The next day, when I go to work, I'm aware that I can't really seem to concentrate, because of what has happened—I can't really seem to tell my mind to stop worrying if this is the right thing, or if I really should have looked for another place to stay, for the time being. It's just that...I've always lived by myself, so having someone else around, is probably going to take a while to get used to. But with the way things are, I might not even have to think about it.

Because this morning, when I opened my eyes, it really did feel as though I had just woken up from a (really, really) bad dream, with the usual serene peace that greeted me.

That is, if I hadn't found myself lying on the couch, next to a very familiar book.

The same one that a certain golden-brown haired male happened to be reading, while sitting next to me on the plane.

Kris had already left the house, by the time I went to wash up, so I found myself relaxing a little, as I got myself ready. I ended up discovering a whole bunch of facial products that I have never seen before, while brushing my teeth, and that's when I realised that maybe, just maybe, eight hours of beauty sleep, isn't all there is, to his flawless face. I also found out that Kris is an exceptionally neat person, and came to the conclusion that...this is a great thing.

Because maybe his tidiness will eventually rub off on me, and influence me to be better organised, instead of leaving everything everywhere.

Or something.

I breathe out a sigh, as I now go to wipe down a table.

I don't know—I don't know anything anymore, so maybe this is a sign that I should stop thinking about this, and focus on not burning people's coffees.

Yeah.

As I now make my way over to the next table, to clean up the empty plates there, I hear the sound of something small, fall down onto the floor. It turns out to be a black lid of some sort, and the cap gradually stops rolling next to my foot, as it finally falls onto its side. Curious, I pick it up, to find out that it’s a camera lens lid. My guess is that the camera that this belongs to, is probably one of those really expensive, and high quality ones.

And I'm right—because there, standing two tables away, is a tall, brunette male, with slightly curly hair, who appears to be looking for something, through the gaps of chairs and whatnot.

Holding out the small item, I decide to approach him. "Hey, are you looking for this?" I query, with a tilt of my head.

His eyes instantly brighten up, upon seeing the camera lid. "Oh, there you are!" he exclaims, filled with relief. Taking the cap into his own hands, he now shows me a grateful smile. "I mean, thank you," he quickly says, with a chuckle. "This thing is always slipping out of my hands, and the semi heart attack that it gives me, when I think I've lost it, always drives me crazy." I watch, as he now places the lid back onto the hung camera around his neck. "There we go, much better."

The beam on his face makes me chortle in amusement. "Are you sure it's not because you have butter fingers?" I muse.

"Butter fingers?" he repeats, with a frown. "Maybe..." He inspects his hands for a bit, before holding them up, for me to see. "They don't look buttery to you, do they?"

With a straight face, I pretend to think about it. "A little bit," I nonchalantly reply. But the laugh that I'm trying to hold in ends up popping out anyway. "Of course not, I'm just kidding!"

The frown on his face instantly dissolves, and returns to a grin. "I know," he cheerfully says. "I was just playing along, as well."

My lips hitch upwards, entertained by his playfulness. "That's a really nice camera, by the way," I point out. "Is it new?"

He nods his head at me. "Yeah, she's a beauty, huh?" he happily says. "And since I received this around...hmm, last week or so, I guess she's somewhat new?"

"Wow," I say, filled with awe. "You're lucky, because I've always wanted to try out these types of cameras..."

He blinks at me a little. "Well, it's pretty simple," he says. "I can show you the basics right now, if you want?"

My eyes light up with stars, as I clap my hands together. "Really?!" I excitedly say. "Okay then!"

Shuffling a little closer, I listen to the curly haired boy's explanation, as he begins to tell me about the buttons that you usually use, on this high-tech camera. He shows me the on and off click, the list of settings available, and how to rotate the open-flip screen—he even goes as far as to let me hold the expensive thing in my own hands, and also encourages me to take a shot of something. The photo comes out looking really smoothed, and I'm even more impressed.

Wanting to show me how clear it makes a person's skin look, he decides to use me as an example, and so I let him, by showing him a smile, and he's right—my face looks as soft as a baby's , it's kind of amazing?!

I look over to the brunette, and am about to tell him how marvelled I am about this, but he seems to be distracted by something, as he's still looking at the photo of me that he's just taken. He tilts his head a little, kind of like what you do, when you find out something fairly surprising. Or even interesting, and because I'm curious as to what's made his eyebrows lift a little, I go to poke him about it, but he just shakes his head at me, with a dismissive laugh.

It makes me frown, but I'm now forced to put that aside, as I have to be on my way, and serve a couple, who have just entered the place. Curly haired boy sees this, and so he says his bye to me, and then is on his way out. Once he's gone, I swiftly attend the customers, and then go on, to prepare them their order. And as I mix up the hot chocolates, and cut out a slice of cheesecake, to set it down next to some strawberries, I find myself in a better mood.

I'm not sure exactly why, but it feels as though it's the curly head boy, and his contagious happy aura, because whatever it is, it actually makes the rest of my working hours, effortlessly breeze by.

———————————————

Opening the door, I kind of regret it, when I end up closing it behind me, with a rather noisy bang.

