On nights like this, she missed the mountains a lot. In the mountains, the night sky was always full of stars shining bright like diamonds. She couldn't get enough of it. It was usually so full that she couldn't see where it ended and where it started.

“Are you okay?"

Anthony's voice suddenly boomed in the bathroom.

Maria eyes went wide. That wasn't possible!

Maria quickly covered her chest with her hands, clamped her legs together and shrank into the water.

It was only after she hadn't seen any sign of Anthony that she realized he hadn‘t come into the bathroom. His voice must have come through some sort of sound device.

But that was even worse! Did that mean he had installed cameras in the bathroom and had been watching her?

“Don't worry. I only turned on the microphone, not the camera," Anthony said when she didn't answer him. "You've been in there for more than half an hour. I was worried that you had fallen asleep."

After that logical explanation, Maria heaved a sigh of relief.

She slowly let herself out of the bundle she was in as she flushed red, embarrassed for having misunderstood him.

"No... I... I didn't fall asleep. The night is beautiful, so I thought I could stare at the stars a Little. I was so lost that I forgot about time," Maria said in a soft voice.

“Okay.”

Anthony nodded and said, "Then I'll leave you to it. I won't disturb you anymore."

"Wait!"

Maria suddenly called out without meaning to. She didn't want him to stop talking. She found his voice soothing.

"Yes? Do you need anything?" he asked gently.

Maria couldn't see him, but his tone made her feel like he was concerned and ready to help her out, no matter what she needed.

“I... I just thought of something. Well, you see, if I suddenly have a narcolepsy attack and I drown in the bathtub, it would be horrible and we don't want that. I guess what I'm trying to say is... Can you please keep talking to me so that I don't fall asleep?"

Maria finished, a blushing mess. She thanked her stars that he couldn't see her right now.

Recently, her narcolepsy attacks had been weirdly regular. Before noon, she could relapse one time, if not two.