--
Yael stared at Solanne briefly before his eyes drifted to the papers. Although he was an actor, he knew how tedious such jobs were as he often saw the dark circles on the crew he usually worked with. Despite that, they were still able to pull through with different ideas, and watching them work amazed him sometimes.
The people behind the scenes. People who don't get recognition. His eyes shifted to Solanne, whose focus was on her laptop.
He sat straight and sipped his coffee. The warm summer wind blew from the opened window behind them. "What dinner should we be having?" He changed the topic, thinking that there might be things Solanne wasn't comfortable sharing, just like him.
Solanne leaned. "I don't know. It's still one in the afternoon. The coffee and sandwich you make still make me feel so full. Thank you, by the way. Let's think of it later."
Yael nodded. He agrees. "The chicken is defrosting, by the way." He casually added.
Solanne chuckled, "Then I guess we're having chicken later. Grilling it would be nice. Should we have a barbeque?" Solanne met Yael's gaze, eyes asking with excitement.
Yael looked at her in astonishment and grinned. "I thought you were full at the moment, so you can't think of any ideas for eating later?" He teased. Which Solanne laughed at.
"Well, the picture of a barbeque chicken just appeared in my head, so…" She casually shrugged.
Yael sighed as he grabbed a few pillows on the bed; they smelled like flowers. "Do you mind me here?" Yael asked, trying to crawl on the bed. Solanne glared at him, feeling envious. "Are you purposely making me feel envious?"
Yael laughed. "No. I just feel that my head still aches, and I need to rest, so,"
"Why not in your room?"
"I wonder why, too. I feel lazy."
Solanne rolled her eyes as he casually just settled on her bed. "Fine. Don't disturb me, though."
"I won't, ma'am," Yael playfully added as his body sank onto the bed. He also doesn't know why he had the urge to sleep on this bed, yet looking at Solanne's back as she typed and deleted words, casually creating sentences, made his afternoon perfect and at ease.
Soon enough, his eyes felt heavy, and finally, a few minutes later, he drifted to sleep.
--
Solanne spent the afternoon arranging worlds, places, characters, and sentences. She was focused on what she was doing; her thoughts drifted to the different world she had been in and made her remember her suspicion of Vincent.
Tracing the events, he told her he had inherited everything from his parents. Perhaps she was overthinking things and that his parents or previous grandparents were behind all of these. Additionally to that, she had no concrete evidence that it was him. He was interested in the subject; perhaps these were stories from his parents.
Regardless of her suspicions, she was thankful for giving him ideas. The trip here wasn't in vain after all.
Just as she was in the middle of her work, she glanced at the clock. It was already 2:30. She saw Yael hugging her pillow, his eyes closed, and enjoying his afternoon sleep. She stared at his face. All handsome with his long lashes and pink lips.
Many people would kill to have her position right now, and she feared that if his fan girls knew about this, she'd suffer so many blows, and she didn't want that. Hence, she plans on keeping this trip a secret. Besides, who would believe such an absurd and coincidental story initially?
She never expected that he would open himself like this when they first met. He was all angsty, to begin with. Still, he was a lovely friend to consider. Incredibly handsome at that. She chuckled, thinking that if she had been the same age as him, stuck in the same situation, she would have probably fallen from him already.
Yet, he was younger than her. His age was the same as her brother, so… Heaving her breath, wanting to take a break, Solanne stood up and headed downstairs to marinate the chicken. She saw the two cats playing outside, and her heartfelt relaxed and full, feeling the soft breeze from the trees.
With her mood better, she started to prepare the marinade and soak the chicken, then she put the chicken back in the fridge, hoping to absorb all the flavors later for them to barbecue it.
She then made some sweet iced tea before going up again. As she opened her door, Yael was still sleeping; his back was facing her this time.
She put the ice down before sitting on the floor and continued her work. It was around three o'clock that she felt tired, and since Yael was occupying her bed, she grabbed a pillow and lay on the floor. She didn't sleep and continued reading her favorite web novel series, letting the time pass.
She felt accomplished for this day. At first, she just made an excuse not wanting to see Yael's face as she was irritated by him, yet just the casual offer of coffee made her day even better.
She had thoughts of turning what she had encountered in this cabin into a book, yet her lingering fear was at the back of her mind. It still scares her. The words she made and every little effort she put into her book, thinking it would be stolen just like before.
However, trying to overcome that, she realized she could just write everything for herself, just only for herself.
--
Around 3:30, Yael woke up and saw Solanne on the floor, scrolling through her phone, immersed in what she was reading. Suddenly, he felt guilty for taking her bed, but that was the best sleep he ever had, so he put aside his guilt and casually asked, "What are you reading?"
Solanne looked up, almost breaking her neck, so she sat up. "Lord of the mysteries. It's a good web novel, and it has superb world-building."
"I don't really like novels," he answered, standing up and stretching.
Solanne shrugged and crawled back to her bed, easing her back. She noticed that her sheets almost smelled like Yael. "Lost on You " is a superb web novel for me. 5 out of 5. I would gladly do it if I could even give it a 100 rating."
"Whatever," Yael dismissed it and saw a class emptied. "Did you have iced tea?"
"Yep, it's still on the fridge if you want some."
"How about the chicken?"
"It's marinating. You prepare the charcoal later."
"Yeah, sure," Yael answered, staring at the glass for an odd few minutes.
Noticing this, Solanne asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Yael chuckled. Sitting at the edge of Solanne's bed. "I just realized that I had nothing to do. It's a bizarre thing to experience thinking all I did was work in my entire life."
Solanne smiled, casually scrolling through her phone. "Then you own it to yourself this rest. You can watch some anime downstairs."
Yael lay on the bed again, settling on Solanne's feet. "I'm bored to even do that."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"I don't know, be bored?"
Solanne shakes her head and enjoys the breeze. As she scrolls her phone, a notification pops up. As she read, her heart dropped, trying hard to hide her expression as she swallowed. Solanne then casually glanced at Yael, who was looking at the ceiling.
She tried her best to dismiss what the notification was all about, yet her mind was full of thoughts, and she was trying so hard not to be overwhelmed by the impending time, pressure, and circumstances in this reality. She tried to drown all of her thoughts by reading a novel.
'Be present,' she told herself. Trying to take comfort. 'Be at the present.'
--
Yael felt the time was frozen, watching the same ceiling above him. He felt the calm breeze and grabbed a pillow, still lying on the bed. For a moment, he felt like he was on a different timeline, where there was no work, and he could be 'normal.'
This was a feeling he had forgotten before. A feeling buried with overwhelming deadlines shows and the pressure to be liked.
Today… he can just be… still.. be him… without thought… and without any judgment.
Such a feeling was overwhelming him; he felt like drowning. He swallowed, a smile on his face, as he looked at Solanne, who was busy with her phone.
For some reason, perhaps because of the sun, an ethereal glow surrounded her, making him frown and stare at her longer than he anticipated.
He swallowed. Yael thought that he must be imagining things, and for a moment, when their eyes met, he pulled back, ears red, heart beating so fast he felt like he had run a marathon.
"What?" Solanne asked.
He coughed. Standing up and heading to the door as if he was possed. "Nothing."
"Huh?" Solanne was puzzeled by his reaction. "Yael?" she called.
He coughed again. He felt like something— something unfamiliar was rising in his throat. "Nothing," he added. "I just want some iced tea." He said, walking out without looking back. All Solanne could ever do was watch him, confused.
--