My eyes widen a little, and I instantly slip off my shoes, to tiptoe around the place, hoping that a certain Mr. Model isn't here, for me to drown into another tidal wave of awkwardness. The lounge room is quiet, and there's no sight of him in the kitchen, so I huff out a relieved breath. If he's not here anywhere, then he must either be upstairs in either the bathroom, or his room. I'm going to bet on his room, because that one feels the most likely.

Nodding to myself, I now creep up the stairs, and then go into my room, to set down my handbag. There's no sound coming from the bathroom, so this definitely confirms my thought of him in his room, and I'm glad. I'm glad, because this means that I'll be able to have my shower, and then possibly be able to jump back down the stairs, without having to see him. And because that's what ends up happening, I get to relax a little.

Now seated on the couch, with a cup of noodles, I laugh at the variety show, that I'm watching from the giant plasma screen. I'm not sure why, but these two men, are trying to see who can do the most ‘damage’, by pulling at each other's sideburns. Maybe it's because I switched the television on, right in the middle of the program, but nothing seems to be really making any sense. Kind of like the situation in my life right now.

When I finish the rest of my food, I get up, head over to the bin, to dispose of the trash, just as a certain male enters the kitchen. He opens up the fridge, to grab out the jug of water, and I suddenly feel a little bad—guilty, maybe, because I feel like I haven't really kept up my end of the agreement.

"Hey..." I quietly start of. "I'm sorry about, um...making only enough food for me to eat."

Kris doesn't (thankfully) appear to be too upset about this, though. "It's fine," he indifferently says. "I already ate, anyways."

"Oh," is all I can say, to a response like that.

Well, at least this makes me feel a little bit better...?

Putting the jug back into the fridge, Kris now takes the glass into his hand. "Well, I'll be in my room if you need me," he informs, just before walking off.

I don't say anything, except soundlessly watch, as his figure disappears up the stairs, and when I don't hear his footsteps anymore, I let out a glum sigh.

———————————————

My eyes narrow at the screen on my phone, as I concentrate on carefully moving my running character, out of the obstacles. Left, right, left, right—my fingers are now rapidly tapping the screen, as the holes in the floor are becoming more frequent. I'm a little too late with that small log though, so it makes my character slow down in speed, and when I see how those mutated shadow-like 'monkeys' from behind, are now catching up to me, I can feel the panic start to settle in.

An unexpected tree suddenly appears in the middle of nowhere, and when I see the words 'game over' appear, I let out a frustrated yell.

"Argh, I can't believe I was so close!" I groan, to myself. "If it wasn't for that dumb tree, then I would have got the high score..."

Grumbling some more to myself, I immediately stop, when I look up, to see Kris, watching me with that look, that tells me how he's questioning whether or not, I really am an alien.

And the only thing that I can do, to getting caught with something as embarrassing as this, is to shamefully laugh it off.

"Hi," I sheepishly say, while holding out my phone. "Do you want to try?"

Kris blinks at me, looking somewhat hesitant, but when he finally decides to make his way over to me, it makes me smile to myself a little.

"What is it?" he asks, while taking a seat.

"Temple run!" I chirp. "It's an annoyingly fun game, where you're this guy, who is...well, running through a temple-ish place, to get away from these creepy monkeys."

Giving him my phone to hold, I now begin to show him how to manoeuvre our explorer dude around, just before pressing the start button, for him to start playing. Kris instantly dies within five seconds of the game, and it makes me laugh. He's taken aback by the abrupt death, and goes to tell me how he wasn't expecting things to start off so quickly, so I tell him to play again. He's better with this round, as he's more alert, but the sudden tree branch, makes his eyebrows crinkle.

The two of us go on to play the game a little more, with us either quietly gluing our eyes onto the character smoothly running, or groaning complaints of disapproval, when surprise suddenly appears, to kill off our character. This is probably the most active that I've seen Kris, and it's both weird yet entertaining. Like how his eyes slightly shine, with the corner of his lips, ever so slightly, curved upwards—I think this is the first time that I've seen a different expression on his face, and...

It makes me wonder, what he would look like, if he smiled all the way.

And the more I think about this, the more curious I become, in wanting to see that happen.

"Here," speaks Kris, from out of the blue.

I snap out of my daze, and look over, to see him holding out my phone for me, to take.

"It's getting late now," he points out. "And...uh, I'm sorry about using so much of your battery life."

My eyes glance down at the low percentage bar on the screen. "It's cool," I assure, with a shrug. "I can just charge it for a bit, before I go to sleep."

He nods his head at me, and with that, now begins to ascend the stairs, to prepare himself for rest.

I sit here for a bit, letting the silence envelope me, to find myself smiling a little. It's strange, I think, to see how what has just taken place, has actually happened, because...he just seems so distant, so I'm never really sure how I should approach him, without him looking at me, as though I'm from a different planet of some sort. Maybe he's just a naturally quiet person, and doesn't usually talk so much, but I'm happy. I'm happy, because he at least now appears to be trying just a tad bit more, to get along with me.

Or something.

So I'm thinking that...maybe if I just nudge him a little more, every now and then, then maybe he'll eventually become a teeny bit more comfortable.

And then from there on, maybe, just maybe, we can even be friends?