In Her Sleep

Just This Once

"Someone is happy this morning."

Layla opens her eyes at the sound of her maid's voice.

"I have never seen anyone smile so much in their sleep much less you Miss Layla" Mavis looks at her with eyebrows raised and a smile plastered on her face.

Layla just goes back under her sheets because she can't seem to stop smiling even when awake and she is speechless. Last night was beautiful. It wasn't filled with anything fancy, just her and him enjoying a simple quiet night. It was very relaxing and soothing too. Many a time she forgot that their relationship was just a doctor patient one. She had decided to put all her woes and worries aside and just enjoy herself. She enjoyed it so much she ended up thanking herself for deciding to call him.

"Ooh... Did Mr. Simon come through here before leaving?"

Mavis's question brings her right out of the sheets. She is frowning at her maid wondering what she means by her question. But the lady just reaches out to the side of her pillow and looks like she just fished something. When she shows it to her, Layla can feel herself blushing. It's a white paper rose. The papers have been folded neatly in shapes of petals making it look like a real life rose.

"I didn't think Mr. Simon was this romantic." Mavis wiggles her eyebrows at her.

Layla says nothing but just smiles from ear to ear. Last night he had mentioned that the white rose is his favourite flower, so she has a pretty good idea who left it there. But she is not about to give her maid any of those details. She opens her hand out to Mavis asking to see it. And when she touches it she is overwhelmed with emotions. The flower is really beautiful and she doesn't know when he made it. And come to think of it, she doesn't remember when he left. And when she looks closer, she finds one of the petals signed with his initials.

"C.Y." She whispers.
Her heart is hammering in her chest. How perfect can he be? She didn't expect any of this at all.

"Miss Layla are you ok?"

She looks up at Mavis and finds her looking at her with concern.

"Oh, am fine Mavis."

"You said Simon left this morning?"

"Oh yes, he left the house early this morning for a trip out. I thought he might pass through to say bye. He didn't come here?"

"I...I don't know. I have been sleeping all this time."

"But if it's not Mr. Simon, then you must have an admirer. Because am sure Mr. Simon would have woken you up"

Layla fakes a cough. Her maid can be so open sometimes.
"Please don't let Simon hear you say that. Not that I even have admirers."

"Oh don't worry Miss Layla. I too never want to get on Mr. Simon's bad side." Mavis grins.

"Did he say when he will be back?" She changes the course of their conversation before she gets bombarded with questions she won't be able to answer.

"No mam."

"Oh ok."
Layla picks up her phone ready to make a call but when the screen comes on she finds a new text message and she is quick to open it when she sees who the sender is.

"I have never seen a more beautiful face than this. Good night...even though it's technically good morning."

She is as red as a tomato and her heart rate speeds up. What is he trying to do?

"I best be going, you seem preoccupied."

"Oh no please stay Mavis." She looks at her maid who is already on her way out.

"Don't worry Miss Layla, I know young love and I understand. I will see you later."

Mavis walks out leaving a very stunned Layla.

"Young love?"
"Does she mean? Could it be?"

"Did I just allow myself to fall in love?"
Her eyes are as wide as saucers. She has been enjoying being around him way before she woke up from her coma but it never really occurred to her that love was already at play. Sure she enjoys his company but...

Her phone rings interrupting her thoughts and she drops it on the bed like it's hot after seeing who is calling. She bites her lips wondering what to do. She would have picked his call without a second thought but after her maid's statement it's not as easy as that anymore. She also can't deny the effect even just seeing his name on her screen has on her.

It's time to think things through before she creates a mess of everything. She sighs thinking of what to do.
Her phone eventually stops ringing and she feels like she can breathe a little and focus, but a second later he calls again. She cuts the line quickly and puts it right back down. She reaches for her bag to retrieve something. There is something she needs to do before she can talk to Caleb.

She sits up as she rummages through her bag. She comes up with her engagement ring and places it on the bed before her. She also gets the paper rose and places it next to her ring and sits back. She spends the next few minutes looking from one object to the other. She is not even sure what she is trying to do but keeps on looking intently at them. Many thoughts are going through her head and she is trying her best to sort them out.
Eventually she picks up the ring and smiles a genuine one. It's beautiful, something she would definitely want to keep for the rest of her life. It's owner has jumped in the deep end and promised her the one thing she has always wanted. Once upon a time she was ready to jump too without question. She looks at it a second longer and her hand moves to the paper rose and picks it up. Almost immediately her stomach does a few flip flops causing her to break out in a big smile. The rose is breathtakingly beautiful. It's owner hasn't promised her anything but he has brought so much light and happiness in her life just by being himself. He has cared for her in ways no one has done before and strangely enough she feels like she can jump in without question if he were to ask.

"Caleb." She whispers while she touches the rose lightly.

Before her accident she was set. She knew what she wanted and everything may not have gone the way she would have liked but she was set. Now with him in the picture she is not so sure. After having felt all she is feeling now and experienced a different dose of care she just can't ignore it all.
She places the two items next to each other again. While one is made of the most expensive of materials, it's the one that is made of the cheapest of materials that takes her breath away.

She leans back on her pillow and closes her eyes while her mind and heart battle each other. She never thought she would find herself in such a position. Not in a million years.
Her phone rings again and it's him. This time she picks it up and answers.

"Hey"
She speaks softly, her heart skipping a beat as she waits for that melodious voice to come through from the other end.

Just this once, she throws all caution to the wind and chooses to listen to her heart.