A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 7: Distance (Caliana)

After Caleb and I went to the mall, I could feel that he distanced himself from me. I could feel that something had changed with how he treated me, though I could also tell that he was trying his best to keep it to himself. He was acting like nothing was wrong, but I could tell that he was really trying to be away from as far as he could, and it somehow made my heart ache, even though I was already accustomed to the people who always distance themselves to me.

I was accustomed to those kinds of things, but the moment that I knew that he was trying to avoid me, it somehow made me feel a slight pain in my heart. It seemed like I did not like the idea of how he was trying to distance himself from me. It seemed like I did not like him to do that, even if I did not know why I had to urge him to think of that.

I did not know where it started, with him distancing himself from me as if I had a serious illness that would infect him if he would not avoid me. Or should I say, I did not want to admit it, but I knew that deep inside of my heart, the reason why he was doing something like that to me was because of what happened days ago when I asked him what had happened to finding a place for me to stay.

He said that he was still in the process of doing that. He even reasoned out that he was having a hard time finding a place because of too many circumstances that he encountered along the way. He said that he would inform me once he was finished with everything that had been stopping him, but I doubt that was the case.

I think that there was something more than that. Something that made him want to distance himself from me. Some reason that made him lie to me was that he had faced some circumstances along the way. A reason that I could not really figure out, even if I wanted to find out what it was.

I let out a sigh as I prepared myself for the day. I went on the walk in closet in this room that Caleb told me to stay at, days ago when we first met. All of the clothes that he bought for me were neatly put in that closet, and he even hired someone to help me organize all those dresses and clothes, because he almost bought everything that caught his eyes, even if I insisted that it was just alright for me to organize all of it on my own; and I guess that I was thankful that I did not insisted on what I wanted to do, for the first time in years, because whenever I was looking for a clothes to wear for a day, I almost got overwhelmed with too many choices, not as many as my clothes in the palace though.

Right as of that moment, while I was trying to look for some clothes to wear, I resented choosing a turtleneck red long sleeved shirt and denim high-waist pants – what they called those clothes – then I did not bother to choose any shoes anymore because I did not plan to go out of this house for the day.

I let out a sigh before I finally went and did all my morning routines, then I went out of my room to go to the kitchen to have breakfast. Of course, I first checked if I was already good for going, because somehow, I wanted to look pretty decent in front of Caleb, even though I did not know why I had an urge to do just that.

I happily went and skipped on the way through the kitchen, but my happiness was cut off when I saw that the place was empty, which was odd because Caleb has always been the first one to go up and prepare for our breakfast. Though right as of that moment, there was no sign that he was there, not even an uncleaned utensil or whatever that could hint that he had been there that morning.

I frowned because of how odd it was, and I could not help but to think that it was because he got to the point that he never wanted to see me anymore. I could not help but to think that he got to this point that he would avoid me completely, as if I was just nothing to him.

I sighed as I shook my head to remove those thoughts inside of my head. I kept on convincing myself that it was too absurd to be true, and that Caleb was not like that kind of guy who would just completely ignore a woman just because of something she could not figure out. I knew that he would not be acting that way. He was not like those men who would act like a b*stard who would not explain anything to someone who misunderstood everything.

It was all based on my observations, really. The first time that I met him, even though he was hesitant and did not know what to do at first, he still insisted and accepted that he would help me with anything that I asked for. Then, when I had already lived in his house for almost a month now, I knew that he was kind of aloof over something, and usually, those things were my antics, but then, even though that was the case, he still did not do anything that could offend me.

He was very careful with everything that he would say and do to me, as if he was afraid that would hurt me in a way. He wanted to make sure that I was comfortable enough around him, and that I did not need to hide anything from him. And even if he was trying to hide that fact from me, he could not deny that it was indeed what he had been doing all this time.

It was almost as if he was selfless, because I could tell that he wanted to make sure that I was comfortable first before he took care of himself. Though I might sound so assuming as I said that, after all this time that I was with him, I could really tell that was the case. He tended to make sure that everything was just alright for me before he did something for himself.

I sighed as I shook my head once again, before I turned to check his room to see if he was there, or maybe, he had already gone out of the house to work or something like that; which somehow did not sit right for me. I did not like the idea that he went out without even telling me that he would do so. Unlike before, when he would always find me in the house first before he went out.

I went up the stairs again as I walked in the different direction to my room; his room was in a different direction than mine, as per to what he said to me the first time that he showed me the way to the whole house. He said that if ever I needed something from him, I should not hesitate to ask him that, and if he was ever inside of his room, then I should just knock and call his name.

And I really did just that, not that I needed any part though, because I did not need anything as of that moment. I just wanted to check if he was still inside of the house or not. I just wanted to make sure that he was still there, and did not skip his breakfast just like I had suspected.

I took a deep breath first before I finally knocked on his door twice. I frowned when I could not hear anything from the other side of the door, so I did it again, louder this time, but still, he did not answer me, nor could I hear anything that would indicate that he was inside.

“Caleb?” I called his name, unsure if I should really do this because it seemed like he was not inside anymore, but even so, I still did it. “Hey! Are you inside?” I even asked him, but still, the other side of the door was silent. So silent that I almost started to panic and that made me think of so many things.

And because of the sudden emotions that I felt, I did not think twice about trying and opening the door, and I got shocked when I saw that it opened. He did not even bother to lock it. Does that mean that he was not inside anymore?

