A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 12: Closer (Caliana)

As days passed by, and Caleb and I became closer than we ever had been before. To be a prank, I really think that the event that had happened days ago made us feel so comfortable with one another. What happened on that day served as a lesson for both of us, and I personally think that Caleb also thought about that way; that he learned something on that day.

Honestly, I thought that what he had promised that day, that one when he said that he would do everything that he could so that I would not get suffocated with him by my side, was just a baseless promise, just like what my Father and the other people in the palace had always done to me, but then again, I was wrong with that.

He really did keep that promise. He really let me do whatever I wanted to do. He let me try everything that I wanted to try. Even more so, he let me have a taste of the freedom that I never thought I would ever have, but then, he came along and let me feel that I was free and no one would stop me from feeling that way.

Caleb was always there with me, actually. He would always check on me, to ask me if I was comfortable, or to ask me if I needed something, or if something was wrong, and I was so grateful for that, even though I always answered him with almost the same one over and over again. That I was alright and he should just worry about himself, but he would just drop it off as he would shake his head and would always tell me one thing.

“I needed to check on you so that I can could rest assured that you are just alright.” He would always tell me that statement over and over again, but I just learned to let him go and do whatever he wanted to do. After all, that was also what he has been doing to me, letting me do what I liked to do.

I learned that I should just let him ask me those questions, and I also learned to answer the same thing, though as time passed by when we were together, that question would lead to another topic, then to another, until we both did not notice that both of us were talking for such a long time and we were just to engrossed with the topic.

I never complained though. Really, because I liked it too. The way he would talk to me with that soft voice of his. The way he would laugh whenever I said such s*lly things at him. And the way he would listen to me intently as if I was talking about the most interesting thing in the world, when, in fact, I was just talking about what I had done on that day. I never questioned him, and it was just alright for me to talk to him, even though I had already forgotten what I had been doing when I was alone inside the house.

Of course, he would also let me go out of his house, but he had one condition about it; that I should make sure that I would be able to return to his home, safely, and that I would be able to remember the way to this building. He even gave me the password, like what he had said to me, so that I could come in and go out of his house without much hassle for me and for him.

I followed what he said, that I should not walk too far away from his house, because I knew that if I strayed far from this place, I would just get lost and I certainly did not know the right way to go. After all, it was as if this city, the City of Verlice, as they called it, was so large that I almost think that it was a huge maze, though when I said that to Caleb, he just laughed and patted my head as he called me ‘silly.’

As of the moment, I was inside of the house and I was trying to find something, anything that I would be able to do, but sadly, everything that I could see did not sit right to my taste. It was as if I did not want to do anything, but I also did not want to laze around.

I knew that it may sound so weird, but really, I was just really getting bored and I did not know what to do. Even though I was trying to find a thing or an activity to do, I still did not know where I should start. Whenever I tried to do something, I would just shrug it off as I continued to laze around my bed as I was hugging that penguin plushy, as Caleb called it, and as I tried to find a way to cure my boredom.

Though I guess that I did not have to think hard anymore as I heard the entrance of this house had opened, and it only meant one thing: That Caleb was already here, though I must admit that made me confused because I knew that it was too early for him to go home.

Usually, he would go home when it was already dark, and he would just call someone so that we could have dinner without even bothering to find something to cook. And usually, whenever that was the case, he would always apologize to me for making me wait, though I always assured him that it was just alright for me. After all, I could certainly not blame him just because he was too busy with his work, right?

Above all, when I was still at the palace, I learned that I should learn to patiently wait for something so that I would be able to get it. And I learned, the hard way, that I could not possibly throw a tantrum just because I could not get someone’s attention, and I certainly did not want to make Caleb’s head hurt because of my constant nagging.

“Caliana?” I heard Caleb call my name and that made me stand up, even though all I wanted to do was to lay on my bed all day. “Are you here?” he asked, maybe because he was not accustomed to not walking around the house; which I have been doing all this time whenever he would leave me on my own accord.

I forced myself to sit up, still hugging that penguin plushy, but I did not bother to stand up anymore and greet him because I thought that he would be able to find me inside of my room. I even let out a yawn and stretched my body because it seemed like I was lying on my bed for far too long.

And I was right when I thought that he would be able to find me. After all, I heard his footsteps that had become louder than earlier, and after just a few seconds, I already heard a soft knock on my door, which I became so startled - even though I already anticipated that he would really knock on my door.

“It is open,” I told him in a bored tone when I heard him call my name. “You can go inside if you want to,” I even added as I started to lay down on my bed once again, because really, I was still too lazy and too bored to do anything, even if it was just as simple as sitting up.

I heard the door open, so gently, and I did not bother to look in the direction of the said door any longer, because I knew that it was just Caleb. Instead, I just continued to laze around the bed without even bothering to greet him; and this scene almost made me want to laugh at myself, and shout out of joy at the same time.

After all, if I were still in the palace, I would not be able to do such things, lazing around the place at that time of the day, talking to someone without any honorifics, and just telling them to go inside of my room. If I was still in that prison-like palace, I would bet my whole life that my Father would find his way into my room just to tell me that I was a princess, and I should act like one. I was sure that he would do everything that he could just so I would get punished for acting like this way, but it was all just in my head right now.

Because, just like what I had said earlier, it was just Caleb, and I knew that he would just laugh at my own antics and he would just leave me as it is. He would not act like a tyrant who wanted to control my every move and instead, I knew that he would even urge me to do whatever I wanted to do; just like what he had been doing all the time.

