The Sun and The Moon 4.

Chapter 4.

Lauren began to busy herself in the kitchen, and not long after, the doorbell rang. Aiyla was standing downstairs, waiting for her to open up the door. She put down the kitchen knife, went to the entrance, and clicked on the button for the automatic door for Aiyla. She felt her heart accelerate and was excited to see Aiyla again.

Lauren didn’t know if she should stand at the entrance to wait or go back to the kitchen and busy herself with the ingredients, but soon she chose to go back to the kitchen and pretend to deal with the chicken filet.

After a while, the phone rang. Lauren looked at the phone and remembered that she didn’t tell Aiyla which apartment she lived in, so she quickly got to the entrance door and peeked her head out to see the situation. Once she did, she saw Aiyla standing not so far away and beckoned her to come over. When Aiyla saw her, her smile bloomed on her face. It was a gorgeous sight to see, and Lauren’s heart fluttered.

“Come in. Make yourself feel at home,” Lauren said while taking her apron from the hanger and putting it on, forgetting to hug Aiyla. She felt embarrassed and shy and was doing everything in haste. The feeling of having a crush made her feel clumsy, but she hid it and showed a calm expression on the surface.

Aiyla hung the jacket on the hanger and started to scrutinize the environment. She could perceive that Lauren was a person who loved the cleanliness, the apartment was neat, and there was a smell of roses. She felt very at ease in the surrounding, and there was a harmonious calm around her. As she stepped forward and went to the living room, she saw the painting on the wall. It was a colorful psychedelic painting with mixed symbols, and it seemed like the painter was careful and patient when painting it.

Lauren saw that she was admiring the painting and came behind to tell her that she was the one who painted it and was proud.

“That’s amazing. You are artistic and creative.” Aiyla complimented.

“That’s me being idle, but I am proud of that painting since it was the first time I spent so much time on it without giving up,” Lauren said modestly. But unfortunately, Lauren had a hard time following up with her many ideas, or else she would have been very successful early on. So it was not like she wasted her time being idle, but she couldn’t finish many of her projects because of her impatience.

“Anyway, I think you are amazing. I couldn’t do what you did.” Aiyla said and smiled at her.

“Haha, thank you,” Lauren laughed and touched her head embarrassingly.

“Wait for me to cook. Do you want a glass of red wine?”

“Yes, please,” Aiyla responded and found a seat to sit down.

Lauren opened a new bottle of red wine and served it directly to Aiyla, poured herself one glass, and took a big mouthful of the red wine. She felt the red wine calm her nerves and went back to the kitchen and cook. She made an easy pasta dish that didn’t take much time and hoped Aiyla would like it. While in the kitchen, the atmosphere cooled down, and neither spoke. It wasn’t unpleasant silence, but rather as if they had done it many times before, even though it was the first time for them both to be in the same room without the bustling of people.

After half an hour, the food was ready, and Lauren almost forgot to put on the music. She went to pick up the remote control and put on a song at random. The stereo was on low, and a pleasant piece of music came out, setting the atmosphere in a cozy mood. She walked to the table with the casserole and set up the table. Aiyla saw her coming over with the plates, and she came over and asked if she needed help. Lauren refused and said there wasn’t much to help so that she could sit down at ease.

The lightning was dim, and Lauren lit up to candles. She was naturally romantic and didn’t intend to make it on purpose, but she didn’t mind being considerate of making it cozy on second thought.

“Candlelight dinner?” Aiyla joked and sat there with her pear vortex smiling sweetly at how Lauren was so cutely making a romantic dinner for two with candlelights.

“Hahaha, as long as you like it,” Lauren laughed and touched her head. She usually does it when nervous, handling her head and combing her hair with her fingers. Lauren felt awkward without reason and wondered about being captivated by a beautiful girl like Aiyla made her head broken. How was it possible to be so nervous, which she usually isn’t with others. And then she laughed at herself, being silly in love.

“What are you laughing at?” Aiyla asked her and took a sip of the red wine.

“Nothing, I am just happy you are here,” Lauren denied it and covered it up with a half-lie, but she was pleased to spend time with Aiyla.

“Come on, eat,” Lauren said and gestured for Aiyla to begin first. Aiyla did what she said and started to bring the pasta to her plate. The food wafted out a pleasant smell, and her stomach growled, making her embarrassed. She hadn’t eaten since 6 hours ago, and now it was nearly midnight. It was not like her to come to someone place she had just met so late at night, but somehow she felt very casual with Lauren and, at the same time, very familiar. Although what happened to her earlier at work with the girl she met again made her want to move on, naturally, she shouldn’t use Lauren to be a rebound but felt she would like to know her better by this revelation of her previous date. Although she thought Lauren had an idea for her, she still wanted to go slowly.

Lauren was unaware of what Aiyla thought, and if she knew, she would be happy to know. They were eating and chatting, suddenly, the music played a song, and Lauren felt like a mass of energy hit her chest. She sat on her chair and felt time go in a slow motion,

“Cold bones, yeah, that’s my love. She hides away like a ghost. Does she know that we bleed the same? Don’t wanna cry, but I break that way.”

