"What is love? What is love if it isn't the warmth you get when you see your lover?
It is the urge of being close, to feel and assure that the other person is right beside you, love is when you know that everything is real but you still feel like in a dream. What is love if it isn't adventuring into a world full of discoveries?"
Ivan listened closely, the actor delivering the lines was very emotional, trying to convince his girlfriend of not leaving him.
Katya's eyes were glued to the screen, watching a romantic movie with his sister wasn't how he had imagined his vacation would be.
He wasn't complaining, but he didn't agree with the movie either.
What the actor described was not realistic to him, for Ivan, love was growing accustomed to the company of another person, it was when you'd share a silent routine.
These past few days he'd realized that he had, in fact, loved Tolys. Every morning, Ivan had to go through the short process of making coffee for himself, only to be dissatisfied as it didn't taste as the one the brunette used to make.
Love, he thought, was acknowledging those small details. Not sharing a long discourse about feelings when there was nothing left of that love between a couple.
When the credits rolled, Katya stretched herself, her eyes were bright, matching the smile she wore. "I like this movie so much"
Ivan returned the smile, this was love too, sometimes he seemed to forget it, but for the moment, he relinquished in Katya's explanation, her highlights about the cheesy scenes and the happy ending.
If he had ever loved someone in his life, that person would be Katya, and Natalya, it was easy to dismiss the affectionate acts that they had done, because they were constant, he could always come to them, though, distance had made the small details evident.
"Francis is so talented, there is always a bit of himself in every character he depicts." Katya's cheerfulness was criticized by a small meowl coming from her lap, a sign that Boris' cozyness was disturbed by her movements.
Placing the grumpy cat aside, she stood up. "We are going to eat out, Sadik recommended this restaurant, he said the food was an otherworldly experience. Whatever that means, I hope is good."
"Good, who's Sadik?"
The question left his mouth without much thinking, he was confused at first, honestly asking because he didn't know who the person was, but Katya's sudden fidgeting and rummaging through the living room gave off the fact that she was somewhat flustered.
She was "arranging" the curtains, turning his back on him, after a long sigh she answered. "A friend."
An amused smile grew on Ivan's face, he kept silent.
She huffed. "Don't make that face"
"I am not making any face."
She opened the door, furrowing her brows. "Yes you are. You make that face as if you knew something, but you don't because there is nothing to know."
Ivan chuckled, taking his coat and stepping out. "My face is like that, I'm sorry, I asked because you never mentioned him before."
Katya stayed silent, fumbling with her keys, she sighed, meeting his gaze. "A friend."
Ivan hummed.
"A friend that I like" she huffed, turning on her heel and walking hurriedly away.
"I knew it." He laughed, trying to follow her. "Is this friend of yours going to be there? I don't want to be a third wheel."
She huffed, her cheeks growing red. "Yes but don't worry, there's more people."
Ivan frowned. "More?"
She looked up at him and smiled. "I know but if I had told you, you'd refuse. I understand that you get uncomfortable with people you don't know but it's not like that, Lien, Yao and Arthur will be there."
Ivan slowered his steps. "I don't know,"
Katya snickered, taking his arm and ushering him to hurry. "You have no choice."
After some useless whining from Ivan, he decided to give up. When his sister acted like this she was unstoppable. It was thanks to her that he had become friends with Alfred. Perhaps this could end up with a positive outcome too.
Katya led him to a small restaurant, from afar the facade seemed white, adorned with green leaves that framed the outlines of the building.
A group of people was there too, they were chatting by the entrance.
As they got closer, Ivan recognized Arthur, Yao and Lien, he turned to Katya, an unwary look on his face. "I don't know if I want to have lunch with my literature teacher."
Katya laughed. "He's not your teacher anymore."
Unfazed, she greeted them loudly. "Did Sadik recommend the restaurant to you too?"
Arthur stared at him intently, muttering something to Yao.
They looked at each other, Yao chuckling. "Of course he'd recommend it, the food is excellent."
Lien waved her hand, she made a beeline to them. "I haven't seen you in years." Her voice carried a slight disappointment, but her face was serene.
Ivan turned to his sister, silently asking her for help. To his dismay, Katya crossed her arms giving him a disapproving look.
He shifted on his feet, "I'm sorry-"
She shook her head, "It's ok, I get caught up with work too, I didn't talk with anyone until my project was finished, but it was time for you to see my restaurant."
Ivan nodded, glancing around. "It 's beautiful."
She nodded, a small smile formed on her lips.
The place was small, a bit uncomfortable for tall people like him, apart from that, he found the restaurant to be cute, "aesthetically pleasing" was what Natalya would have said. The rustic furniture made from wood was equilibrated with a variety of floral arrangements and soft colors.
Ivan walked flusteredly behind Lien, wondering why they were friendly towards him. He didn't talk with her anymore and Yao had probably pitied him for being so clumsy the day before.
They sat at a large table, a waitress taking their order and leaving hastily.
A tall man approached them, greeting everyone and sitting next to Katya. "You must be Ivan." he said.
Ivan nodded, "Sadik?" he felt Katya elbowed him before he added. "Nice to meet you."
The man laughed, stretching out his hand and shaking it. "They have described you well,"
"They?"
Arthur fumbled with a napkin. "Alfred talks a lot about you."
Ivan furrowed his eyebrows, "Alfred?"
"We meet every Friday, for our gourmet club, we make the food and he eats." Yao explained.
Not wanting to fall into silence, Ivan asked. "You all come each friday?"
Sadik laughed, "Not all, Arthur is banned from the club since he almost burns my kitchen"
"It was only once," Arthur whined. "And it didn't burn, I told you I was better at baking."
As Ivan watched them laugh and talk, a slight warmth enveloped him, the familiarity and cheerfulness of their attitude was infectious.
He observed quietly, the food was served, but they kept on talking, teasing Arthur and joking.
A smile graced Ivan's face as he finished his food, Sadik had been right, it was delicious and the company had made it better. He was sure to miss this when he came back to work.
Yao's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "How's the plant doing? Did you water it?"
Being addressed directly took him out of guard, the others were focused on him, expecting his answer, he took a sip of tea to mask his nervousness, nodding slightly.
Arthur glared at him, "So, you ruined Petter's plant."
Ivan fidgeted with his hands, not knowing what to answer, it was embarrassing enough the day before.
Yao laughed. "You have no saying in this, Arthur. You killed his plant too. Ivan will replace it, right?"
He nodded quickly, the warmth feeling that engulfed him had settled on his face.
Why was he shy out of nowhere? in the office he had to talk to a lot of people, he was one of the few who spoke with Ludwig without fearing him, but here he was afraid, he wanted to make a good impression but why? These people knew him, yet he found himself almost muttering his words.
He wasn't sure if he was flustered or if it was the tea's doing, but he was certainly blushing.
The last time he felt this vulnerable was when he talked with Alfred, it was a bit uncomfortable, but it wasn't unbearable, it was certainly a feeling he could get used to instead of secluding himself with his cat, not that Boris' company was bad but it wasn't fulfilling.
Here, he didn't feel lonely, here, he had some friends or at least acquaintances,
Ivan reminded the words from earlier, "What is love if it isn't adventuring into a world full of discoveries?" Those were the words that the actor had said in the movie.
This wasn't love Ivan thought, but he found himself yearning for those new experiences, and if he was lucky, and sociable enough, he wouldn't have to go that far to find friends to share those experiences with.