Noah drove straight to the coffee shop when he got back into the city that morning, knowing Juliana would've already left for work.
Gemma stood when he entered, running to him and scanning over his beaten figure.
"Noah . . ."
He walked past her to his seat, collapsing into it. She took her seat as well, ruffling his hair as she passed him. He hinted a tired smile as she did so, and she smiled down at him, not with pity, but with empathy in her eyes. She folded her hands on the table, and ordered their coffees for them.
He only listened once he had a bit more coffee in him. She spoke first.
"I need to show you this book. It's one of my favorites."
He sighed, "I can't do this deep conversation shit today, Gemma. I'm sorry, I just can't."
"Don't worry," She laughed, "It there won't be any deep shit. Promise."
She pulled out a large children's book, its title reading 'I SPY MYSTERY: A Book of Picture Riddles'. He cocked an eyebrow, and she smiled, relieved he could still put in the effort into displaying his confusion and wonder.
"What is this?"
"You've never played 'I Spy' before?"
"Um . . . I guess I have. But why?"
"It's fun." She responded simply, and opened the book.
He focused on the book, on finding all the objects, while she focused on him. Slowly his worries were pushed to the back of his mind, though only temporarily, and he set his mind elsewhere, to the book and its easy riddles. Every time he grew frustrated, she'd quickly point to whatever he was trying to find. It were as if she had memorized the entire book.
In fact she had.
Eventually he was watching her, and only her, he watched her mouth the words, solve the riddles, find the objects with ease. He focused on her, on her bright smiles whenever she'd explain a riddle and its solution.
For the time being, he was safe from his anxieties, he was safe from the troubling weight of his life. He let Gemma become the only thing occupying his mind, and he found he liked it more than he would've been able to admit.
YOU ARE READING
Sip by Sip
Romance(Lowercase intended on cover) "The simple things in life are never meaningful, and the meaningful things in life are never simple. So maybe I don't want meaningful. Maybe I just want someone who cares enough to listen." Gemma Summers and Noah Han...
