Ruins of Autumn

63• The Mermaid At The Sea

•The present (the prologue scene is included)•

    It didn't take her more than five seconds to remember the dream she had last night; as if Sidoreli had asked her whether she wanted to stay at home alone and Anila had asked him not to leave, she had changed into pyjamas, a grey T-shirt, and white overalls, and they had even slept in the same bed, in her bedroom. She had woken up from time to time with the thought that he could have changed his mind and left to never get back at her, but every time Sidoreli had been sleeping soundlessly next to her.

    Had that dream really happened? The opening of the faucet in the kitchen made her suspect that it had. Anila slowly got up and went where she heard the noise.

    Sidoreli was placing a glass on the corresponding shelf when she entered. He turned his head back, looked at her, and shook his head in surprise.

    "That someone can be so ruthless as to manipulate with her beauty, the second she wakes up, I have only seen you."

    She smiled and rubbed her eyes, still sleepy, as she walked over to him.

    "Good morning, Anila." Sidoreli put his hands on her shoulders to bring her closer to him, and he hugged her tightly.

    "Good morning." Anila rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes to take a little of his dose of happiness.

    "I prepared a sandwich and fruit juice," he pointed to the two plates and tall glasses on the wooden counter. "If you don't eat them, tell me, and I'll cook something else."

    She eyed him suspiciously.

    "I'm not understanding who's the real manipulator here." Anila hid the accusation under the irony, and he arched the corners of his lips slightly so as not to be noticed that he was feeling guilty.

    When she found out about him and Amarildo, she would think that everything Sidoreli had done for her was to throw ash in her eyes and not that he had wanted to act in that way.

    "First, I suggest you drink a glass of water with two drops of lemon thrown in it. It gives you a lot of energy," he tried, indeed, to throw ash in Anila's eyes with that effort, to change the subject.

    He took out a bottle of water from the fridge, one lemon, two glasses from the shelf where Anila had placed them, and a knife from their respective drawers to cut the lemon.

    "Did you drink?" She placed her right arm on his back and the hand of her other arm forward on his left shoulder.

    "I will, now," Sidoreli replied, smiling at being so close to her.

    "Okay, I'm going to wash my face and come back." Anila left the kitchen, and meanwhile, Sidoreli prepared water for her.

    She returned after a few minutes, tying her hair in a ponytail with a black hair ribbon.

    "Where do you want to sit?" He put the glasses on the table.

    "Here," Anila approached the chair from the wall opposite the kitchen counter, and he moved the chair away from the table for her. "Thank you," she accepted his gesture and sat down.