Lockdown {COMPLETED}

Chapter 2: Drunken Chess

Aria woke up to the smell of bacon. She turned to look at the clock and saw it was still early. She decided to shower anyway. After a few minutes she emerged from the bathroom wearing a black tank top and gray shorts. She left the room, soon after making her hair.

Her room was at the far end of the hallway. She passed two other doors on her way to the living room, one on either side of the corridor. The room that belonged to Jill was closed, while the other one, which Rae was occupying at the moment, was open. She peeked inside and then closed the door. As she moved towards the kitchen she put a hand over her eyes and said, "Yours is not the first face I want to see in the morning."

"Believe me the feeling is mutual," Rae said, dryly.

Aria took her phone from the kitchen counter and unlocked it, going out of her way not to glance at Rae. She pulled up a picture of a hot guy and only then did she glance at Rae.

"Do you not look at your face in the mirror every morning?" he asked, innocently. "Oh wait, that'll probably make you faint."

"You know people living in glass houses should not be throwing stones."

Rae would have probably come up with something equally biting, had Aria's phone not rung. Her mom was calling her on Skype. She held up a finger, "I gotta take this. Can you bring breakfast to the couch?"

He nodded, picking up the plates and moving towards the couch.

Aria had already picked up the phone, "Hey mom. How are you?"

"I'm fine sweetie. How're you?"

"Fine."

Aria's mom had a slight look of worry on her face. "I heard on the news that your entire neighborhood is in quarantine. Apparently the people infected had even thrown a party a few days ago, and almost everyone in the neighborhood attended. Did you too?"

"No, actually. I had a last minute call with a client, and ended up staying home. Not that I was going to go. After all, the pandemic isn't a joke."

The relief on her mother's face was evident. They exchanged a few more stories and laughs and then the call ended.

"I love you sweetie."

"I love you too, mom."

After breakfast as Aria was doing the dishes, Rae remarked, "You are close with your mom, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she said, a fond smile on her face. "I was going to go to her place for a few days, but something came up at the firm and so I had to stay. Besides, due to the promotion, I couldn't leave the city just yet."

"So, why didn't you introduce me to her? Is it because you're afraid to introduce a man to your mom?" he mocked.

"I'll be wasting my mom's time by introducing you to her," she said grinning. "Besides she already knows. I texted her last night. She must have seen the news this morning and gotten to know the finer details. But, if it makes you feel better I'll introduce you guys someday."

Probably never,  Aria thought and bit her cheek to avoid smiling at the thought.

Rae rolled his eyes. "So, what are you going to do today?"

"I was thinking maybe we could go over the details for your company and what exactly would bringing you into the firm would entail."

"You are pretty confident that you'll be able to convince them, aren't you?"

She looked at him grinning, but her smile had a cold edge to it. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"We'll just have to see, wouldn't we?"