Voices

Chapter 6

His house was warm and cozy, I felt. Alex have always lived alone ever since his parents divorced. I never actually discuss the matter with him because I felt like it was irrelevant for an outsider like me to intrude. I didn't want to be called a busybody person. He invited me into his living room and sat me on a sofa next to the fireplace. He gave me a blanket and turned the tv on. He then went to the kitchen to brew some coffee. It really felt like home. Only it had a much more heartwarming aura from mine. The smell of sweet cinnamon caught my senses. Alex came into the room with a tray of two mugs, still flowing with steam.

"Here you go, ma'am." he gave me one of the mugs.
"Thank you, sir." I accepted. He sat beside me while holding his own mug, blowing on it so it is suitable for sipping.
"Your house is very nice. It's warm and cozy. I'm quite surprised that a guy who lives alone could have a clean and beautiful house like this. Better than mine honestly." I complimented.
"Well, I'm not like other guys." he smirked.

We both watched the firewood burn while listening to the tv playing a late night drama series. It was very peaceful. Almost like all the problems that we're facing just disappeared. We finished our coffee and went to the kitchen sink to wash them. We both agreed to go to sleep because it was already 3 o'clock. We went upstairs passing the hallway and into his bedroom. He insisted me to sleep on his bed because he said that all the other rooms were a mess and didn't have bed sheets on them. I felt a bit guilty but obliged.

"But where would you sleep then?" I asked.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll manage somehow." he answered, closing the door softly.

I dragged myself on top of the bed and pulled the blanket up to my nose. The sheets and pillow smelled of Alex scent. It was sweet.. like cinnamons. There were still many thoughts that went unanswered. I pushed those thoughts away and went into a deep slumber.

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The morning sunlight blazed in through the blinds and forcefully woken me up. I felt weary and weak. It took a few moments for me to realise that I was in Alex's bedroom. Oh, right. I slept here last night but why? I scrunched my face trying to remember about last night, to no avail. Alex suddenly burst in through the door with felicity.

"Rise and shine, my lady! Time for breakfast." he greeted me with a smile.
"Huh..? Oh, right. Be right there." I confusingly answered. He nodded and went storming downstairs.

          The room was dimly lit by sunlight. I was still sitting on the bedside, looking around Alex's room. There were shelves with numerous books arranged. I didn't know Alex likes to read, rather I never really wondered. They looked somewhat old and torn. I noticed that most of the books were literatures and others were just old folk stories. Nothing out of the ordinary but something under the study table beside the shelves caught my eyes. A small box was underneath the table, almost looked like someone just shoved it in there. I had the feeling that it wasn't supposed to be there. I felt the urge to know what was inside it but..

"Hurry up and come down here, Rose! The pancakes are starting to get cold." Alex shouted downstairs before I could even reach the box.
"C-coming!" I replied looking back at the box. I went out of the room and walked downstairs.
"Took you awhile. I bet you're probably struggling to get all of that dried saliva off your face." He spat behind the kitchen counter. I ignored him and sat on the counter, watching him brew some coffee. I then turned my glance over to the living room couch. A sleeping bag was lying messy on it.
"Did you slept in that sleeping bag last night?" I asked, pointing out to the couch.
"Uh.. yeah.. why?" he answered, looking down. I punched his shoulder, hard.
"You could've just let me sleep there! Now I feel really terrible!" I shouted.
"I could never let a girl sleep in that saggy bag. It won't feel right knowing that a girl was sleeping in that horrible thing while I was sleeping soundly on a bed." he explained. I glared at him, shocked by his statement.
"It's not like I need anything fancy to sleep on." I turned away embarrassed that he was thinking about other people's feelings above himself.
"Okay, Rose. Now how about we have our breakfast? I'm starving!" he smiled, taking my hand and pulled me over to the table. He made pancakes and prepared cereals too. He then poured the coffee into two mugs and handed one of them to me. When he was just about to sip some coffee for himself, he suddenly stood up and walked over to the tv.
"Almost forgot!" he turned the tv on and walked back to the table.
"Better?" he asked. I let out a small laugh and nodded. It was really heartwarming for him to care about the most trivial things. We both sat there and ate our breakfast with grins on our faces.