In the tender caress of morning light, the sheets cradled a half-naked man. His hands, fumbling through the fabric, yearned for the familiar form he had shared the night with, eager to pull her close.
The air was saturated with her essence—the lingering fragrance of her on the sheets, the subtle whisper of her in the pillow's fibers. Even his dreams echoed the intimacy of the night spent with Rose.
With a reluctant sigh, Liam forced open his lazy eyelids, only to discover the emptiness beside him.
Guessing the beautiful humanoid might be just wandering around his apartment, a short magnetic laughter left his lips. The man recalled passionate moments they had experienced last night. The intimacy shared was nothing short of extraordinary.
Rose had willingly surrendered to his control, every aspect of her delicate form responding to his desires. Her graceful imperfections, whispered moans, petite frame, and modest curves—all succumbing to the fervor of his control.
The narrative spared no details; Liam vividly recalled the enticing allure of her small, round breasts, the yielding tightness down there, her unhesitant tongue seeking his satisfaction, and her gorgeous little face adorned with his essence.
Rose was clumsy and obviously not at all experienced in bed. But the way she gave it her utmost best to satisfy and serve him so good was what's so unique about this robot. Liam understood the need for further exploration and to mold and refine her into perfection. But the intensity of their first encounter was already undeniably awesome.
At first, Liam had brushed off Rose's absence, thinking she might just be casually exploring his apartment, possibly unaffected by the need for sleep as a robot. Yet, as memories of their sweet night echoed in his mind, a sudden awareness gripped him. He hadn't heard any noise or footsteps coming from other rooms at all.
"Rose, are you there?"
His voice hung in the quiet space, met only by the hollow echoes of his own concern. Liam was now fully awake. Puzzled over the absence of any response, the soldier finally decided to drag his lazy body out of the bedroom.
He first checked for her in the bathroom, not being sure if it would even be okay for a humanoid to take a shower. Liam saw not a single soul there. But by the way his shower essentials were not in the order he used to place, the man knew Rose had recently been here.
As he headed for the living room next, a partially open door to his closet caught Liam's attention. When he took a glimpse inside, it was no Rose. But he found a black nightgown casually discarded on the floor.
As he leaned down to grasp it, Liam's fingers paused above the fabric, now rendered beyond wearability by his own doing last night. He was the one who ruined it in the midst of a fervent kiss and tore it all apart in a moment of unrestrained desire.
Presence of the ruined garment in a different location suggested Rose's attempt to wear it again. Upon inspecting his closet, Liam realized a shirt and a pair of his pants missing. He wouldn't mind Rose borrowing or wearing any of his clothes. After all he's the one who had ruined the only piece of clothing she had. Even so, where was she now?
He had already checked the kitchen, his living room, guest room and even his home office. But Rose was nowhere to be found and there was no more trace of hers either. At this point, the only scenario that's pretty much possible was her leaving this apartment. Liam rushed to check his door and sure enough, it wasn't locked anymore. Somebody had got out of here.
As his frustration manifested in a pronounced frown on his handsome face, Liam whispered to himself.
"Where did she go? I don't think she ran away though. but what else could it be. I thought love robots don't tend to vanish like one-night stand."
*****
"Emily, please pick up."
At the entrance of a random small cafe, a young woman, draped in an oversized white t-shirt and conspicuously ill-fitting black pants, stood. The pants hung precariously on her slender waist, threatening to slip off at any moment.
Standing beside her was a woman, a decade her senior, appraising Rose with a critical gaze, her disapproval intensifying as she noticed the subtle love bite marks on Rose's neck – remnants of a passionate night shared with Liam. She was the one who had borrowed her phone to Rose for a call.
"Could I please try just one more time?"
The lady offered a knowing nod, yet her eyes broadcasted a silent narrative of judgment: "Young women these days can't seem to keep their legs closed. Who knows what kind of man she slept with? Now, look at her, in trouble and clueless about her whereabouts."
One couldn't entirely fault the lady for her thoughts. Rose, in her disheveled state, was a stark contrast to her usual self. Tangled black hair framed her face, and in her free hand, not occupied by the phone, she clutched a red apple pilfered from Liam's fridge. Without her typically innocent visage, securing someone else's phone for a call would have been a far more challenging feat.
"Hello, it's Emily speaking. Do I know this number?"
A gasp of relief escaped Rose as a familiar voice echoed through the phone.
Tears threatened to spill from her obsidian eyes, but she clamped down on the tumult within. Struggling to keep her voice steady, Rose uttered in a quiet yet resolute tone,
"Emily, it's me, Rose. Can you please come get me?"
"Rose? Rose! oh my goodness, is that you? what happened to you?! I've been trying to hit you up for, like, three weeks straight. I was freaking out, thinking something messed up went down with you."
Three weeks? Rose hadn't grasped that much time had slipped by already since her unconsciousness. Recollection of their talk just on the day before the perplexing incident at Lovebot Company's lab resurfaced in the young woman's mind.
As questions swirled in her mind about the mysterious events leading to waking up in a stranger's bed and being mistaken for a humanoid love robot, Rose grappled with the unknown. What had happened to her? What alterations had they made to her body? And the most crucial query: What was she now?
The uncertainty loomed large, and at this point, Rose questioned whether she even had the courage to uncover the harsh truth.
"I don't know what happened to me either. But I.... I'm okay for now I guess. I need you to come get me now. I'll explain everything after we meet, okay?"