I hated parties from now on. I didn't want to see the light of day eve if that killed me. There were a hundred and something rooms in that mansion how could they have guessed that I would be in that specific room at that specific time? It was just so planned out it was scary. I had been laying in a hospital bed for ten days because of my parents' paranoia, even having some shrink coming to convince me to talk. Smart move from mom, cause she knows heaven would come down before I ever spoke a word to her about my life.
I was not going to ignore this longer than I already have and I was not going to sit here and do nothing as someone was creeping into my life and I had promised myself I would not fall victim to this ever again. I had lived through that hell once and I had promised myself that I didn't want to get myself into a dangerous situation. I had had it now, I was done with being a puppet in someone else's show.
I had people come to visit me: Mom and dad were a constant visitor. The girls came too everyday after school to update me about class too. The one unexpected visitor was Q. The mystery of whatever went through his mind made me question many things. How old was he and the odd jobs he worked around new york. He was in an art gallery, why? What quality did Kalique see in him to have him around art and trusted so much?
He was in dark jeans and a grey hoodie and an expensive looking oversized t shirt, that didn't make him less hotter than he already was. My heart was racing? I had barely spoken to him, stupid heart. He came in and set the lilac flowers he had gotten for me on the bed side table.
"I didn't expect you to care that I'm here," I said and he gave me a small tip of the side of his mouth and sat on the chair by my bed his forearms resting on the bed.
"I did say that I had something to show you, but you went to a party. Single handedly knowing that stalkers loved crowded places. That's their battle ground, you wouldn't see them coming." He said and I breathed out and rolled me eyes. I knew I had chosen the party but because I was desperate to get away from you creep.
"What was it? What exactly would I have seen that would have changed the course of that night?" I asked and he sighed, his casual exterior turning to one of boredom. I hated...Hated...that look. He was looking at me like I was crazy and exaggerating and it made my anxiety peak again. I hated talking to him.
"Your balcony, V, your balcony. I looked at the drawing again and it seemed to be right smack at the doors of your balcony looking in." My eyes widened. Heart, please stop, imagining it won't make it easier for you.
"Its high up, too high up to be reached. Unless the were from around me, which would be insane because I have known my neighbours for years..."
"Except me."
"Except you Q. How long have you been my neighbour?" My building curiosity had me looking directly into his eyes and I couldn't name what I was seeing. Sadness? Like he was looking at something beautiful? That was my own imagination, someone like him could have a girlfriend already tucked away somewhere. And his gaze didn't waver, it was calling me to listen to what he had to say. They weren't an uncommon color, oak brown. But still it was the way they spoke volumes.
"Since you first moved here, we are just really reserved my parents and I. But they moved out two years ago and left me there to live by myself." He put his head down on his forearms like he would when he was lying on a desk.
"How old are you?"
"You're getting oddly inquisitive V, am I somehow suspect number one you've put in your head?" What the hell? Was it even legal to mirror someone's thoughts so perfectly. "Don't get me wrong V, you just have a very expressive face."
"Age."
"Twenty three."
We sat in silence as those words hang in the air. He must have amazing genes because I would have mistaken him for a high school student. I look at him and bit my lip, I couldn't read him but I noticed his brow furrow as his eyes dropped to my lip.
"You'll hurt yourself." My lips parted letting my already slightly tormented lip free. That was the only time I saw his face carry any other emotion apart from frustration and boredom and I was finding it amusing. My eyes dropped onto his own lips. Full and a beautiful light pink colour. It was apparent that his lover was lucky. Venice, what the fuck, you had your own, Jace.
"I wasn't suspecting you. I have me radar on high alert and I'm uneasy, the bastard is ruining my life slowly. I can take public humiliation but not this....invasion." I say and he exhales through his nose.
"Both can end with the same result...your panic attack." I was going to give him credit for being right for once. I wouldn't have prefered any of them actually, I would have been in the same situation with the same end result.
"Let me tell you something V. You might not like me right now, but there's something called the domino effect. Its a series of events carefully calculated either by a person or...fate. The end results are the same in the end, how the process took place relies solely on circumstance." I didn't like you but every word that came out from your mouth made sense. It made sense to a point that made me question what he really thought of me and life as a whole.
"I know we don't like each other-"
"That feeling isn't mutual, V. I have been finding ever excuse to see you everyday. Don't get me wrong I have been at the cafe doing work for Danny and I have been your neighbour but this must be the most beautiful coincidence I keep finding myself in." He...was he smirking or smiling? And where did that come from? I admit I have been told several ways that I was pretty or sexy or attractive but not being called a....beautiful coincidence. Heart, be at ease.
"I don't know what I can do to prove that I genuinely want to help you. not because Kalique said so, but because I have my own selfish ulterior motives."
"I seriously doubt my safety with you. Ulterior motive?" I wondered which one. Sleep with me? Ask to date him? Because his first impressions wouldn't allow me to properly date him but his face weren't making it any easier to say no if I asked.
"Maybe in the process, you'll come to see that not every choice you make for the thrill of it, is going to impact you in the way you had intended it to." My body physically moves back.
"Are you a philosophy student?" He rolls his eyes and bury his head in his hands and I notice his shoulders shake. Was he laughing?
"My natural born wisdom suddenly has you thinking i'm tied to doing philosophy? Really now V." He continues that dead silent laugh of his. I don't know if I found it funny that his laugh was inaudible or that this situation had escalated quickly.