A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 5: Beautiful (Caleb)

“Good morning!” I heard a familiar voice who had greeted me, cheerfully, so early in the morning, as if she already had too much energy even though the sun was still not so high up in the sky.

I looked behind me as I stopped stirring the soup for a while as I looked at Caliana who was casually sitting on one of the stools that was inside of my kitchen. She was wearing an old shirt of mine and it was partnered with a pair of old jogging pants that I found in my closet days ago, when she first stayed on my home.

At first, I was hesitant about giving her my old clothes, but then, I did not have any choice because I did not have anything to offer to her other than my own shirts and pants. Luckily, even though it was really too loose on her. Even now, the shirt that she wore almost passed as a dress for her, though she never complained about it.

Actually, she never complained about anything the moment that she took a step inside of my house and stayed. She never mentioned anything about the food, the drinks, and even the room, which was intended to be a spare room for my visitors, and I considered her as one.

She was just too contented with everything that I gave her, just like now. Right now, while she was on the usual stool that she had sat on these past few days, she was just focused on looking at the things around her as if she had never done such things every time that she would go to this place.

Then, suddenly, oh so sudden that I did have time to avert my gaze at her, she looked in my direction with a smile on her face, which I found too bright for this time of the day; though again, I never complained about it.

“Aren’t you going somewhere right now?” she asked me, still wearing that grin of hers that made my heart somehow skip a beat. “I mean, you have been leaving this house at this time of the day. but right now, it seems like you did not plan on going somewhere.” I smiled at her because of what she said.

I slightly shook my head as I answered her question, “No, I do not have any work today because it is the weekend,” and that made her gasp a small ‘o’ as if she realized that I do not work for all the day of the week. “A person needed some rest, you know?” I even added, joke intended, because really, I have never done something like this before.

I barely left my office, whether it was just the weekend or holidays, because I always thought that it would be just a waste of time if I would just laze around my house, doing absolutely nothing. But right now, and because of her, I wanted to take a small break and have some time together with her, even though I did not know why I wanted to do that.

It seems like these past few days that she was in this house, it somehow made me feel so relaxed like never been before. I could even show her my smiles without a fear of anything, and I could possibly tell her everything that had happened on my day, even though I did not know if she wanted to hear that, but she was listening to every word that I said, nonetheless.

It felt like I was so comfortable with her. So comfortable to the point that I could show her my true emotions, and I could talk to her about almost everything that I could come up with. So comfortable that I almost feared that this could lead to something more; though I always try to convince myself that I should just stop thinking about it because I might get her so uncomfortable, and I never intended to do that.

I wanted her to be as free as she could. I wanted her to be able to enjoy herself in this house. I wanted to see how her eyes would shine whenever she saw something that caught her attention. I wanted to see that she was comfortable with her life here, without any fear that someone would stop her from doing something that she liked.

And I guess that I was doing a really great job because I could see that she was enjoying herself in this house, though I could tell that she wanted to see more than the furniture inside of my house. And so, I decided that I should do something so that she would be able to come out of my house and explore new things.

“Really? You really do not have anything to do today?” she asked me as soon as I turned my attention on the soup that I was cooking, and I just hummed at her to answer her question. “Then does that mean that you will stay inside of this house?” She had this excited tone on her voice as she said that, and that made my smile widen even more.

I looked at her again as I finally closed the stove, as I checked that the soup was already cooked. I leaned on the counter behind me as I crossed my arms in front of my chest, a small smile was still evident on my face. She looked at me curiously, maybe because she already sensed that I had planned something more than staying inside of my home.

“Actually...” I hesitated a bit, but as soon as I saw the genuine curiousness on her face, I just took a deep breath before I finally told her what I wanted to do. “I actually wanted to go out today. To relax that is.”

I knew that my answer was too vague for her, and I could see that the curiousness that she had on her face earlier was instantly replaced by a frown and a slight disappointment on her face. She even tried to hide it from me, but it was too late because I could tell that she was suddenly down because of what I had just said to her.

“Oh. I see...” she even said as she looked down on the counter in front of her, maybe to hide the expression she had on her face as of that moment, though I could already tell that she was sad because of me.

I let out a sigh again as I finally went to her side, and suddenly, out of something I could not really figure out what it was, I patted her head that made her look at me again. I gave her a smile, and even though I could not see my own eyes, I knew that I was looking at her with too much fondness.

“And I wanted to invite you so that you could come out of this house too,” I explained to her, still wearing the smile on my face, and that statement made her face light up with so much excitement and joy.

“Really?” she asked me, and she could not even hide the enthusiasm that she felt. She even stood up from her seat as she held both of my hands with her eyes so bright that it almost made me squint. “Will I really be able to accompany you wherever you are going?” she even asked that, as if she could not believe that something like this was happening.

I looked straight into her eyes, and I did not get weirded out by her actions unlike before, as I gave her a smile, a broad smile to be exact, and nodded my head at her to confirm that what I was saying was only the truth.

“Yes, you can,” I confirmed as I finally removed my hands from her hold, and that was the time that she finally realized that she had been holding my hands for too long, as she apologized for what she just did, though I just waved it off and did not bother to point it out. Instead, I just started to talk to her about the matter again. “I figured out that you needed some clothes to wear, and not just those old clothes of mine.” I looked at her from head to toe, and she did the same too.

