Circles

Chapter VI

"Are you awake?"

"Yes..." Noah mumbled, still half-asleep, as he lazily turned over in bed to look at him.

Alister's warm embrace made him feel safe, as if he was finally home.

The room was almost entirely dark, except for the sunlight filtering through the curtains.

"Lizzie will be here any moment, and I have to go to work. Will you keep sleeping? Do you want me to take you to your room?"

"Are you going today too? It's Christmas, you should stay with me..." he complained.

"I just need to take care of a few things, and I'll be back," he smiled, "Don't give me that look, it's not like I want to leave you."

"Can't you cancel it? You're the boss, right?"

"For that very reason, I have to set an example. Come on, I'll be back in two hours. Three at most. Just sleep, and when you wake up, I'll be back."

"Alright..."

Alister gently stroked Noah's tangled hair, slow and soft, as if he really didn't want to leave.

"Shall I take you, then?"

Noah nodded, stretching his arms with a sweet smile toward Alister.

An hour later, Lizzie entered the living room. There wasn't much to do; she just had to wait for Mr. Alister to return, and then she could go home. For her, though, it was much better if she could see him every day, and watching over Noah wasn't a big problem; most likely, he had gotten drunk and would sleep in late.

"Lizzie, thank you so much for coming!" Alister said when he saw her as he came down the stairs, wearing his usual smile. "I'll just have a coffee and leave... as I told you on the phone, I'll be back very quickly. It would be great if you could tidy up the rooms upstairs a bit, I'd be really grateful."

"Sure, no problem," she smiled. "Should I tidy up Noah's room too...?"

"No, let him sleep," Alister looked at her intently, and if Lizzie hadn't known him for so long, she would have thought he seemed somewhat uneasy. "You're a good girl, I'll be back soon," he finally smiled.

Alister went to the kitchen, got his coffee, and headed to the front door. He wrapped himself in his long black coat and got into the car that had arrived a few minutes earlier.

Lizzie waited until the car started moving and disappeared from sight, thinking about how fortunate she was to work for him. After that, she began to take care of her daily tasks, just like every other day.

She hurried upstairs and headed straight for her boss's room. She opened the door slowly, entered, and looked around somewhat puzzled. Alister's room was usually in perfect order, except for work papers or the occasional misplaced shirt. But now Lizzie was genuinely surprised; the room looked exactly as she had left it the day before, as if it hadn't been used at all. This had never happened before... except for...

Lizzie hurried toward the room at the back of the second floor, which was always locked. There was a large bed in it, and from what she understood, it had belonged to Alister's father before he was admitted to the hospital. Of course, it had been renovated, and the furniture inside was new and luxurious, just like the rest of the house, but Lizzie didn't understand why her boss didn't use it. His own room was much smaller, and he shared the bathroom with the guest room, which Noah was now using, unlike the large master bathroom in the other room. Lizzie supposed that Alister was still hurt by his father's illness and death, which was why he didn't dare to use that room regularly, only for special occasions.