With my hands shaky, my breathing ragged, my palms clammy, my hair drenched with sweat, and eyes tired and strained, I tried my best to coordinate my hands and eyes enough to insert the key into my front door's keyhole. Once I managed to open the door, I dragged my feet to bring me inside. Locking the door behind me, I continued to drag myself to the sofa. I dropped on the sofa, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.
It has always been like this every Friday - hectic. Maybe it was a way for people to treat themselves for surviving yet another week in work and that the next day they need not to wake up early and force themselves to go to work. We don't get individuals who go by themselves, we get groups. Throngs of people! They line up outside the establishment despite the fact that they can enter around 45 minutes later. The workplace would be heated and everyone would be agitated. Curse words and orders would fill the air. After getting absolutely drained in work, getting back from work was a delight. My best bet would be to use the subway although people would be rushing in and out the train cart and they wouldn't mind if they bumped you. Nope, they wouldn't mind at all. The buses would be full with people who are dying to get home and traffic would be heavy.
I jerked awake. Looked like I dozed off for a moment there. I scoped my apartment for a moment. It was small but it was enough for me. By enough for me, I meant it was all my budget could get. I stand by my earlier statement though. My apartment was fine. It had all I needed. My favorite part of my unit was definitely the kitchen. I installed a wine rack, a small window sill garden, a long magnet on the wall for my knives, and the installment where you can hang pots and pans. I bought a bigger fridge and a new stove with a decent oven too. Forget having to sleep on a bed on the floor for a couple months, my kitchen always came first.
Reluctantly getting off the sofa, I forced myself to go take a shower. I peeled off my clothes and jumped into a shower. The warm water was relaxing. I could just stay under the shower until all the hot water runs out. It felt amazing - the hot water droplets hitting you back, making your muscles less tense. I was shampooing my hair when I heard a loud thud, as if a door was pushed close too forcefully. Then a set of keys were rattling before being thrown on a dish. There was a sigh. These paper thin walls make it easy to know whether my neighbors were home or not and it looks like 9C is home. Ever since I moved in into this building, 9C has always made me...blush.
Long blonde hair that curled like a princess's. Gray eyes that would look at you pointedly. Athletic physique. Tall. Hear me out! She wasn't only attractive, I wouldn't only want to compartmentalize her in the category of just being pretty, she was an amazing person: smart, kind, funny, charming, and all the other adjectives that you would use to describe a dream. Don't even get me started when she would smile. As cliche as it may sound, it's like the world would stop and you can't focus on anything but how her smile may you feel - warm, fuzzy, reassured, tingly, and safe.
The first time I saw her was when I was moving in. I brought up my boxes and started unpacking. I had the day off and it was a lazy afternoon. With the door left open since I had too much boxes and I haven't put them away efficiently, I was bending over a box. I wasn't wearing a shirt since the summer heat made my sweat drench whatever shirt I wore.
"Oops." I heard a small female voice say by the door.
I looked up and just barely saw a glimpse of a lock of blonde hair. I heard someone move with their footfalls quick against the floor of the hallway. They frantically opened their front door and immediately closed it. I just shrugged it off.
Aside from unpacking my things, I wanted to install certain furniture especially the ones in the kitchen. I started driving a nail into the cement wall to make drilling easier later. After drilling one hole, there was a knock on my door.
"Hello? 9B?" Someone called out.
I unplugged the portable hand drill and poked my head out of the kitchen to see who it was. It was as if my eyes zeroed in on her. Her hair was tied into a messy bun and she wore an old shirt and shorts. She stayed out in the hall and tiptoed to see if there was anyone home.
I walked towards the door and smiled. "Hi, may I help you?"
"I know you're new here so I'll brief you just like everyone who moved in here or was already living here." She said, showing authority. "I need you to keep it down because not everyone wants to have someone pounding against their wall, not everyone wants to go over to their neighbors to keep it down, and not everyone wants their neighbor to go to them to tell them to keep it down. So if you keep it down, everyone is happy." She smiled.
"I get you." Taken aback by her tirade. "But you have to understand that I just moved in and I'm installing some furniture. I do believe that it is still a rather reasonable time to be doing the installation." I smiled back.
