CHAPTER 5

Offering friendship to Dion was not in the plan. Note that it's a strong one for it is a best friend. I thought I would really just be his tour guide for a month, but you see, we're now best friends.

Even I do not know why I volunteered to be his best friend. Maybe because I feel how down he was? Loneliness was visible in his voice earlier. Maybe that one triggers me to offer him friendship. But, I admit, it feels good when he smiled and accepted my offer.

As of the moment, we are in the grocery store. He asked if I can accompany him here since he needed stocks in his house while he stays here in Switzerland. I'll also come with him later.

"The foods we brought are very cheap," he commented.

He scanned the foods in our pushcart and their price tags. He shook his head as he confirmed that they are really cheap. I chuckled.

"It's a commoner food, that's why."

"Aren't these expired?" he asks. "They're very cheap."

Again, I chuckled. "No, they're not. They are cheap because again, these are commoner foods. Commoners like me can't afford high-class foods like what you used to eat back in the US, that's why these kinds of foods and brands were made."

He nods his head several times, absorbing my words.

"As you stay here in Switzerland, I'm going to teach you how to live like a commoner, like me. And the first thing you have to do to be a commoner is to avoid buying expensive kinds of stuff."

"That's easy." he gave me a witty smile.

I shook my head. "No, it's not that easy. You have to come in an adjustment."

"Adjustment?"

I nodded as I push the cart, Dion is walking beside me, his both hands in his pocket.

"You need to adjust. Avoiding buying expensive stuff is not that easy, you need to choose cheap things but you have to make sure that it's not just affordable but sure."

"Sure?"

I nodded. "For example, these groceries. They are cheap yea, but you also need to look for their expiration date since they're your stocks for a month or week, or whatever. Also for in canned foods, you need to check if there's something wrong with the can, if you see something wrong with it, then you shouldn't pick it." I explained.

And as we walk to the counter to pay for items, I keep on explaining the basics about commoners. On our way to his house, I'm still talking and Dion was silently listening, probably digesting every word I say.

After we paid the groceries, we lift the paper bags and took a cab to his house. After minutes, the cab stopped at a two-story house with a wooden fence and gate. Dion paid the cab driver and smiled at him before going out of the car. He opened the gate and gave me a warm welcome smile.

"Welcome to my cozy home." he smiled and let me to the set of sofa in the middle of the living room.

I put the paper bags I am holding on the wooden center table and roam my gaze around.

A not so spacious living room, with a set of sofa in the middle, a small cabinet with a tv on top of it, a furnace on the side, a screen door that I assume, will lead you to the kitchen, and on the other side is a wooden stair that will probably lead you to the second floor. Paintings and some picture frames are hanging that gives life to the cream-colored wall.

I walk towards the wall and examine each frame. Dion loves art so it is possible that he was the one who painted these. A painting of a girl and a boy, in a cobbled and noisy street facing each other, caught my attention. I narrowed my eyes as I look closely at it and was shocked when I realized it was me and Dion when I accidentally bumped to him in Old Town.

"How the..."

My mouth gape as I stare at the painting. I can still remember what I was wearing that day. Baby blue blouse, tight jeans, and doll shoes. And the girl in the painting wears the same clothes, same with Dion.

"Did he—"

Just before I could even finish my sentence, I felt a presence at my back and at the same time, Dion's soft but still manly voice roared in my ear.

"Yea. I painted the scene after we accidentally bumped into each other."

I turn around to face him. He is looking at the painting as well while his hands are inside his pocket. He has a small smile plastered on his lips.

"You..... painted it?" I repeat.

And again, he nods his head. "I have this habit that I paint one or two of the scenes I encounter each day. And if I am in my mood, I paint more than five." he gave me a slight smile. "Did you like it?"

I nodded and smiled as well. "Yea. It's beautiful. You got all the angles right."

He chuckled. "Thanks to my sharp memory. Although I have a Brain Hemorrhage, I can remember some things clearly. But sometimes, I'm having a severe headache, especially when I force myself to remember something, especially something I forgot."

