Chapter 6

It took us a little while to get back to his place in silence. Uncannily, I didn't want to get off the car. I just wanted the journey back to go on forever, putting the time on loop and not even getting a glimpse of the future. When we reached his place, I expected him to get off the car and make me do the same. However, we stayed still for a few minutes in silence before Aiden started the engine and drove around for a little more time. I was too tired to be surprised how he could know what I wanted.

"I need to tell Anna about all of this, I guess", I said. "Uhm, she kind of invited me over tonight. And, it'll be a problem if she randomly comes over to my place."

Aiden seemed to be thinking about what I had said as his frown deepened.

"Don't visit her for a few days, until I understand the seriousness of this situation. You can just tell her that you'll be busy for a couple of days.", he said, still putting thought to it. "Just find a reason."

"Yeah, just blatantly lie to her."

"Blatantly lie to her or get her hurt. Which seems like the best and most moral option to you, Haven", he said, immediately.

I glared at him and remained silent only to hear him say "guessed so."

"What if she comes over as a surprise to get me something? She does that sometimes", I said.

Aiden gave me a weird look and said,

"Even when you tell her that you'd be busy?", he asked.

I nodded.

"Ah. Whatever kind of friend you are.", he replied. "Let's just keep this down-low for a few days. If she visits you in these few days, you can tell her then. If not, then no harm."

Whatever he said did make some sense. So we agreed on this without any further arguments. In a few minutes, we reached his silent, humongous place. I ambled my way through the door behind Aiden feeling like I had been here the first time. He led the way to one of the extra (guest) rooms where I was going to stay from then on.

"It looks beautiful", I said, giving him a small smile.

It really was a beautiful, huge room with the darkest shade of ivory walls and a bookshelf about two feet from the queen-sized bed. I sat on the bed, appreciating the comfortable mattress and silky cream sheets, while Aiden left the room asking me to join for lunch after around 20 minutes. I went through the books to find a great collection of classics and Non-fiction. Someone had a good taste in books, I thought. After going through almost everything in the guest bedroom, I stepped outside and walked down the stairs, which took me a minute to find. I guessed Aiden was in his room or outside somewhere because nobody was in the living room. This helped me take my time appreciating each detail of the modern architecture, artifacts, and bizarre-looking vases.

"You're here already. I'll set everything for lunch in a minute. I'm sorry for taking long.?", I heard someone say, making me jump and almost drop the little turtle relic that I was examining.

I turned around to see that it was Martha, the cook. She was an old lady, who looked like she was close to her sixties, with pleasant and friendly features.

I smiled at her and said, "I was just examining this place. Please don't take any pressure. Take your time. Also, Aiden is not here yet, so it's not really a problem. Don't apologize."

"Oh! Aiden is not going to have lunch here, honey. He is most definitely out for work", she said, with a sad smile.

"Ah, who needs that brooding man. We'll have fun. Let me help you", I said, giggling.

Martha argued by telling me that I didn't have to help. However, with heavy persuasion, she agreed to it.

Martha and I seemed to have a lot of fun. Initially, she hesitated to have lunch with me until I played the "I don't want to eat alone" card. She was such a darling. We talked for a long time through which I got to know that she had been working here for around 30 years.

"Wow, that's such a long time", I said, "So you knew Aiden as a kid right? How was he as a child?"

"Ah! He was such a wonderful child. Kind and innocent. I remember, how intelligent he was too. Says the right things and takes great care of his brother and sister. I remember when he was three, he had difficulty pronouncing my name. He used to call me 'Maatha, Maatha'", she laughed ."It is a shame that a young boy like him had to face a whole different world after his parents' death."

I got to know two new things about Aiden that day. He had a brother too. And that his parents' death affected him in some way. Before I could ask Martha about his parents' death, I heard a huge squeal behind me making me whip my head to face the source only to find Lisa.

"Hey! You're here! I heard that you are going to stay here for a while. We're going to have a lot of fun", she said, engulfing me in a huge hug. I returned the hug, realizing that she sounds a lot like Anna. I knew that I'd miss her in the next couple of days, nevertheless, I told myself that everything was for our best. I spent the whole evening with Lisa, watching movies while eating Martha's deliciously baked cookies.

After a while, Lisa had to go to "work." So, I talked to Martha for some time about having my stuff moved here. She informed me that I'd get them by tomorrow morning. I couldn't ask her about Aiden's parents as she seemed busy and was in a hurry to call her daughter who worked in California.

I went back to the guest room and read something for a few hours. No matter where I stay or how huge this place was, I had to get out at least for a few minutes to refresh my mind. So, I wrote a quick note on the notepad that Martha often uses to jot down some recipes, before going out for a quick walk.