"I understand that. I'm just telling you as early as now to keep it down or we'll have a problem." She smiled sweetly at me.
"Alright. Noted."
She flashed me another smile before walking back to her unit.
I leaned on the door frame and watched her, "Hey," I called after her, "I didn't get your name."
"9C." She said without even looking back and went back to her unit.
It was a lasting first impression, I tell you. Whenever I would see her or bump into her, I'd just smiled at her but dared not to strike a conversation with her.
The next time I spoke with her was that one time I was in the lobby. I was checking my mail in the mail lockers when I heard her voice as she entered the building.
"No, you can't argue that in the debate. That's definitely not the context of the debate!"
Her voice became louder and louder and before I know it, she was standing beside me. She unlocked her mail locker and got her mail. Keeping her phone in between her ear and her shoulder, she checked her mail and continued talking. It seemed like she talking about a very serious matter but it turns out she's just debating with a friend over the phone over something I didn't quite get.
She browsed her mail and flashed me that charming smile of hers. I felt my cheeks heat up as I tried my best to smile back at her. I quickly re-read my mail again.
"You know what you can argue though, the principles of the criminal justice system." She locked her locker and quickly raised her eyebrows at me as a way of acknowledging me before heading up.
You can hear her voice echo as she climbed up the stairs, "Yes. Yes! You read my mind. Yes!"
I shook my head and continued with my business.
The third time which is the one I'm most fond of was when we were heading up to our units at the same time.
I was walking to the building, tired from work, and I saw her, coming from the opposite way. I smiled and waved at her while she did the same. I opened the door for her and elicited another smile from her.
"So," I started as we climbed up the stairs, "I made sure that I haven't been making unreasonable noises."
She chuckled, "That's good to know. You're doing everyone in the building a favor."
I smiled, "So how's work?"
She let out a sigh, "Tiring. I think I haven't gotten any decent sleep for this month. I can't even get a couple minutes of alone time in the coffee room without some nurse looking for me or calling my name through the intercom."
I could only imagine how her work was treating her.
"There was one time I was asleep with my eyes open when a nurse was briefing me what the patient's complications are. Oh, that was embarrassing." She laughed.
I laughed along with her. I took at good look at her and noticed how tired her eyes looked. Whenever she would smile or laugh, her eyebags would reveal themselves. Her hair was tied into a messy ponytail and underneath her coat were clothes that I think I saw her wearing when she left the building days ago.
"Wait, are you wearing a lab coat?" I pointed out.
She looked at what she was wearing and laughed, "Oh will you look at that. At least I'm not wearing those surgical scrubs and mask. That would've been worse." She glanced at me. "How about you? Being promoted to head chef any time soon?"
"I - how did you know I was a chef?" My eyes widened.
"Your scars tell me so." She smirked. "And whenever you cook, it's like everyone in the building is drawn to your unit."
I was about to drop some flirty line like "You can always come over every time I cook" but her phone rang. She gave me a sheepish smile before answering her phone. I tried to listen in on her conversation but medical jargons and chemicals started to be the only words that came out of her mouth. When we got to our floor, she gave me another sheepish smile before heading to her unit and entering.
Cold water made me jump. I turned off the shower and started to get ready for bed. Since a wall was the only thing separating my room and her unit, I could hear her as I got dressed.
"'Daydreamer with eyes that make you melt. He lends his coat for shelter. Plus he's there for you when he shouldn't be but he stays all the same. Waits for you then sees you through.'" Someone sang.
I smiled and changed my pajama bottoms for loose jeans. Pocketing my keys, I grabbed my favorite aged wine and made my way out. Making sure my breath was minty fresh, I knocked on 9C's door.
She opened the door and poked her head out, "May I help you, 9B?"
"I was wondering if you wanted some company." I smiled. "I have wine."
She smiled back and retracted her head before closing the door to remove the chain lock. She opened the door and held her hand out to gesture me to come in.
"Welcome to my humble abode." She said as she closed the door behind her. "If you'll excuse me, I'll just wear something more appropriate."
