Syndedeménos (Connected)

CHAPTER 14

Finally Keenan knew why Mary was so happy when she was given the food she ate this afternoon. After tasting the curry sauce served by Haylie, Keenan felt nauseous and didn't want to continue eating. Mary, who accompanied Keenan to eat on the side, frowned when she saw Keenan eating.

"Don't you guys feel the taste has gone so bad?"

"Haylie's curry doesn't taste any different than this morning's," Mary replied after taking a new spoon and tasting Keenan's food.

"But this food has almost gone stale and none of you noticed?"

Keenan just sighed when he saw Mary shrugging her shoulders. However, it was useless to discuss with children who were used to eating bad food continuously. In the end the bad food was forced to be eaten and the taste became their standard.

Keenan immediately took the bowl containing the curry sauce to the corner of room and threw the solids into the trash bin one by one. Only Mary knew that in the end Keenan didn't eat the curry that everyone had eaten. All the children were in the bedroom and the adults were washing the cutlery in the bathroom. After being told to follow the other children to bed by Keenan, Mary left Keenan alone in the dining room. Then Keenan got ready to eat only white rice that was still lying on the dining table.

Keenan stopped his dinner when a light was seen shining into the dining room. The light was getting brighter and brighter, but suddenly dimmed when the light source swerved. The light disappeared along with the sound of the engine from the motor being turned off. A sign that another adult was coming on a motorbike and Keenan was ready to watch the entrance.

A figure wearing a navy jacket and just taking off a helmet entered the dining room. Keenan and the figure looked at each other for a while. The figure who had just arrived already knew who was sitting and eating white rice for dinner. Meanwhile, Keenan was still unsure whether the person he was looking at was Aquila or not. Keenan's disbelief was based on an appearance that was far different from his image. Keenan had already imagined a thirty year old woman in sexy clothes and high heels. Even Valencia's appearance was closer to Keenan's imagination than the person in front of him right now.

Keenan's eyes moved to follow the steps of the girl who was getting closer to his position. Neither Keenan nor the person being looked at didn't take their eyes off each other. Each of them waited for the right moment to look away and both of them asked the same thing in their mind: what do you expect from this meeting?

After the distance between Keenan and the girl in front of him was only about one meter, Keenan's disbelief changed. From her cold gaze, confident footsteps, and unreadable movements, Keenan made a new conclusion that the traits he saw had already matched the traits of the person he had been wanting to meet.

"Your name is Aquila?"

"Yes."

Instead of questioning the motive of Keenan's question, Aquila turned her gaze to the backpack that was removed from her shoulder. She took out two black boxes that were familiar to Keenan and placed one of them next to a plate of white rice.

"Your dinner. Looks like I'm late because my motorcycle tire burst on the road."

Aquila's voice didn't sound like someone asking for a response because she didn't mean to start a conversation with Keenan. After placing Keenan's lunch box, Aquila brought another lunch box with her, walked around the dining table and sat directly opposite Keenan.

Like deja vu, Keenan opened the lid of the box and saw a side dish similar to his breakfast. Meat with broccoli vegetables. Keenan smiled sadly. At this time, he was grateful that he could still eat the leftovers from breakfast compared to the food he had thrown away. Usually Keenan was the one who remembers the food that has been served before among the other members of the Aldrich family and if there was food that was not fresh, Keenan would immediately call the officers in the kitchen and question their work.

The current situation has made Keenan not choose to protest. Both Keenan and Aquila ate their dinner quietly without speaking a single word. But Keenan's mind didn't stop to compile his thoughts. Keenan also tried to simulate what actions he would do after this dinner in his mind.

If I ask her first, then this person named Aquila could have just kept quiet and didn't answer my question. She has nothing to lose if he doesn't answer my question.

If I wait for her to ask me. There's a chance I can direct her words and get some information. But maybe she won't ask and I need to just wait indefinitely.

And waiting was as torturous for Keenan as waiting to hear news from Karen. If he followed his ego to make things clear quickly so he would do to Aquila with the same shout to Pygmy: "What do you want?!" But he held his word because it seemed that Aquila was quite able to talk compared to the first person he spoke to when he opened his eyes this morning.

Keenan and Aquila's eyes met again when they both finished drinking mineral water after finishing their meal. Two pairs of light brown eyes stared at each other. Some say that without a sound coming out of the mouth, our eyes can speak. But Keenan couldn't get any signal from there. Then Keenan lowered his eyes and opened the space between his lips.

“You…” The two humans in the dining room let out a muffled voice. Not even a single syllable could be heard clearly from Keenan and Aquila's mouths.

Aquila covered her lips to hold back a laugh. Even the girl was coughing because she was trying her best not to make a sound at all. She raised her hand under her nose and covered her still smile.

Keenan couldn't join in laughing with Aquila. He still felt that there was nothing funny at all while Aquila was still struggling with her efforts to hold back laughter. But Keenan couldn't stop seeing the behavior of the girl in front of him. For some reason Keenan's brain sent signals to his eyes to observe all the details of Aquila's change in expression. Squinted eyes. Her long eyelashes. Lips that extend to the side. And her slender fingers.

After knowing that he noticed something unusual, Keenan shook his head several times. Aquila was drinking mineral water to stop her coughing so she didn't see Keenan's strange behavior. All Aquila knew was a cough that Keenan let out as if telling her to continue the conversation.