Just like what I had said earlier, I really heard him laugh a little, and I could imagine that he was slightly shaking his head as he was doing so. Though I certainly did not think of what he would do next. I did not think that I would feel that my bed would dip as if someone else had sat on the edge of it, and that made my eyes widen.

I even sat up so fast that even Caleb’s eyes became wide because of shock. I looked at him the same way too, but not because of the same reason as him, because I was just so shocked that I never thought that he would really sit on my bed, but then, that shock subsided when I saw him let out a short laugh while looking at me.

He even reached out for my head, and patted it while he was still laughing. I, on the other hand, was still staring at him as if he had lost his head. I was trying to figure out why he had done that, though I guess that it was not really a big deal for him and I was just over reacting, and that made me almost want to slap my face to wake myself up, though I just resorted to mentally punching myself to tell myself that I should calm down a little.

“Are you just lazing around your bed all day?” he asked me while he gave me a huge grin as if what I did was very adorable.

Instead of answering his question, I just looked down on the penguin plushy that I was still hugging and played with its arms as I pouted. I heard him laugh once again because of what I did, which made me look up at him once again as I gave him a glare.

He raised both of his hands as if he had surrendered himself, but I could still hear the small laughs that he had. It made me sulk even more, but then again, he just let out a loud but short laugh and patted my head once again; it really seemed like he had enjoyed doing that and it had become his mannerisms.

“Alright. Alright, I will not ask about it anymore,” he said, but I doubted that he would be able to do that because I could still see that smile on his face, as if saying that he would bring up this topic once again, some other time when we were trying to tease each other.

Though I never think of that ‘some other time’ any longer. I had just decided to let that topic go, so I decided to change it to a new one. That was when I thought of something that made me raise one of my eyebrows at him, and he, on the other hand, just frowned at me as if he was asking why I had that kind of look on my face.

“It is too early for you to come home,” I pointed out, as I looked at him, accusingly. His frown was suddenly gone when he heard me say that, and it was replaced by a grin once again, though I still had that same expression on my face, raising one of my eyebrows as if I was judging him, even if that was not really what I wanted to do. “Do not tell me that you did not go to work today?” That made my eyes widen and looked at him, accusingly, once again. I even gasped as I added, “I never thought of you as that kind of man.”

His eyes widened in shock too when he heard that from me. “Hey!” he shouted, almost fuming, but I knew that he was just trying to get into one of my antics. “I would never do something like that, you know?”

I raised one of my eyebrows once again as I acted as if I was not buying that, as I asked him, “Is that the truth?” as if he was not really telling the truth.

I almost laughed when I saw and heard that he let out a defeated sigh, and that made me almost want to hug him, but then again, I stopped myself from doing so. Instead, I just gave him a huge beaming smile that made him scratch the back of his hair as he playfully glared at me.

“There was a slow day at work, you know?” he explained as he stopped scratching his head. “There was nothing much to do, so I decided that I should just go home and let my employees finish their tasks for the day. I just told them that they should just call if something bad happens in the office,” he added, which made me nod my head, understanding what he had just said to me.

“I see,” I even said as I kept on nodding my head.

I thought that he would not say anything anymore, but then again, it was Caleb we were talking about and I was sure that he had something to talk about. After all, these past few days that we were together, we were like old friends who have got to talk about what they missed in their life, though I must say that all our topics were about the things that we could come up with and nothing else.

“Anyways,” he said, which made me hum as I turned my attention on him once again. I frowned when I saw that he was holding a paper bag in his other hand, and I almost asked myself if I noticed that he was holding that, but then, I could not remember anything. “I bought this for you.” One of my eyebrows raised once again when I heard that.

I frowned when I saw that he took out a rectangular box on that paper bag. “What is that?” I asked as I pointed to that ‘thing’ as if it had done something wrong with me, and I saw how Caleb smiled a little because of the curiosity that I had on my face.

“It is a phone,” he said as he opened that box and showed me something that I had seen countless times at him. “You have seen this with me, right?” he even asked me, and I was really grateful that he was not laughing at my ignorance.

To be a prank, whenever I did not know how and what something he was showing me was, he would always patiently explain how that would work and its benefits. He did not even ask me why I did not know so many things, and I was really thankful for that because I really did not know what to say.

I slowly nodded my head at him, which made him smile once again. “I thought that it would be easy for you, and for me, to contact someone, or even me, whenever you needed something,” he said as he opened the phone and handed it to me. I started to check it out, but I did not dare to touch anything because I was cautious that I might do something wrong again. “You can also use it whenever you are bored, or whenever you want to talk to me and I am away from the house as I work.”

“I can do that with this?” I asked him, a childlike excitement was evident in my eyes as I looked at him while waving that phone.

He slowly nodded his head at me as he answered, “Yes, you can,” and that made me look at that phone again with the same excited expression on my face. And even though I could not see the reflection of myself, I knew that my eyes were sparkling out of joy because of the thing I was holding.

“Can you teach me how to use it?” I asked him as I looked at him once again, and to my joy, even though it was not really that shocking, he nodded his head at me with a beaming smile on his face.

“Of course, I will teach you how to use the phone,” he said, then he moved closer to me so that he could start teaching me the basics.

With that, for the rest of the day, my boredom and laziness was suddenly cured as Caleb was teaching me how to use that phone.