"Ryan! Ryan! Come here this instant. You sleepyhead!" The voice echoes in the house, sharp and loud enough to make a resting bird on the kitchen window fly away in panic.
In his room, Ryan groans, his eyes opening as he squints once. "Ugh… Mom? So early…" Then his eyes open fully, and finally, reality washes over him.
He sits up slowly, rubbing his face with his hands. Slowly, a smile appears on his face as he turns his back and stares at the ceiling. "Not the mom…"
A dream… A beautiful one. She could have let me sleep longer today. I could have relived some more memories…
But then the sound comes again from the kitchen, even louder. He jumps off the bed quickly, jerks his arm twice to soothe the soreness, and then walks out of his room. "She will eat me alive if I delay more…"
…
In the kitchen, Sylvia has her back to the doorway, her hands moving over the coffee machine and the pan quickly. Though, her movements are impatient, hurried, and utterly annoyed. She doesn't turn around when he appears near the doorway, even when she senses him there.
Ryan stares at her back for some time, his fingers adjusting her hair for a second before he finally steps inside. "Hey, working hard—!?"
"You bastard of a sleepyhead!" She seems to have been waiting for him to come, as her hands leave the counter instantly and she lunges toward him. "You made me prepare breakfast again. Again!"
"W…Wait, I am sorry. Stop!"
But she doesn't stop. At first, he is looking at her face, but the next moment, her leg is coming toward him. His eyes go wide as she launches the kick at him.
"One kick. I will not let you go without this today." She grumbles under her breath, her foot lunging toward his head in a horizontal arc…
…But he ducks. His head tilts down in panic, narrowly escaping the hit. But he hides the panic quickly and quickly steps out of her way to escape from her range. He straightens up, coughs lightly, and starts walking toward the counter with a faint smirk on his face as he passes by her. "Heh… Try better next time."
Sylvia whirls around quickly, fuming, though when he takes over the work on the counter, she huffs once before finally letting him go. "Next time, I won't hold back if you dump your chore on me."
He just shakes his head slowly and keeps stirring the pan.
Ha… She's right. She did slow her kick just inches away, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the time to escape. Another reason… to not mess with her.
His hands move to the coffee machine next as he starts pouring the coffee into the two cups, though his attention stays partly on her as she paces behind him.
Well, she isn't acting differently after yesterday's kiss, though… Although, I am still feeling the panic from that kiss. Can it even be called a kiss when it felt like I was getting attacked or something…? I hope so.
***
The sipping of the coffee and the tap-tap of her fingers hitting the mobile screen are the only sounds in the kitchen later.
Ryan looks at her over the rim of his cup, thinking of something as he watches her typing with just one of her hands. And finally, he asks, "Going somewhere today…?"
Sylvia doesn't look up from the screen, her composure back after the initial outburst of the morning. She takes another sip from her coffee before replying. "Yep. Date."
"Oh…" Ryan nods. He also takes a sip and stands up casually a moment later to clear the empty cups. Then, he turns toward the sink.
Another one with Marian… huh? I feel like spying on them one day to see what they even do during their date… but damn, if they find me spying on them… Forget it. Both of them are dangerous.
They will probably hang me the next day.
***
Soon, Sylvia is ready for her day. White top. Black jeans. Hair open with some strands over her shoulders. She looks prepared, from head to toe.
"Don't look at me like that. It's Sunday, I am free today." She says this after watching him stare at her. She adjusts the handbag in her hand once and turns around.
He follows her to the door while still looking over her silently. The contrast is overwhelming for him. He stands here in a lousy pair of trousers and a blank T-shirt, while she looks like a goddess walking in modern attire.
Hm… it's just a matter of clothes. She has good choices in them, I guess.
When she steps out through the doorway, he stops and finally says while scratching his cheek, "It's fine with me. But call me if you get late."
It will be better if she doesn't call me. I would've an excuse to spy on her then.
Sylvia glances back over her shoulder and lets out a quiet hum before walking ahead. "Sure. Don't make a mess in the house if I get late, though." After that, she turns at the corner and vanishes moments later.
"…"
"I am not a child to make a mess…" He murmurs while closing the door and turns back inside. Though, he knows that she isn't wrong about it. He might really make a mess if she got late; he had done the same during her first date with Marian, after all.
The house falls into a relative silence.
Without her presence in the house, he doesn't have to make noises anymore, even though noises are something he has come to like over the last couple of months. The noises made with her feel different. Less violent, more lively. More playful, less hurting.
Starting his own day, he moves through different tasks. Stuffing both of their clothes into the washing machine, setting the cycle, and then leaving to clean the house quickly. When the cleaning is done, he leaves the clothes to dry and moves toward the bathroom to finish his last task: bathing.
Phew… After this, I can be lazy for the whole day.
The bath doesn't take long to finish. He comes out, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair still damp. In his bedroom, he quickly changes into his trousers and shirt. Then, finally, he looks toward the direction of the living room and smiles. "Ha… Finally, movie time."
A few steps ahead. And then he stops. His head turns down slowly, and his hand finds his chest, over his heart. The ache, dull and uncomfortable. He turns around automatically and starts moving toward the staircase.
His steps grow faster as he climbs higher, the stairs vanishing underneath him. Finally, he stops in front of a room, his hand close to the handle before he finally opens it and steps inside.
Dust settles in the corner of the room. The bed has no mattress, and the room doesn't look like it has been used for a long time. He keeps walking and finally finds the edge of the bed to sit down.
After a moment, he scrolls through the contracts on his phone, his eyes searching for a name before finally stopping at the one name.
He dials it immediately and shifts back to lie properly on the bed, his phone beside his head on speaker. It rings once, then twice, and the voice comes from the other side, familiar and soft.
"Ryan? You made a call by yourself today? Is my boy finally growing up now?"
Ryan's hand moves up, covering his face to hide a tear. For a moment, he doesn't speak as if holding back something, then finally he finds his voice, though it comes out quiet and… childish.
"Of course, I am a grown-up now, Mother!"