Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon

Chapter 10

Breakfast that morning was full of complaints from Beau and smug looks of satisfaction from Cielo. Aurie tried to be the peacemaker, telling Cielo how good his polenta was and letting Beau steal a spoonful from her plate when the Italian man was distracted. King stayed mostly quiet, watching the interactions as he slowly sipped what was left of his second cup of coffee. He was quite pleased with how everyone was getting along; Aurie seemed to slip into her place quickly and seemed comfortable in the presence of the three men. When her plate was cleared, Aurelia gathered the plates around her on the island and took them to the sink.

"What do you think you're doin', sweetheart?" Beau asked.

"Cleaning up?"

King chuckled and walked over to where she was standing, grabbing her hands and gently pulling them from the sink. "No, you're not."

"Oh, come on! You guys cooked; the least I can do is clean up after myself."

"Cielo will get it. Beau needs to have a word with you."

Aurie sighed and crossed her arms, "And how would you know?"

"Because I told him this morning. I'm the one that needs you today."

"Fine. But I'm helping out somehow later."

King raised his hands in defeat before agreeing. Aurelia nodded, feeling victorious, and followed Beau out of the room. He guided her into a room that she had never been in before: the living room. The tall man collapsed onto the large couch opposite an even larger TV and rested his feet on the coffee table in front of him. Aurie looked around for a moment before gingerly sitting in a love seat adjacent to the sofa.

"This is going to seem like a strange thing compared to what the others have asked you to do." Beau prefaced.

"Ok," Aurelia scooted closer to the man, intrigued.

"As you know, I teach the creative writing courses at the university. But I'm not only a professor; I'm also an author. I just got my first book published, and my publisher wants me to start another. This is where you come in. I've been struggling intensely to find inspiration. So I was hoping, if you were ok with it, that I could use you as my muse of sorts."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I just wanna observe your interactions with Cielo and King, try to get an understanding of different facates of your personality and how you interact with different people."

"Of course! I'm just, I'm not sure I'm the right person for the job."

"Oh, come on, sweetheart, I'm sure of it."

"If you're absolutely sure, then I'm fine with it."

"Perfect. Now let's go see if those two are done yet."

Cielo was perched on the island, eating what was left of his polenta, as King loaded dishes into the dishwasher. Aurie sat down on one of the stools at the island, sitting on the right of Ciel's legs and looking up at him.

"Are you gonna eat all of that?"

"Of course he is. You really shouldn't be surprised." Beau said as he dipped his finger into the bowl before popping it into his mouth, effectively stealing some of the Italian food.

"If I don't eat it now, it will be gone before I get any more of it." Cielo glared at Beau.

Beau looked slightly sheepish before shrugging his shoulders, "It's good,"

King sauntered over to the three, "So what are we doing today?"

Aurie looked at Beau for further instructions, not comfortable making the decision on her own.