Chapter 118 - 117

"They were from you? I thought they were flyers," Sophia admitted. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Aiden half smiled, and replied, "It's amazing how the stars are visible from here. The sky at my previous apartment was always cloudy due to the pollution, so I thought it would be nice to do some star gazing," he replied.

"Yeah, it is pretty out here. I would sit outside for hours after work," she said.

"What else do you do except work?" Aiden asked. He could see that her balcony was decorated with outdoor furniture that had colorful cushions, plants that were either on pedestals or hanging, and even a painted quote from Atticus, "Chase your stars you fool, life is short." 

With all these lush, healthy plants on the balcony together with the plants inside the house, she must love to garden. And taking care of them would not be an easy task. 

"Work consumes so much of my time I have no time to do anything else," she replied.

"Come on, everybody does something else to forget about work. Some people read, cook, paint, play instruments, sew or garden. What about your plants, don't you take care of those?" he pried.

"I'm not interested in any of those hobbies. I have the housekeeper take care of the plants for me," she defended.

But somehow, Aiden knew she was lying, because as he recited his list, her facial expression changed. He would ask her about that later.

"And you?" she asked.

"I'm good at a lot of things. If you want, I can always show them to you," he replied.

"There's no need. Mr. Cooper, I think it's time I headed for bed," she said before she headed back to her apartment.

She was sorting through her mail when she remembered what Aiden said about the sticky notes outside her door.

The messages contained small notes, "Did my input help your presentation?" 

"Hey, answer the door." With a smiley face at the bottom.

"Are you busy?"

"Why are you ignoring me?" With an angry face at the top.

Sophia thought they were kind of silly. As the messages progressed, Aiden sounded more and more like an impatient little kid. She was standing in front of the trash bin, but for some reason, she could not throw them out. So she kept them in one of the drawers in the living room.

-=-

Today was Sophia's market day. She was running out of daily necessities, but when she tried to pay at the register, they turned her away because the machines were broken, and they could only take cash at the moment. Cash had not been necessary before, so she never thought of carrying any spare change in her wallet.

She was disappointed that she would have to return all the things she already chose when she heard someone behind her speak, "Let me pay for your groceries," the man said.

"Oh, there's no need," she readily declined, only to find out that it was Aiden behind her. He included his groceries in her pile and handed the cashier the required amount.

"No, it's okay, I'll get them later. I'm not in a hurry," she added, still trying to decline his offer to help.

"It's okay. If you're here at this hour, it means you really wanted to get these items. Just think of it as me being neighborly?" he said as they bagged their items. She nodded and finally accepted.

"Do you still have work to do?" Aiden asked as they got to the front of the store. She shook her head.

"Have you been around the neighborhood? Would you mind walking with me?" he asked. Hoping she would say yes. He knew of a path that would take them back to their apartment that was not as busy as the one she took to go to the store.

This road was lined with trees that carried the most beautiful red blooms and as their branches swayed with the wind, the petals showered the path and the people who passed by, making it a very romantic and magical experience.

"I always see you working, even on the weekends, don't your parents nag you to visit them?" he asked.

"My parents passed away when I was 12," Sophia replied, giving him another of her stone-cold expressions. As if it was not something to be sad about. But it affected Aiden, and he did not know how to make conversation after that. He never knew she was an orphan, and he felt bad because he really loved his parents a lot.

"What about you?" she asked, nonchalantly.

"My dad loves to work, play golf, and of course… his wife," he chuckled as he remembered his parents.

Sophia gave a curt smile while Aiden continued, "My mom is a social butterfly, always attending one part after another. Every month she starts a new hobby, enrolling in the class, buying all the materials required, then gives up halfway because she got bored. We have a storage closet full of her unfinished stuff. My dad and I always joke that we would enter her into the Guinness book of record for the woman who tried every art and craft the world has to offer."

"Sounds like a very warm, and close-knit family," she commented as she saw the smile on his face.

"Yes, we are. My mom has one rule, Sunday is a day for the family. When I was a kid we went to the park to have picnics, but these days she's okay with having meals together, due to my hectic work schedule," he said.

"What about your siblings?" she pried.

"I'm an only child, she had nobody else to nag, that's why she concentrates on me," he chuckled.

"Really? I always thought you had siblings with the way you act. You don't look like a rich, pampered brat. Usually, when one is an only child, they tend to be arrogant, self-obsessed, stubborn, and mischievous. Just because they can always get away with anything," she replied.

He grinned, "Who knows, I may be exactly as you described, you just don't know it yet."

"No, I don't see it. You seem to look nicer than that," she added.

Aiden smirked, he was all of what she described above, but by the time she gets to know him, it would be too late for her to back out. 

"What happened?" Sophia stepped back when she felt Aiden touch her hair.

He ran his hand through her hair and produced a leaf, "It was tangled in your hair," he said.

"Oh, thanks," she took the leaf and threw it away.