NEW FRIEND

After watching movies together for four hours, I felt my eyes hurt due to exhaustion. I gathered up the empty ice cream containers and decided it was time to hit the hay. "I think I'll be going to bed," I said to Julie as I stretched my body, and Julie responded with "Good night, Layla," as she made herself comfortable on the couch to continue watching her show, she never gets tired.

I entered my room, throwing the empty ice cream container in the waste bin before heading to the bathroom to take a shower since I felt a bit sweaty. While in the shower, I tried to force myself to feel sleepy, but once I got out, the feeling of tiredness disappeared, allowing me to fully wake. I stared at the ceiling for a while before grabbing my phone and accessing Instagram. 

I typed "Alexander Romanov" in the search bar and found a verified account, along with several fake accounts that I knew were made to impersonate him. I clicked on the verified account and immediately felt overwhelmed with its serious and professional nature. "So boring and serious," I mumbled to myself, and proceeded to scroll through his profile, expecting to find something interesting. However, after scrolling for a minute, I finally came across a picture of Alex, and eagerly liked it.

 I only realized that it was a picture from a year ago, which caused me to scream into the pillow in embarrassment. "You're so stupid... he'll think you're stalking him," I scolded myself. I kept my phone on the bed stand and rolled over to the other side. After a failed attempt at trying to fall asleep, I grabbed my phone and opened up TikTok, hoping to watch enough videos to help me fall asleep. I watched a few videos, but I found it difficult to control my laughter every time a funny video emerged. Finally, after two hours of watching TikTok, I finally felt sleepy and turned off my phone, allowing myself to finally get some rest.

*********

My eyes were slowly starting to open as I became aware of the sun shining on my face. I groaned in frustration as I remembered that I had forgotten to cover the curtain before sleeping the night before. I was so exhausted that I just threw the pillow over my face and continued sleeping. My brief moment of bliss came to an end when Julie knocked on the door, making me groan in response.

"Won't you be visiting your mom today?" I groaned, irritated that I forgot about my mother due to my sleep-deprived and tired state. Yes, I'll visit the hospital today," I replied as I opened the door, addressing Julie. "But I'll be heading to the supermarket to get some groceries first. I need to prepare food for my mom just in case she's awake by the time I get there," I explained.

 I noticed that Julie was already dressed for work, which made me wonder how she could sleep so late and wake up so early. "I wish I could wake up as early as you do" I whined, causing her to laugh.

Julie spoke, saying, "I'm off to work. See you later," and leaving. 

I was momentarily distracted and decided to take a few minutes to lay back down and relax. Soon, my phone binged as I received a text from Mr. Romanov. The text read, "Your dress will be delivered in the evening for tomorrow's dinner." I read the text and felt a rush of nerves run through me as I processed the information, not knowing what to expect from the upcoming encounter with his mom.

 I finally got up after a short while and walked to the bathroom. Once inside, I got my morning business done and showered. Afterwards, I dried my body and picked a simple outfit. I brushed and fixed my hair, and then sprayed on some cologne, wanting to look and smell good before walking to the supermarket, which was not too far away from the house.

As I got to the counter, ready to pay for the items I had grabbed, my card kept declining. A bit embarrassed, I went to put them back when I heard a deep voice say, "I'll pay for these." I turned around and was shocked to see a cute ginger guy smiling at me. I smiled back and breathed a sigh of relief, whispering "Thank you so much" as I accepted his offer to purchase the items as I had no choice.

I waited for him to finish purchasing his goods before walking out with him. I introduced myself to him, saying "Thank you so much. I'm Layla." He replied, "No problem Layla. I'm Zane." I then quickly tried to offer him my number, stating that I wanted to pay him back, but Zane cut me off and responded "You really don't have to Layla, okay?"

"It's nice to make a new friend around here," Zane smiled, with long lashes and an albino-like appearance. Before we parted ways, we exchanged numbers. Once I returned home, I started cooking in the kitchen. The vegetables were rinsed clean when my phone began ringing. I picked up the call and heard Zane asking, "I just wanted to make sure you got home safely." I responded with "Yeah, thank you for your care." It seemed like Zane was quite the caring and protective sort of person, which made I feel even more grateful for his help and a little bit awkward.

"Can we talk later? I'm cooking right now," I said, and Zane responded with "Sure! Chef Layla." The latter comment caused me to laugh, amused by his friendly and supportive tone. After finishing cooking, I put my mother's food in a flask and then took a hot shower. Once I had finished and changed my clothes, I got ready to head to the hospital to visit my mom.

I took a cab to the hospital. Upon arriving there, I greeted Maria, who gave me the good news that my mom had woken up this morning and was doing well in her former ward. This lifted my mood and made me excited to see how my mother was doing. Excited and relieved, I made my way towards my mother's ward at the hospital and entered her room, greeting her with a smile.