Chapter 29: 29. A pleasant dream
Maxwell worked on his laptop for about an hour before he decided to take a rest. Honestly, he didn't have to do that work now, but he seriously needed some distraction. He fell back on his bed facing up, and threw his arm over his closed eyes. One of his legs was bent with his foot on the bed as he lied down. He really needed that distraction. He couldn't be thinking of a random girl whom he met only twice in his life. The image of this lady kept appearing in his mind, and he found it hard to shut it out.
Just then, his eyes snapped open and he sprang up to a sitting position on the bed, his eyes widened.
Miriam had hazel eyes!! Yes, he could clearly remember! Miriam had big hazel eyes, just like...just like this lady!!! Wait, how come he just realised?
And...And she knew how to cook!!! Just like...
Maxwell closed his eyes and groaned frustratedly. He raked his fingers through his raffled hair. What was happening to him? Why? Just why must everything about this lady relate to Miriam??
Or could it be her???
No way!!
What if she was Miriam??
He quickly got down from the bed and headed for the kitchen. He needed some cold water to clear his mind. He felt so frustrated that it made him angry. Angry that another woman made him think of Miriam. Angry that everything he saw on this lady reminded him of Miriam. Should he ask her? And how was he even going to do that? Like, hey I knew an eight-year-old girl when I was a ten-year-old boy and we met in our mansion and... and what?
He aborted that idea. That would be so dumb to ask someone. And if it turned out that she was not the one, it would be very awkward.
He descended the stairs and sauntered towards the kitchen. He was about to enter the kitchen when his peripheral vision fell on a figure at the living room. He turned and saw Oliver with a cup of coffee and a laptop. He looked serious as he was worked on something which seemed very important.
"Pulling an all-nighter?" Maxwell said as he stopped on his strides.
"Yeah, not really. I'm halfway done. I'll complete everything in the next hour, hopefully." Oliver said without looking up from his laptop. He thought he was sleeping by now. "I thought you were sleeping. Why are you awake by this time?"
Maxwell looked at him, not knowing exactly what to say. How could he tell Oliver he had been thinking of the lady at the restaurant? He would surely become a laughing stock for like a decade, and he wasn't ready for that.
"I came to get some water."
"Oh, okay."
Maxwell went for a glass and poured himself some water and chugged about half the content at a go. He drank the rest slowly and went back to the hall.
"I'll be going back upstairs now, Oli."
"Okay. I'll join you soon."
"Right."
Maxwell had taken a few steps when he heard Oliver's voice.
"Yeah, lest I forget. Mum called when we came back. She wants us to have lunch tomorrow at the family house. Hope you're okay with that."
"That's not an issue." Maxwell said, but later he frowned. "Wait, you told her I'm here?"
Oliver looked at him apologetically, "I really didn't mean to. In fact, it just slipped my tongue and there was no turning back because she had already heard."
Maxwell just stared at him. What was he expecting him to say? He just hissed and shook his head.
"Tsk. You should have been smarter."
"Hey! It was just a slip of tongue okay?"
"Yeah right." Maxwell rolled his eyes and continued on his strides.
"I told her about our plan and she was ready to help us keep your coming a secret. So rest assured."
"Whatever."
"So will you come with me tomorrow?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Uhh...not really. Mom will roast you alive if you don't come with me." Oliver said and chuckled.
"Don't worry, I'll go with you. I feel bored staying at home all the time anyway."
"Great! Good night."
"Night." Maxwell replied lazily as he got to the end of the stairs and went to the guest room where he stayed.
....
Morning came quite quickly, and the world once again became busy. Miriam got up early as usual, around 5:30am, as she was an early riser. She brushed her teeth and washed her face. She proceed to clean around their apartment a bit, starting from her room, to the living room and finally to the kitchen.
It was almost 6:30am when she was done cleaning, and then made breakfast. She made a simple breakfast of banana-oatmeal smoothie and paired it with some fruit cakes she made the previous morning. Janet was still sleeping. She was not an early riser like Miriam, and she was not really used to cleaning. Well she cleaned her own room, and sometimes the living room, but never the kitchen, as she barely used that place.
Miriam set the table and went to knock on Janet's door.
"Rise and shine, sleepy head." She shouted from outside.
"Go away, Mimie. Its still early, just leave me alone." She heard Janet's lazy reply and she giggled.
"Its almost 7am."
"My lectures start at 9."
"And you use 30 minutes to shower, an hour to get ready and 30 minutes to have breakfast, so that gives you exactly..." Miriam paused as she calculated. "Looks like you're sleeping into your time, Jane." She concluded with a giggle.
"Really? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" Janet said as she got up grudgingly from the bed and made a beeline to the bathroom. When Miriam heard shuffling sounds from Janet's room and the opening and shutting of her bathroom, she shook her head. She was just now complaining that Miriam woke her up earlier and now she was all grumpy that she didn't wake her up on time. She went back to her room to take a shower.
After about 45 minutes, they both got out and had breakfast. The atmosphere was a quiet one, as Janet was engrossed with something on her phone and Miriam was drifted back into thoughts and the dream she had last night. She saw Maxwell. Her Maxwell. And this time, it wasn't like those nightmares she used to have when she was young. This time, Maxwell was smiling at her. Maxwell told her he missed her a lot. He actually told her she would come back and visit her soon.
At first, all the dreams she had about Maxwell were ones with the scene at the pool. She would always see a lot of blood, and she would hear Maxwell's painful screams for help. She had PTSD after that incident, and it took so many years to overcome it. She was forbidden to go near pools and rivers, as they were triggering factors.
In the beginning, even a basin of water would trigger her attacks, but she was put under observation and treatment and therapies, and she was able to get out of all those traumatizing nightmares. Even with that, she would have some few episodes of nightmares, but the panic attacks were not severe, as she had learned to accept the fact that it happened and to control her emotions on such occasions.
But last night was different. She didn't see any pool of blood. And...and Maxwell was actually smiling. And she was happy as well. And he promised to visit her soon. This was a pleasant dream! As she ate her breakfast, she couldn't stop herself from smiling. She was so lost in thoughts that she didn't hear Janet talking to her until she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Back to earth, Mimie. Are you even listening to me at all?"
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"What are you thinking about? Is everything okay?" Janet asked worriedly. She was busy telling her about a movie she watched last night until she saw Miriam a bit spaced out.
"Oh, nothing really." She said and Janet squinted at her, clearly indicating she was not buying that. Miriam sighed, "It was about...a dream I had last night."
"Ohh...I bet it was about a guy." Janet teased and Miriam absentmindedly nodded her head, but quickly whipped her head towards her upon realization, shaking her head vigorously in denial. But that action instantly gave her away and she blushed hard and lowered her head.
Janet chucked at her reaction and said.
"Wow. Is that a blush I see?"
"Your eyes are deceiving you. I'm not blushing!"
"Oh yeah?" Janet laughed and Miriam just rolled her eyes and continued eating. "Was it about Maxwell?"
Miriam stilled and stiffened for a moment as she flushed redder. How could Janet hit right on the spot like that? She didn't reply and continued eating after some few seconds.
"So that is a Yes! It was about Maxwell!" Janet knew Miriam so well. She knew she got the answer right.
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