Dion has a sharp memory despite his Brain Hemorrhage, he remembers things clearly, especially if it is something unforgettable for him.

As he told me more things about him, we start organizing his kitchen. We place the can goods one of his cupboards, the pancake powder, and other stocks that are not necessary to store in a refrigerator. While the eggs, hotdogs, and other frozen goods, vegetables, and fruits are in his enormous fridge.

This fridge is also from his mother. His parents are food lovers, that's why this house has a big ref and several large cupboards for more stocks of food since they always stay in this house when they were still in their twenties.

"Dad always tell me that their favorite hobby is watching a movie while cuddling up together, with lots of foods. Mom's favorite fries will never be out, as well as dad's favorite chicken sandwich."

He got his mom's love for fries, which I, love too. His best duo is fries and potato chips. Aside from that is his favorite takoyaki, a Japanese food.

"The first time I tasted takoyaki was when mom and I flew to Japan to visit a relative. Takoyaki is the first Japanese food I ate because that was the first food I saw the moment we stepped out of the cab. I saw a child eating takoyaki back then, I got curious so I asked mom to buy me one because I want to taste it."

I smiled. That's the reason how fries became my favorite too. I saw a child eating fries back then, I got curious, so I bought one. I was six at that time. Mama and papa do not allow me to eat junk foods back then since I am still a child. They said that a child like me should only eat veggies and fruits and all that grow, glow, and go foods.

After we finish organizing his food stocks in the kitchen, Dion asked me for a coffee before I go home which I gladly accepted. He was the one who made the coffee, I laugh when I tasted it. Its a brewed coffee.

"Don't you like it?"

"I liked it. It's just that I'm glad because what I was thinking is right. You love brewed coffee."

He smiled cheekily. "Yes, yes. I love brewed coffee. It awakes my veins and my whole body."

"Also, it helps my heart to pump normally, I just have to balance my drinking habit to avoid palpitation," he added.

I found out that having a Brain Hemorrhage also affects the heart since the brain and heart are connected. These two are the main focus of the circulatory system after all.

I spent an hour at his house before I finally decided to go home. It's already dark outside, but not as dark as the night. Street lamps are now switched on and some people are having their dawn walk.

Dion volunteered to walk with me until I catch a cab. He said that this is also his daily exercise, having a walk every morning and dawn.

We walk side by side, as usual, his both hands are placed inside his pockets. We talk about random stuff until I suddenly remember, he told me yesterday that we will be having our Zurich tour with his bodyguard and nurse. I asked him about it.

"I asked them to give me one more day, one more day alone. So, tomorrow, they will go with us," he said. I nod my head as a response and then ask another question.

"What about the eyeglasses?" I pointed out his eyes.

He looks at me with the 'what-do-you-mean-look'.

I explain and ask, "You've been wearing that since morning. You are not wearing that yesterday and the first time we met. So, I assume it is a part of your today's fashion?"

He let out a light chuckle. "No, no. It's not. Actually, I had a headache yesterday. The only part of my head that ache is this," he points the lower part of his forehead between his two eyes. "I have experienced that headache before, so I already know what to do."

Because our eyes are connected to our brain, exposing his eyes with too much light—especially ultraviolet, triggers brain bleeding. So, to protect his eyes, he wore eyeglasses with ultraviolet and protection.

A cab stopped in front of us, Dion opens the door for me, mumbling the words, "Chivalry is not dead." which made me laugh. I bid my good day to him and so is he. Before the cab finally starts moving away, Dion waves his hand from outside while smiling. And since the cab is not tinted, I waved my hand as well and mouthed,

"See you tomorrow."

The cab finally move. I look back to see Dion, he was still standing firm and manly, a smile plastered on his lips while still looking at me—who's inside the cab.

And even before I sleep, Dion's smiling face is still lingering in my head. It is like a painting, floating in the air and is always in front of my eyes. I didn't mind it for my day was too good, but what I didn't know was: that is the beginning of everything.