Drink Me

10. BRAIN SHAPED BOX

BRAIN SHAPED BOX

Riley walked out if his bedroom into the spacious living room of his newly decorated flat. It had taken all day and several trips with a rented van but all his things were finally out of the storage unit and his cousin's place and back to where they belonged.

He was exhausted; it had been a full day on top of only managing a few hours of sleep the night before. He was angry at himself for dreaming of Alice. It had felt so real and he hadn't been able to shake it off his brain the entire day.

And then there was the kiss, so very real.

He now knew Alice had been thinking about it too and that she had enjoyed it the same way. But she was right, they just had to move on because Aidan could have lost two people with one truth.

Is she having my same dreams?

He wished Alice had told him she didn't remember, or that the memory disgusted her because their complicity was killing him.

Then the doorbell rang waking him from his dream of Alice, he welcomed the sound and quickly opened the door.

Nicole appeared in the hall, she looked beautiful and radiant, two paper bags in her hands.

"Hey Nicky, come in," Riley welcomed her, immediately forgetting about Alice.

He took the paper bags from her and placed them on the kitchen counter.

"Hey, handsome," she reciprocated the greeting, adding a kiss as Riley turned back to her.

The girl walked to the kitchen area and took a good look around.

The open plan was bright and welcoming, the hazelnut rustic kitchen with a modern island greeted her as she walked in, the living area was simple in its cream tones but well decorated with a contrasting wall of bricks where a big flat screen was. On the opposite side a huge bookshelf occupied most of the wall and in front of it was a black sofa and a wood and glass coffee table over a grey carpet.

"Wow, this place looks amazing," she said in awe.

Riley nodded proudly, he never thought he was one for aesthetics but he had to admit he loved the new look

He had inherited the flat from his father; when the tenants, who had lived there for nearly twenty years, had finally left, he had decided to do some improvement works and keep that little beauty for himself.

"My bedroom is over there." He cheekily pointed to a room at the end of a narrow corridor behind the living room. "I can show you that later." He winked.

Nicole scoffed a laugh. "I'll hold my breath till then..." she said.

"So what's in here?" Riley asked snooping inside the bags.

"Well, I thought that for a house warming you need a plant." She took a little cactus out of one of the bags had handed it to Riley.

He took it from her hands to inspect it. "That is so sweet Nicky, thank you!" he said with honest gratitude and rewarded her with a kiss before placing the little vase on a shelf by the window.

"You're welcome." The girl beamed. "In this bag, we have celebratory wine, both white and red."

"You're the best," said Riley taking the bottle of white wine from her and placing it in the fridge. "We can have the red one with dinner. I've ordered us Indian, which should be here in one hour, hope you don't mind..."

Nicole smiled. "Nope, I love Indian. And I love a decisive man."

"Good," Riley said simply, resting his hands on her waist.