Lauren Hart
“What exactly happened to you? Since the minute you stepped in the house last night you have been roaming like a dead body. What exactly happened on your business trip?”
With messy hair, droopy eyes, dry lips, hung shoulders, I walked past Christy to the kitchen without replying.
She was right. I looked like the walking dead. Lifeless inside out.
I sat at our foldable small four-seater multipurpose table and grabbed the mug of coffee she had prepared for me. I took a sip of hot liquid thinking it would wake my senses but nothing happened.
Sometimes when you are hollow from inside even a high amount of caffeine can’t lift your mood.
Ugh! I hate being down!
“Lauren.” Christy snapped her fingers in my face making me flinch a little. Glaring, she sat across me. “You are not being you. You are always chipper no matter what but now you seem sad. Did something happen there?”
Something? A lot happened there!
I didn’t come back in one piece. I left a part of my heart and soul there.
How could I let it happen?
Again, it’s not in someone’s hands, is it? Like how will you know that you are losing your heart to someone?
Why! Why did he kiss me? Why was he being gentle and polite to me? Why did he ask for my help? Why did he introduce me to Ryan and grandma?
It’s all his fault!
“You are zoning out again, Lauren.”
I sighed heavily and pushed the coffee mug aside. “Nothing happened. I just …didn’t want to come back.”
I told her the truth. It was strange and stupid of me to say that but I didn’t want to come back. I had a great time there.
“Oh, this is the issue. And here I thought something bad happened.” Christy chuckled. “It happens. No one wants to come back to normal life from vacationland. Your business trip was a short vacation for you.”
Only if she knew.
“You’ll be back to your normal self soon.” She added.
Hope so.
“Come on, let’s have breakfast. And cheer up.” She added.
She had her breakfast with me then left for an outing with her colleagues and I stayed back as it was Sunday.
I lazily stood up from the chair and went out in the front tiny garden to get some fresh air, to escape the tsunami of weird thoughts that had washed out the sensible ones.
But it turned out that coming out was a mistake as my eyes landed on the red roses blooming in the corner of the garden.
Roses; a symbol of love.
Honestly, I envied people giving each other red roses. It felt like they mock me for not experiencing love. It hurt a lot; seeing people marrying the love of their life.
And I envied Eloise and Ariana for experiencing love. Their husbands shower them with all the love they have.
I had never shown it to anyone but I get hurt easily. Inside this happy, carefree, and bold woman hides a lonely, struggling, and frightened woman who is scared of being alone; scared of not finding the one for herself.
People looked at me as a woman that wants extraordinary things but I was just a plain romantic girl who just wanted to be loved, who wanted to be important to someone.
My idea of love and relationships has always been simple. Candlelight dinner, cooking with my partner, sweet kisses, holding hands, romantic beach walks at night under those twinkling stars…and endless talks about life. That’s it.
Would I be able to experience these with Sean? Could Sean be the one for me? Would I ever be more than an attraction to Sean?
I think not.
He could be a good person by heart but he wasn’t made for me. It was a mere attraction that would fade soon and after that, he would never look at me the same way.
But the main question arises. How would I stop myself from falling for him? Because as far as I knew I had already started falling for him.
My downfall started the moment he kissed my forehead.
“Oh god, what do I do now?” I panicked all of sudden.
Why, why, why? Why did I fall for him when I knew I would be left heartbroken.
“Lauren, you’ll never learn from your mistakes. He’s not the one for you!” I scolded myself.
My inner self tried to raise the voice but I shut it before it could change my mind and I accept the flaws without hesitation.
For a second I thought of leaving the job but again, why would I leave a high-paying job?
Then what could I do?
Distance…yeah, I just needed to distance myself from him. That’s it.
I’ll win this time. Regardless of my physical desires that arose when he’s near me, I won’t let him come near me. I’d fight my feelings for him no matter what.
“I see that you are back.”
I mentally groaned when I heard the most annoying voice of my landlord.
Now, how do I fight her?
“Good morning, Mrs. Harris.” I greeted her without taking my eyes off of the rose flowers I had been watching.
“Had a time of your life with your boyfriend?”
Her mockery forced me to look at her…emotionlessly. For one, she hit the soft spot, and secondly, she again stuffed her nose in my matters.
“What, no comeback? That’s new.” She looked surprised.
Not her fault; I wasn’t in the mood to argue.
