482 Bun In The Oven? (1/2)

-The Next Morning-

Nora heard some fumbling noises from outside that woke her up. She looked at the clock. It was only 5:50 in the morning. This was not the time Xiu would wake up. She was certain of that. Even if the world would be ending, her best friend would like to sleep through it.

Then who was outside? A thief? At this time?

Nora got down from the bed and tiptoed her way to the door. She slowly and carefully opened the door and almost got a heart attack at how suddenly and out of nowhere, Xiu's face appeared before her eyes.

”Ahhh!” She shouted in shock while hitting Xiu with her eyes closed.

”Stop hitting me!” said Xiu and recognizing her voice, Nora finally stopped her attack.

She placed her hand over her heart which was beating really fast now as she said, ”Xiu'er! What the hell are you doing at this time? You scared me!”

Xiu pouted, ”I'm just cleaning the apartment. What's wrong with that?”

”At this time?” questioned Nora while pointing at the clock. ”Aren't you sleepy?”

”I am,” said Xiu and even yawned showing that she was indeed sleepy. ”I woke up at 4 o'clock and wasn't able to fall back asleep. So, I decided to do something useful. I didn't get the time to clean our place over the weekend, so I'm doing it now.”

Nora stared at her face helplessly. She'd really be doing anything at any time without a care in the world.

”Oh, I have to hang the laundry. You can go back to sleep,” said Xiu as she placed the mop at the side and ran over towards the laundry room.

Looking at her back, Nora mumbled, ”How am I supposed to sleep now?” She went back inside the room and freshened up. She came out and called Xiu, ”Wanna have some coffee?”

Xiu craned her neck to look at her and nodded. She hung the laundry while Nora made coffee for both of them and brought it out in the fresh air on the balcony and waited for Xiu.

”When did you come back last night?” questioned Xiu as she sat beside her.

”At 9 but you're already asleep.”

”I was exhausted,” replied Xiu. ”So, what did you guys do after I left?”

Nora smiled mysteriously as she replied, ”We went for a walk beside the lake. It was nothing really special but everything felt special. Even holding his hand felt special. Surprisingly, someone proposed so we got to even enjoy a firework show. It was really fun. Now, you can't tease me for this but I honestly feel like I became a lot closer to Ah-Si. And I have never felt this closer to him before.”

”Good for you both,” said Xiu while yawning again.

”At least say it like you mean it.”

”I might not seem like it but I truly mean it.”

Nora shook her head at Xiu before asking, ”What's your plan for the day? How about coming with me to the hotel? Then we'll go to see Ava in the evening.”

”What plans?”

”Well, I have to meet Dylan in a while then I have to pick up Jackie for school then I'm...” Nora's head started feeling dizzy with Xiu's itinerary. How come a jobless person seemed busier than her? How was that possible?

”Are you trying to keep yourself busy so that you won't miss your boyfriend?” Nora teased her playfully poking her cheeks.

Xiu opened her mouth and acted as if she was gonna bite her finger off. ”Don't tease me. I also bite back sometimes then you don't like it.”

”Oh, please! I still haven't forgiven you for how you tricked me yesterday.”