24 Hours

She’s at it again. Miho can’t stop. Why can’t she just try and stay faithful? But still, Andi takes her back. Even the TZA staff doesn’t get it?

“You are hitting her, you know?” Noiz said.

“Hm?” Miho said as she read her texts on her phone. The headmistress sighed. How many times had she had this speech with her? Nothing gets through to Miho. It’s happening again.

“What should we do?” Polly asked.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Tony said. His wife looked up at him.

“You can’t be serious,” she said. “She keeps hurting Andi.”

“But what can we do?” Tony asked. “You know Miho isn’t going to listen.” His wife frowned.

“But this can’t go on like this,” she said. Polly had a point. This couldn’t keep going. Most of the staff didn’t blink anymore. They pretty much normalized it.

And that was just it.

“Why don’t you just leave?” Josie asked. Andi sighed and flopped back onto the stuffy grey couch.

“It’s so hard,” she said. “I love her so much.” The older woman shook her head.

“Baby, you aren’t in love, you are addicted,” she said. Andi looked up at her. She didn’t even have it in her to speak. Josie set down her drink.

“Baby,” she said. “You are just going to burn yourself out. It’s not worth it.” Andi tilted her head.

“Why do you even care?” she asked.

“I don’t,” Josie said. “But I can’t stand seeing women mope about being cheated on. Straight or not.” Andi stared at her. Why did it have to hurt with her being right?

But as predicted, Miho is at it again.

This time, it’s with a woman from another district. They met during a conference. She was one of the guest speakers on a creative writing lecture. Miho didn’t remember what was said but she did like the speaker. Right then, she just had to get to know her more.

Do you really need to hear the rest to know where this is going?

Alright.

They met up at the hotel bar. This wasn’t exactly planned out. Not exactly. It was but it wasn’t. Miho just went down to the bar on a hunch. And it paid off.

“One Brandy, please,” an elegant voice said next to her. Miho turned her head. And there she was. The younger woman’s face turned bright red. She could hear angels singing. Cupid arrows flew everywhere. The bar became brighter. Miho saw pink everywhere. And everything associated with falling hard and fast. The guest speaker turned her head.

“Oh hello,” she said. That was all it took. Miho couldn’t speak at first.

“H-H-Hi…” she said at last. The guest speaker giggled.

“Why are you so nervous?” she asked. Miho gave her goofy shrug as she shook her head. The bartender handed them their drinks. To make a long story short, the women got to talking and hit it off with liquid courage. Miho noticed how beautiful this guest speaker was.

“I want to kiss you so badly right now,” she confessed. It took her seconds to realize what she said.

“Oh…” Miho mumbled. The guest speaker put her finger to her lips. Miho froze. The woman’s deep blue eyes focused on her.

“Come back to my room,” she whispered. It didn’t take long for Miho to follow behind.

Since that night, there have been texts and secret phone calls at night. It didn’t take long for everyone on staff to figure out what was coming next. They tried to warn her. But just like the last few times, it didn’t go through.

This could only lead to something blow up. It only takes one little spark.

Ticking Time Bomb