At that same moment, she took my hand. I looked at her – genuine concern was now showing on her little face.
"Well, enough with this room already, you're not going to try and find every speck of dust, are you?" she asked with some anxiety, apparently afraid I'd find something else to pick on and start criticizing her.
I smiled, shrugged, and let her lead me on.
Anyway, I was in an excellent mood – no pain, a beauty nearby, and no worries in the near future.
Entering the kitchen, I took in the view.
"This is where I cook, it shouldn't be too different from the game, but you can look around," she said sweetly, smiling shyly. It seemed she was wondering if she'd forgotten to tidy something away that might embarrass her.
This made me smile even wider.
She's very cute, honestly. And this naturalness of hers was endearing.
The kitchen really looked almost the same as in the game, only not a two-dimensional image, but a real view.
The room was bright and neat, but seemed almost fairytale-like.
Not in the sense that it was unreal, but, how should I put it... cozy.
Light, with warm yellows, soft pinks, and touches of blue and silver. The walls were decorated with a thin pattern of vertical stripes in pale yellow and dark pink. Everything was chosen tastefully.
The left side of the kitchen had a window with a light pink semi-transparent curtain. Wooden kitchen cabinets with a white countertop stood near the entrance to the room, with a bowl of small apples on the countertop. Continuing past them was another piece of furniture, this one with two drawers. In front of this setup stood a light green trash can.
To the right of this whole setup was a light blue retro-style refrigerator. It looked like something out of an old magazine – I'd like to say, but I had a similar one in my apartment, only white and rusty, and one door only closed thanks to black electrical tape.
Magnets were stuck on it, forming the phrase "Love?".
Very cute, though it's a shame I didn't manage to buy her a new refrigerator, taller, silver-colored, and with better capacity.
Ah, well, never mind.
To the right of the refrigerator, starting right from the corner, was the kitchen counter unit with wooden cabinets. A couple on the wall, a couple below, a sink, a stove, and a huge range hood.
Everything was exactly where it needed to be.
Also on the countertops were dish soap, a vase with a small flower, a knife block, and a retro-style microwave (yes, yes, didn't upgrade that either). On the stove stood the usual stainless steel kettle.
I tore myself away from contemplating all this splendor and turned to Mita.
She was silently watching me with a smile, sipping a small juice box with a straw.
When did she even grab that...
"Mita."
"Hm?" she responded.
"What do you want me to upgrade for you here?" I asked, gesturing expansively around the kitchen. "The fridge? The microwave? What do you say?"
The girl put the juice behind her back, clasping her hands there.
"I don't need anything. Just stay with me," she smiled naturally, as if my attention was more important than all those things.
On the opposite side stood a large kitchen table covered with a pink tablecloth with white circular speckles, pushed-in wooden chairs, and... my gaze caught on an unnatural and very noticeable thing here.
I walked forward, making her step aside, and soon touched what I had noticed earlier.
A big coffin-like thing – a tube TV!
"Why do you need a second one? And it's so old..." I said, almost gently stroking the antique.
Mita, however, not the least bit embarrassed, answered…
"I need it."
Seeing that her explanations weren't satisfying me, she came closer and added.
"For beauty! It decorates the kitchen, gives it a special charm," she hugged the television as if it were a close friend.
My eyebrows knitted together. Why?
"And it works!" she added, as if that changed anything.
I was still not convinced. Why is it here?
She smiled even wider, seeing my confusion.
"And I can't create another one like it. So it's unique, there."
"So that's it... you should have just said so."
I looked at the television again.
So, you cherish something you can't obtain? Something unique?
"You know, I understand you," I said with a sigh, lost in memories.
"Huh?" she raised her eyebrows questioningly, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"I have something like that too. At home, I have these headphones, very old, probably seven years old now, for my phone."
"And what about them?"
"I bought them with the money from my first crappy part-time job, they've long since become quiet, I've taped them up a couple of times because of torn insulation, and I can't really listen to them anymore. They don't sell the same ones anymore, and yet throwing these old ones out… I just can't, that's all," I said, assuming she felt similar nostalgia for this TV, and then continued. "But headphones are small – trivial, while this is huge junk."
She smiled warmly at me, as if she understood, but the smile still seemed slightly strained, as if she had something on her mind, but... she wasn't going to share it with me, of course.
"I don't cherish it quite that much, of course," she patted the TV lightly. "But it's mine. And I like it," a mischievous, almost crazed spark flashed in her eyes.
And again that sparkling smile that almost blinded me. No, seriously, how am I supposed to go back to the previous grayness, where something like this is such a rarity? With every moment spent with her, I wanted to return to the real world less and less.
"Eh, do as you please," I gestured, continuing my inspection of the room with a sigh.
Under the TV lay an ornate doily and stood a small nightstand; nearby was a chest of drawers, and parallel to it, another one at the other end of the room. Everything was cluttered with various knick-knacks: statuettes, photographs, little vases.
The lamp hung strangely low, which, I suppose, would be very inconvenient for lighting… I should fix that later, I thought, trying on the role of master of this house.
Frames, lamp, vases, pots with plants… even a teddy bear, how lovely.
I glanced furtively at Mita, who was nervously scanning her kitchen, as if still worried I might find something to embarrass her.
And was she glancing... towards the oven?
Okay, I won't embarrass her and peek in there. Not now.
My gaze soon landed on another bookshelf. There were slightly fewer books here than in the living room, and… and again, strange books.
"Fool – Recipe guide", maybe it's like a cookbook for dummies… huh?
"Bibu on a knife"? I asked questioningly, slightly surprised by the book title and raising an eyebrow.
Almost all the books here were related to cooking, but this one seemed terribly out of place with the rest. As if someone had accidentally stuck a book from a completely different universe here.
Mita broke off from what she was doing, turned her head towards me, tilted it to the side, looked where I was pointing, and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha… comedy! It's just a comedy, ha-ha," she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to suppress her laughter. "God, you should see your face right now! You look like a frightened white cat!"
I nodded, trying to understand what was so funny.
It seems the author of this book has a very specific sense of humor to come up with a title like that.