Below the Sky

Chapter 34: Lila

I watched Elijah leave the coffee shop with a sense of sadness, but my relief outshone any depression. Me and Riana were safe. We had a warm house to sleep in tonight, and even better, a promise of independence. Elijah had said that we should get jobs, we would be able to work! I felt overjoyed, and so, so excited.
"What should we go do Lila?" Riana ripped me from my thoughts, and I crashed back into reality.
"I don't know, we should go explore the town," I suggested. Riana smiled, and stuck her hand out.
"Okay, let's go then," she said. I took her hand, and let her pull me away from the booth. We grabbed our bags, decided to go stow them away somewhere so we didn't have to lug them around all day, and go explore.
We left the shop, hurrying away from the wafts of coffee and baked goods. The mornings was warm, the sun high above our sky heating the planet. It was a comfortable temperature though, not too hot or cold.
We walked through the streets, hand in hand, moving past different shops. I noticed another coffee shop, a boutique, and a small grocery store. Then something else caught my eye.
"Riana, this way," I pulled her in the direction of a small store I had noticed.
It was a small shop, off to the side of the road. In large writing on the front of the store spelled out, "Sara's Stationary," and the building was painted light pink. It was unique, but still beautiful.
"Is that a shop that just sells stationary?" Riana asked. I grinned, answering back yes.
The interior of the store was even crazier than the outside. The four walls were each painted a different color, one blue, then light pink, and green and purple. It was funky, but kind of cool too.
The inside was small, but there were still shelves lined up with different kinds of stationary. At the front desk sat a women, who wore glasses that were huge compared to her face. Her hair was styled up in two pigtails, and her pink sweater complimented her dark skin tone.
The women looked up when she noticed me and Riana, smiling. "Hey girls, feel free to look around," she said.
"Thank you," I called back. I suddenly became aware that my fingers were still laced through Riana's, but I figured in a store like this no one would care.
I pulled Riana through the shop, looking at different kinds of stationary. It was truly beautiful, and in the end we each picked out our own. I chose stationary that had little shoes on it, like running. Riana picked some with a book.
We approached the counter, setting our stationary down. The woman was nice, asking us about our day. She scanned our materials, and we payed. For some paper, the total came out to be a lot more than expected. I managed though, paying the entire amount.
When all of our stationary was loaded into a little baggie, we thanked the women, and walked towards the front door. We were about to push it open, existing the store, when the nice woman called out to us. "Feel free to come back again," she said.
I turned, smiling at her, "We think we will," I said.
"Okay, have a nice day!" Then we were out the door, walking back onto the sidewalk, heading away from the cute stationary shop.

Over the next few hours me and Riana explored the entire town. We went to a few coffee shops, and got more caffeine, but then we also visited cute little stores, like the stationary one. We went to the grocery store, and stocked up on some food. Then we went to a book store, where I bought a book that looked interesting. The summary explained that the book followed the life of a young girl, discovering that though she's supposed to, she doesn't really fall in love with men. I felt that I could relate to this, and was excited to start reading.
Then we went to a jewelry store, and finally we headed back to the Happy Brew. On the way we picked up our bags from where we had stowed them. Then we walked into the Happy Brew with all our purchases, moving to our usual booth.
It was still early, around mid noon. Elijah wouldn't be here for some time, but I was tired. All the shopping from today had taken its toll on me, and I wanted to relax for a little.
So me and Riana ordered coffees, and sat. After ten minutes or so, our drinks arrived, and I brought my mug to my lips, sipping deeply. The liquid drained my exhaustion, giving me newfound energy. More than just erasing my tiredness, the coffee also tasted good.
Riana set her mug down, reaching for my hand. "I love you Lila," she said, slightly out of nowhere. It was sweet though, and made my heart do a small leap in my chest.
"Oh Riana," I squeezed her fingers, "I love you too." Then we stood up, reaching across the table to kiss each other. It was brief, lasting for a moment or two, but still special.
I knew kissing Riana in such a public place was risky. If someone saw it wouldn't be good, or worse, if someone saw and cared. I didn't care though, I wanted to kiss Riana.
We settled back in our seats, returning to our drinks. I pondered myself for a moment, remembering the times when I lived with my family. Out of nowhere a huge blast of homesickness hit me. I remembered Oliver, and Maya, and Dash, my sweet puppy. Even if they were cruel to me, I still missed them like hell.
The sweet moment with Riana ended in a blink of an eye, and sadness, rooted in depression from being kicked out of home, hit me, hard. I tried to resist, but couldn't, and a tear drop escaped and slid down my cheek.
Riana noticed, "Lila, are you okay?" She asked.
I quickly wiped the tear, glancing up at her, "ya, it's just, I miss them, you know? I should hate them, they kicked me out, but I don't."
"You can be angry at them for forcing you to leave and still miss them you know," Riana said. Softly she took my hand, caressing my palm. She rubbed my thumb, then my fingers, soothing my sadness.
"Okay," and that was all I said. There wasn't much more to be said. Just okay, would do.
We waited the rest of the time for Elijah to come in silence after that. Eventually our drinks chilled, and they weren't as good anymore. Sometimes the silence felt stifling, and that one of us needed to break it. We didn't though, and sat without speaking. It was peaceful, and helped to heal the crack that had ran through my heart when my Papa had told me that I had to leave.