Welcome to Almusilaa

Chapter Nine

I was putting the finishing touches on my drawing when Charlie came back.

I closed my sketchbook quickly with a snap, startling Grace who had started to dose on my shoulder.

"Hey, how did it go?" I asked before Charlie had even turned around. When Charlie turned around she smiled.

"It went great. Better than I could have hoped." She said as she flopped on the couch, taking care not to squash Jack who was laying next to her.

"It turns out that he had lost his feelings for me as well. We talked and we decided to stay friends."

"That's great!" I told her while Lauren smiled. It was a wistful smile, and I knew she was thinking of Johannes.

"I'm hungry, can we go down to eat?" Grace asked Charlie.

"Sure, is anyone else hungry?"

A few 'me's' sounded before the other familiars and Lauren went down to the restaurant. Charlie and I didn't move since both of us had already eaten.

Lauren smirked at me as she closed the door. As the door closed I was left alone with Charlie.

I suddenly felt awkward and felt a need to fill the silence. It was so unlike when we had been alone together at her unit. I opened my mouth to say something, anything to break the silence but Charlie spoke first.

"What'cha drawing?" She asked me as she scooted closer to me to better see my sketchbook.

"Oh, nothing." I said hurriedly. While I had wanted to break the silence that was one of the last topics I had wanted to bring up.

"Oh, are you having trouble with what to draw?" She asked me obliviously. "Lauren finds it hard to get inspiration sometimes. Do you want some help?" She asked me.

In that moment her eyes sparkled in the warm yellow light of the lamp I had been using and I couldn't say no. Her hair shone fiery gold and her freckles looked like gold glitter that had been dusted across her face. Had she always been this beautiful?

"I would love that."

"Okay, pack up your stuff, we're going on a road trip."

———

It was cold outside so Charlie had borrowed a blanket from one of the beds to drape over my legs and a jacket to cover my arms.

We left a note telling Lauren what we were doing before Charlie wheeled me out of the hotel. Now Charlie was wheeling me down the footpath of the darkened street.

Almusilaa was beautiful in the nighttime. The street lights fought with the colourful enchanted glowing signs over which was brighter. Pools of pink, green and blue light were everywhere. Music played in restaurants and bars and people laughed.

The night was alive. My skin tingled and my heart raced from that knowledge.

"Is there anywhere you want to go in particular?" Charlie asked me as a drunken couple walked passed us, their laughter and the sound of Charlie's voice forcing me from my trance.

"No, anywhere's fine." I replied. I didn't really know much about the city's geography besides the places we had gone on our first day here. Charlie continued to push me along on the footpath.

"Stop right here." I said. Charlie did, putting on the brakes of the wheel chair so it wouldn't roll.

We were under a street light that gave off enough light to light up a small area around us. In the light of the street light, a pond lay. In the chilly night breeze some reeds that grew on the side of the pond rustled. A bench sat close to the edge of the pond nestled under a willow tree, a perfect place for a cozy picnic in the shade.