What's in your (he)art

Chapter 9

 Kiah lit a cigarette and stared out of the terrace window. The sky was still dark blue, barely carrying the yellowing rays of the rising sun. She hadn't slept during most of the night. Cate's warm body next to hers had been too much of a distraction. And all the thoughts, all the feelings...
 She opened the door to the terrace to let the cigarette smoke out and then turned on the stove to warm up some water. It took seeing the empty jar of instant coffe to remind her she had recently bough a mocca coffe pot. She drew a deep breath through the burning cigarette in her mouth and opened the cupboard where she held the pot and the ground coffee. This was new to her, not the routine she had gotten used to. Cate was still in the bedroom. Kiah could hear soft snores. She had spent a few minutes admiring the woman in her bed, her mind going miles per hour along with her heart. She had this woman, this...star in her home and she knew so little about her. It was like a living mystery before her. As Kiah was lighting another cigarette, the coffee boiled. She set it on the counter and began making breakfast. Kiah decided on scrambled eggs, simply because she wasn't much of a cook. Something in her insisted that Cate deserved a warm breakfast, though, so she decided on that compromise. She left the eggs on the stove and walked out to the balcony to have the rest of her cigarette. A loud thump came from indoors, followed by softer thumps resembling bare feet on floor. Kiah turned arount to see what the comotion was, only to witness Cate frantically trying to put out a fire on her stove.

Shit, the eggs!

 Kiah rushed in to help the older woman, but by then the situation had been handled. 

"What the hell were you doing??"

"Well, eggs - obviously. Didn't work that well, though.."

 Cate remained silent, the sleepiness in her eyes returning as the adrenaline wore off. 

"You're lucky I woke up fast enough. This could've caused a major fire!"

 Kiah looked down, smushing her cigarette butt in an ashtray on the counter.

"I wanted to make you a warm breakfast."

 She looked up for a moment and noticed Cate's look softening. The older woman approached her and leaned in for a kiss, but Kiah looked away. Cate nodded awkwardly. 

"Sorry. That's really sweet of you and it's just been a while since someone has cooked for me."

 In that moment, Kiah wanted to cook for Cate forever. Silence settled in the room for a while, both of them staring off into nothing. The air around carried the imperceptable weight of deep thought. Then, Cate yawned and it was as if the world started spinning again. Kiah reached for another cigarette and announced

"I made coffee!"

 The brunette set two mugs on the counter and poured an equal amount of the now lukewarm coffee.

"Sugar and creamer? No, wait, I don't even have creamer, I never buy it...I don't know why I asked. Uhh, do you want sugar then? I usually drink my coffee black so I don't know what other people like." 

 Kiah caught herself rambling and cleared her throat while handing Cate the coffee. 

"Black is fine, thank you." 

 Cate's accent made everything sound so posh and elegant, Kiah couldn't help but smile a little. Even with her blonde strands a mess and her face puffy from sleep and tears, Cate still sat with good posture and still had an aura of authority and elegance. 

"You're staring, darling."

 Her deep voice, apparently even deeper in the morning, broke Kiah's trance and caused her heart to skip a beat.