Baby Steps

"What are you? An alien with mind-reading skills?" She did not mind saying it aloud at that moment.

"That's precisely who I am. Shh. Nobody is supposed to know though." His finger was on his lips as he urged her to keep his secret a secret.

She burst out laughing at the serious face he made. For the next several minutes, none of them spoke as their order came and they quietly finished it.

"Okay then. With handing over these pastries to you, I guess I am done expressing my gratitude. I should get going now and thanks once again."

She had almost gotten up when he gestured her to wait. She sat back and waited to hear him out.

"If you are free, you can come with me. To see where these pastries would go. I suppose you are still curious." He offered, allowing her the opportunity to go with him.

"That I am but it's okay. My thing was to give you these pastries. You can do whatever you want with them." She politely declined.

Despite her curiosity, she felt it would be intrusive of her to go with him.

"You can come. I really won't mind. Besides, I feel you deserve to be there because you have made these pastries."

A part of her wanted to refuse yet another time but another part of her wished to see where her pastries were going to go.

"Okay."

<>

Kiara was sitting on the floor, scribbling all over the white blank page in her hand which by then totally mirrored her unsettled heart.

She was so in herself that she failed to acknowledge her mother who was standing by the door for quite a while.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Her mother finally stepped in, seeing no possibility of catching her daughter's attention.

Kiara's hands stilled, alarmed. She put away the paper and raised her head at her mother. "Nothing, Mom. Why?"

Her mother sat at the edge of the bed. She had been observing Kiara for the past couple of days and the sudden change in her behavior was too prominent not to notice.

Kiara, the silent but cheerful soul that she was, was suddenly spending a lot of time alone in her room. It was unusual enough for her mother to worry.

"Is it related to that guy whom you had brought home the other day?"

The question left Kiara at the loss of words. She knew she could tell her mother everything but was she ready to share that her love story had ended before it could even start?

"Not now, Mom. I need some time. I promise I will tell you everything."

It would have been easier to talk with her mother but that just meant that she would be recalling it all ever since she saw him for the first time. Her mind was already too occupied with 'what's wrong with Ayden' thing to be able to switch to the past memories that would just make her want to cry.

Her mother left after reminding her that she did not need to think twice before sharing anything with her.

As Kiara was alone in her room, she clutched the pillow in a tight grip. "I wish I had met you earlier. I wish you could look at me the way… you look at her, Ayden. I wish."

<>

Ilyan had asked the waiter to bring the bill but apparently, there was some issue going on at the counter so they were requested to wait.

Irene was randomly tapping her fingers on the table when she watched Ilyan's face suddenly went devoid of expression.

She was about to inquire about what had happened when she caught Ayden's reflection in the glass window. She did not need to turn at the side to know that he was there.

Was he following her?

She could not, not consider the possibility since it had happened earlier as well.

'Damn it.' She internally sighed, knowing that he was going to think that she was on a date.

Regardless of everything, she knew… that was just the way Ayden's mind processed things because of his insecurities.

Ideally, had she still been in the relationship with him, she would have rushed to him to assure him that it was not how he was taking the situation but not anymore.

She did not even flinch and rather continued to sit there, visibly too casual to bother about the people in the surrounding.

"Are you okay?" Ilyan's voice was soft, almost as if he knew that her outer appearance was a façade and she was concealing that she was bothered.

"Of course," she said while grabbing the bags that held pastries in them as the waiter brought them the bill.

She had already got out money. She paid for her share and he, his.

"Hey. Leave that." He swiftly caught the hold of the bags she was holding.

While they made their way out of the café, Irene grew uncomfortable at Ayden's constant stare at her. He had not left her sight and she could not help but feel the need to disappear from the place the soonest possible.

Gone was the time when his gaze would make her feel adored.

Gone was the time when his presence would make her feel cherished.

Gone was the time when having him around would make her feel protected.

The time was gone and she was taking her baby steps toward moving on. There was definitely a lot more to do in life apart from Ayden.