Rouge lay awake in her bed. Her best friend (and G.U.N partner) still asleep in the guest room of Rouge's multi-million dollar mansion. She figured since they grew so close, he could move in with her. He didn't have a place to stay anyway. Rouge and Shadow's relationship was strictly professional. They were great friends though. Both cared for each other greatly. When they encountered a situation where danger could be present, they both looked out for each other.
Rouge darted her eyes toward the clock on her wall. "eight thirty," She whispered to herself, as she sat up and put her head in her hands. 'Thank god it's a day off.' Thought Rouge. It seemed to her that she and Shadow don't get enough days to rest from their hard work. She looked around her room as she admired the modern artwork hanging on her walls. She smiled.
Rouge was dressed in a loose t-shirt and pajama pants. She hung her legs off the edge of her bed. She sighed, as she was tired. But she knew that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. It was just what kept happening every morning.
She didn't bother changing into casual clothes at the moment. She figured she'd stay at her mansion for the day and just relax. She thought about shadow joining her. Just watching movies and eating food in front of her large tv together. 'No, we're just friends. Nothing like that.' She thought to herself.
Rouge walked to her beautifully designed kitchen. She loved how it looked. So pretty and modern. Everything looked just like she imagined it would when she dreamt of owning a mansion one day. She smiled as she thought about those days in the past. Twelve year old Rouge, mentally designing her future mansion. She hoped to share it with a handsome, loving husband one day. That would be paradise.
Rouge thought about that as it came to her mind. 'A handsome, loving husband.' She repeated to herself. Her mind quickly went to Shadow. 'No! Our relationship is strictly professional..' She thought to herself. 'Maybe one of these days...Oh what am I thinking. I can't think straight. I need coffee.'
Rouge turned on her coffee machine and watched it as her cup slowly filled. She turned off the machine and turned around, facing the rest of her kitchen. She leaned on the counter behind her as she sipped the coffee. She looked around. Her eyes stopped at a bare wall. 'Well now I remember what I wanted to do last night.' She thought. She put down her cup and grabbed her phone. She started scrolling through beautiful modern artworks. 'Perfect.' She thought. 'Right where I wanted to go.'
Rouge was still leaning against the counter. Her phone in one hand and her cup in the other. She was too intrigued by the paintings in her favorite furniture store to notice that Shadow came into the kitchen. Rouge looked up at the bare wall again only to see Shadow standing there. "Good morning handsome." She said as she placed her cup down on the counter behind her. Shadow yawned and stretched. "Morning." He said. His voice was raspy, making it obvious that he had just woken up. Rouge thought he sounded cuter when he had just woken up. It made her body flood with warmth. Shadow sat at the bar counter, across from where Rouge was leaning against. She walked forward and turned off her phone. She placed it face down on the counter. She placed her elbows on the counter and rested her head in her hands. She looked at Shadow and smiled. "Can I get you anything?" She asked sweetly. Shadow looked at her and shrugged. "I dunno. What did you have?" He asked. Rouge moved a hand from her chin and traced the edges of her phone with her finger. "I wasn't hungry. I had some coffee." She answered. Shadow looked at Rouge's finger tracing her phone. "I'll eat anything as long as it's edible." He said. He looked back at Rouge. Rouge's eyes met his. "I mean we have cereal, we need to go grocery shopping. That's the only thing I can make that has the name breakfast to it." She said. Shadow leaned back in his chair. "Sure." He said as he stretched his arms over his head. Rouge smiled and got up from her leaning pose. She looked through the cabinets to find the cereal.
As Rouge was preparing Shadow's breakfast, he admired her figure. Sure, she had baggy pajama clothes on, but she still caught Shadow's eye.
Rouge turned to face Shadow. He quickly looked to the large windows that reached from the floor to the ceiling. 'Strictly professional.' Shadow thought to himself. He sighed as he crossed his arms on the counter. He then rested his head on his arms. Still looking out the window, Shadow was thinking. 'Damn, am I lucky to have a friend who cares so much about me.'
Rouge placed a deep, square bowl filled with cereal and milk in front of Shadow. He picked his head up as he heard the bowl being placed. He looked at her. "Thanks." He said. "My pleasure. If you want anything else, tell me." Replied Rouge. She walked to the counter opposite the one Shadow was sitting at and she sipped her coffee.
As Shadow was eating, Rouge caught his attention. "Shadow," She said. Shadow, with his mouth full, looked up at her. "I want to go to Ikea today. That bare wall over there bugs me." She said, motioning towards the bare maroon wall on Shadow's left. He finished chewing and looked at the wall. 'Pretty empty.' He thought. He looked back at Rouge. "Ok." He said. He took another spoonful. "Care to come with me? I'm gonna need your help. The boxes there are really heavy. We could also stop at a grocery store on the way back to get food." She said, as she took another sip of her coffee and put it down.
Rouge walked forward and took her phone from the counter Shadow was sitting at. She unlocked it and walked around the bar counter to the side where Shadow was sitting. She put her phone between them and showed him what she was thinking of getting to get rid of the bare look on that wall. "Ok look," Rouge said, scrolling through the different pictures on her phone. "This one looks amazing, but this one matches the house more." Rouge showed shadow two different pictures on the Ikea website. One had a Birdseye-view of New York, and the other was of a black and white image of Paris with color only to the Eiffel Tower.
Shadow thought the New York image was better. But he didn't want to start an argument with Rouge if she thought otherwise. "I mean it's your house so it's your opinion. I like both." He said, trying to not sound offensive. Rouge rolled her eyes. "Our house, Shadow. Im not the only resident living here. And since I decorated most of the house to my liking, i want you to choose this time." Rouge said as she tried to reason with him. "Here," Rouge gave her phone to Shadow. "Look through and see what you like. I'll be back." Said Rouge, heading toward the bathroom.
Shadow finished his plate and held Rouge's phone. He looked it over. The rose gold case matched the actual color of the phone. It looked nice. 'Kinda matches her.' He thought. Shadow smirked. He turned it over so the screen was facing him. He scrolled through the many beautiful photographs Ikea had to show on their website.
He liked many of them. The one that stood out to him was the image of New York. There was just something about it that made it look so nice. 'This one.' He thought.
Rouge came back. She pulled up a stool matching the one Shadow was sitting on. She put it next to his and sat on it. "Find one you liked?" She asked. Shadow was still holding her phone. He scrolled back up to his favorite picture. "I like this one." He said. He brought the phone closer to her so she could see. She took the phone. "I love this one too. Its so pretty right? We gotta visit New York one day." Rouge said dreamily. Shadow smirked. "Yup. And we could get one of those giant pretzels that are everywhere," Said shadow as he slowly got up. "They call 'em New York Pretzels." Said shadow. Rouge giggled. "I'm pretty sure they have a different name, Shadow." "Well it's something around that." Said shadow. "Who knows, you might be right." Rouge replied. "Im gonna take a shower. When are we going?" Asked Shadow. "Whenever we're ready." Said Rouge.