I noticed that she was wearing a short charmeuse nightgown. Her hair wasn't tied and naturally curled until her shoulder blades. She made her way to her room. While she was away, I scoped her unit. It was just an exact copy of my unit but she had numerous bookshelves. Aside from her the books jammed into her bookshelves, there were others that were on and under the coffee table. She has a television and a vinyl player that was currently playing Adele's album 19. Her kitchen looked bare and rarely stepped on. I sat on her couch and heard her closet door closing. She came out wearing a sweater over her nightgown.
"You have a lot of books." I noted.
"Nothing beats a well read individual." She smiled and got the wine bottle which I placed on top of her coffee table. She went to her kitchen and readied a bucket full of ice for the wine.
"I never knew that you liked Adele." I said as I made my way to the kitchen as well.
"Oh yeah, who wouldn't like her?" She made a face.
"Here, let me get that." I offered and refilled her ice cube tray with water. I slowly made my way to her fridge as she jokingly taunted me with every step I took.
"I have every vinyl she has." She said, proud.
"I heard vinyls sound better."
"Hmm," She cocked her head, "I suppose."
"The music sounds more in depth." I suggested.
She nodded and gestured for us to go to the living room. I carried the bucket with the wine.
"I noticed that Adele's not as melancholic as her two albums." I said as I gently placed the bucket on the coffee table.
"She was actually anxious about releasing 25. That maybe her listeners wouldn't enjoy it as much as her previous albums." She placed two wine glasses down as well before sitting down on the couch. "Besides, she already has a kid, 9B."
"So, what got you into Adele's music?" I asked.
"Her voice is amazing. Her songs capture the emotions and at the same time are catchy." She looked at me. "Need I say more?"
"Does that mean you can relate with her songs?"
She stared at me for a moment and tilted her head back as she laughed, "Are you trying to get me to talk about my love life?"
I smirked at her. "Maybe."
"You aren't getting anything out of me."
"Are you sure? Nothing a couple glasses of wine could get?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Try me." She taunted and reached for the wine bottle.
We opened the bottle and shared a glass of wine. Never have I thought that I would be spending my Friday night drinking wine and listening to Adele with 9C. From 19 to 21 to 25 then a couple more repeats, our wine was running low and our skins were blushing. We managed to talk about our families and our lives that led us to this moment.
9C grew up in San Francisco. Her father is an American and Military history professor at West Point while her mother is a scientist. Her parents met while her father was studying history in Harvard. Her mother helped him get through his studies and they ended up falling in love. When 9C was born, her mother left her with her father although he originally didn't want her. This caused tension between her and her father. When he got married and had twin sons, 9C ran away due to frequent fights with her stepmother and her father did nothing about it. She barely heard from her mother and she only got letters from her father, asking her to come back home. She managed to fend for herself and worked her way to where she is now. She recently reconnected with her father and managed to reconcile with him.
She reached for the wine bottle and pouted when she realized it was empty.
"Wait, I have more wine in my apartment." I said and stood up. I quickly ran to my apartment and got my next favorite wine. I locked the door and went back to her unit. She was staring off into space as I went back in.
"Hey." I said and slowly walked to her after softly closing the door behind me.
She looked at me and said an almost inaudible "Hey."
"Are you alright?" I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.
She nodded her head and reached for the wine bottle so she can place it in the bucket of cold water.
I think we hit a little too close home when we talked about our family and childhood.
"Have you eaten dinner?" She asked me. "I can call for some Chinese takeouts or pizza."
"Oh, let me cook you some dinner." I said.
"Oh no, it might be too much for you for a Friday night. We can just order something."
"It will be my pleasure to cook you dinner." I smiled. "Come on." I held her hand and helped her up.
She smiled, "Alright, alright."
We cleaned up and turned off the vinyl player. I carried the wine while she brought the wine glasses. We went to my apartment and I readied dinner after placing the wine in the fridge. I plugged in my phone to my sound system and played Adele once again.
I decided to make a quick pasta dish and as I boiled some pasta, 9C sat behind my kitchen island and watched me.
"I knew I was going to get dinner from the chef next door." She smiled at me.
I scrunched up my eyebrows and smiled. "How did you know I was a chef?" I walked over to her.
She held my hand and pointed out a couple scars, "Knife scars."
"Could happen to anyone."
She held my hand and opened it, palm upwards. She traced a scar I got a couple months back. "You got this from a handle of a cast iron pan. You probably held it without a pot holder."
