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“You stared at the flames like an idiot. You had nothing handled.” His tone let me know that that was the end of our conversation, but no man was ever going to talk down to me and call me an idiot all in one sentence. I refused to be talked to like that!
“No, you thought you were some hero and proceeded to break my door. I had it handled, better than that—” I choked as I struggled to find something offensive to say, and my eyes landed on his compression shirt. “—shirt you’re wearing that’s choking you.”
Hot damn, he is too fine!
He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, and I swallowed a moan. How was he able to make such a normal action look so attractive?
We stood in the elevator in silence as it descended, and I chewed the inside of my cheek as I watched the numbers change. The silence was supposed to calm me down, but instead all it did was further piss me off.
“Why are you trying to get me kicked out?” I broke the silence, and this time, he stared at me from the corner of his eyes before facing me fully. I motioned with my finger, drawing circles in the air as I said, “Some of the neighbors told me about the petition you have circulating around the building.”
Why did I feel the need to explain all of my statements to him? I owed him no explanation nor any validation, but the way he was so quiet, it felt awkward not to validate everything I said.
“Do you think you don’t deserve to get kicked out?” I pulled my eyebrows together as I opened my mouth, but only a scoff left my lips. “You’re careless. You’re an endangerment to everyone in this building.”
The sound of the elevator doors opening and him stepping out of the elevator finally let me find my voice.
“It was a mistake! I didn’t mean to burn a box of papers; stop acting like I had it all planned out to spite you!” Once again, my approach to get him to stop his madness was met with silence, and I so wanted to kick his broad back as I followed behind him.
“Say something!” I gritted out, frustrated by his silence, but my need to get a response felt like I was begging for his attention, and I hated it!
We were on the streets, and here I was arguing with a man, gaining the attention of the passersby. Oh no, the girls are going to think I’m begging him to be with me.
He raised his eyebrows and scoffed lightly. He was so frustrating! And still, in my frustration, I found him attractive; just like the group of women who stopped walking just to gawk at him and giggle among each other.
If they only knew how shitty he was, they wouldn’t be giggling!
“You know what, mister? You are rude and unbearable. We just met, and you have already managed to make me hate you!” I enunciated every word in anger, and that finally got him to stop in his tracks.
His shoulders shook, and at every bounce it looked forced as his humorless chuckle left his lips. He turned around and pointed a finger at me as he squinted his eyes, slowly approaching me, and I stood my ground.
Oh, I could just melt right now.
Here we were, a few meters away from our apartment building, the morning sunlight warm against our bodies as we expressed our distaste for each other.
“For once, we agree on something. I feel the exact same way about you. You are careless and irresponsible, and you won’t even take accountability for that. At least I am willing to admit that I am trying to get you kicked out of the building; I will own up to it proudly.”
His words were harsh, and he was right. I wasn’t willing to take accountability for my actions.
He pulled on his cap that he had been holding for a while, his disdainful expression showed just how much he meant every word, and he had no intention of taking it back.
“Prick,” I whispered as I clutched my tote bag tightly and stormed past him as I tried to push my tears back and pretend his words hadn’t hurt me. It wasn’t even what he had said, but the indifference and cockiness in his tone made me feel like a failure.
It was all my fault.
I shook my head, refusing to cry over something my terrible neighbor had said. He held no value in my life, and what he said shouldn’t ruin the rest of my day. I took a deep breath in and checked for cars before I crossed the street as I neared my job. I noticed him following closely behind me, and my heartbeat quickened as he crossed the street, as well.
What the hell? Does he still want to argue?
I turned left around the corner, and the smell of coffee and baked goods wafted through my nose, causing my stomach to grumble in response. I was hungry. As I passed the cafe, I looked slightly behind me, and there he was, his cap covering half of his face, while his hands were shoved inside the pockets of his sweatpants.
No, he wasn’t following me. I was being paranoid. I swallowed hard and quickened my pace, realizing that my workplace was close by, he would pass the building, and I would be safe. My heart beat quickly as I stumbled on my path, apologizing to some of the passersby as I maneuvered my way around them.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Was my new neighbor some kind of psychopath? Just one more street to cross, I reminded myself as I saw the center I worked at. It was difficult to remain calm when a crazy man was following right behind me. When he crossed the street after me, I ran toward the opened glass doors at the center and threw my tote bag on the floor.
I had one foot inside the center and one outside as I pointed my finger at my neighbor. I felt safe since I was at work, and I knew my colleagues had my back if anything were to happen during a confrontation with my stalker neighbor. “Look! If you wanted an apology, you could’ve just said so,” I yelled at him, and he halted as he stared at me silently. “You don’t have to follow me. I’m sorry, okay!”
“Brooke? Is everything okay?” one of my colleagues asked as he approached me and stood beside me, watching my stalker neighbor.
