RED

Tulips (part 2)

Kiana finally shifted her eyes back to him, but she noticed he was looking elsewhere. Something a bit lower, so she followed the direction of his eyes, which only ended on her body. Her brows furrowed in confusion, but she still did what any sensible woman would do. She pulled the sweatshirt down a bit more, as if it was quite stretchable and would cover exactly where she needed it to be covered.

Enrico noticed her action and realised she had caught him staring. Refusing to seem startled or anything of that sort, he gently shifts his eyes somewhere else and silently takes in a deep breath to clear his mind. He takes a bite from his apple before turning back to her, trying his best to return his mischievous look to his eyes.

"Well... What are you waiting for? Make dinner." He orders, just so they could forget this entire scene ever happened. Thinking back, Enrico couldn't fathom what took over him; staring at something that he wouldn't find quite attractive on another woman.

Another woman?

Then, he was referring to Kiana as the woman and the rest as another woman. He inwardly shook his head to get rid of all his silly thoughts.

"You do know how to cook, right?" He asked, trying harder to push away his other thoughts. Kiana gave no reply, but let out a little sigh after hesitating for a few seconds. Thereafter, she ventured further into the kitchen and only stopped when she was behind the counter. She stared down at the few things that clearly weren't there a few minutes ago.

"There are more than that in the fridge." He added as he turned to her, his elbows resting on the counter. She took one look at the fridge before shifting her eyes back to him.

"What would you like to eat?" she asked, staring directly at him. The smile on his face broadened, as he slowly chewed the piece of apple in his mouth.

"There's no denying the fact that it's late, so why don't you make something that's filling, satisfying, but at the same time, a little light for the stomach. I can't risk losing my abs." He stated right before displaying a cocky smile.

Her eyes remained on him. No expression. No reaction. Not even a smile. Truthfully, he couldn't make out what was going on in her mind. Finally, she rolled her eyes away from him as she walked to the fridge.

"I'm guessing bread will do the trick." She stated, as she brought out the sliced bread from the fridge and dropped it on the counter in front of him. She stood staring at him.

"Bread?" He asked, a little disappointed as he looked away from it and back to her. Honestly, he rarely ate home-made food, but his mother always took the pleasure of restocking his fridge all the time. She would throw away what seems to have gone bad and stock the fridge with much fresher and better groceries.

"Yes. I'll cut up some vegetables and make a sandwich. That way, you get to keep your abs." She stated as she began the preparation, without sparing him a glance.

A light chuckle escaped his lips as he watched her work. Kiana was refusing to dance to his tune. Clearly, she was trying to act smarter than him. Okay, fine, he was going to let her do what she wants. He took his arms off the counter right after he was done with his apple. He buried his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt, as he relaxed watching her chop the tomatoes in front of him. His eyes remained on her face as she worked. A little smile slowly formed at the corner of his lips while he stared at her. Two, three years ago, he would have never imagined that someday, Kiana would be standing within his home preparing dinner. The thought was strange. The feeling as well, but somehow, it brought a sudden peace to him. It felt as if time had stopped. The unexplainable was happening and after a long time, he felt genuinely happy.