Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

125. Adulthood

I emerged from my bath feeling extremely warm and relaxed. It felt as if the bath had washed away the soreness from my body, allowing great comfort to permeate throughout my body and flowing through my veins. In addition, soaking in the bath had allowed my body to rest temporarily, bringing back even more vigor to my system.

After drying myself with my own towel and getting dressed in the clothes that I had laid out earlier, I exited through the washroom door and into the hallway. I first made a short detour to my own bedroom, picking up my phone from my desk and tossing the clothes that I had changed out of into my hamper. I stood there staring at the dirty clothes in my hamper with both hands on my waist, thinking whether or not I should do my laundry tonight. However, I'm a bit too tired at the moment so I decided that I'll leave it for tomorrow.

After closing the lid on my hamper, I exited my room and made my way back to the living room. The large screen television was turned on and was playing a prerecorded and edited variety show where celebrities had to complete missions around the city. It was a show that was extremely popular in Vilheim due to the fact that its hosts were all the hottest celebrities that were all extremely talented in comedy. It was extremely fun watching them form alliances in their games then almost immediately betraying and sabotaging their former allies.

I then looked over in the direction of the kitchen, past the kitchen counter and at Loriana who was standing by the stove. As I approached the kitchen, I could smell the mouth-watering aroma of a hearty beef stew. Knowing what dinner will be made me quite happy to be honest and extremely grateful to Loriana.

I stood near her and merely observed her. While waiting for the beef stew to finish, she was on her phone and watching a video. The video being played on her phone was funny clips from various television shows and I guess they were extremely entertaining for there were a faint smile on her face as she watched.

She didn't seem to notice me approaching otherwise she wouldn't be as surprised when I brought my arms around her waist from behind and hugged her. I then took a deep breath, taking in the smell of her and feeling extremely relaxed.

This is it, I thought. This is the smell and feel of tranquility...

"Alevian..." she said with a slight smile on her face as she looked at me. "You're so clingy lately."

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" I asked, desperately wanting to feel the calmness of sleeping in her arms.

"Fine," she sighed while maintaining a smile on her face.

I continued to hold onto her and have no intent of letting go. It's just so relaxing knowing that she's right here and the warmth of her body just confirms the most important thing to me: I am not alone.

After a while, dinner was ready. Although there wasn't anything to overly complicated, it was extremely satisfying and delicious to eat. Besides, food will always be food. It's the fact that there's someone here eating with me as well that's the most calming.

Lately these days, I've realized that I'm actually quite afraid to be alone. Like I don't understand exactly, but... being alone just frightens me now. I'm actually surprised by how much I enjoyed just sitting there and listening in on the others's conversations. Maybe it's because when I'm not alone, my mind is occupied, and I no longer need to worry about the future. Whatever the case might be, I'm actually quite glad that I am this way now since whenever I'm with someone, I would feel a sense of joy. However, it's not everybody that can have the same calming effect as Loriana.

After dinner, the two of us retreated to her room. What we were doing was watching television. Although the television outside might be bigger at 100 inches, the one in her room makes it so that we can watch while laying on her bed. Besides, the television in her room wasn't that small as well being at a moderate size of 60 inches.