Her house smelled just like her, of a subtle sweetness that spoke of her overtly delicate side, and which hid her inherently aggressive nature very well.

Drew entered May's house hoping not to find her there. He was hoping to avoid her at all costs, at least until the issues regarding his visit were truly settled. The first contest on the newly inaugurated contest hall on Petalburg city, had brought Drew into the town like a combee chasing honey. It was too bad May was the only person he knew who lived in the city, or perhaps it was the best thing that could've happened to Drew, he wasn't sure.

A tall woman met him at the door, he was taken aback by her presence.

"Hello Drew," she said, still a few feet away from him.

Drew failed to answer her, instead he simply gazed as she walked up to him exuding a calm and smooth radiance. Her feet stopped moving when she was right in front of Drew—one inch closer would have been the end of him—and she extended her open hand forward. His eyes were delighted by her appearance, and his ears were not less enjoyed by the sound of her voice. But as the ecstatic neural messages reached the back of his mind, he couldn't help but suspect more and more on the improbability of the situation, and at such a deliciously fanciful apparition, his mind was forced to rationalize further. Drew's mind came up with a quasi-plausible explanation behind such a sight: He had traveled to the future, and had been particularly blessed, by either Palkia or Celeby, to behold the sight of the woman that May would become with time, and although he fancied that alternative as a pleasantly unexpected and certainly not unwanted one, he then was forced to consciously construct a less outlandish explanation that would most certainly be the actual true, at least in the present; she was May's mom.

Drew then communicated his deduction to her as he awkwardly touched her eager hand, and stopped himself short of caressing her with care before they amicably shook hands and traded smiles, and Drew let go of her immediately afterwards.

"Yes I am," she replied to his reasoned remark, "but you don't have to call me May's mom, in fact I'd personally prefer if you'd call me Caroline, but I won't stop you if you choose otherwise,"

"excuse my poor decorum," Drew added, "I must say I'm suddenly not in my right mind,"

"you are absolved of any offense Drew, you only spoke correctly for I am indeed May's mom, and she has told me a lot about you,"

"she has?"

"Yes, and I'm well aware of your abilities, you are a very talented coordinator,"

"thank you, although I'm not as talented as May."

An empty gesture, Drew thought. He greatly respected May's abilities, and thought of her as nothing short of an equal, definitely a threat whenever they found themselves competing on the same contest, but he certainly did not think of himself as inferior to her.

"I'll relay your compliment, which, I must say, carries more weight as it comes from you,"

"you are too kind," Drew replied with a sophisticated air, which he was then forced to drop, as the next thing he had to say would shatter his facade of headstrong and stoic refinement,

"...did my mom call you?" He then asked with a softer voice,

"she did, in fact she and I had a most pleasant, and revealing, conversation, don't worry, I'll personally make sure your stay here is nothing other than relaxing and enjoyable,"

"thank you for your hospitality, and I'll make sure to leave right after the contest is over,"

"that is too earnest, so much in fact, it can even be considered masochist, and your only tasks while you are in this house are to rest and, I must add, to enjoy my rendition of your favorite dishes, of which your mom has been kind enough to facilitate me the recipes,"

"she has?"

"Indeed again, and, at my insistence, she has given me a very thorough instruction as to how to wash your clothes correctly so you need not worry about that either."

Drew became flustered, and the tiniest blood vessels on his cheeks dilated so they could be filled with his reddest blood, to be brightly colored, per the orders of his involuntary center of embarrassment; he could not help but stay silent at her remark. And she continued,

"however, I must say, as someone who takes his craft so seriously and with so much care, I would have guessed that you already knew how to prepare your clothes, as they are part of your carefully constructed general aesthetic."

Drew blushed even more; his throat closed. But one look to Caroline's alluring yet incisive eyes made it evident that he was being teased.

"allow me to show you to your room," Caroline continued, with complete mastery over Drew's emotional state, "and don't worry, it is not in my plan to tease you every time we speak, my mischievous tongue has made you suffer enough,"

"do not take into account my feelings when you speak to me Caroline, perhaps I have found that, after speaking with you, I am a masochist after all."

Caroline let out an elegant but lively laugh at Drew's stroke of audacity.

"Oh Drew, it sure will be a joy having you here."

Caroline walked Drew over to his room, opened the door, let him in, and then left him alone, so he could acclimate to his new place of sojourn. Drew let his bags down on the ground and sat at the edge of the bed, then he laid his back down and took a deep breath. He reached for the fluffy purple pillow at the top of the bed, he closed his eyes, he stroked the sheets of the same color.

He knew May did not sleep on that bed, perhaps she had never slept on it, under what circumstance would she change the comfort and familiarity of her own bed for the one on the guest room? Either way that was of Drew's preference, as he intuited that he wouldn't have been able to handle sleeping on a bed where he knew May had laid beforehand. He stroke the sheets once more, not likening them to her skin, which would be too perverse, but instead figuring them to be the physical representation of her essence, which, after having spent a distressing amount of time surrounded by, had made him desperate to somehow condense and to hold in his arms as a tangible treasure; and it was a feat he now could consider accomplished.

His next objective, however, would be much more difficult to accomplish. He now had to look at May in the eyes, and the simple thought of it made Drew wish he could stop thinking altogether. He wanted to see May, he needed to see her, but he dreaded having her near him. It was as much a miracle as it was a tragedy that he had gotten such an opportunity to confront his feelings. But it would happen, he didn't have to decide if he wanted to go through with it or not; it had already been decided for him. Drew kept his eyes closed, time was not discernible for him in his state. He then fell asleep, but only after he was able to stop thinking about May.

To be continued…