With Emily’s exams done and dusted, she was finally free. With Christmas no more than a week away, Emily made her way back to Jakarta for the end-of-the-year vacation. Emily's family asked me to pick her up. She gave me the flight number, and I checked the flight tracker. The second she departed, I headed for the airport.

I now waited at the exit. Emily remained silent and seated. She then unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up. She lined up on the plane’s aisle and slowly moved forward. With a smile, she thanked the flight attendant and walked past me. I pretend to not see her. I played with my phone as I waited for her to navigate the airport. 

Like when she visited last September, she didn’t have much with her. Based on how her hand looked to be dragging something, I assumed she had the same black suitcase that she brought last time. I then received a phone call from her. She must have entered the terminal. I picked it up and reduced my phone’s volume to the minimum. It was our way to not look suspicious. I would still hear Emily’s real voice ahead of the phone, although only slightly. 

It bothered me a bit, but if we suddenly talked normally in a public space like this, people would surely look our way. 

“I’ll take a while, since I need to wait for baggage.”

She said, I guess my assumption was wrong. 

“Sure, don’t worry about me.”

“Thanks.”

As I waited for her, I thought of where I should take her. I would be making my way home to Jakarta as well, to my family’s house. Emily’s family had been kind enough to lend me their sedan. 

The problem was that I couldn’t sleep last night, and ended up waking up late. I regretted not packing up earlier, thinking that since I didn’t have much stuff, I would just take things and go home immediately after picking Emily up. As it turned out, I overslept and rushed to the airport the second I woke up. I hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. 

The mall across from my apartment was a viable option. I hope Emily didn’t mind waiting a bit there. 

I decided to ask about it once we were already in the car and turned off the call. After around fifteen minutes, Emily appeared from inside the terminal. 

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, a very long while.”

Hearing my intonation, Emily giggled. I then took her to the car. Emily put her suitcase in the trunk and climbed onto the passenger seat beside me.

“Do you mind waiting for me?”

I asked as I pulled my seatbelt. 

“Sure.”

I was surprised that she didn’t even ask what for, but I decided to explain anyway. 

“I overslept and left some of my stuff back at my apartment. Don’t worry, there’s a mall across the street that you can go to.”

“I don’t mind going to your apartment, though.”

She said. I heard a click coming from her seatbelt. 

“Are you sure?”

“I mean, we’re just picking up some stuff, right? Besides, I’m curious about your apartment as well.”

“It’s leased, though, so I don’t change it much.”

“It’s fine.”

“Well, if you say so.”

I couldn’t force Emily off anyway, although I didn’t get what benefit she would have from visiting my apartment. 

The drive took us slightly longer than expected thanks to traffic. After forty minutes, we arrived in front of my apartment building. We made our way through the lobby, passing the receptionist's desk and heading directly for the elevators. It felt weird because this time, Emily was actually standing beside me. All this time, it was just a shadow of her following me around, but now, the real physical being stood there. 

The elevator took us up to the nineteenth floor. The elevator then stopped and I brought her down the corridors. We arrived in front of my door. I let out a prayer, hoping nothing funny would happen, and unlocked the door. I pushed the metal handle down and moved the door open, exposing the insides. 

“Excuse me.”

Emily said as she waltzed right through. She stood in front of the kitchen, looking at the insides. She turned her head from one point to the other. 

“... How am I supposed to react again?”

“Didn’t I tell you that I didn’t change it up much?”

“So where’s the magazines?”

Emily kneeled down and started to look around. She peaked below my bed for some reason. 

“Huh, nothing here.”

“I told you. It’s leased, so I don’t see a reason to mess it up.”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.”

She stood up while shaking her head. She then looked at me, before letting out a somewhat disappointed sigh. She then looked around, even trying to sit on my bed. 

“It felt so different.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep. Size is the only thing that’s the same. Anyway, anything you need help with?”

Emily asked while standing back up. I didn’t have much stuff, so packing shouldn’t take long. 

