A Piece Of His Heart

Twenty-three

Waleed

Work had become draining with the release of the smartphone from my latest project nearing. My office had almost become a place I didn't want to be at anymore. Rather, I liked staying home, where Eliza was. A hundred hours spent in silence with her were better than two hours spent talking to anyone else.

Instead of bothering her, I fished out my set of house keys from my pocket and unlocked the door, then entered and immediately leaned back against the closed door, trying to find the energy to even breathe.

But all my exhaustion wiped away when I felt two slender arms snaking around my waist a second before I felt Eliza's head rest against my chest and I opened my eyes to look down at her, lazily stroking her hair.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement when I found her... crying.

I tried to pull away to get a look at her face but she only tightened her arms around me and buried her face deeper into my chest, her small sniffles filling the room. "Eliza, sweetheart, what happened?"

"She died." She mumbled out before sniffing again.

I felt my breath snatch at her words, worst possible scenarios playing in my head. "Who died, Liz?" My voice came out desperate, choked and frantic, all at the same time.

She lifted her head to look at me with her red, teary eyes. "The young dinosaur's mother!"

I blinked at her in surprise and disbelief. "The what of what? That's what you were talking about? Here I thought something serious happened!"

Her sad eyes changed to a hard glare as she narrowed her eyes at me and put her hands on her hips. "It is serious! Little Foot didn't deserve that!"

"What the hell are you talking about- and is that seriously my hoodie?" I tugged at the sleeve she'd rolled up, causing it to fall down her arm and past her fingers until it was hanging in the air.

"Yeah, it's comfy. And how can you not know what I'm talking about?"

I took off my jacket and slung it over my arm before walking past her and up the stairs into our room, all the while I undid the cuff links and tossed them onto the dressing table before undoing the buttons on my shirt, fully aware that Eliza had followed me upstairs and was standing behind me.

"Maybe because I haven't watched the movie, genius."

I watched her scowl through the mirror and laughed. "Good thing then. Change until I set up everything so that we can watch the movie." She ordered and left the room just as I pulled the shirt off and replaced it with a t-shirt because I wasn't half as cold as she seemed to be. She'd stolen the one hoodie I liked.

The living room was a huge mess.

"What have you done to the place, Eliza?" The sectional was filled with wrappers of candies, chocolates and chips, some of which had fallen onto the floor as well. A plate and fork sat on the coffee table beside a mug that was touching the edge of a blanket she'd brought from somewhere.

A mess.

At least she looked embarrassed. "I'll clean it up, just sit down. Oh, and I made pasta."