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“Thanks.”



A woman gawks at them as Lily accidentally hits a mannequin and spills her ice cream on the displayed lingerie. Every winces, quickly pulling her out of the crowded department store. They walk together to the food court, Every with his doorframe-sized shoulders and handmade suit, Lily with her petite frame, so small she could be blown away by just a single cough from her big, buff boyfriend.

A feeling of worry zaps through her spine, making her ear start itching. “Why don’t we seem to have that much chemistry?”

Her beautiful, supermodel-like boyfriend frowns. “Of course we do. It just hasn't started kicking in yet. Anything you’re worried about?”

“Yeah, something doesn’t feel right.” But they walk on, now passing the noodle shop, and Lily’s heels click and clack in a rhythm with every step. The owner—sitting on a plastic stool with a wifebeater pulled up over his beer belly—gives her a disapproving look.

Weirdly specific experience.

“I get it, girly. The writing style here somehow feels like the start of a thriller.”

“What?”

“Whatever. You want some noodle soup? The bill’s on me. And what do you think of a Birkin bag, a condominium overlooking Central Park, and a Porsche too?”

Lily brightens up at once, her face bright and shiny in the light, eyes lit up like the Fourth of July. “Yes, please; thank you; of course. Actually, I think we have so much chemistry now that you’re buying stuff for me. We should do a trial run kiss.”

Her man smiles warmly, dimples flashing on both cheeks as he gazes down at her tiny frame with adoration, as if she were the last woman on earth, and he had no choice—

No, wrong, my bad. As if she were the only woman ever born, and she alone is all that matters.

Wow, how wholesome. Now cue in the wedding theme and ringing bells.

The following is a randomly placed kissing scene, almost always approximately three pages in length.

In a bone-crushing embrace, Lily feels herself pulled taut to her man’s tight pecs, her jaw smack onto his suit. She looks up to him innocently, her grass-green doe eyes wide, and sees him staring back at her with joy bright in his own eyes, a smirk dancing on his soft lips. A small gasp leaves her pink, plump lips, and her man takes it as a sign and leans down, the tip of his nose brushing her freckled one.

Like every classic movie make-out scene.

She looks on as he closes his eyes, inhaling the soft scent of peonies and sweet strawberries in her hair before lowering down to match Lily’s short height. His hands cradle her face, stroking the sharp lines of her cheekbones, then the soft cleft of her chin, memorizing her delicate features: the long eyelashes brushing her cheeks, the faint pink blush of her plump cheeks, and her pretty lips. Lily blinks slowly, as if waking up from a trance, then her delicate fingers tangle into her man’s short hair, hugging him close.

How strong is he, like an impenetrable fortress.

A stronghold in a raging storm.

What’s that even supposed to be about?

Her lips touch his, first in a feathery, light brush before pressing closer, deepening the kiss. Lily parts her lips, lost in passion, a fiery flame taking the shape of a butterfly fluttering in her stomach. She feels the warmth from her man’s embrace, feels the flesh of his tongue studying every ridge of her mouth. She returns the favor, licking the nesses of his plush lips with fervor, tasting his fervent sweetness.

The fervent favor of fervor is one to remember, a memory she would replay in her mind until her last day, one she would forever keep safe in her cold, black heroine heart. She relishes every touch of their hands, every lick of his lips, every sweep of her tongue. The faint smell of his sea salt and sandalwood cologne. The air of wealth and luxury around him.

How nice.

Then she pushes her tongue into Every’s mouth, slightly parted, red with passion. She feels his smooth teeth, unlike her previous ex-boyfriend Bradley’s jagged metal braces, or the artificial surface of her other ex’s, Chad’s, Invisalign plastic mold. It is perfect, the best she had, the best she would ever have in her life onward. Lily feels the passion for him ever growing in her heart, and she continues on. Not giving a single flying fuck about the world around them.

She moans into Every’s mouth.

Lily runs her hands all over him now, smoothing his washboard abs under the tweed suit, then up to his sculpted pecs, firm under her sweaty, tiny paws. The muscles of his broad shoulders twitch, and he pulls her even tighter against him. He pulls her up, with Lily wrapping her pale legs around his waist, still in his embrace, still in the kiss. Making her feel like the most precious lily-flower in the world, wholly priceless and adored more than early twenty-ten bitcoins.

The kiss feels like a century.

A whole lifetime.

But in reality, it is only a matter of seconds.