"Fine." I said, defeated.
"Aside from your scars, you smell like food every time you come home." She smiled.
Still holding my hand, she started drawing patterns on the palm of my hand. She looked up at me and smiled. I started leaning towards her before she pulled back. "Oh, your pasta's boiling over."
I swiftly ran to my burner and lowered the heat. That was embarrassing. Yes, leave it to me to mess up in something that should be natural for me when I'm cooking for someone I fancy. Thank you, self. I heard her giggle and I turned around only to see her covering her mouth. Her face was blushed, well more pink compared to her alcohol induced blush but I bet my face was redder as to her's.
"Act like nothing happened." I said.
"Nothing happened." She flashed me a charming smile.
I went through my fridge and brought out what I needed. I started to sauté sliced chicken breasts, added some garlic, and flavored it with some salt and pepper. Simultaneously, I fried some bacon and checked on my spaghetti noodles. I added brocolli to the sauce then milk. Once the pasta was al dente, I turned off the heat, drained it, and set it aside. Finally for the sauce, I placed some chopped parsley which I washed and got from my very own herb garden on my window sill, parmesan cheese, and the fried bacon in the pot. I mixed in the spaghetti noodles and was done cooking.
"That smells amazing." 9C went over to the burner to take a peek at what I cooked. "I wanted to check it since a while ago but I didn't want to get in your way."
I laughed and held out a fork with a brocolli on the tines for her to try. She bit her lip before opening her mouth so I can feed her. She gave me a wide close lipped smile and nodded.
"I like how the brocolli is still crunchy and the sauce," She paused and swallowed, "And the sauce, creamy and cheesy. Amazing."
"Okay okay, have a seat and I'll ready it." I chuckled.
I got us plates and forks. I placed the pasta in a big bowl and brought it over to the kitchen island which is also my dining table. I brought out a bucket and filled it with ice for the wine. After opening the wine, I poured some wine in our glasses.
9C held her glass. "A toast." I followed suit. "To alcohol and Adele." We smiled at each other before clinking our glasses.
We started eating, talking, drinking, and of course, listening to Adele. Basically we were having a good time.
"Hey, may I ask you a question?" I started a couple minutes into dinner.
"You already just did." She gave me a cheeky smile.
I gave her a straight face, "You know what I mean."
She wiped the corners of her lips with a napkin, "Okay, shoot."
It took me a couple seconds to formulate my question. "Uhm, how come you never gave me your name?"
She looked down at her plate and back at me. Her cheeks had an added tinge of red. "Uhm, that's because..." She trailed off.
"Because...?" I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Because I wanted to give you a reason to approach me." She gave me a small shy smile.
I had to bite my lip to keep myself from grinning like an idiot. I cleared my throat and could only say "Oh."
"Annabeth."
"Percy."
"Annabeth Chase." She held out her hand for a handshake.
"Perseus Jackson." I shook her hand but we both didn't let go.
A smile started to slowly spread across her face. "Perseus, nice to meet you."
"Please call me Percy."
"Percy. I'm Annabeth."
"Finally." We both laughed before continuing with our dinner.
When we finished the dinner and our wine was once again running low, I was looking for something sweet. I excused myself from the table and went to the kitchen to crouch and see if I had any desserts I could serve. Luckily, I still had some pot de crème that I made a couple days ago. I got the two remaining ramekins and sat back down on my seat.
"I knew dinner from you would be great." She smiled at me.
"You know, you're always welcome to come over if you want dinner." I started flirting.
"Is that an expiration-free invitation for a date?" She chuckled.
"Well, if you put it that way, yeah, I guess so."
"I'll keep that in mind."
After our dessert, we washed the dishes and put aside our now empty bottle of wine. Our skins were blushed and we were feeling a bit warmer than usual. We were sitting on the sofa while Adele was still singing to us. We sat on each end of the sofa and faced each other.
Her cheeks were reddish pink. Her eyes were not as wide and awake as the moment I knocked. She looked at me and her gray eyes were still bright. She had a small smile on her face as we gently played footsie. There was a comfortable silence that loomed over us as Adele sang and it felt nice.I was sleepy not only because of the exhausting day at work but also the alcohol intake made my eyelids twice as heavy. If you looked out the window you could see the sun rising and coloring the sky dark orange.
