Chapter 27: Longing
The next week went by as normally as one would expect. Anita was mingled with work in daytime, and was greeted by thin air and a haunting silence at the house every single evening.
Anita stood alone grinning to herself in the spacious kitchen, with her flail fingers caressing the marble stone countertop. The room echoed with a loud silence, amplifying the absence of her lover even more.
'Anitaa!'
A ghost whisper cut through the air, with the voice coming from behind her. Anita snapped her head towards the entrance of the kitchen,only to find absolutely no one. She dashed to the door before peeking her head out to check out the wide corridors, only to be greeted with an empty house, which only further confirmed her beliefs.Taking in a deep breath to calm down her nerves, she started to daydream a handsome Adrian in the house. A grin spread across her face as she started to imagine him cooking, cleaning, giving her a nice massage, and then, and then...
Anita's mind started to strive of it's innocuous path, before it turned violently lewd. She shaked her head, which seemed to finally break her illusion. Her expression turned sour and frustrated as she stomped off to her room and slammed it shut, shoving her head into cushy pillows trying to get some rest. Anita couldn't believe she missed Adrian this badly. It was gonna be hard, but she hadn't imagined it would be this difficult.
Adrian was studying religiously at the university. He would attend all classes, and find himself munching on a homemade delicacy, ranging from a normal sandwich to a beef jerky, just to fuel up in between at the cafeteria. Downing a cup of iced coffee, his favorite from the menu, he'd be energized right back, although that wouldn't last very long. He'd find himself terribly tired and would start to feel dizzy when his concentration waned off and his mind would wander off from what seemed like the professor's mindless rambling. At least, to him.
The library at his college was enormous, with each floor decorated with long and wide benches, accustomed with comfy chairs. The large white tiles shined as bright lights illuminated the floor. With tall bookshelfs, the library exuded knowledge, although most of its recipients used the place to wind down between their classes because of the quiet atmosphere. That, and it had a wonderful air conditioning system.
The student population studying in the library grew steadily as the week closed in. Adrian would find himself picking the 3rd floor, since in the first initial days, a lot of his classmates would see him and join him when he used to study in the lower floors. He didn't hate any of them without a reason, no. If it were not for him actually wanting to study, he'd gladly drop everything and listen attentively to the mindless gossip and how their recent date went by, or about the latest collegiate tournament match. It didn't matter if it was a girl or a guy, they would almost always act the same, venting to him. It was either that, or many of his peers would pester him to teach them concepts. One that they hadn't understood during lectures. He'd just throw them his notes to which they'd stop being annoying and start reading, trying to make sense of it while nodding to themselves flipping through the pages. It was like giving a phone to a child to stop it's bawling.
Settling down and shifting in his seat at the library at the higher floors, he'd make a note of everything that'd been taught that day on his laptop. Once that was done, he would summarize everything before moving on. Making bullet points, he'd list out everything he wanted to revise that evening. What he would do is revise a bunch of topics, just lightly remembering what was taught in the lectures by flipping through the material. After that was done, he'd move on to the main subject he had listed out to be focused on more importantly. This could either be a lesson he didn't understand clearly, it would be his favorite topic or something that he hated, it didn't matter. Adrian would go through his handwritten notes and compare them with the material inscribed in the textbooks, comparing them side by side. He'd memorize various formulae and definitions, whispering to himself, until it were ingrained into his mind.
Coming home to a grumpy Anita at 10 P.M. was always something that he didn't look forward to. Standing tall and at face level facing off Adrian, she would have her hands folded neatly, crumpling her rose red apron and a mean looking expression on her face. It was obvious she hated having her hubby come home late. In the first few days, seeing this sight, Adrian's memories sitting at the back of his head lit up again. He braced himself for the abuse to pour in at any moment when stepping in, only to be met with a warm embrace. Something that made him feel fuzzy inside, which was surprising even, by his standards.
Since Adrian would almost come late at night, it was agreed that Anita would take up the role of cooking temporarily.
After waking up from her nap late into the evening, Anita would settle herself on the bed, with a sleek black ballpoint pen, a phone, a book in her hand, and finally, armed with determination.
Determination to cook her hubby the best food she could possibly make.
She'd start making physical and mental notes, carefully writing down all the information in the cooking videos she was watching. Like the time for the chicken to thaw, the right amount of proportions, how one could cook proper eggs and all the various types of it as she could not cook eggs for the hell of it, spicy noodles topped off with soup, and such.
Dinner was...well, it was like a pendulum. Anita would either cook some of the best food that Adrian had eaten, obvious from his praises or she would go down the deep down end, as there would be a cringeworthy silence between the couple at the table with only sounds of mundane chewing filling up the atmosphere.
And so, the weeks passed by.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone