It had been three months since the months-long drama caused by my amnesia act and my fiancé Phil’s unbelievable “You were crazy for me” lie. The misunderstandings that had been between us for many years were finally cleared up and we had become a real couple.
Phil and I always met once a week to chat and our days passed by peacefully and calmly, as if we were making up for the past when we hadn’t been able to understand each other. As usual, I dropped by House Lawrenson in the afternoon and the maids immediately led me to Phil’s room. Little Vio the parrot was calmly perched on my shoulder.
“Is the usual milk tea all right for you?” Phil asked me.
“Yes, thank you very much.”
Lately, he’d started pouring tea himself for me. While he prepared everything, we conversed about anything and everything, as well as updated each other on recent developments in our lives.
I was overjoyed that Phil and I could enjoy conversations with each other now. It made the past, when my visits would be marked by an oppressive silence between us, seem so distant. I could never tell Phil this because it would undoubtedly upset him, but our monthly meetings were more painful than anything to me. I used to never want to visit him.
As I reminisced on our past and mentally shed some tears at how far we’d come, I ran my fingers over Little Vio’s soft body as she continued to sit on my shoulder. Her eyes narrowed in pleasure under my ministrations and then she opened her cute, little mouth.
“Viola, I love you!”
“Thank you. I love you too, Little Vio.”
Despite my reply, I knew that Little Vio was simply repeating Phil’s words at me. Little Vio had grown quite fond of me at this point, and I loved her and how talkative she was.
“You really enjoy Vio’s company,” Phil observed.
“LITTLE VIO!!!” Little Vio squawked.
“You...really enjoy Little Vio’s company,” Phil corrected himself.
“Hee hee, I sure do,” I replied.
Little Vio was as strict as ever when it came to enforcing usage of her nickname. I couldn’t suppress my giggles at Phil obediently rewording his sentence to use it.
“I really like Little Vio because of how cute she is, and I’ve always been partial to animals,” I continued.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Dogs are a particular favorite of mine, but my mother’s allergic to them so we can’t keep any in the house...”
Every time my mother made physical contact with a dog, her body would start itching and she would start to sneeze uncontrollably. Though I’ve dreamed of owning a dog since I was a child, it never came to pass.
“I’m not sure if you know this but I also like animals and dogs,” Phil said.
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
I had been under the impression he wasn’t very fond of animals since as far as I could remember he never tried to hold or touch any animal that I would be petting. I said as much to him and Phil covered his mouth with his hand like he was thinking back on something.
“Well, that’s...” he paused briefly, “That’s because I wanted to focus on observing how adorable you looked while enjoying the company of cute little animals,” Phil said in a soft voice. He must’ve been embarrassed to admit it.
“Huh?” My chest grew warm as affection welled up inside me. “Let’s go and play with animals together next time then,” I suggested with a giggle.
“That sounds good.”
I was so unbearably happy at how we could make plans for the future like this as if it wasn’t a big deal. I could also feel my love for him growing stronger as I learned more about him. I watched, half paying attention, as Phil placed leaves in the teapot and poured hot water in it, his motions smooth as if he’d done this many times before. Eventually, I opened my mouth.
“Um, Phil, why are you so good at making tea?”
In truth, I’d been curious about it ever since the night we spent at the hotel together. It wasn’t often that you’d see the eldest son of a duke prepare his own tea. On top of that, he was very good at it and the tea he brewed was always delicious.
On that day, the tea I’d prepared for Phil was basically hot water. Since then, I practiced in secret and was now able to make tea that someone could actually manage to finish.
“I practiced it since you like tea, and I hoped that it would serve as a conversation starter,” Phil said as if it was obvious. He poured some milk into the teacup and picked up the strainer.
I watched the tea and the milk mix together and tilted my head to the side. “Since I like tea?”
“Yes.”
I was happy to hear about Phil’s consideration for me. Of course, I enjoyed delicious tea. But tea itself wasn’t a particular interest of mine. I didn’t recall ever mentioning it either.
“Why do you think I like tea?” I asked, curious. Phil slid a cup of tea before me and after I thanked him, I took a sip from it.
Phil, too, took a teacup and sat down next to me. “You were always drinking tea. I was even worried that you had some sort of infliction.”
I spluttered and spat out my tea at his unexpected explanation, and then hurriedly dabbed at my lips with my handkerchief. My reaction must have frightened Little Vio, because she leapt to sit on Phil’s shoulder as if trying to escape from me.
“Viola, so cute!” she screeched.
Sorry, but I can say for sure that I am not cute right now.
“Er, no...well...that’s...”
“Hmm?”
I wasn’t pounding back tea because I was a fanatic for the stuff. It was due to me wanting something to do with my hands when I could no longer handle the hours of silence that I always had to suffer through when I was with him. It had simply been the result of me drinking down whatever was placed in front of me, rather than a conscious decision.
In retrospect, my refills always appeared before me at a fast pace, and they always prepared a wide variety of tea leaves for me to choose. Perhaps those were all the results of Phil’s attempts at showing consideration. That’s not really what I wanted him to focus on, I thought. I figured that telling him the truth would make him feel bad, so I decided to keep it a secret. Besides, it was also a fact that I liked him a lot more now, when he would prepare tea for us with his own hand.
“The tea you prepare is so good. I like it more than any other teas I’ve had. Thank you for everything.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Phil said after a pause. He looked down as if embarrassed, his long eyelashes casting shadows over his cheeks.
He was as precious today as he always was. As I prayed for these peaceful days to continue forever more, I took another sip of my sweet milk eta.