Chapter 7

VII. Piper

FOR WHATEVER REASON, my combat instructor took a leave from her work and just left me some pointers to do in the remainder of the months we're not going to meet. It permitted me to take a break from training for a while, which I was grateful because that would mean I could catch up more with Piers. I promised her that I'd work out intensely until I go back and train with her again.

I offered one last strike at the punching bunch with a grunt, calling it a day. I took a deep breath then exhaled through my mouth, unwrapping the bandages on my wrists before tossing them to the side. In my first weeks of stay here, I never bothered to use Piers' mini-gym and I only appreciated its existence today. This is pretty convenient, it saves us from the hassle and trouble of driving over to the gym. I took a towel and wiped my sweaty face before going to the door and opening it, making my way to the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water. I took the pitcher with me then sat on the counter, drinking the water bottoms up but almost choked when Piers suddenly entered the kitchen.

"Hey, you're back." I greeted as I stifled a little cough. Piers had gone to the BSAA headquarters to check in with something I don't know about.

"Yeah," He said nonchalantly, not even sparing me a glance. He opened the refrigerator but immediately closed it. He looked at me, his expression quickly shifting from confusion to surprise then serious. "where's the rest of the cold water?"

I smiled sheepishly before offering him my half-empty glass. "We already ran out, sorry."

I saw Piers' Adam's apple move when he swallowed as he looked intently at me, his eyes grazing down to my figure. I realized that I was still sitting on the counter and as reflex action, I immediately stood up and apologized again.

He tore his gaze away from me before getting his own glass of water, "You finished working out?"

"Mmhmm," I emptied my glass then refilled the empty pitcher then settled it back inside the refrigerator. When I turned around to meet him, I caught him looking at me again, which was starting to make me feel weirded out. I also looked at my body, my sports bra was drenched in sweat, which was normal for a person who worked out. I couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong?"

"What?"

"You seem bothered. Are you pissed because I drank all of the cold water? I'm sorry—"

"No, it's okay. It's nothing. I'm just going to work out now."

"Sure," I said, watching him walk past me to make his way out of the kitchen, "what would you like for dinner?" I called out.

"Your call." He called back.

I shrugged before returning back to my room to grab a towel, clean clothes and undergarments to take a quick shower to wash away the sweat and stickiness on my body, and thinking about what I should cook for dinner. Unconsciously, my mind couldn't help but linger back to Piers' intense gaze but shrugged it off, he must had a hard day at work, I'd say.

I'd decided to cook steak for dinner, for a change. I'd always made simple dinners like salads and teriyaki chicken. I've read a recipe about steak and thought that it was worth a try. While I was blow drying my hair, I took a glance at the wall clock and it signed 5:30, which was plenty of prep time. I scanned the shelves of the refrigerator, listing the ingredients I needed and lacked. I bit my lip as I called out to Piers that I'll just buy some ingredients to which took him a few moments to shout an 'Okay, you have an hour.', to which I rolled my eyes on.

I strolled around to the supermarket to quickly grab the meat and other items needed for dinner. When I was walking back, I noticed a moving box in the alleyway. On impulse, I went over, peeked inside the box and saw a puppy with a golden-orange fur. It looked up at me, its dark brown eyes had a glint of isolation and sadness, which mirrored mine. I stood up, my mind torn between turning around and walking away as if I hadn't noticed him or scoop him up in my arms and bring him home with me. But in the first place, I have no right to bring anything home because I didn't own the apartment I was living in. I don't know if Piers like dogs, too.

"Oh, screw it..." I whispered to myself as I held the dog in my arms, not having the courage to ignore and abandon it. "you're coming home with me, little fella."

It made a little whine as it snuggled comfortably in my arms, rewarding him a pet from me. I sighed as I went to a pet store to buy some dog food as well, thinking about what I should say to Piers once he saw him.

Once we got home, I took the puppy to the kitchen to feed him to which he immediately gobbled up. Poor thing was very hungry and thirsty, he must have been in the box all day, abandoned and unloved.

"Abandoned and unloved..." I repeated my thought as I looked down at Piper, caressing him behind the ears, a warm surge of emotion washing over me.

"Oh," A surprised voice attracted my attention and I craned my neck to the side to see Piers looking at the puppy. "Who's this little guy over here?" Piper looked up at Piers, giving his hand an ardent lick as he petted him.

"He's Piper. I found him in an alley," I said quietly, "can we keep him?"

"Piper? You already named him?" He asked as he looked at me, the corner of his lips rising to a subtle smile in amusement.

I nodded then looked down at the puppy, "I think I already love him." Then I looked back at Piers, seeing his lips slightly parted in what seem to be an expression of bewilderment. "I promise he won't be a burden, I'll take care of him—"

"No," He cleared his throat, which made my heart sink for a moment. "I mean, I can also take care of him, you don't have to do it alone." He shrugged before standing up. "So yeah, we can keep him."

It made joy and relief gush over my system as I couldn't help the huge smile make its way to my lips. "Piers, thank you so much."

He just replied a smile as his attention shifted to the bags of groceries on the counter, "So what were you planning for dinner?"

"I was planning on cooking some steaks but I don't know if you like things like that."

"Are you kidding me? I love a good steak."

"I'm glad, because we're going to compromise and have steak for dinner."

Piers chuckled at that. "Do you need a hand?"

"There's not much to do," I answered, "but I bought some prepackaged salads and there's potatoes on the cabinet, and that's about it."