"What?" She smiled widely at me.
"You know, I always had a crush on you." I said before I could stop myself.
I watched as her smile slowly disappeared. I just wanted to smack myself at the back of the head for destroying our little moment. Why couldn't I just kept quiet and listened to Adele? She withdrew and hugged her legs. She looked at me with her lower lip in between her teeth. This was it. She'd slowly stand up, tell me that she had a great time, head back to her unit, and never talk to me again. As if fate had timed it correctly, Adele's song has ended and it was a couple more seconds before the next song begins. Annabeth continued to look at me and you can just tell that the wheels in her mind were working. She was probably thinking of a way to escape without having to offend me.
The beginning of Adele's Make You Feel My Love broke the silence. Annabeth stood up and headed for the door. I hung my head in defeat. So this is how it ends.
"Let's dance." She whispered in my ear, causing a shiver to run down my spine.
I turned my head around to see her standing behind me and bending down to whisper to me. She held out her hand and I swung my legs off of the sofa. She brought us to the middle of my living room. I placed my hands on her waist while she wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Hi." She smiled at me as we locked eyes.
"Hello." I said just as almost inaudibly as hers.
"When the rain is blowing in your face," Adele broke the silence, "and the whole world is on your case," Annabeth placed her head against my chest, "I could offer you a warm embrace to make you feel my love."
She tightened her embrace and sighed. We swayed to the song as if we had nothing else to do and no care in the world. It was as if time stood still as we clumsily shifted from one foot to another. I closed my eyes and laid my cheek on her head.
I opened my eyes and squinted as the light entering the room registered. I had to blink a couple times to get the sleep off at the same time get used to the bright light. I scoped the room and was dumbfounded to find out that I was in the bedroom and on the bed. I looked to my side to see someone asleep on my shoulder. The blonde hair made me remember that I spent my night with 9C. My arm was wrapped around her. We were both underneath a blanket but I could tell that 9C was embracing me because every time I moved, her arm around my abdomen would tighten.
I looked around the room again to see if there were evidences that would help me piece together what happened last night...or should I say, a while ago early morning. My eyes widened when I saw her sweater carelessly strewn over a chair in my room. Did something happen?
I was starting to freak out when 9C stirred in her sleep. I tried my best not to move so that she could easily go back to sleep. She took a deep breath and nestled closer to me. A couple seconds later, she no longer moved so I thought that she was still asleep. I stood corrected. She slowly looked up at me. She looked adorably sleepy. Her eyes were small slits and her eyebrows were scrunched up. She blinked a couple times before murmuring, "Good morning." She closed her eyes again for a while and then got out of bed so fast that I was left stunned and confused. She gripped the blanket tightly around her.
"I..." She trailed off.
I was still wearing my shirt and my boxers, which was a pair of jeans less than what I was wearing last night, so it meant nothing happened last night. I could also see the straps of her night gown which means she was clothed as well.
"Good morning to you too." I smiled.
She carefully lowered her hand that covered her mouth to reveal a smile.
I patted the space beside me. She slowly walked towards the bed and cautiously sat down by the edge. Awkward silence enveloped us which was far from the comfortable silence we basked in a couple hours ago. She didn't say anything and so did I.
"I should probably go." She said mostly to herself.
Defeated, I got up and handed her her sweater. We made our way to the front door, passing by my phone that was apparently still plugged in to the sound system and playing Adele.
"Adele." She noted and smiled.
I reluctantly opened the door. Letting her leave was far from the imagination that I had which was having her stay over for the whole day. I leaned against the door frame as she stood outside of my apartment.
"So, uhm." She trailed off.
I showed her a timid smile.
"Thank you for last night, 9B." She said, anxiously shifting from one foot to another.
What? 9B? What happened to our first name basis? I made up my mind. I won't let her backtrack all the progress we made last night.
She was about to head back to her apartment when I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. I kissed her as passionately as I could and I felt her smile into the kiss. She threw her arms around my neck and tiptoed. I carefully brought us back inside my apartment, closing the door behind her. I pressed her back against the wall as she ran her fingers through my hair.
"Annabeth." I breathlessly whispered.
She smiled and pulled me back in for more.