A Love Story

I hurried through the rain-soaked streets of South Bombay, trying to keep all the papers from flying out of the folders, and keeping up with Zuko, my boss. I had been Zuko’s assistant for nearly ten years, and I can safely say that I know him the best.

I can also safely say that I’ve loved him for a very long time. But I doubt he feels the same way.

“Lily!” his voice snapped out of my reverie, “Give me the blueprint of the sewers.”

“The sewers, sir?”

“I need to reinforce the steel bearings, and the architect is being really disagreeable. Find me an access point in gird twenty-four, eighty-three.”

“Consider it done, sir.”

“Do call me Zuko, Lily,” he said, turning his head toward me, slightly.

“As you say, sir-er, I mean, Zuko.”

We reached our office, a large, glass-fronted architectural marvel that I still can’t believe Zuko spent so much money on. He immediately starts speaking to the other workers. I rush up to the office, and sort out the folders almost on autopilot, and making a mental list of all the things Zuko has to do today.

I hear his footsteps on the stairs. He comes into view a moment later, his dark hair adorably mussed, and his long, clever fingers straightening his tie. “What’s the schedule today, Lily?”

His voice still has a soft lilt, I don’t know where he’s from – he’s always been very secretive about that – but the way his voice caresses over my name is enough to make me blush.

“Meeting with Google from ten to twelve, factory re-opening at one-thirty, tech division report at three, meeting with government rep at four-thirty and flag hoisting at six,” I finished breathlessly. Zuko groaned, “Okay. But I want to—?” The phone rang. I grimaced. “We’ll talk later, sir.”

It was a busy morning, the phone was ringing off the hook, and there were dozens of emails to answer and meetings to schedule. Finally, at lunchtime, I disconnected the phone and sighed.

Sweet silence.

“Lily—?”

I nearly fell off my chair. My hand hit my sandwich and it fell to the floor. Zuko was standing there, a sheepish grin on his face.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“I think that’s the first full sentence you’ve ever said to me without the ‘sir’ suffix.”

My cheeks warmed. “And you’re supposed to be in you meeting with Google!”

He shrugged. “It ended early. I saw all the hard work you’ve been doing all morning. I wanted to treat you to lunch.”

My eyes fell to the sandwich. He followed my gaze and laughed. “Don’t worry, I was hoping for something a little fancy anyways.”

In Zuko’s opinion, something a ‘little fancy’ meant going to the most expensive restaurant in the whole of South Mumbai. We spent about two hours there, eating and laughing and talking. It was the most fun I had, had in a long, long time.

My parents had passed away when I was young. I lived with an old uncle of mine, and I had a huge inheritance, more than I knew what to do with. When I met Zuko, I was only thirteen. He was three years older than me, but so smart, so brilliant. When I graduated school, I started working as his assistant. I didn’t need to, but I loved working. I loved working with him, and his ideas and building his company from the ground-up. It made me feel like I had a purpose, that I was a part of something bigger than myself.

“Oh, I’ve got to run. But it was lovely catching up, Lily,” said Zuko. He kissed my cheek – more tradition than affection, but it still left me breathless.

I returned to the office, and re-connected the phone. Thankfully, it was silent for almost a whole half hour, until it rang.

“Future Corps. How may I help you?”

“Such a cold greeting for such an old friend?”

“Maya!” I squealed.

“It’s been too long, Lily! Your old number was disconnected, so I called up Future Corps. You don’t answer the phone usually, do you?”

“No!” I laughed, “The receptionist was absent.”

“It’s fate then! I’m taking you out for dinner, just like old times.”

My computer pinged. “One second.”

It was from Zuko. “Labs. 9pm.”

“Can I take a raincheck on that dinner?”

“Why?” asked Maya, crestfallen.

“I have some work with Zuko tonight.”

“What kind of work? Like a daaaaaate?” she said, stretching out the last syllable in date obnoxiously.

“NO! Just work.”

“You still have a crush on him, don’t you?” asked Maya wisely.

“I think I’m in love with him,” I whispered.

“Let me give you the advice I gave you fifteen years ago. Tell him!”

The waiting light flashed on the control panel of the landline.

“Look, I’ve got to go. How about brunch on Sunday? The Renaissance?”

“Works for me. Later!”

That night, I walked down to the basement of the Future Corps Headquarters. It had been expanded and converted into a lab, where Zuko and I worked on projects. Being the founder of Future Corps was often a very mundane and routine job. That was why I came up with the idea of Zuko continuing do to the thing he loved – creating new technology. Very few people know about it, because he wanted to work without any pressures or deadlines.

I scanned my ID, and stepped inside the lab. Zuko was already there, wearing goggles, and building something with wires on his desk.

“You made it,” he smiled, “I’m glad you cancelled dinner with your friend.”

“We barely get anytime to work here anymore. Couldn’t turn —?”

That’s when it struck me. I hadn’t told him about Maya.

“How do you know I cancelled dinner? I asked accusingly.

He flushed, pushing the work goggles into his hair. “I’m sorry. I was going through the phone recordings and I—?”

“You heard the whole thing?”

He turned away. “Yes.”

I could feel my heart rate increasing. Da-thum, da-thum, da-thum.

My cheeks were as red as strawberries. “I—?”

I couldn’t complete my sentence, because Zuko had stepped towards me, and…kissed me.

Zuko Mallearch. Kissing me.

His lips were soft, and he tasted like sugar. My heart seemed to explode, as his hand curved around my waist, and I ran my hands through his soft mop of hair. Every part of me was tingling, and it felt so right. I didn’t want to let go of him, and we kept kissing, his lips on mine, until he finally pulled away. His eyes were fever-bright, and he was breathing heavily.

“I’ve loved you for such a long time, Lily, and I was always afraid that you never felt the same way. I love you. I will always love you. And-and, I don’t even deserve you! You’re brilliant and smart and kind, and so organized, and I just—?”

I pressed my lips on his, just to get him to stop talking.

“If anything, I don’t deserve you, Zuko. How could you ever love anyone as plain as me? I-I don’t have a family, I don’t have anything in me that you could love.”

Zuko cupped my cheek. “You have everything, I could ever want, Lily. Everything.”

And for the first time in my entire twenty-eight years, I felt like I belonged.