chapter 4

After we ate at the steak house our ways split for the first time since that night. Not for long though because we agreed that I would spend my next night at her place. We just ordered in junk food, since she really didn't like cooking that much. Her place was arranged nicely but minimalistic. Very untypical for a women but I didn't mind. Actually I did mind, because I couldn't stand all the unnecessary fluff many women tend to surround themselves with. Sue didn't follow that trend; lucky me. Besides our romantic interests nothing too special happened that night. As we awoke the next morning everyday life started to take a hold. We both had to study and so we just sat down silently in the library, only interrupting ourselves to get some food. And when the workweek rolled around we had way less time for each other. Sure we ate together and spent the nights together but that wasn't really ideal in my book. Three weeks later Sue asked me a very surprising question: "Would you mind if I´d move in with you? Not like a permanent thing, I know we are not partners long enough to warrant that but rather as a commune." I didn't have to think hard about that. It would make spending time together way easier. "Sure, I got enough place here and I know that you don't have an awful amount of stuff in your apartment anyways." So we sorted everything out and she got her stuff together. As we carried the last packing cartons up the steps to my apartment I saw that her ass jiggled quite a bit on the steps. I didn't think much of it at first but that first sparked my interest on how she might have changed a bit. As we lounged on the couch quite groggy I caught a glance of a small belly bulging over her relatively tight pants. Those instances of her looking a little more pudgy in everyday situations began to happen more often as lived together. I didn't really have a firm grasp on what was happening until one night. I awoke suddenly. At first I couldn't tell why but then I heard it. It was a weird sound, like someone was talking mutedly. The door leading from the bedroom to the living room was opened so that a ray of white light crept in the room. I stood up and noticed that Sue wasn't there lying in bed with me. I sneaked through the door and entered the living room. My steps carried me silently behind the counter where the kitchen and, by extension, the fridge was located. Sue sat there, only in her undergarments. She was sobbing and eating ice cream, talking to herself in Japanese. Her shaking voice just stopped by her big gulps of ice cream. How could I cope with that situation? My head was racing. I couldn't let her sit here, stuffing her face all night. I wasn't concerned about her physique; I was concerned about her mental well being. In the days she seemed so happy, just like she had already overcome the tragic incident. She had to have faked it to not draw attention to her problems. I hadn't been sensitive enough and even though I was happy that she had enjoyed my recipes I had to admit that I should have probably been less thrilled about her changing her attitude towards food that suddenly. She clearly was filling an emotional void, typical symptoms of a functional depression and maybe even case of slight schizophrenia; after all she seemed to have a happy and a sad side. She couldn't have faked all affection at least I couldn't accept that possibility and it didn't make sense to me anyways. I closing the distance of the last steps happened unnoticed by her. I sat down behind her, not too close and not too far from her. "Sue honey, would you mind giving me an apple?" That was such an unfitting question that it took her by complete surprise. She looked at me, freaked out, embarrassed and irritated. Then she just grabbed an apple and gave it to me. We just sat there, each one eating the food of choice. As I finished my apple I asked her: "Would you mind coming back to bed with me?" I knew that she couldn't talk to me about her problems, at least not at the moment. Sue seemed thankful that I didn't put her on the spot. I took the empty ice cream tub, threw it away and then we went back to bed. I wrapped an arm around her, which she cuddled herself into. I didn't hear anymore sobbing but I could feel the warmth of her tears rolling down my arm.



/I decided to make larger time jumps; I wouldn´t be able to finish the story at the snail like pace I started it with. Honestly in my head it started way quicker but I just had to include so many little things to hightlight their relationship. I guess you learn from experience after all.