"Do you like Bryce?"
Hera chuckled and with her fingers, she jabbed the older woman's thighs playfully. "Oh come on, Mariam. Yes, I do like Bryce. I mean, I like him as a friend. Is there any other 'like' apart from that one?"
"Actually, there is," Mariam responded, leaving Hera astounded. "There is another 'like' apart from that one."
"What type of 'like' is there? Back at the convent, we were taught that you can like a person as friends and also as a married couple, but I think the latter should be love and not like." She spoke carefully as though she was trying to remember everything that she had been taught. Deep down she knew that she liked Bryce but she also knew that she liked him as a friend.
Although lately, the strange feeling at the pit of her stomach whenever he is closer to her makes her think otherwise. The feeling cannot be described or simply explained by words.
"Well, you can like a person as friends, but you can also like a person as lovers as well. It's called showing affection which is bigger than the one accorded to people whom we consider our friends."
Hera scrunched her face in confusion. "I don't understand anything, Mariam. Aren't they both one and the same thing?"
Mariam laughed heartily. How is it possible that a woman like her still exists? It baffled her all the damn time. Though she was an adult, she had the mind of a child. It's very cute, but also at the same time, very frightening for someone her age.