Monachopsis. HIATUS

9. The Rose Bouquet...

I stand up feeling numb in my arms and legs. I stretch my arms out and scrunch up my face. I look down and see Theion still asleep on the sofa, drooling may I add, I walk back into my room without looking at the time. I find all the things I need and go to the bathroom and turn the shower on. After getting undressed and under the water I can feel myself waking up. I wash my hair and body before turning the water off and stepping onto the warm floor.

"Aja, do you want to go out for breakfast?" Theion yells while banging twice to get my attention.

"Sure, just wait 10 more minutes." I hear him walk away. After 2 minutes I was ready and out the bathroom door. "So where are we going to go?" I ask. Theion only shrugs his shoulders and opens the door into the hallway.

"Anything special that you want? I haven't been here that often so I don't really know that many good places," he says pushing the lift button. "Why don't we just go to one of the places I have been to? I think you would like it too?" He says going into the lift and taking us to the ground floor. I stay quiet the whole time because I still feel a fair amount of tiredness in my body and don't have the energy to answer anything right now. "...so what do you think about that?" He says looking me in the eyes. "You weren't listening, were you?"

"Not really no," I say.

"Do you want to see the city? We probably don't have to hurry right now and can just enjoy everything here for a day or two. We can take a ship and see the outer city," he says while I listen.

"Sure, but we can't take all the time in the world to do so. We have to keep moving," I say to him walking out the big front doors of the hotel. Theion takes my hand and leads me down the road to a small cafe where we sit down to eat some food. I get myself waffles with whipped cream and some lonngberries. The food looked really good and tasted delicious. I can feel a slight vibration in my left leg I look down and see that my phone is light up and I can see that Phoenix is calling me. "I'm going to take this outside," I say standing up and walking out.

"Aja, how are you?" Phoenix says.

"I am well, you?" I ask him with almost no worry in my voice.

"Good, so where are you and Theion? Like since you aren't at home or at his place? Did you really think we wouldn't find out that you went somewhere?" I only sigh back to him. I squeak a sorry out knowing that that is not all that is to come. "How was your stay at George's? And where are you now?" He says raising his voice at me.

"We left, Phoenix, we left. I need to find my family -"

"Your family is right here, worried sick about you and you try to explain that you are just finding your family. Huh, how do you think that makes me feel?"

"Bad," I whisper to the phone feeling the tears well up in my eyes. "Phoenix, I need to know them. I need to know me. Can you please just tell mom, dad, Nysa and Ledanova know that I love them. Can you just tell them that for me... please?" I say hanging up on him with a tear rolling down my cheek.

After a few breathes I walk back inside and take a seat. "So, how are they?" Theion asks looking up at me with his eyes scanning my face.

"Worried, but they have to get it. The little ones probably don't get it," I say loosening the tie in my hair. I lay my head on the table and pick up the fork and start to eat again. "They know that you are with me and probably will tell your parents." I hear him sigh and look out the window.

"It might be better like that anyways. There is no turning back now," he says taking the last piece of his food and shovelling it into his mouth.

"Look at that shop, down there, the brown one," I say pointing at the old looking shop on the left side of the street. "Want to go and see what is inside? Because I want to," I say taking his hand and start to cross the road. When we reach the big dark wooden doors I take the handle and open the door only to be greeted with a bell ring. There are shelves loaded with stuff. Mostly books or such but in-between I can see the most random things you can find around the galaxy. On one shelf there is a crystal that is collecting dust, while on the shelf next to it there is a stuffed animal sitting on top of a container that holds some liquid. "This looks awesome." I walk up to the desk buried on the inside of the place.

"Hi, do you need any help?" A sweet voice asks me, the person asking buried in an old book. When the person looks up I can see that they look quite harmis to me. "I'm Rose by the way," the brown-headed person says looking me straight in the eyes. "Wow, you have weird eyes, they are so weird, how are you?"

"Uhh, I'm good, you?" I stammer out still in shock of the blunt personality in front of me.

"I'm good. Is there anything specific you are looking for because my wife knows her way around the store way more than I do but she went to buy some stuff." The person stands up and starts to put her stuff away while holding a cup of some sort of drink. After putting the paper away she manages to spill the drink down on the floor. "Shit," she curses and leaps into the back room probably to find some sort of paper to clean up the spill.

"Do you need help?" I ask her after she comes back with a whole lot of paper towels in her hands. After bending down to help her clean we decide that it would be best if she shows me some stuff in the store since that is why we were there.

"Oh, I didn't catch your name, what is it?"

"Aja," I say looking around for the sight of Theion. After looking at some items my eye catches a glimpse of some small object lying on a shelf above me. "What's that?" I ask her, stopping on the spot.

"That?" she asks pointing at the small object. "It's just some old thing we brought with us many years ago," she says shrugging her shoulders. "Do you want it?" she reaches for it but isn't tall enough to get it.

"I don't think we can reach it," I say turning around. "Theion!" I yell out. After only a few seconds I hear a yeah from the front of the store. "Could you come and help?" I yell back to him. Hearing the floorboard creak from the heavy footsteps.

"What do you need help with?" He asks looking at me and then at the women next to me.

"Can you get that thing? We can't reach it," I ask in my sweetest voice knowing that he would do it anyways.

"Sure." He reaches for it and his fingertips touch it but at the same time he snaps back and hits the shelf and the small object falls down to the ground with a breaking sound. "Fuck, why did it zap me?"

"Don't know, I can't really reach it so I wouldn't know," Rose the owner says.

"Now I want to buy it." Theion reaches into his pockets but before he can pull out his wallet Rose shakes her head.

"No need, it's useless anyway. I now have an excuse to throw it away," she says shaking her head couple of times. The bell at the front of the store rings again, telling us that someone just entered.

"Honey, I'm back." As soon as the voice can be heard Roses' eyes light up. A short, petite looking woman walks in holding bags of what looks like groceries. Rose turns, says a quick hello to the woman and then turns back towards us. The woman will have none of that. She puts down her bags, walks all the way over to Rose and says 'kisses', Rose rolls her eyes and gives the woman a quick peck on the lips. The woman smiles and turns to us. "Hello, sorry for not introducing myself sooner, I'm Rosie. You?" she says gesturing at me and Theion. I can see why they are together.

"I'm Theion, that's Aja. We are travelling and really liked the look of your shop. It's beautiful by the way." Theion rambles on about the design of the place while I start to pick up the small object. "We are also buying that thing, but what is it?" he asks looking at the smiling blonde women.

"Ahh, it's just a box with probably some stuff inside it. It's nothing I think." Rosie says looking at it. "It has been here for so long that I have completely forgotten what it is. Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I've got to go put the groceries away." She turns around and goes towards the desk and walks into the back room.

"Well do you want tea?" Rose asks us clapping her hands a few times.

"Sure, we can stay for a bit."

-C-