“Don’t worry about me. You could just sit there.”

“Waiting is boring, so no thank you.”

Even if she said that, I didn’t really have anything that I couldn’t handle myself. I then pointed toward my laptop. 

“Maybe the cables?”

“Sure.”

Emily went over to the work desk and started unplugging things while I stored my clothes. I had made sure to turn everything off the night before, so I wasn’t worried about anything. As she unplugged my stuff, I took a look into my wardrobe. I would only be taking two sets indoors and two sets of outdoor clothing, mainly because I still had a lot of clothes left back at my home. I would also be bringing only one suitcase with me, thus I wouldn’t want to stuff it all with just clothes. I folded them neatly and sorted them, before putting them into a clean plastic bag and storing them on the bottom of my suitcase. 

Emily, meanwhile, tidied up my chargers for me. She rolled up the cables for both my laptop’s charger and my phone’s, before tying them together. She then inserted the laptop and the chargers above the clothes, before zipping it close. The last things would be my essentials like soap and medicine. I took them, put them into a plastic bag, and threw them into a separate compartment in my suitcase.

It didn’t take us long to finish. I did one final check on all my belongings, making sure that everything was packed and ready to go. After that, I turned off everything. The lights, water heater, air conditioning, anything electrical. I also made sure to lock the balcony windows and pull the curtains shut. I then took one last look at the room. After making sure all was set, I finally left the room. I closed the door behind Emily and turned the key. I stored the key in my pocket and then pushed the handle, making sure that it was indeed locked. 

I bid a momentary farewell to my room and with Emily, headed down to the parking lot. 

“That was boring.”

Emily commented while leaning on the elevator’s walls. 

“What did you expect?”

“Something flashy, a figure, or I don’t know, manga? Books? Like, the opposite of your actual room.”

I didn’t know where Emily got that picture from, but I consider myself to be quite a tidy person. 

Although to be fair, it’s hard being untidy when you don't have anything occupying your room. 

“Still. I think that was quite the experience.”

“... Well… I guess?”

I couldn’t agree with her. At that point, I was completely lost on what she was on about. I failed to see a visit to my apartment as something life-changing. If anything, I would consider it a waste of time.

“Your room is definitely more interesting.”

I said. 

“How do you know?”

“A snail is still faster than a rock.”

“... I guess? You want to visit it sometime?”

“... Emily, your room is like an entire island away, of course not.”

She snorted the second she heard my words. I am curious, yes, but I wasn’t that curious. I wouldn’t travel all across the island of Java just to see what her room looks like. 

“I can just show you pictures, remember?”

“That doesn’t count as a visit.”

Emily ignored me and scrolled through her phone. We arrived at the ground floor and made our way past the receptionist. This would probably be the last time I saw that place for this year. After arriving at the car, I threw my suitcase into the trunk and entered the vehicle. Before starting the engine, Emily pushed her phone in front of my face. A pink bedroom was visible in the photos. I swiped it left and right, looking at the other angles. 

Well, it sure looks like Emily’s.

I didn’t see anything worth showing, however. Seeing my reaction, or rather, lack of, Emily pulled her phone back and pouted, looking away from me. I turned the engine and drove off the parking lot. 

“Still, I think it looks cute.”

“... You think so?”

She replied, her eyes out on the road, looking at our surroundings that became blurred as we increased in speed. 

“Yeah. I could tell that it’s your room.”

“I just showed it to you.”

“I know. Even if someone else told me that, I will still think of it as yours.”

It had that sense of ‘Emilyness’ in it, especially when I looked at the stickers plastered all over the walls. I wonder how she would take them off when she finished university? 

She remained silent. I tapped the brakes and the car slowed down to a halt upon arriving at an intersection. 

“Dummy.”

She muttered and looked away. 

… Cute…

My heart skipped a beat after seeing her. The lights turned green, and I vanished those thoughts to the back of my head, returning my concentration to driving.