My Romance Life System

The front door clicked shut, leaving Thea alone in the apartment.

'He is gone.'

She walked into the living room and turned on the television, but a children's cartoon was on. She changed the channel, but it was just some boring drama, so she turned the television off again. The silence returned. She looked around the room and saw a little dust on a shelf, and decided she could not just sit there.

'I must be useful.'

She found a cleaning cloth in the kitchen and wiped down the coffee table and the shelves, then she found the vacuum cleaner in a closet and vacuumed the rugs. The apartment was very clean now, but when she looked at the clock, she saw that it was still early in the day.

She was hungry, so she went to the kitchen. She saw a loaf of bread on the counter and decided to make toast, because she did not know what to do with all the other food in the full refrigerator. She ate the two plain slices at the dining table, then she immediately washed her plate and put it away.

She went to her room and sat at the desk. The new sketchbook was there.

'I will draw a bird.'

She opened it to a fresh page and tried to draw, but her hand felt unsteady and the line was not right. She erased it, but it left a smudge on the white paper, so she tried again. The second line was even worse, so she just closed the sketchbook.

'I cannot even do this.'

She went to the window and looked down at the people walking on the street below. They all seemed to have a purpose.

'I have nowhere to go.'

She felt a quiet, empty kind of loneliness she was not used to. It was not a scary feeling, just a heavy one. She went back to the living room to escape the silence of her room, and turned on the television again. She found a streaming service and put on a loud action movie full of explosions. When it was over, she immediately started another one.

The sun went down and the apartment grew dark around her, with only the flashing light from the screen. When the second movie ended, the screen went black, and the apartment was suddenly very dark and very quiet.

'He will be home soon.'

She stood up and went to the kitchen, turning on the light.

'I will make dinner. That is a useful thing.'

She took out some vegetables and a knife, and was chopping an onion on the cutting board when she heard the sound of keys at the front door. Her hands froze.

The lock turned, and the door opened.

Kofi stepped inside, his bag slung over his shoulder. He saw Thea standing in the kitchen, a knife in her hand, her expression frozen. He stopped.

"Hey."

"...Welcome home."

She put the knife down on the cutting board and looked at the half-chopped onion as if she had forgotten what it was.

"I was making dinner."

"I see that," he said, walking closer and setting his bag down. He looked at the vegetables on the counter. "Curry again?"

She nodded, not looking at him. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course. It was good last time."

He walked past her and into the kitchen to wash his hands. The small space felt crowded with both of them in it. Thea took a small step back, giving him room. He could feel her watching him.

"You had a good day at school?" she asked.

"It was school," he said, drying his hands. "It was boring."

"Oh."

He leaned against the counter opposite her. "What did you do today?"

"I... cleaned a little," she said, her gaze dropping to the floor. "And I watched some movies."

"That sounds fine."

The silence stretched between them again. It was a familiar, awkward silence. He felt like he should say something more, but he did not know what.

"Do you want help with that?" he asked, gesturing to the vegetables.

"No," she said quickly. "I can do it."

She picked up the knife again and went back to chopping the onion, her movements precise. He just watched her for a moment.

"The trip is on Friday," he said.

Her hands paused for a second. "I know."

"We'll have to pack tomorrow. And we need to buy a few things. Like snacks for the bus."

She just nodded, her focus entirely on the onion.

"Nina is excited," he added. "She keeps talking about the barbecue."

"She seems nice."

"She is. You'll like her."

Thea did not respond to that. She finished with the onion and started on the carrots. He felt like a guest in his own kitchen again. He decided to leave her to it.

"Alright, well, I'll be in my room if you need anything."

He left the kitchen and went to his room, closing the door behind him. He dropped his bag on the floor and sat on his bed. He could still hear the faint, rhythmic sound of her chopping vegetables. It was a normal sound, a domestic sound. It was also the strangest sound he had ever heard in this apartment.

A little while later, there was a quiet knock on his door.

"Dinner is ready."

He got up and went to the dining table. Two bowls of curry were already set, steam rising from them in the quiet apartment. Thea was standing by the kitchen entrance, her hands clasped behind her back.

He sat down, and she sat in the chair opposite him.

He picked up his spoon and took a bite. "This is really good. Thank you for making it."

"...You're welcome." She picked up her own spoon and began to eat, her eyes on her bowl.

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"So, about the trip," he started. "We'll need to pack some bags tomorrow."

She nodded once, not looking up. "I don't have a bag."

'Right. Of course, she doesn't.'

"That's okay. I have a spare one you can use. It's in the closet upstairs."

"...Okay."

"It's just a simple duffel bag," he added. "But it will hold enough."

She finished a bite before she spoke again. "What do I need to pack?"

"I made a list. Hiking boots, a warm jacket, a swimsuit if you want. Things like that. We can go over it tomorrow after school."

The word 'swimsuit' made her pause, her spoon hovering over her bowl.

"A swimsuit?"

"There's a lake," he explained. "People go swimming, or kayaking."

She put her spoon down and looked at her hands in her lap. "I... I don't know how to swim."

'Another normal thing she missed out on.'

"That's fine. You don't have to go in the water. You can just sit by the shore. Or we can just go hiking."

She finally looked up at him, her gaze meeting his for a moment. "You would go hiking with me?"

"Yeah. Of course. Nina and Jake and Ruby are coming too. We'll all be a group."

"Oh." She went back to eating her curry, her movements slow and thoughtful.

When they were both finished, he stood up and took his empty bowl. She immediately stood up as well, gathering her own. They walked to the kitchen.

He turned on the water at the sink. "I'll wash."

She was already standing beside him with the dish towel.

"...I can dry."

They finished with the last bowl, and she dried it with a careful, precise motion. The kitchen was quiet and clean.

"...Goodnight," she said.

She did not look at him as she turned and walked down the hallway to her room. The door closed with a soft click.

Kofi stood alone in the kitchen for a moment.

'Okay. Progress.'

He went to the living room and sat on the couch. He did not turn on the television. He just sat in the silence, listening to the faint hum of the refrigerator.

A few minutes later, he heard a sound. The guest room door opened again, the click soft but clear in the quiet. He looked over.

Thea was standing by the entrance to the living room. She was just standing there, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold. She was not looking at him, but at a spot on the floor just in front of her feet.

'Is something wrong?'

He waited, saying nothing, not wanting to scare her off. She took a single, hesitant step into the room.

"Kofi."

"Yeah?"

She still would not look at him, her gaze fixed on the rug.

"I... I just wanted to say thank you."

He did not respond right away. He just watched her, this small, fragile person standing in his living room.

"For... this," she continued, her hand making a small, vague gesture at the clean apartment around them. "For letting me stay here."

"It's okay," he said.

"No." She shook her head, her eyes still on the floor. "It's not okay. What you did... no one has ever done something like that for me before."

Her voice trembled on the last few words.

'She has been alone for a very long time.'

"I was really scared," she whispered. "In the hospital. I didn't have anywhere else to go. I just thought..."

She trailed off, her throat too tight to form the rest of the words. She did not have to. He understood.

"You're safe here, Thea," he said, his own voice quiet but steady.

She finally looked up at him. Her eyes were wet.

"...I know."

She gave him a small, jerky nod, a confirmation that was more for herself than for him. Then she turned quickly and walked back to her room, closing the door behind her, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He sat on the couch for a long time after that.