Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

When it was later in the day, Kaizen took the train back to downtown New York.

Unlike Long Island, the downtown streets were very crowded during Christmas Eve, no matter if it was snowing or not. There were tourists everywhere, smiling with joy and, at least on this day, the aura of the city was one of brotherhood.

In the train and subway stations this was no different, and Klaus couldn't help but be excited about this too. However, he soon remembered that he would be spending the turn of Christmas Eve completely alone. This made him feel lonely, but there was nothing he could do to change that, so he tried to convince himself that it was okay because at least the next day he could be with his family again.

When Klaus arrived in front of the door to his apartment, he typed in the password for the electronic lock and then pushed the knob down and forward.

As he put his first foot into the house, he was greeted by a glorious sight. Emma was standing there, apparently about to leave as she was arranging one of her feet in a high heel. She was dressed in a fabulous red dress that matched her hair perfectly. Her blue eyes emanated a beauty contrasted among all the red, and her fur coat was as white as the moon.

"Wow!" Klaus uttered, without even thinking first.

Emma blushed on the spot and, in surprise, looked away from him. "Klaus... what are you doing here? I thought you were spending Christmas with your family."

Klaus arched his eyebrows. "No, I told Jayaa I was staying here. Didn't he tell you? Well, you seem to be leaving, so I don't want to be the reason for your tardiness, you can pass." He then took a step back, clearing passage for Emma to leave the apartment.

"Thank you." Emma thanked him and walked through the door without looking at him. She definitely wasn't expecting to run into him like this. However, in a spurt of courage before Klaus entered the apartment and she followed his fate, Emma inquired, "Do you think I look pretty?"

Her question made Klaus a little confused.

"My 'Wow' from just now was exactly.... Never mind, you look...speechless, you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever had the pleasure of seeing with my own eyes."

Klaus' compliment surprised Emma and as he spoke the blush on her face only increased. At the end of his sentence, she smiled.

"Thank you for that, Klaus."

"You're welcome. I bet the man you're going out with will say the same."

"I-I'm not going on a date!"

"No? That's a relief, I mean, it's not a relief because you have total right to date whoever you want, but what I mean is..."

"Puftt!" Emma laughed as Klaus tried to explain himself. "Don't worry, I'm just going to meet some friends from the modeling agency. We all have family in different states around the country, so to avoid being alone, we decided to keep each other company."

Her words made him smile. "All right. I hope you have a good time with your friends. Merry Christmas to you and them."

"Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you too." Emma started walking toward the elevator.

Klaus watched her follow her down the hallway for a few moments and then entered the apartment. When he closed the door, he sighed involuntarily.

"Anyway, now I'm really alone. Should I get on Rise Online and start making the armor for the contract? Nah! It's Christmas Eve, I'm just going to get some rest and watch the snow fall through the window."

However, Klaus didn't expect that at the same time he was talking to himself, Emma was thinking exactly about him while waiting for the elevator to arrive at her floor.

For some reason, which Emma still couldn't understand, whenever she saw Klaus, her mind couldn't think of anything else.

The truth was, in the past two weeks, they had become much closer than she ever imagined they would become.

His company has turned the normal, previously quiet and cold early mornings into warmer ones filled with laughter.

During this time, Klaus introduced her to television programs that only aired in the early morning and at very specific times, told her how he discovered this because he once worked as a security camera operator in a supermarket, and several other experiences of his in the strangest jobs. Little by little she got to know more about Klaus, and the more she learned about him, the more she also wanted to find out.

Klaus' story was unlike that of any other man Emma had ever met. He did not tell advantage of his accomplishments, nor of his qualities or experience, in fact, Klaus was someone with a surprisingly humble personality.

So before she knew it, every time she left her room in the early hours of the morning, she began to secretly expect to meet him in the living room or in the kitchen, and when that didn't happen for some reason, she looked forward to the creak of his door opening. So whenever they met in the early hours of the morning, and Klaus would look at her with his ripe eyes and with a smile from the corner of his mouth, her heart would race like never before.

Thinking of all these fond memories warmed Emma's heart while she was waiting for the elevator, and she had to make a decision. Should she let Klaus spend Christmas alone or go find her co-workers?

After a few minutes since Klaus entered the apartment and took off all his wet clothes from the snow, the ringing of the doorbell resounded throughout the apartment.

*Tlimm, Tlomm!*

He was in the kitchen, looking through the cupboards for ingredients to make homemade cookies and was surprised to hear the doorbell.

"I wonder who that is?" he asked, considering that the only two other residents in the apartment also knew the password to the electronic lock, so they wouldn't need to ring the doorbell to get in.

Even though he was aware that it couldn't possibly be Emma or Jayaa, Klaus went to the entrance to answer whoever it was. After all, maybe it could be some visitor to some other apartment who happened to get the numbering wrong, or maybe a delivery for one of the two Nielsen brothers, which would also be much stranger.

However, when he opened the door, he rolled his eyes in surprise.

"H-hi, I'm back." Emma said, looking into his eyes with a flushed face.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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