When the morning comes

15 | vivid memories

When the weekend had arrived, I awoke on Saturday morning by the ringing of the doorbell. With disheveled hair and a sleep face, I stepped down the stairs, fixing my pajama shorts and blouse before I opened the door ajar. I peeked around the corner, frowned when I saw Salomé standing in front of me.

"Good morning." She rummaged through her bag, fished something out of it. "I'm so sorry for waking you and perhaps your family, but.." Her outstretched hand almost touched my chest. Her hand held some papers. "Proof of registration for the trip. Gloria, I mean.."

Wiping my hand over my face, I took the papers from her hands, flipping through them.

"Sorry." She shook her head, chuckled lightly. "Bit of a chaotic morning. Gloria's father gave me the papers when he picked her up from the dinner party, and since the trip is on Monday.. I couldn't have given you this at a better time. She cannot join if she doesn't have her parents' approval, of course. Teddy had given me your address."

"Right, right." I cleared my throat. Sleep had thickened my voice. "Thanks. It is important."

Salomé nodded, glanced behind me, cleared her throat and took a step back. "Talk about time with people from that side of the world." She laughed a little. "Their time schedules are a bit different compared to those in England."

"They are, aren't they." Wiping my face again, I felt a bit more awake, suddenly aware of Salomé's actual presence here. I smiled at her and for some reasons, felt the need to just have a chat, Aurora's absence killing me on the insides today. However, I didn't feel like inviting her in, just yet. "Uhm, are you free? For the morning."

Salomé narrowed her light eyes, glanced behind me again before she answered. "Yeah.. what for?"

"Do you feel like a walk?" I suggested, brushing my fingers over the waistband of my pajama shorts. "Just to.." I added quickly, not wanting to give her the wrong impressions. "Discuss Gloria's behaviour and some preparations for the trip."

"Oh, do you mean about the play therapy?" She stuffed one of her hands into the pocket of the long skirt she was wearing. It fit her well. She looked classy, feminine. To be fair, she was beautiful. The morning sun made strands of her hair look literal golden, instead of the brown colour it naturally had. My gaze roamed over her face, noticing a tiny freckle on the tip of her small nose.

I nodded, couldn't answer. It'd been a while since I had allowed myself to look at a woman who wasn't Aurora. In fact, I hadn't paid attention to them the moment I had met Aurora. It made me feel strange. My fingers touched my ring, as if they were begging for my thoughts not to go further.

"Yeah, if.."

"She knows about it." I said, somewhat annoyed. Immediately, I felt guilty, so I covered it up with a smile. "Do you want coffee? You can sit here on the porch, watch the.. sun. I'll get changed quickly."

"Right." Salomé nodded, took a seat on the rocking chair that stood on the porch, facing the exact place where the sun rose. Once the coffee was done, I handed it to her, ignoring the way our fingers brushed together. I changed quickly, washed my face, brushed my teeth and skipped breakfast.

I locked the door behind me, waved the empty cup of coffee off when Salomé wanted to hand it to me with a questionable look. "Leave it here. It won't walk away."

"Well, you never know." She laughed a little, pulled the strap of her handbag back onto her shoulder as it had slipped off. "You are full of surprises. An English teacher with dance moves." She simply smiled.

"You're going to haunt me with that forever, aren't you?"

"Cannot promise I won't." She laughed. "Were you home alone?"