It
was a really good thing she decided to sleep, and that the house has two
bedrooms instead of one. Tristan didn’t know if he’d make it through another
hour if they shared a bed. Just thinking about it made him feel queasy, made
his heart race. He was eternally grateful for a time on his own – to calm the
hell down and make the necessary adjustments.
When they both had come out the spacious,
chrome-steel garage, Reeya was awed by the sight of the house. He could tell
she’d been expecting something low-key, and his Victorian-style pride and joy
was anything but.
He had a sudden jolt when the color combination of
the exterior smacked him in the face: blue with hints of white.
Nervously, he glanced at Reeya, and although she
merely eyed the hue with sadness, he put his arm around her shoulder anyway. He
couldn’t bear to just stand by when her faced looked like that.
“I didn’t think it would be this…huge.” She
commented as they walked through the cobblestone pathway snaking its way on the
green lawn riddles with sprinklers.
Tristan wished he turned them off before he went to
the hospital this morning. With the size and design of his garage, lawn, and
the house – hell, the entire property – added by the water spurting from the
irrigation, it really looked like he was trying to impress her. And he wasn’t.
He really wasn’t.
“It was mostly luck. The owner of the place was a
friend of a close friend, so I just, yeah.” He shrugged. Then they came up on
the front door, which was discreetly made of sturdy yet beautiful mahogany.
Tristan grimaced as he twisted the knob with his
free hand; it definitely looks like
he was trying so hard to impress. But that was nothing compared to what he felt
on Reeya’s reaction when he swung the door open.
“Oh, wow.” Her hand went to her mouth. Dazed, she made
her way inside, momentarily forgetting about him.
Okay, he thought, that
was kind of the last straw.
Tristan tried to convince himself that he didn’t feel
pleased in any way. He didn’t. He’s just happy in the thought that she admired
his home, and that she won’t be feeling awkward in the time she’ll spend here.
That would make his job easier.
Yes, that should
be my new motto. The things she
does make his job easier. It’s the easy truth, the one he can handle.
Satisfied, he followed her inside. She was standing
in the middle of the living room, which was more of a reception area to an
outsider. It was a vast space of tiled floor, and two staircases were on the
left and right, both leading to the second floor to where the bedrooms are.
Under the banister was an archway, which leads to
the proper living room – where there’s
a couch, a TV, and a low table. Also, there were the plants. Tristan loved
plants next to his fishes. There were even bonsais inside the house, if you
knew where to look; the place was filled with all kinds of leafy specimens.
Reeya was standing directly under the chandelier. Even
though it wasn’t on, the early afternoon sun glinted off it and the effect on
the bare wall was stunning.
“This is so pretty.” She said, staring up. Her mouth
was slightly gaping.
“Got it from an auction far away from here,” Tristan
replied, coming up to her. When he got to her side, he turned her gaze to his
face, but didn’t tilt her head down. He wished she didn’t do that – the angle
accented all the things he found appealing on her face. “D’you want to see your
new room?”
He silently thanked all the saints he said it right
this time.
That same smile he found really irresistible appeared
on her face. Tristan’s thoughts went something like: Uhm, uh, gaah.
“Yes, please.”
“Ah, yeah,” he shook his head, “Just up here.” He motioned
to the right staircase with his hand, which was nearer to them. As they went
up, he kept a steady hand on the small of her back. He gave up trying to give
himself a good reason why he did.
When they reached the hallway, he said, “This room’s
mine,” he rapped his knuckles on the door on the immediate right once, “And you’re
here, second door on the right,” Tristan concluded, eyeing the entrance with
churning thoughts. He totally forgot
they were just next to each other.
“It’s a good thing you’re just a door away, you
know,” Reeya said to him, “I don’t think I’ll sleep well. I always have
nightmares. They’re horrible.”
“It’s okay. Just call me whenever you need
something. Don’t even hesitate, okay?” Another wave of worry engulfed him as
she responded,
“I won’t.”
30 minutes later
Tristan found out lots of interesting things while
he was performing completely ordinary things. Cleaning and putting his house to
order qualified as completely ordinary. While he got the unused linens from the
wardrobe, he thought about moving his room. Deep down, he knew Reeya wouldn’t
mind, the angel that she is, and it would guarantee him gazillion times more
lucidity.
But then he found out that he can’t.
Too much work, he convinced himself, and my back is already killing me.
He managed to concentrate on the other mundane stuff
after that – sweeping the entire house (he thought he’d die from that one), mowing the lawn, and
arranging his room. Next, he tidied up his office and when that was finished,
the space looks a little bit alienated to him for a moment. He was just so used
to clutter that he kind of missed it in a weird way.
The sun slowly dipped in the horizon as Tristan
worked, and finally, at 3pm, he was sprawled on the couch, exhausted to the
bone.
An urgent knocking came from the door.
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