Alisha managed to settle into an uneasy routine throughout the day. She’d follow me, usually quietly, watch me go about making brownies, sit at the dining table when I did, and only gave me space when I went into the bathroom.
It was actually very adorable. Apparently Alisha, not Ms Takeno, only cared about me, even if she brought a book around with her too and read quietly next to whatever task I was doing.
Finally, after several hours and me feeding her instant miso soup, she took a nap again.
I sighed, a little relieved when she stayed in bed when I got up. The quiet hum of her anxiety was unmistakable.
I understood it better than I wanted to. It was hard to think straight when your brain was wired to process everything all the time. When the only thing that mattered to your subconscious was whether or not something was about to explode in your face.
Alisha hid it very well. But without something to focus on, the cracks were showing. She hadn’t just been proactive before. She’d been drowning out her anxiety by never stopping.
I went downstairs, and pulled the dish of brownies closer to the edge of the counter and started cutting them. My own mind was circling uneasily. I wanted to simply fix her restlessness, but it wasn’t that simple. When I looked down at the brownies, the cuts were even but I’d intended to cut the desert into nine pieces. Standard brownie size. Instead I looked down at thirty-six bite sized pieces. This was fine.
I put the knife down. It’d been a while since I was so lost myself. My body was restless. It felt like I needed to move or jog or exercise somehow. That wasn’t normal.
Instead, I took to scrubbing the kitchen sink, then cleaning the inside of the fridge, rifling through every package I could find in there. Nothing was spoiled, nor was there anything spilled on the shelves but the need to keep moving was persistent.
Alisha finally came down later. She looked better. There was more color to her skin, and the dark circles under her eyes were more tame. She’d also brushed out her hair and washed her face.
“Brownies?” she asked, seeing the pan on the counter.
“Yeah,” I acknowledged and pulled my head out of the cooler. “Have a couple.”
I put the cleaning sponge down and washed my hands as she leaned against the counter and carefully chewed one of the squares. And then she got a glass of wine.
“Wine?” she offered me.
I hesitated at first, but ended up accepting a glass and sitting with her at the table again.
She was scrolling through her personal messages. There weren’t many so she was rereading the same ones over and over again.
I watched, sipped the wine, crossed and uncrossed my legs. The third time I shifted on the chair Alisha looked over and smirked a little.
“What?” I asked.
“You look restless,” she observed.
“I’m fine,” I said, but blushed a little for no particular reason.
She took a deep breath and put her phone aside, her attention falling on me.
“I’ve been neglecting you,” she said.
“I’m not… horny,” I said. Though the buzz in my veins didn’t feel that far off.
“Even so, you’re body’s not used to being this still this long,” she explained.
I didn’t answer, unsure what that meant. I’d been moving about all day.
“Think about it,” she continued. “When was the last time we had sex?”
I flushed hotly. She would get me hot and bothered if we kept this conversation up. “It’s been… four days?”
She nodded. “And since we started sleeping together how often have we been having sex?” she asked.
I flushed even hotter. “Almost every other night,” I admitted.
She reached over and patted my head soothingly. “Your body’s confused why it’s not getting its regular dose of hormones,” she explained.
Then she stood and stretched as I watched. She was still in pajamas, braless and her cleavage was visible.
I was acutely aware I was still blushing.
“I’ll be up in the bed,” she said easily. “If you care to join me,” she told me and floated off to the stairs with that walk that made people turn their heads.
I refused to act on instinct for approximately twenty seconds, then got up and followed her.
AN: 18+ Chapter going up tomorrow