Anise catches her curly blond hair in a hurry and pulls a dress on her silhouette. She struggles to tighten as her chest reminds her that the dress is not her size up there. If only there had been a dress that wasn't tight around her chest! Maybe just in her dreams.
She looks in her mirror and pulls a strand of hair from the bun.
"That's what was missing …good!" She smiles and looks again at her floral dress. Along her face, a curly strand of hair gives the impression that she is a little wild today, although the dress makes her look elegant as it wraps around her, not in a wild manner.
The clock on the wall hits 06:00.
This is the hour that Ilona would usually prepare the breakfast, but today Anise will take her place and cook for the guest.
Last night she couldn't find many things about Leo as the boy kept his life stories pretty short and not a single detail said by him was helping her unpuzzle the boy. She concluded that maybe he was introverted.
Now, with silent footsteps, she puts some wood in the fireplace to start the fire. She planned to make an omelet with some bread.
Above the fireplace is an oven-like space. She would take the lid off and put the bread inside and in an hour or less the bread would come out crispy and ready to be eaten, of course later. But who was not eating the bread hot, didn't know how good it was. Even though Ilona told her every time to not eat hot bread, in the end, both of them would eat as they were blowing the steam off.
Anise smiles and breaks three eggs in the oil that boils fiercely. Her thoughts are filled with the boy who seemed to be very funny in her eyes. Not only he was unmannered to some extent, but he was also blunt and flirtatious. Nothing like her boy classmates. Entertaining she would say if it was a word that described Leo from her perspective.
The way the boy started to munch on the cookies straight as he arrived and the way his facial expressions were very free from any restrain thought in school, makes Anise think that maybe she will have a good time with him. Ilona knew who to send…Anise knows that her sister trusts this boy, so she will trust him too.
The eggs are put on plates and now she can prepare the bread. Near the window is a shelf on which they have a flour bag. She puts some of that flour in a bowl and then puts the bag back on the shelf. The girl adds some salt and mixes it with the flour using a wooden spoon.
Anise makes a hole in the middle of the flour by directing it towards the edges of the bowl. She then takes some warm water and mixes it with the yeast she takes from a lower shelf. As the water becomes brown from the yeast, Anise knows is time to put it in the middle of the flour.
Just as she crosses the kitchen to put the mixed water in the bowl with flour that was on the table, Leo barges out of his room.
"Yawn!" Opening his mouth wide his arms rise as he stretches his back. A crack is heard but he ignores it. Smelling the omelet that was already on the plates he steps towards it as if he was lead by the nose.
Anise stops and turns towards him. The boy is having some pants on him and his upper body is revealed through an invisible cloth.
She is covering her eyes with one hand as she still has the cup with water in her other hand. Staying stiff in one place, she follows with one eye the boy who is directed towards the table. But as she realizes that he is directed towards the omelet she runs before him and careful with the cup she cuts his way putting herself in front of him.
Her face is at the level of his chest and she lifts her head to look him in the eye. As her hands are wide open she talks in an interrupted voice.
"You can't …eat! I need to make …the bread too. Go back to ..sleep …" She heats up as the boy lowers his face and just few centimeters keep their noses apart.
Leo scratches his head and opens his eyes better since he was half asleep. In front of him …is a girl. A girl dressed prettily having her chest exposed as the fabric molded after them.
He takes a few steps back. Not because of what the girl said but by not being tempted to touch her body. 'How is she having those breasts?... Why Ilona is ….is having everything but that….?  'His thoughts are messed up by his observations.
"I will go …call me …I mean no. I will wait …. Can I sit?" He reconsiders his choice of leaving as his eyes are still on the attire she is wearing. 'Her hair is not bad either…. ', he concludes.
"Promise to not touch the food!" Anise is frowning and looks him in the eyes trying to not look lower than his shoulders.
"I promise!" Leo raises his hands in defeat and a giggle is almost escaping his mouth. The girl looked funny as she was not looking serious at all frowning. Her face was cute no matter the expression she made.
"Also …" Anise blushes, and continues, "Do you want me to lend you a shirt?" The girl looks ready to go and fetch a shirt in a second if the boy agrees.
"Hahahaha! …. Hahaha! "Leo bends down as the more he looks at the girl the harder is for him to stop laughing.
She smiles not knowing what she said that makes him crack up like this.
Leo comes closer and takes the cup of water off her hand and places it on the table. "Let's go! "He stretches his hand showing the girl to lead the way.
Anise is puzzled. "Where?"
Leo smiles and says in a joking tone, "To your room my lady! "He cracks up again as he sees Anise red up.
'It will be hard to stop teasing her ….' He makes a mental note.
The poor girl is finally catching up and says in a hurry as she leads the way to her room, "Come …"
The corridor has two rooms and a bath that is at the end of it. On the right side is Anise's room. She opens the door and invites him inside.
Leo walks behind her and when she opens the door, he feels that Anise lives on a different planet. Pictures are covering her walls …nature pictures as well as animal pictures drawn with precision. Flowers in pots are placed in a row along the window and some are put on the shelves above the bed. The table is full of books and some pens are placed in order on top of a notebook. And the floor is covered with a wool carpet, soft at the touch.
Leo feels relaxed as he smells the fresh air coming from the window and steps on the carpet as he looks around the room. His eyes spot a flower he is familiar with.
Anise takes from her closet a shirt and places it on the bed. She approaches the boy who is squatted down frowning.
"I think you know the meaning of the flower." Anise stands next to him and looks down at the boy who stands up.
"Why are you having a red poppy between all these lively flowers? They symbolize the red blood of the soldiers that died in war …..you should take the flower to a grave." Leo looks at her but she seems unwilling to do what he just proposed.
"I would like to be reminded every day, that peace has a price. These poppies also remind me of my grandma …. I don't wish to forget her." Anise turns to take the shirt from the bed and hands it to the boy.
"Here it is …I will go make the bread …." She leaves the room letting Leo analyze what she just said.
'Deep words for such a pretty face …. she indeed is Ilona's sister …' Leo scratches his head and takes the shirt on him.
As he was still thinking, he did the buttons of the shirt. Leo flexes down a little to smell the poppies.
Crack!
The shirt is R.I.P.
His back is naked and he sighs. 'I have to hide this shirt …else Anise will give me another one ….'