When I still didn’t reply she came near me and touched my forehead with the back of her hand. “You don’t seem to have a fever.” She muttered and I stepped back, frowning.
“Yeah, I don’t,” I stated.
“Then what happened to you? Because by now you would have showered me with your useless, sarcastic comments.”
I rolled my eyes. “I am just tired, nothing else, Mrs. Harris.”
“Mmm-hmm, whatever it is; it’s a relief that for the first time you’re being quiet.”
Yeah, let my time come then I’ll show you. I mentally scoffed.
I passed her a tight-lipped smile and turned to head back inside but she stopped me by questioning again.
“The guy that dropped you here last night…is he the one…your boyfriend?”
Ugh! He is not the one! Stop giving me hope!
Wait, did she witness the moment we shared? No, Damn!
I faced her and raised my eyebrows. “What guy?”
Please say that you didn’t see him kissing me.
“You can’t trick me. I saw a guy driving off his luxury car then I heard the shutting of the door. I knew you were back because it’s only you who can dare to bring a man to the house.” Her voice was stern this time.
Thank god, she didn’t see him kissing me.
Still, I gritted my teeth but remained calm. “Mrs. Harris, firstly he didn’t come inside the house, and secondly and most importantly, HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND.”
I saw her lips curling into a smirk. “I just asked. And now I know what’s going on.”
“Huh?” I frowned in confusion. What does she know?
She waves her hand. “Oh, forget what I said. Have you informed your mother that you are back?”
“Why should I inform her? You must have done it by now.” I quirked an eyebrow as I crossed my hands across my chest.
She chuckled. “Not yet, but I will now.”
I scowled. “Great. Make sure to add that I brought a man inside the house who stayed overnight and you caught us together in the bed. It’d be a great help.”
I stomped my feet and headed back inside but I heard her comment before I could shut the door.
“Welcome back, Lauren.”
I shut the door and leaned against the door. A small smile began to form on my lips.
Welcome back indeed. I felt light after talking to her. She did wonders to my mood.
Thank you, Mrs. Annoying Harris, for bringing me back to my normal self; my crazy, chirpy self.
Now I’d be able to think straight.
Sean Peterson
Empty
Quiet
That’s what my house had become…again.
For a week it felt home and now again it became a brick house with no spirit. I had gone used to the early chirping of Ryan and Lauren; their enthusiastic aura; smiling and giggling faces. Without them, I felt lonely once again.
Guess Lauren was right. My life was indeed gloomy.
I had never thought that I’d get used to someone’s presence in my life. From being a person loving privacy to being a person sharing my personal space, I lived the best week of my life.
Though I initially thought a week with three people in my house would be annoying and a hassle -and it had been annoying several times.
But the energy, the spirit I had been surrounded with masked the elements of my dull life.
I had never imagined that the day would come when I’d ever long to see some special faces in my house.
I sat to have breakfast but it didn’t taste the same. Though well prepared by the cook, it tasted bland. Maybe because I had got used to having casual talks at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The laughter, chattering, meaningless arguments, floor splattered with toys had become normal to me. I had accepted all those wholeheartedly.
This one week connected me with my grandma whom I had ignored for a long time. Ryan, who brought joy in my life; gave me a new purpose to live for.
And finally, Lauren Hart, the most annoying and troublesome and crazy woman, who unexpectedly drove me towards her. Aroused me; flipped my feelings; and left me craving for her.
It’s crazy to even think about how I had never noticed her in four years as I did in just six days. I thought she would do her work and leave-no feelings attached; completely professional. But no, she left erasing the professionalism between us. Well, yeah, it was me who initiated it, but she didn’t step back either.
And she was privileged to see the flirty side of me that I had concealed deep inside me a long ago. The intimate moments we shared weren’t just a time pass-I felt it- there was a strong connection pushing me to her. Her kisses left me craving more for her lips. The way she responded was beyond explanation. And the forehead kiss… I had no idea why I gave her that, it happened on its own. I just wanted to thank her for helping me because she did great.
Whatever the reason may be, I didn’t regret anything I did to her.
I even had a stupid, stubborn smile playing on my lips as I knew I would be meeting her at work. And I was looking forward to it.
How would she react? Would she avoid me? Would she give me the silent treatment? Or would she be at her normal self-her talkative and crazy self?
I, personally, wanted her to be at her normal self because it was her natural antics that attracted me to her. However, I was damn sure she would try her best to avoid me, but I would not let her do that.
Let’s see where our attraction will lead us to.