, I did. Just once. I saw you asleep on your porch swing and wanted to wake you to tell you to go back inside. Then I heard a rumble in the clouds and knew it was about to rain."

"You could have woken me up. I would have been okay with that."

Amir's gaze slid to the picnic tables settled around the tall trees and back to me. "I was about to wake you, but Chase beat me to it. I saw him running down the stairs, so I stayed in the background and watched as he brought you into the living room. Then I continued with the stuff I had going on."

"Oh," was all I could mumble back.

"Believe me, I wanted to rescue your neck from how you were lying out there. It was tilted upward and looked like you would have an ache later."

"I do have an ache. I was so tired after we got home last night."

"I understand, Luna. But let's forget about everything and do something fun."

"With Sarah?"

"Of course. She should always be included with anything we want to do, provided that it's G-rated activities." I busted out laughing, gaining Sarah's attention.

"What's so funny, Mommy?"

"Oh, nothing, baby. I was watching the kids over there playing Volleyball. The ball got stuck in the net."

There really was a group in the field playing a fun game of volleyball. It's one of my favorite sports. I'm quite good at playing Volleyball and was the captain of my high school team. I miss playing it.

"I want to play!" she yelled from the back seat. Amir wiggled his eyebrows, his mouth slightly opened. "Can we go over there and play with them?"

"Not now, honey. Maybe some other time. Besides, we don't know anyone over there. We can't just impose on them." She frowned and brought her gaze down. Then I thought of something else we could do in its place. "How about a movie?"

"Yay! Sounds like fun." I smiled and nodded back to her. She continued watching her DVD player, and I turned my attention to him.

"Do you want to see a movie with us? I mean, you could go to sleep, if you want to."

"Nonsense. I'd love to see a film in an American theater." I chuckled and started my Range Rover, then took off towards Tinseltown. His hand stayed planted over mine, not moving an inch.

"So, what type of movie are you girls in the mood for?" he inquired.

I flipped my twirled hair on my side and thought for a moment on what was out in theaters. The Avengers movie was out, but I don't know if we're in the mood for an action film or not. "I'm not sure. I'll take a look at the options once we get there. As long as it's not a crowded auditorium."

He giggled. "Oh, so you want a theater where we're alone, huh? You want to have a private screening," he teased.

"You caught me," I said, laughing as I turned a corner on the side road. "I'm also thinking about her and crowds. She doesn't do too well with crowded spaces."

"Okay. Well, you choose the movie, then."

"Did you think you had a choice?" He laughed. "We've watched movies together in our own places, so I figured we should try this for once."

I reached over to turn up the music and he laid his hand around the back of my neck. "I'm okay with whatever you feel like doing. This feels good, almost like having a family outing." I grinned.

"Well, we are connected for life, so it's natural to feel like this is a family fun date. Sometimes, I feel like..." I stopped myself before I flushed a hideous pink shade on my cheeks. I wanted to tell him that sometimes I felt like we were a family when Sarah was around and when we do fun things together, but I had to control myself here. I shouldn't have those types of feelings, and I don't want to say anything that I'd regret later. "I just meant... doing something different would be good for once."

"I know, and I'm looking forward to doing something like this. I want to experience everything with you, even if Sarah is here. She will never be left behind."

I gave him a soft smile as I pulled into the large parking lot of Tinseltown and then parked around the side in an empty spot.

"It doesn't look that busy now," I said, climbing out of the driver's side. Then I walked around the car and opened the passenger side door, pretending I'm sorting through my papers on the floor when I noticed a few on-lookers glaring at the crazy woman talking to herself. I brought my blue tooth adapter to my ear so it would look like I was chatting to someone on the phone, because others wouldn't see him and Sarah shouldn't see me talking to myself. I reached around to the back seat and unbuckled her, then pulled her out.

As we approached the ticket booth, I casually discussed to the "person" on the other end of my receiver what film I'm in the mood for. Sarah didn't seem to notice what I was doing, and she chimed in that she wanted to see a new kid's movie. I grinned when I saw a children's film with time-travel storyline. She smiled at that and squeezed my neck.

Amir beamed at the sight of us, loving that film selection. Coming close to my ear, he whispered, "Why not watch a movie about a phenomenon when we're experiencing one ourselves?" I laughed. He had a point.

After purchasing a large coke and a bag of popcorn for me and a small meal for her, we settled ourselves in the middle where it was fairly empty and got comfortable. A few people walked down the aisle and sat a few rows across from us as they cuddled their companions. I set her up on her side and laid our drinks in the drink holder. Then he reached over and held my hand as we brought our attention to the screen.

Our scenery changed for us as we were in his living room, holding hands on his couch, and then back in the theater just as the previews began.

While waiting for the movie to start, he ran his hand up and down my arm, causing shivers to spread throughout my body, and he leaned close to my ear, whispering, "Have I mentioned how beautiful you and Sarah look today? I'm having a good time."

"Thank you," I told him, gazing back at him. "Me too. And I know it's not the same thing as doing this in person, but it means a lot to me that you are here. I know you are trying your best to conduct yourself."

"That's not really an issue for me anymore. We both agreed to take a break from being physical, and that is what we're doing. Resisting myself from holding you the way I want to, or kissing you how I truly desire is a challenge, but I'm respecting our boundaries. Believe me, I want to do much more, but I have to hold back, and I don't want to disrupt the vibe we have going here."

"Not to mention that you are also fasting. Sometimes I forget." I frowned and narrowed my eyes, forgetting about Ramadan.

