A new chapter begins?

I kept staring at the door and then I heard my name being called from the other side of the door. I was hit by a tornado of memories coming back to me. All those things that I had started to forget were making their comeback. The knock came for a second time and I snapped back to reality. I quickly rushed to open the door.

It was Chris. He had a warming smile that could make you forget that it was winter. I gazed at him for a while. And then I heard him speak.” Do I have to bring you back to earth again? I’m freezing. Can I come inside?” I moved aside and he got inside. I closed the door and the warmth from the fireplace filled the room once again. Mocha was still in my hand and he noticed him. He immediately took his gloves off to pet him. Mocha seems to like Chris. He never stays calm when someone pets him. I put Mocha down and he moved close to Chis’ legs and rubbed his body on him. “ He seems to like you, which is a rare thing. Let me get you something hot to drink. What are you doing so late at night? Your house is on the other side, right? You wouldn’t get lost. You have been living here for a long time.” I spoke while moving to the kitchen to get some hot coffee.

Chris chuckled and then broke into a loud laugh. I lifted my head to see what was going on and there they were playing so happily. I stared at them until the kettle blew its whistle. I brought my attention back to making coffee with a slight happy grin on my face. I have never seen Mocha play with someone other than me this way. Maybe all these moving things have brought a change to Mocha too. I brought two cups of coffee to Chris and handed the one in my right hand to him. He gave me a thank you and took a sip. “ What are you doing so late here?” I asked him, finally seeing the purpose of his visit. He kept the coffee mug on the table next to him and took out a laminated paper and a handkerchief. ”You left it in the cafe earlier. When I looked for you, you were long gone.”Chris said, handing it out to me. “And what about the paper?” I sought as I took them from him. Chris started to take another sip from the coffee after taking it back from the table. “ A few people in the neighbourhood gather at the cafe every Saturday night to talk. We usually talk about the things happening in the town or we usually read a book and discuss it. You are new to the town so I thought you could meet a few people here to get a company. I looked at the paper and The Rustic Papers was written in big letters. He noticed me staring at the name. “It’s kinda tacky but we all love it.” He said, scratching the back of his head shyly.” I should get going now. Thanks for the coffee. And I am not forcing you but if you do wanna join, this Friday, 9 pm, cafe. I hope to see you there though.” He said as he kept the mug on the table and started making his way to the door. I followed him and he left waving a bye again. I closed the door as soon as Chris was out of sight. The weather was getting colder. I took the mugs to the sink and kept them there. “ Let’s do it tomorrow.” The usual lazy god who is living rent-free in my mind commanded me and I followed suit. I picked up mocha from the floor and headed to my room.

I placed Mocha on the bed and was about to snuggle into my blankets when a book in the corner of my eye caught my attention. “Didn’t I put this inside the closet?” I thought. I knew very well opening that book wasn’t a good option at all as I was about to sleep. So I kept it back there and headed to bed. I wanted to take a look at it but not now. I proceeded with the interrupted action of snuggling and slowly drifted to sleep. I gave Mocha a warm smile as I closed my eyes.