'Two little babies jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doc...' Joyfully sang Aria as she took a plate of hot pasta from the counter and wanted to sit at a small table near the window. But she froze in place seeing an unfamiliar face by the door.
Well not really unfamiliar, as it would be unusual to think of your own husband as such, but considering Aria had met the man in front of her eyes two times before, then did not meet him for two weeks, he might as well be a stranger.
The fright she got caused her hand to suddenly flinch, so a little bit of the hot sauce got on her fingers, scalding them.
'Ouch...' she yelped, and quickly placed the plate on the counter, not letting it go until she was certain it was firmly placed on the counter, even though the burn hurt a lot. She was scared she would drop it on herself and scald her belly.
'Did you scald yourself?' Asked Zane entering the kitchen, but still keeping a little bit of distance from her.
'N-no, it was only a little bit warmer. I am alright!' Aria replied, trying to hide her hand. What would be the point to tell him she indeed scalded her hand, it was not like he would care. And anyway, perhaps he had only returned for a little bit, tomorrow she would not see him and he would not know the truth.
'On your right, in the top drawer there should be a small aid kit. It would certainly have a burn cream inside!' Zane said, ignoring her previous words, as he was walking towards the fridge to get a bottle of water.
Aria did not say anything more, there would be no point in arguing. So she did as he instructed and opened the drawer and there indeed was an aid kit, the problem was the top drawer was certainly at the top. Raising her small hand as much as she could muster and standing even on her toes, unfortunately was still not enough, she could not reach it. The huge belly also did not help as it obstructed her from getting a bit closer.
Just as she was about to give up on retrieving the box, her view darkened, as a huge shadow covered her petite figure, and a bigger hand appeared near her smaller one, taking out the box with ease.
She instinctively turned around surprised, but did not take into consideration that for Zane to retrieve the box, he had been standing fairly close to her, so as she faced him, she closed that distance for good.
Feeling his warmth through the clothes at the points were their body touched, seemed to scald her even more than the burn from the hot sauce, as he only wore a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, and she also only had on a comfortable maternity dress. So she quickly stepped back, only to bump into the counter.
'Ouch...' She voiced the pain that could not be suppressed, her back was already hurting because of the weight, so the bump hurt much more than it normally would.
Zane looked at the petite clumsy woman that seemed to get hurt each time he was near. Was she always so inattentive and hurt so easily? He should have a talk with the butler so that a servant girl would always be near her. At this rate she could get seriously hurt.
Zane would not know, as he had only been with her a very few times, that in fact the only times she got hurt was near him. His lack of personal distance and mechanical movements, was something Aria could not get used to.
'You are really clumsy!' Zane blurted out. The words slipped out of his mouth unintentionally, which was weird for him as he never said anything without really meaning to before. Not to mention, he had never payed Aria so much attention that he would bother to say anything about her actions, words or anything that had to do with how she was in general for that matter.
'Ehhh...' Aria frowned, as her face seemed to say that weren't the both times she got hurt because of him? If he had not surprised her, would she have reacted like that?
Her face amused Zane, so much so that he paid no more attention to the words that slipped before. The previous her never showed so many emotions, as the current her did.
The previous her was more like him, a mechanical cold beauty, perhaps, that was why they got along for three years, keeping a perfect distance from each other, not too close, not too far, always unchanged.
But the Aria of the present ... each time he saw her she would express a different side to herself. The first expression she showed was warmth and loveliness of a mother, the second was happiness, the third was embarrassment, now this time clumsiness and even resentfulness.
She was quite cute now, he thought, but immediately frowned at the thought. Why would he think her resentfulness was cute?
'Thank you for the help. I can manage now!' Aria quickly said, seeing him frown. Could he have gotten upset at her reaction? It was her own fault after all, he had not tried intentionally to scare her.
He did not say more and only handed her the box, before he returned to get the bottle of water he had placed on the side.
She sat on a chair at the small table, thinking that he would soon leave, as she opened the box to take out the cream. She started applying it on her hand, while she was also paying attention to her surroundings, but the oblivious man still had not left. It even made her hold her breath, as she felt watched.
Trying to avoid being in this situation much longer, she quickly smeared the cream on her hand and thought to take her plate with pasta to her room. It was better to eat there, than here. She would hardly eat in his presence, and it would keep her up all night thinking about the food, if she did not have her fill.
Closing the box and placing it aside on the table, she turned towards the counter and took the plate, not looking at the man who was currently drinking his water.
Alright, she thought. She would soon leave the stifling atmosphere, but just barely did she take a step towards the door, when the growling sound of a stomach was heard, and for sure it was not hers. As she waited for the pasta to cook, she had some milk already, not to mention it sounded much louder than the sound her stomach would make.
She initially wanted to ignore the sounds, and keep walking towards her room. Everybody was on their own, she thought, but she felt guilty as she took another two steps. She was eating the man's food, staying in his house, it was not right of her to walk away.
She slowly turned towards Zane, who was looking down at the bottle he was closing.
'I made a bit more pasta than I should have, do you want to eat some?' Aria asked slowly, hoping he would refuse her politeness.
'Alright!' Zane answered, and already walked towards the small table, and comfortably sat waiting.
Aria had only wanted to inform him there was more in the pot and he should have some if he wanted, but the man who was accustomed to being served would not know that was her intention. Seeing him sit at the table, she placed her own plate on the counter again, and grabbed another one.
She swiftly filled that plate, before bringing it to him and placing it on the table.
Then she returned to her own plate to grab it, and still go to her room.
'Are you not going to eat here?' Zane asked her. He had not touched the pasta yet, waiting for her to also sit.
Thinking that he perhaps was the kind of person who only liked to eat in the designated places for eating, like the dining room or the kitchen, so as to not dirty the whole house or spread the smell of food as well, she turned towards him and did not leave.
'Yes I will.' She replied, and sat beside him, hoping she would not choke on her food.
The table was small, so even if she wanted to sit further away, she could not, she could barely avoid touching him.
Seeing her sit, only then did Zane grab his fork and start eating. The food was unexpectedly delicious, it was not fancy, but for a girl who he had thought was incapable of even turning on the stove, it was alright. It was not too salted, and not too sweet also. The taste was in perfect balance, just how he liked it.
He was feeling hungry before, but as he did not like to eat this late at night, he only thought to drink a bit of water and sleep again, but the fragrant smell in the kitchen, had aroused his appetite even more, so much that his stomach growled. He felt a little awkward about it, but used to tense situations, especially during work, he did not let it show on his face.
It was even better that she offered herself to share her food, so he did not refuse her offer.
They did not exchange many words, in fact they ate in perfect silence.
Aria had thought she would not enjoy her meal in the awkwardness, but as soon as the food entered her mouth, she forgot all about it. It was too delicious, making her unaware of her surroundings.
It was so delicious that she did not stop even to breathe a little, she finished her food with rapid movements.
Zane was used to eat very little, at moments he forgot to even eat altogether, but now in her presence he also ate a bit more, than he usually would.
Finishing her food, Aria licked her lips satisfied, and demonstrating she indeed had enough, burped a little.
At first she did not realize what she did, but realizing her impolite action a moment later, she looked towards him to check if he had noticed. The stern and solemn man was still slowly eating, apparently he was concentrated on his own food and luckily had not caught onto her rudeness.
She sighed a little bit relieved, then stood up and quickly left, after placing her plate in the sink and muttering a quick "good night", not waiting for him to answer back.
The heavily pregnant lady did not stop her feet until she reached her room and swiftly closed the door behind her. Fortunately, Zane had another bedroom, so he would not follow her inside.
Continuing eating his food in the kitchen, Zane stopped the second she was out of the kitchen. He had to, otherwise he would have choked on his food as he was trying to stop his chuckle.
Now that she was gone, he could not stop the small smile on his face, no matter how he tried to.
He had, in a sense, avoided her these past two weeks. He had felt awkward around her and awkward of seeing her glad of the children she would lose. He had no idea how to act around her, so he avoided the problem altogether by not seeing her. In this way, it would be easier to heartlessly tell her of the contract when the moment came, as he did not know when she would get her memories back, if she ever would.
But the few minutes in her presence, had made him wonder why he avoided her in the first place.
In the morning Aria woke up refreshed and ready for a new day. Dressed in a floral loose maternity dress, she happily descended the stairs as she thought of what she would have for breakfast.
Her mind was so focused on what to eat, that she had even forgotten about the previous night. Humming the nursery rhyme, she walked to the kitchen.
Pancakes with honey and milk, oatmeal, or perhaps toast with butter and hot cocoa, she pondered on her options, passing through the dining room.
She had almost reached the door of the hallway that led to the kitchen, when she was stopped in her tracks.
'The dining table is this way, why are you going there?' The familiar voice from last night called, making her snap out of her thoughts.
She looked towards the table hopeful she was wrong about hearing him, only to see the second time, in a span of some hours, the husband she had not seen for the last two weeks.