"It's okay. I don't expect you to remember all the little details in my life." I smiled and took a sip of my coke and ate some of my popcorn. He quietly mentioned that he wasn't a big popcorn eater, but he craved it once we stepped into the building. I nodded and agreed, because that happens to me everytime I go to the movies. Then I asked if he could detect any other tethered souls around and he shook his head, indicating it was only us.

So it felt nice to kick back and enjoy ourselves. Two more previews later, and the movie finally began. I lied back, got comfortable. Sarah smiled at the screen and laughed as she finished her food, and then she ended up falling asleep, curled into my arms. When the movie was over, we hopped up and made our way to the car, and I headed to my photography studio.

Once I brought her to the couch in my office to sleep on, she kept her eyes closed as I walked out into the lobby to talk to Amir quietly. We stood against a large window and looked out at the busy city outside. It was early afternoon for me, but early morning the next day for Amir. He took my hand and kissed my palm. Then we talked a little about the movie and how great it was. The characters were able to go back in time and change something in their life, altering nothing in the process when the lead protagonist returned home in her timeline.

"Penny for your thoughts, Ms. Carlyle?" he said, bringing my attention back to his. "You were quiet for nearly two minutes. I counted." I chuckled.

He had a way of making me laugh when I needed to. "I was thinking that... well... that the movie was really good. It was a fascinating storyline, and the lead characters got what they wanted. They could change something in their past without affecting their future."

He took a step closer towards me, gazing softly into my eyes. "Is that want wish you could do? Change something without changing your present?"

I nodded. "Kind of. I mean... Chase and I have been together for almost six years. That's a long time. But my feelings for him altered a little shortly before he proposed to me."

"And it didn't help with me coming into your life and developing this chemistry between us that neither of us can let go of," Amir said, stepping back and turning around, facing the wall. "I didn't mean to disrupt what you had going on in your life, Luna. I am ashamed of myself. All I had to do was-"

"Was what?" I said, bringing myself around to face him. "You did nothing, Amir. Do you hear me? I should have thought more clearly after accepting his proposal last year. But he did it out of the blue and things weren't that good beforehand. I wasn't expecting to be meeting you a few days later."

"But you can't pretend that our feelings for each other isn't one of the reasons why you contemplate on following through with your wedding? I showed up into your life right after you got engaged. And if I would've kept my distance like before, then I wouldn't have helped destroy a happy home," Amir said, a small tear slipping through his eyelid. Our connection affected him as much as it affected me.

"No. Don't do that." I stepped close to his body and reached for his hands, holding them up to my chest.

As I looked straight into his eyes, I whispered softly, "What we have and what we feel for one another is inevitable. I know Faisal and everyone else wants to believe it's because of our tethered connection, but it's not. Tethered Souls have no control over when we meet, who we meet, and the moment when we meet, but I am grateful that the universe brought us together when it did. And that isn't because of my reservations for Chase before you entered my realm, but because I have experienced an alternate life with you. My life is better with you in it, and you never forget about Sarah. She isn't yours and you never go a day without checking in on her while checking on me. The universe chose us for each other, and now we have to navigate this obstacle involving him. You and I could've stopped what we felt a long time ago, but the outcome would've always been the same. And I never expected for things to be like this for this long."

A heartbeat later, he couldn't take it anymore and clasped my cheeks with his hands, kissing me gently. Bringing our bodies to the wall, he towered over me and had a fistful of my hair in his hand, then he broke free and stared heavily into my eyes. I smiled up at him as he wiped a few tears from my eyelids. "Why did you stop?"

"After what you said, I needed to show you I felt the same way. I know you have difficult choices to make, but I wanted to kiss you before I back off. You don't deserve to feel so torn, and I'm sorry for making life harder on you."

"You didn't, Amir." He lowered his gaze down to the floor, but I placed my finger under his chin and picked it back up. "I know none of this is easy for you and I'm sorry if it's my fault. I can't turn back time, but give me some time and I'll figure out what I want to do. Okay?" He nodded and ran his nose along mine, breathing in my strawberry-scented hair.

"I should go," he mumbled, breaking our hold on each other. "I heard a sound in the back." I nodded.

"All right. We'll connect to one another later. Okay?" He smiled and kissed my cheek, then disappeared as I started for the hallway.

When I checked on Sarah, she was still asleep, curled up into a ball with her hands folded neatly under cheeks and lips slightly parted. She looked like a small cabbage patch doll than a real person. I lowered my body and kissed her forehead, and then threw a small cover over her thin body.

Since I had nothing else to do, I sat down and turned on my computer to work on the last client's photographs. My mind was still imploding with thoughts of Amir, and my heart yearned for him even more. Today was really sweet and comforting, and I really enjoyed watching a movie with him other than our own screens at home, or at his office.

Sarah was around and he had a good time. I was able to let go of the worries of my reality and relax. It was something I wasn't capable of doing for the past few days, but Amir's presence relaxed me. The slightest touch of him sent a wave of butterflies coursing through my body, their wings fluttering inside me, easing the dread that settled within me. Being with Amir was like being in an oasis where I never wanted to leave.

***

Tethered Fact: Volleyball is one of my favorite sports. Next to bowling. Am I good at either sport? Nope. Absolutely not, but with Vollyball I can't play it anymore. I have a fractured arm and it is curved, but I do enjoy watching it. Thank you all for reading, commenting/voting, and being a wonderful Tethered Bunch! Like I said... Tethered is a household name. 🤗 Until next time...