The Golden Gift

Chapter 4: Verba Tacent

[For the immersive experience, there is a song linked above. Please vote if you are enjoying this so far, comment your thoughts and share with anyone you think might enjoy the story 😊 ]

Verba Tacent: silent words

Sophronia looks down at her hands, fiddling with her impeccably done nails. She does her best to hold the composure in her face, mentally attempting to construct her response in her mind but failing to find the right words.

Aurora reads Sophronia's body language, quietly sinking back into her chair. Sophronia looks around and finds a tissue, softly blowing her nose. Aurora watches, sitting back in her chair, feeling a deep sense of heartache; she never intended to make Sophronia feel this way. Sophronia looks up at Aurora, earnestly.

"Only you can answer that question." Sophronia begins, breaking her silence, finally finding the words to say something close to how she felt.

Aurora knows genuinely within her heart the answer, but she cannot bring herself to even contemplate it. The implications are so vast and heartbreaking for Aurora; she cannot bear to think about it. Aurora does the one thing she can think of at that moment, getting up and walking around the desk to Sophronia's side. She embraces her warmly, hoping to imbue some sense of comfort; knowing now what Eroque Tecum means, she cannot even begin to imagine what Sophronia has been through in the past year. A lone tear rolls down Aurora's face, deeply saddened that she was taken away from Sophronia against her own will.

Aurora releases her embrace of Sophronia, placing herself on the edge of the large desk, wiping the stray tear from her face.

"Thank you." Sophronia smiles softly, pushing her hair away that was falling in her face.

"Can I get you anything?" Aurora asks softly, attempting to be of service to Sophronia.

"No, I'll be okay. How about we go do something normal today?" Sophronia answers, smiling warmly.

"Do you have anything to deal with here?" Aurora asks, looking at the paperwork piled neatly on Sophronia's desk.

"That pile is signed off to be dealt with by Felix. All affairs of the integrated wider community, of which he is the deputy. I'll send him a message to come and get it, and we can go do something just for us." Sophronia replies with a brighter smile.

Within a few minutes, Felix shows up at Sophronia's office and without a word simply takes the pile of paperwork, giving Sophronia a quick peck on the cheek before leaving the office again. Sophronia smiles wistfully, a slightly glassy appearance remaining in her dark eyes from the tears that had been there earlier.

"Why don't we go to my place?" Sophronia starts, smiling affectionately at Aurora.

"I would love that," Aurora answers emphatically, her face lighting up.

"Then follow me," Sophronia responds, getting up from her chair, leading Aurora out of the office and locking it. Aurora follows her into the underground tunnels, pieces of her memories flashing with familiarity in her mind. They quickly reach the junction that breaks off into the paths that go to Sophronia's, Hadrian's and Aurora's homes. They swiftly reach Sophronia's place, the door opening to a darkly warm and comforting living room. She must have redecorated, Aurora thinks as she observes her surroundings.

"I have changed a few things in this place since you last saw it." Sophronia begins, noticing Aurora's demeanour.

"It's very nice. I might need a hand redecorating my own place at some point." Aurora says with a coy smile.

"Make yourself at home. Feel free to make a coffee or a tea or something," Sophronia adds, gesturing to the neat kitchen.

Aurora enters the kitchen, glancing at the coffee machine. She turns it on and notes that it is significantly more upmarket than the one in her apartment at the university. Good coffee time, she thinks as the machine rinses itself, smiling widely. Sophronia disappears into another room. Aurora reaches into the cupboard above the coffee machine, selecting one of the matching grey mugs from the shelf. She puts the cup under the coffee machine, selecting the option on the device that she hopes is just black coffee. Soon, the steaming dark liquid starts streaming out of the spout and into the cup, emitting a delectably rich smell. The smell automatically makes Aurora smile, reminding her of memories of breakfast in the Collective that she could piece together.

Rather quickly, the coffee machine finishes dispensing the dark, precious liquid. Aurora takes the cup out from under the device and looks in the fridge for some milk. She immediately finds it, adding a few hearty splashes to the cup. Taking a sip, she smiles, enjoying the coffee, a significantly better one than the ones she drank earlier that morning in her apartment. Sophronia reappears with a sizeable set of drawers on wheels, pushing it into the living room.

"This is my self-care station." Sophronia begins proudly, folding two extending leaves off the top of the drawers, expanding into a table, small fold-down legs supporting the sides. Sophronia pulls out a wireless table lamp and brings over two chairs from her dining room. Sophronia opens the top drawer and pulls out a tray of nail polish and nail care supplies, stationing it on top of the expanded workstation. It finally clicks in Aurora's mind. Sophronia takes a seat on one side of the workstation.

"Take a seat. You can still drink your coffee." Sophronia starts, gesturing to the other seat at the workstation, smiling brightly. Aurora sits down, setting down the coffee mug and placing her hands out in front of her.

"How long has it been since you had a manicure?" Sophronia asks, inspecting Aurora's hands.

"Probably not since I was last here." Aurora answers cheekily, grinning widely.

"What shall we do on your nails today?" Sophronia asks whimsically, beaming while hovering her hands over the shades of nail polish.

"Anything you think will look good," Aurora responds, glancing over the scores of little bottles lined up neatly in awe.

"You're giving me free rein? Okay then," Sophronia says playfully, selecting a bottle from the tray on top of the workstation then digging through the drawers below, grabbing items and placing them on the workstation, taking the rest of the selection of bottles from the top and stowing it below. By the end of Sophronia's choosing, there is a bottle of a beautiful deep caramel creme colour, two unidentifiable clear bottles and a series of bottles that appear to have a variety of rose gold and gold sequins, glitters and foil pieces suspended in clear solutions. Sophronia quickly begins to clean and prep Aurora's nails, filing them into a nicely rounded shape, buffing them smooth and gently pushing back the cuticles.

Before Aurora knew it, one of the unidentifiable clear bottles was being applied to her nails. Basecoat, she thinks to herself, noting Sophronia's speed and neatness. Next comes the beautiful deep caramel colour, just one coat allowing the colour in the bottle to be opaque on her nails. A small brush wielded by Sophronia then whisked around the edges of her nails, cleaning up the tiny amounts of polish that had escaped the nail. The rose gold and gold bottles came next, each adding a mesmerising and different effect to each nail. The other unidentifiable clear bottle was next, presumably sealing it all in. Aurora found the whole process somewhat meditative, essentially allowing Sophronia to control and move her hands in whatever way she wished.

"What do you think?" Sophronia asks excitedly, motioning to the freshly manicured nails.

"I think you did an impeccable job," Aurora says, holding her hands up to see her nails under the lights, admiring them.

"Thank you," Sophronia responds, beaming, bowing her head, before placing back in the drawers all of the items she had taken out earlier.

"How about I make some lunch?" Aurora asks, standing up with a wide grin. Sophronia smiles brightly and nods. Aurora quickly makes her way into the kitchen, digging around the fridge and freezer, finding the ingredients she hopes for.

"Chicken schnitzel sandwiches?" Aurora suggests, with a whimsical smile.