Anyhow, even though I had that kind of thing inside of my mind, I still insisted that I should just go inside and check if he indeed left without even saying any single word. I tried to calm down at first, before I turned the knob of the door.

“Pardon my intrusion,” I mumbled at no one in particular as I opened the door, and that was the moment that I saw him inside of his room, to my relief.

I let out a sigh of relief as I moved near him, but I stopped when I finally saw his face. My expression softened, and a small smile started to creep out of my lips as I looked at him with so much fondness in my eyes.

He looked so tired, so stressed. It was as if fatigue got into him, resulting in him staying in his bed at this kind of hour, even though usually, he would start to prepare to go out and work for the day. It was as if all of the tiredness that he felt these past few days got the better of him, and this was the only time that he had taken a rest, and I could not help but to think that i might be one of the reasons why he was so stressed lately.

After all, he always takes care of me. He always made sure that he would check on me first before himself. I also knew that whatever his work was, it just added up to his stress, given that he always came home late.

I let out a sigh as I started to walk, silently, out of his room, and closed the door, as silently as I could, so that he could take a rest that he needed the most. I even made sure that I would not make any noise that would wake him up, somehow.

I suddenly felt guilty because I knew that I was one of the reasons why he was so stressed these days. I knew that those days that I had been staying at his home made him double the stress that he felt.

Maybe I should just do something so that I could thank him enough? After all, I knew that he had been doing his best to take care of me, a mere stranger that came into his life, even if he did not have to do anything like that. It was not his obligation to look out for me, but still, he did it in a heartbeat.

Maybe I should just prepare him a breakfast for the day? Even though it was just as simple as that, I wanted him to know that I was really grateful for everything that he did for me. I was really thankful that he was the person who saw me on that day, because I did not know what would happen to me if someone else saved me on that day.

Do not get me wrong, alright? It was just that I think that if someone else saved me on that day, I really think that he or she would not be as nice as Caleb. They would not really help me up until this point and I might find my end as all my hopes would be crushed. Unlike Caleb who willingly helped me, and he was even kind enough to let me stay at his house for the meantime.

I smiled because of that thought. I knew that I could not thank him enough, and this small token of gratitude that I would do was never enough, but still, I wanted to do something for him. I wanted to give him something to show him how thankful I was to him. I wanted to show him, even if it was as simple as this, that I was really grateful that I met him that day, that he saved me that day.

I went into the kitchen as I looked around and checked if I would be able to cook something for him. I already knew that it would be hard because I was not used to the things around me, and on the top of that, I did not know how these things worked because I had never seen them before. There were no such things in our palace, and in our world, and I guess that would be the most difficult thing that I would encounter.

I have tried to cook something before, really. After all, I was so curious about the things around me and I knew that I would not just pass by the kitchen without trying anything. Of course, the moment that I was able to cook something, my Father immediately found out and said that it was not really for a princess to do a chore like that. He had f*******n me to do anything in the kitchen after that, and I never had a chance to try and cook again.

That made me falter for a bit. Trying it once was enough, right? It would not be hard to cook something for him, right? I would be able to do it without so much hassle, right?

I bit my lip as the determination that I had earlier was immediately gone because of what I just thought. All the confidence that I had was gone and I did not know if I could really do it, or should I just give up?

I let out a sigh as I crossed my arms under my chest, before I looked up at the ceiling to think. I had to do it though. After all, I really wanted to thank him even if it was just as simple as that. I wanted to show him how grateful I was because he was the one who saved me that day.

“Never mind those things,” I mumbled to myself, the determination that I had earlier returned as I clenched my fist. “I needed to do this, and I thought that he would not be able to make breakfast for the two of us, because he really looked so tired right now.” My smile dropped when I remembered the Caleb that I saw on his room earlier.

That was why I needed to do that. Not just because I wanted to thank him, but because I also wanted him to take a rest. I wanted to do something so that I could repay him, somehow, even though he was not asking me to do anything.

With that in my mind, I finally started to cook something that I found in the kitchen. I first went and got the ingredients that I needed, and it was not really that difficult because I found them on that box-like thing that was emitting some cold air; I did not know what to call it. Then, I grabbed the kitchen wear that I needed, which I found on the same spot and I did not have a hard time finding it.

Finally, I faced this stove that I had never seen before. I even looked at it as if it had done something wrong to me, though that was not the case because I was just like that, because I did not know how I would use it, because again, I have never seen this in our world.

I let out a sigh as I went near it and tried to figure out how I would be able to use it, and I almost shouted when I finally succeeded in doing so; though I stopped myself because I knew that it might wake Caleb up.

I hummed as I started to cook something, and I almost thought that I would succeed in really cooking an edible food, but I should have known better. Because after a few minutes of stirring and checking the pot, my eyes widened when I saw that it was not the same color as what I had in my mind. The color of that food was almost like it was burned, and I did not know where I had gone wrong.

I panicked and I did not know what to do. Too many thoughts started to flood my mind that I almost could not breathe. All I could do was to shed a tear in my eyes because I had difficulty getting some air.

And it worsened when I heard a shout from behind me, and as I looked in that direction, I saw Caleb, who had a look that I had never seen before on his face. He had a furious look, and I thought that this would be the end of his nice treatment of me.

I thought that he would really get so angry at me, and I did not want that to happen.