Jealous

I woke up feeling heavy. The sprawled body above the half of me pretty much explains it.

Ms. McCrae's right arm is on my chest and her right leg is resting on my thigh. I didn't expect her to be a wild sleeper.

As gently as I could, I placed her arm on her torso and sat up. I also moved her leg and broke free from the hold of her limbs.

Standing by the side of the bed, I almost laughed out loud seeing her mouth open. That just killed my fantasy of waking up next to a beautiful woman.

But seeing past that, she is glowing. Almost. Maybe because of the soft morning sun on her beautiful skin. And that lips. She's making me fantasize about it again.

I walked out the door before I can do anything I shouldn't and before anyone see me come out from her room.

No one is roaming the hallways yet. I didn't even see Leila. In my room, the boys are still fast asleep. I went straight to the shower to freshen up.

After putting on new clothes, I went down to the kitchen. Leila is already there, cooking something.

"Good morning Arystan. You're up early. Just wait a while for this beef broth to heat up."

"Good morning Leila. Thank you. Just what I need after all that wine last night."

"I know. I suspect Ms. Dionna also need a bowl of this. Can you bring some to her after you're done?"

"Sure."

I drank the soup in silence while Leila busied herself with cooking. After I was done with my soup, she had Ms. Mcrae's transferred to a bowl then she placed it on a tray.

"Thank you Leila," I told her and went on my way.

Ms. McCrae is still sleeping when I entered the room but she's now hugging the pillow, her face peaceful. I'm reminded of last night. It's good that she is sleeping well despite of her dream.

I didn't wake her up. There's no hurry anyway. I elevated her injured ankle, placing it on a couple of pillows.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and visited my Instagram. I took a quick selfie since I already took a bath and is in good clothes. I posted it with a New Year greeting for the arysers. Seconds later, my phone buzzed with endless notifications. I read some of the comments but didn't reply to any of them.

"Hey."

I looked away from my phone to Ms. McCrae sitting up.

"How long were you sitting there Sir?" she asked me as she moved to lean against the headboard.

"Me? Uhh.. just a minute or so."

"You brought something."

"Yes. It's a beef bone soup. Leila prepared it for our hangover."

"Ugh yes. I'm feeling the headache. Thank God for Leila."

I set the table before her and placed the tray with the soup.

"How's your ankle?"

"It is better Sir. Thank you. Also thank you for bringing the soup for me."

"Of course. It's no problem. Hopefully Amir can come by today as Alinur promised. It must be hard to not move and go where you want to."

"Hmm. This soup is so good. I feel refreshed already."

"Good. Finish it all. I'll get your breakfast after you're done. In the meantime, you can take a shower."

"I'm starting to find this funny," she chuckled.

"What is?"

" You. And me. Our roles are kind of reversed right now."

"Oh. I don't mind. Now finish it."

She smiled and drank the soup by the bowl. After a few minutes, I picked the clothes she wanted and helped her to the bathroom then I went to get our breakfast.

*******************

The day passed by with me working in the studio again. Leila volunteered to bring Ms. McCrae her lunch so I didn't go down until about 2 pm. I had my lunch and then I decided to pay Ms. McCrae a visit. She is on her laptop when I came in.

"Hey," she smiled at me.

"I'm just working on my papers Sir. Senti and I need to go to the immigration to process my papers next week."

"Can you manage? It would be difficult with that injury."

"I'm confident it would heal in a week's time Sir. Not totally but I'll be able to move around."

"Okay. If you say so. You need to be careful or it could worsen."

"I know Sir," she said with a faint smirk.

"It would be more convenient if we stay in the city. I could complete my work there. Miras aga and Arlan won't be bothered about coming here too."

"Okay Sir."

"You okay here? Anything you need?"

"I'm fine. Thank you."

"Alright. Give me a text if you need anything."

She nodded, almost hurrying me to go. I went back up and continued with my work.

At around 5pm, I went back down after I was told that Amir had come. Äke and ana was already in the room and is praising Amir for the crutches.

"Son, look at this. It is beautiful, isn't it? Amir carved flowers on it," ana said when she saw me walk in.