The vibration of the song made her almost unable to breathe. A longing surged in her heart almost suffocated her. Lauren was in a daze for a long time. She could see Aiyla speaking, but she could not hear. Lauren connected her feeling of the yearning for the deep love towards Aiyla and felt no logic could outrun her deep-seated feelings. She breathed slowly and took it easy while listening to the lyrics and its music. The song’s melancholy and sadness pulled her through time and reached towards the end of autumn as if the leaves falling to the ground were a last goodbye to the vibrant warm summer. She couldn’t comprehend how she would feel that way when nothing had yet started between her and Aiyla, and they were getting to know each other.

The mysterious feelings were like a thick fog surrounded her and clouded her perception, and with an inkling of intuition, she had already fallen deep for Aiyla. The discovery made her perplexed, and such an experience made her scared. It happened so soon, and the person she longs for sitting in front of her without knowing her thoughts. How bizarre, she couldn’t figure it out.

“Lauren?” Aiyla’s soft question called her back to her senses.

“Sorry, I was flying, hahaha,” Lauren made a joke and covered up her blunder. However, she couldn’t let Aiyla know, afraid that this intense feeling would chase Aiyla away.

“Lauren takes it easy,” she said to herself and tried to calm down.

Lauren looked out the window and saw that the moon was full and felt it was too late for Aiyla to return home.
“Would you like to stay overnight?” Lauren blurted out and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. She said she would take it easy, but some force pulled the string, making her want to keep Aiyla.

At this moment, Aiyla also looked out the window, and she turned to her phone, looked at it, and fell in contemplation a moment. The red wine made her a bit fuzzy and light-headed, so she nodded her head and said:

“If it’s okay with you, I will be welcome.”

“It’s okay with me. Just treat this as your own home. You can sleep in my bed, and I will take the sofa,” Lauren suggested.

“We could share a bed, and I won’t mind,” Aiyla responded and gave a sweet smile.

Lauren’s heart missed a beat, and she felt stunned for a moment. Then, without waiting for Aiyla to have a chance to regret it, she nodded her head quickly and said she didn’t mind.

They drank up the bottle of red wine, and Lauren started to feel a bit dizzy, and the alcohol warmed her limbs. She thought she was walking on clouds and didn’t want to step on the ground, but she tried to act normal to keep calm. However, two clouds of pink dyed her cheeks, and she felt hot all over when she asked if Aiyla would like to take a shower.

“Yes, I would like that,” Aiyla said, and immediately, Lauren found a towel for her to borrow.

Lauren felt uneasy, and the hot blood flowed from top to bottom of her toes, and to make matters worse, she was listening attentively to the water running inside the bathroom. She thought of sharing a bed and suddenly felt shy, but she inhaled and tried to calm herself down, went to her closet, and picked out some t-shirts and short pants for Aiyla and herself. Unfortunately, Lauren forgot to ask Aiyla if she wanted to borrow her pajamas, but now it was too late. But as if Aiyla understood her, she opened the bathroom door with a towel wrapped around her body. Lauren immediately walked toward her and stretched out her hands with the clothes she had just picked out, and said;

“You can borrow my t-shirt and short pants. We seem similar in size.”

Aiyla smiled and thanked her while taking the clothes and closing the bathroom door. Lauren stood still for a moment and then walked back to her bedroom. She sorted out the cover for the quilt and changed it to new ones. The bed was a queen-size bed, and it could accommodate two people. She thought she would share a bed with Aiyla, and she became nervous again, and her heartbeat beat like a drum. She thought to calm down her dizzy head, walked out to the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of water, chugging it all down without leaving a single drop.

“Calm down,” she muttered and heaved a long sigh.

After a while, the bathroom door opened, and the figure of Aiyla came out with a mist behind her. Her face was charming, with the pink dyed on her cheeks. Lauren saw her coming out and diverted her eyes, not daring to look straight into her eyes, and hastily went to the bathroom. She felt silly by escaping, but her behavior was shy and nervous, out of her control. Aiyla was smiling when she went to the bathroom, unaware of Lauren’s inner activity.

In less than 15 minutes, Lauren was ready for bed, and she had the time to calm down her nerves. She found Aiyla sitting on the sofa and reading a book she had on the table. She walked to her side, sat down, and smiled when she saw Aiyla holding her book. Aiyla looked up at her and smiled at her.

“Is it interesting?” Lauren asked and looked at the page she was on. It was the first chapter.

“Yes, it was. The writer did arouse my curiosity. The paragraph here was well written,” Aiyla responded, and her eyes stayed on the sentence; Love is like the seasons, with different state, but never does it ends.

Lauren became proud and didn’t know if she should reveal the author.

“You can borrow it if you want, and let me know your thought on the book later?” Lauren asked her and was eager for her to read it.

Aiyla looked at her smile and looked back at the book, turned another page, and was reluctant to put it down. But, then, her eyes swept over another sentence; She became restless, unable to describe her feelings, but had a knowing that nothing can compare to the love of heaven. At this moment, Aiyla felt it expressed her yearning for undying love. In an instant, she was shocked to discover this truth. How could it be? Her interlaced future with Lauren will give her many discoveries which she didn’t know yet.