“But these clothes are just alright for me,” she said, confused, and that made me smile even more. “I mean, it is really comfortable for me to wear, and I did not even have any hard time with wearing them...”

Before she could even finish her sentence, I cut her off because I already knew where this conversation would be going. She would just refuse what I wanted to do, and I did not like the idea of that. After all, I really wanted to buy some clothes for her, even though I liked the thought of her wearing something that was originally mine; though I never told her that because I knew that she would just suspect me about something that I really did not want to discuss right now.

“Yes, I know that,” I told her as I slightly nodded my head, then I gave her a smile as soon as our eyes met. “But then, I wanted you to dress up with the clothes that you really wanted to wear. I wanted to buy you some clothes that you can call your own.”

“My own...” she whispered to herself as she looked at me, then suddenly, her smile brightened and made me grin at her too. “I liked that idea,” she said to me, which made me look at her with so much fondness in my gaze.

I was staring at her with that soft stare, and I had to remind myself that I still had to take our breakfast in the dining area so that I would be able to tear my gaze at her. I had to remind myself that I should be careful with what I had been doing so that she would not get uncomfortable towards me.

And so, to be able to do just that, I forced myself to look away from her and focus my attention on transferring the food that I cooked earlier to the bowl that I had already put out beforehand. I even had to clear my throat so that I would be able to remove the thoughts that i had inside of my mind, because I knew that if I could not do it, I might really stop myself from doing something that would make Caliana so uncomfortable.

“We needed to eat some breakfast first so that we will not have to face so much hassle later,” I told her as I put one of the bowls in front of her, and she just nodded her head at me as she understood what I just said to her, and mumbled a small thanks before she started to dig in.

“This is so good,” she complimented the food that I cooked and a smile started to form onto my face as she kept on eating the food, without even bothering to look up at me, but it was just alright for me.

Everything was alright because it was her. It was just alright as long as I could see that she was enjoying every little thing that I was doing for her. It was alright for me, as long as I could see that bright look on her face, and not that hesitant one, as if she was afraid that I might do something if I did not like what she was doing, though I doubted that something like that would happen.

After all, even though she was doing something so simple or something so s*lly, it was just alright for me. Every single thing that she has been doing all this time was just alright for me. I never complain, and I never say anything so negative towards her. It was just fine for me, and I guess that she was enjoying that freedom that she had as of that moment when she was with me.

I never thought that I would care for somebody like this way, really. At first, I was hesitant about this decision and I even acted so cold and like an assh*le in front of her. I even said rude things towards her, because I was not accustomed to someone being so touchy towards me; I was not accustomed to someone being able to go near me without even a hint of hesitation, and I was not accustomed to the feeling that I was too comfortable with someone, and it was a plus that she was a mere stranger to me.

Though I guess that she was not just a stranger to me anymore. After all, these past few days, that she was always around me, whenever I would go to the office or whenever I would come back to my home, she was always there with me. I have seen almost all the weirdness that she had. I have seen almost all her antics, but I was not weirded out by it any longer.

I even thought that those weird antics of hers were too adorable, and I almost wanted to hug her and mess her hair because of it, but I was stopping myself from doing so. I was just fine with staring at her and smiling at those small things that she had been doing all this time.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” I heard Caliana ask me, which made me snap out of my thoughts as I focused my attention on her again. She had one of her eyebrows raised at me as she stopped eating while she asked me that question.

I slightly shook my head to wake myself up, before I answered her, “I am going to eat.” She frowned at me, then gave me a suspicious look as if she was not buying it that made me raise both of my hands as if I surrendered. “I had already took a bite earlier. I am alright with that,” I tried to explain, but she still had that frown on her face.

“But you said that we needed to get our stomachs full so that it will not be a hassle for the both of us,” she argued, which made me put down my hands that were up in the air, earlier, and smiled at her, sheepishly. She then pouted and that made my heart beat fast like never been before because of how adorable she was acting. “You are not just trying to act so cool in front of me, are you?”

“I am not!” I told her as I raised both of my hands up in the air again. “Why would you think of that way?” I asked her, even though the truth was almost as close as what she said to me just a minute ago.

It was true that it was because of her. That was why I forgot to get the portion of food for my breakfast, but it was not because I wanted to look so cool in front of her. It is just that I wanted to stare at her for the whole hour, though I could not possibly say that to her because, again, I did not want her to think of something else because of that.

That same suspicious look was still evident on her face, and I just let out a sigh of defeat before I turned to the other bowl of soup that I had prepared as I went and got it, before I finally moved so that I would be able to sit on her side.

“I will eat now,” I said to her as I started to eat the food in my bowl. I even saw how Caliana shook her head, with a smile on her face, when she saw that I really followed what she just said to me.

Our not so eventful breakfast had come to an end when I finally finished eating, and I washed the utensils that we used. Caliana insisted that she should be the one who would clean up, but I did not let her say that she should just prepare herself before we went out later.

To my relief, she did not bother to argue with me anymore, maybe because she was too excited for later. I was left all alone in the kitchen, and as soon as I finished cleaning up the mess, I decided that I should already prepare myself too, but as soon as I went up the stairs, I stopped because of how Caliana looked.

I looked up at her from head to toe, and I could not stop myself and said, “Caliana, you are so beautiful.”