Restart Again: Volume 1 by Adam Scott (pocket ebook reader TXT) 📕

Closing my eye again, I continued with my guided meditation. “Now, don’t expect any sort of fireworks or major breakthroughs. We’re just practicing our breathing and relaxation techniques, which can help you in all aspects of your life. Keeping a blank mind can be difficult, so make a goal for yourself to stay focused for as long as possible. Every time we practice, it’ll be a little easier.”

I sat in the grass with her for quite a while in silence, enjoying the warm weather and gentle breeze until a distant voice roused us. “Marlia! Lux! Lunch is ready!” Hana called out from somewhere in front of the house. Yawning I stood and stretched my arms above my head, popping my shoulders. I helped Lia up from the ground, and together we made our way around the barn and into the house.

Lunch was a refreshing salad of unfamiliar greens topped with sliced apples, along with toasted bread and asperfruit jam. We sat in the living room and made pleasant conversation until late into the afternoon when Marten returned from the day’s business. Lia took an inventory and marked down some numbers in a ledger while Marten and I unloaded crates and sorted the goods into their proper places. The rest of the day passed in a blur with work leading to dinner, which transitioned into playing cards around the table until the room was lit entirely by lamps and candles. Before I knew it, I was saying goodnight to Lia’s parents.

“Thanks for your help today, Lux,” Marten said as he stood from his seat at the table. “It certainly makes work faster with a second pair of strong hands around.” He kissed Lia on the top of the head and clapped me on the shoulder as he passed us by on his way to the bedroom. “Now, you kids behave yourselves tonight, you hear me?” Before Hana could push him through the doorway and close the door, he shot me a wink.

“Of course, sir,” I laughed, looking to find Lia red and pouting as I expected. Once her parents were closed away in the other room, I stood and looked down at her with my eyebrows raised. “You know, you warned me that he likes to get under people’s skin, but he seems to be best at teasing you.”

She hopped up, rolling her eyes. “Well, he’s my father. Of course he gets on my nerves.” Lia headed out of the living room around the corner, and I followed suit. “He thinks he’s so funny, but it’s just embarrassing.” She suddenly stopped and turned back to look at me with concern on her face. “He didn’t say anything weird while you were loading the crates, did he?”

“No, nothing like yesterday,” I lied casually. In truth, Marten had brought up the topic of Lia and me again at the first possible chance: While we were alone moving cargo. He asked if I had made any decisions, and I told him that Lia wanted to come with me when I left as he had rightly guessed. Although he seemed to expect the answer, he was pensive for a while, but eventually laughed and said it was time she left home with a man. I reminded him that I had made no commitments, to which he just smiled and nodded in response. “We didn’t talk much.”

Looking somewhat relieved, Lia led me to her room and closed the door behind us. I took a seat on the wooden chair to pull off my boots while Lia changed into her nightgown. As she went to pull her dress over her head she stopped and recoiled in pain, letting out a weak moan; her arms had barely raised above shoulder level before the workout from earlier in the day took its revenge. Pitifully she turned and looked to me, giving her arms a gentle flop at her side. “Help,” she half laughed, half whimpered.

I didn’t laugh, but I couldn’t stop a small grin from spreading across my face. “I suppose it is my fault, isn’t it?” I hesitated once I crossed the room to where she stood. “What exactly would you like me to do?”

“I think I can get my arms up straight, so just...pull the dress up over my head. Please.” Lia blushed, staring directly into my chest, well away from any eye contact.

Don’t be weird. Just do it. “Right. Sure.” Lia slowly raised her arms, laughing at her infirmity. Once she had both arms high enough with her forearms resting against the front of my shoulders for support, I gently hooked my fingers under the shoulder straps of the dress and pulled them up. I carefully bunched up the fabric and did my best to get her arms out without jostling her too much. Once she finally slid out of it I took a few steps back and handed her the balled up dress, making direct eye contact to avoid ogling her in her underwear. “I trust you can get into your clothes by yourself?”

She nodded quickly, turning away to hide her face. I chuckled, trying my best to relieve the intense awkwardness, and returned to my seat at the base of the bed. Lia wormed her way into her sleeping clothes, albeit in a much more involved manner than usual, and half lay, half fell onto her mattress. Crawling to the edge she propped herself up on her elbows and stared at me. I waited for a while in expectant silence, but she continued to quietly look me up and down. “Can I...help you with something?”

“I’m just thinking of what to ask you,” She said casually, absentmindedly kicking her feet back and forth as a devious smirk came to her face. “Don’t think you’ve gotten out of that after one night. I have a lot more things I want to know.”

“Like I said, I’m an open book.” I leaned back in the chair and kicked my