Piers nodded and went to open the cabinets to pull out a couple of potatoes. Watching him stand in front of the sink, he washed his hands first and then the potatoes. I turned on the oven as he wrapped the potatoes in foil before setting them on the rack. I went to prep the steaks, seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder and soaked them in a bowl of brandy. As if on instinct, my eyes searched for him, seeing him putting the last of the potatoes in the oven before he went to the salad next. He emptied the salad into a bowl before I went back to focusing my attention back to the task at hand. I exhaled a breath, getting the sudden urge to get close to him as possible. I wonder, what was about him that made me feel this way?

I took a deep breath as I was finished with the steaks for now. I opened a drawer and took out a knife and went to the counter next to him, and reached for the tomatoes then began dicing.

"So what's so special about these steaks?" He asked as he watched me slice the tomatoes.

"Oh I'd just read about this recipe online and the reviews were mostly positive, so I thought that I'd give it a try." I said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but it's only the beginning," I looked at him for a moment before I returned my gaze back at the chopping board, "it said that the flavoring isn't what make these steaks great, it's about how you cook it. It's better to cook them on a grill but a pan is also fine, and this is my first time making this, so..."

I felt Piper on my legs and I looked down as he was standing on his hind legs, barking for attention.

"He's still hungry," I said with a smile as I put the knife down and put the sliced tomatoes along with the salad, shifting my attention back to the puppy. I took the bag of dog food and put some generous amount on his bowl before returning to the task at hand, noticing Piers' gaze also lingered at the puppy.

"He likes you." He commented which made me smile.

"I think he can also feel that we're the same," I said, "Everyone must have thought that he's a jinx, nobody wanted anything to do with him so they abandoned him... just like what my parents did to me. Nobody wanted him like how nobody wanted me." I shrugged as I pulled out a pan from one of the cabinets.

"Cheryl..." There was warning in his tone, like he was telling me to shut up. "You know that's not true."

I ignored him, "So when I saw the look in his eyes, I just couldn't bring myself to just leave him there. I... I guess I just want to become of some importance to someone so that they would hesitate to leave me, even for a dog." I bit my lip and tried to shake off the ghostly memories. I just turned the stove on and settled the pan, then turned around to meet him. "Does that make any sense to you?"

"Just so you know, you are a very important person to me."

I turned my attention back at the stove, trying to hide the smile that was starting to etch on my face. I snorted as I let the pan heat for a minute, before grabbing tongs for the steaks. "I don't think so before, because you didn't like me."

"What? I never said that."

"Yeah, but you didn't need to tell me. It's obvious by the way you looked at me before. But then I realized just recently that's just how you normally look at people." I smiled at him, and I stifled a soft laugh because he's looking at me with the same expression I described just now.

"I didn't know that I made you feel that way."

"Well... it's okay. It's all in the past now." I shrugged nonchalantly, "And I think me being important to you is natural because we're childhood friends, but I'm glad to hear you say that. By the way, how would you like your steak?"

"Medium rare."

With the preparation under way, a comfortable series of silence fell upon us. Being busy with the steaks eased up the anxiety that was starting to build up in my system. It isn't only about the way we get along, it's also about the way he said things, he knew all of the right words to say to make me feel better, and I'd always believed them. It was also the way he smiled, the sound of his voice and especially how his hazel eyes can look so piercing and gentle all at the same time. With that thought in mind, I'd admitted something even myself is trying so hard to suppress and deny.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

"I was just thinking about how your ex-girlfriend managed to leave someone like you."

"But if we are still together, I would've been eating dinner with her instead of you." He said, "Besides, why so sudden?"

"I don't know, I just did."

"Rosie contacted me the other day."

What for? I stopped for a moment at what he said, then simply turned the steak over, creating a sizzling sound. "Oh... did you, uh, caught up with her?"

"No, there's not much to talk about anyway."

"Why? I mean, it's been years... and I thought that you guys didn't have closure."

"We did though, for my part. I don't know about her."

"Maybe that's why she wanted to talk." The air suddenly became heavy, making it hard for me to breathe. I should have kept my mouth shut, I didn't want to know about that and now I'm left... "This should be ready in a few minutes. Would you mind setting up the table?"

"Sure," Then he went over to the drawers and cabinets to retrieve the things he needed. He went out to the dining table, leaving me with my thoughts.

"Cheryl, you big idiot..." I whispered to myself, taking the steaks out of the heat using the tongs and settled them on the plates. I took the potatoes out of the oven and distributed a generous amount on both plates and the salad and the various dressings came next. When Piers returned, he helped me carry the food to the table, Piper coming along with us. The puppy laid down on the living room floor just against the couch and gone back to sleep. My eyes stopped to a bottle of wine resting on the table. I took the bottle and examined the label.

"Well, this looks different."

"The BSAA gave that to each of us last year and I thought that would go well with dinner."

"Are you sure? You might want to reserve this wine for a more special occasion."

"Believe me, there's not a day I'd rather have that wine than now."

I chuckled then put the bottle down, "If you say so."

"I'll just get the wine opener."

I watched him go back to the kitchen to get the item he needed, along with my smile lingering on for a few seconds. I sat down as I waited for him return with the wine opener. After a few easy moves, he opened the bottle and poured just the right amount on our wineglasses.

I rubbed my hands together, taking in all of our handiwork. "This doesn't look so bad."

Piers agreed, and I waited for him to take his first bite, watching him with an impressed expression, "Wow, this is good."

"Really?" I took a bite of my own, "it's good, but it doesn't taste as good as the reviews say."

"It's good enough for me." Piers told me with a smile as he looked into my eyes.

"Thanks," I replied as I felt a tingle in my stomach. I had to take a sip of the bittersweet drink just to make that feeling go away. I don't think I could ever prevent myself from falling any deeper because I'm already at the bottom, and it feels as though I still wanted to sink. Without even knowing, I'm already at the borderline of our relationship, dangerously a step behind.