Ana held the crutches to me and I saw the flowers. They are violets.

"Yes. It looks good. Thank you Amir," I addressed him.

"It's a pleasure Sir Arystan. I'm glad to be of help to Ms. Dionna."

"Thank you again Amir. It is much appreciated," Ms. McCrae said.

He gave her a soppy smile.

"It's nothing miss. I'm glad to be able to make something especially for you."

"Well Amir, before you go, I would like to invite you to some snacks in the kitchen. That is, if you want," ana said.

"I'd be delighted to ma'am."

"How about you Dionna dear?"

"Of course. Might as well try out the crutches," she smiled.

"You also Arys? Diana baked pizza. We can have tea with it."

"Of course ana."

Ms. McCrae edged to the side of the bed and I went to her, handing her the crutches. I smirked inside, knowing that I was a second faster than Amir. I helped her to her feet while she supported herself with the crutches.

"Thank you Sir."

Äke and ana went ahead while Amir waited and walked with us. We walked in silence with Ms. McCrae between us.

"I heard that you are an architecture student Amir," Ms. McCrae broke the silence.

"Yes miss. I am now in my final year."

"These crutches are very comfortable. You are a good craftsman. I wonder why you chose to be an architect instead."

"I love designing houses miss and I also love wood carving. I think I can apply my carving skills by making wood furniture for the house. It could be an edge."

"That is a brilliant idea. I would love to see one of your projects someday."

"I'd be happy to show you miss. One day. That is, if we can still keep in touch."

"Yes.. if we can still keep in touch. But I hope that we can. I appreciate beautiful houses you know."

Amir nodded, smiling from ear to ear. If only looks could kill, I already made him drop dead.

Ana served us the pizza and made tea herself. Amir kept chatting with Ms. McCrae about architecture, his preference and plans. It seems that he got more confident after she told him about wanting to keep in touch. I can only eat and say nothing. After finishing my second slice of pizza, I excused myself.

I stayed in the studio again until 10 in the evening. My stomach is already growling so I need to eat. Leila texted me minutes ago about the food she left for me in the kitchen.

Nobody is walking around anymore when I went down. It seems they all retired early. As I expected, food is already on the table and it's still warm. I sat and ate in silence.

I was startled when somebody sat beside me. I was deep in my thoughts that I didn't hear her come in.

"You're eating late Sir. You must be staying up again," she said to me.

"Yes. I am. What about you? Do you need something?"

"I need a drink. I mean.. water."

"Oh no Sir. I'll get... Okay. Thank you."

I took a glass and poured her the water. She drank it then sat in silence.

"Are you okay Sir?" she asked after a moment.

"Why do you ask?" I frowned.

"Nothing. It's just..."

"I'm okay."

"When you went up a while ago, you looked upset."

"I'm not upset. I just get serious sometimes when an idea comes to my head," I lied.

"Ah. So that is what it was all about. I thought you were upset with me or something."

"No. I'm not."

Not at you.

"Okay. And uh.. This may sound silly Sir but can we make a promise to say if we are upset with each other? We should let the other person know so that we can resolve it out in the open."

"Sure."

She took me by surprise when she grabbed my hand and made me do a pinky promise.

"Promise sealed," she smiled at me.

I smiled back, feeling warm and silly.

"Can I accompany you back to your room? After I'm done with my food of course."

She nodded.

I walked her to her room after a few minutes, carrying the water bottle she came to get. She walked slowly with her crutches but I matched her pace.

"I read people's energy quite well Sir and I wanted to confront you about it. I'm sorry if offended you in some way for confronting you about it."

"No. It's fine. I think it's good that you want to have a transparency between us. It will help us work with each other better."

"Hm. Yes Sir."

"That goes for you too okay? If you're upset with me, don't avoid me or feel angry in silence. You have to tell me so that we can resolve it."

"Okay Sir."

I grabbed one of her hands and also made her pinky swear with me.

She laughed.

"Thank you Sir. Thank you for seeing my sincerity."

"Of course."

I got inside her room with her and placed her water bottle at the bedside table.

"Good night Ms. McCrae."

"Good night Sir."

I turned off the light when I went out of the room.

***************************