Hey! Here's another chapter for you guys. Would love to know what you think so far xx
My thoughts were interruped by the smoke alarm cheering me along for my efforts.
"Crap!" I exclaimed as I jumped off the couch. I'd left my pizza in the oven long enough for it to turn completely black. It was looking like an over sized hockey puck by the time I got to it.
"What are you doing?" Derek's voice rumbled from the hallway.
"Trying to make dinner." I murmured as I tossed the blackened puck into the trash can and moved to the fridge in search of something I could eat.
"A frozen pizza? You're not even making it, you're just heating it up. How is it so hard?" He teased.
I exhaled through my nose. "I'm thinking of ordering pizza in. Want anything?"
"Meatlovers and a supreme, thanks."He replied without much of a thought.
I dialled it in and sat myself back down on the couch while Derek sat at the kitchen table and rifled through his mountain of papers.
"Is that how you file your documents?" It was my turn to tease him.
Derek shrugged as he flipped through a book. "Never got around to getting a filing cabinet."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Any plans for the long weekend?" I casually asked. Many businesses were closed Friday and Monday on this particular weekend, and I assumed that Derek's job would give him a break too.
"Work." He grumbled.
"They're making you go into work? That sucks."
"It's not that they're making me. I want to go in and get some things done." He said, still rooting through all of those papers. I heard him mutter a curse behind me but I didn't pay him any attention until something crashed onto the floor. Twisting my neck to look around, I found a majority of his books scattered all over the floor and individual papers strewn everywhere.
"This is why you need a filing cabinet." I jabbed. "Then maybe we'd be able to eat at the dinner table too." When Derek didn't reply, I piped up and asked if he needed any help.
"Could you grab those papers over there?" He said, pointing to the opposite side of the table.
I obliged and stacked them on the table, neater than they were before. Derek thanked me and joined me on the sofa with one of his books in hand, making notes in a note pad. Any time I tried to make some casual conversation, he shot me down. I chalked it up to him being too focused with his work, but the more I thought about it, I realised that he didn't bother with me much at all since the weekend Liam and I broke up. Maybe he just felt awkward. Who knows?
I went for one last attempt at talking to him while we were eating our pizza.
"So," I started, "seen any good movies lately?"
Derek swallowed his food before answering, "I don't really watch movies. Last Saturday was the first time in probably two years that I've stuck with one all of the way through."
"You don't watch movies? Seriously? What's with the impressive collection, then?" I asked, gesturing to the bottom row of his bookshelf that was full of old classics.
"You know how I said that the previous tenant did a runner with my TV? Yeah, the fool forgot to to take his DVD collection." He chuckled as he waved a hand over to the collection. "He wasn't the brightest. Never came back for them so I guess they're mine now."
"We should watch some. You've got a few good ones there." I suggested.
"Well it won't be tonight. I've got to get up early tomorrow." He said as he hauled himself off the couch put the remaining pizza in the fridge. "Goodnight, Chloe." He said before retreating to his bedroom.
"'Night, Derek." I called after him.
I decided to start my long weekend off by going for a run. However, in the summer heat the only way I could comfortably go for a run was to wake up at an ungodly hour, before it got too hot outside.
By the time I arrived back at the apartment building, I saw Derek heading down to the parking garage and waved to him. He gave me a nod in response and I continued on my way up to the apartment.
I had just downed a glass of cold water and was about to jump in the shower when a knock on the door interrupted my plans. Shaking my head, I headed over to the door thinking that Derek had forgotten his keys. "Forgot your keys again? You're lucky that-"
I swung the door open to reveal a tall blonde man. "Oh, sorry. Hi."
The man cocked his eyebrow and peered at the numbers on the door, as if to check if he had knocked on the right door. A confused look flashed across his face but was quickly replaced with a grin. "Hey, I'm looking for Derek."
"Oh you just missed him. He headed off to work."
The man rolled his eyes. "Typical Derek. You know, ever since we were kids he'd spend his weekends doing homework." He snorted a laugh. "I'm Simon, by the way. Derek's brother."
"Chloe. Do you want to come in?" I offered, seeing that he was dragging a few bags behind him.
"Sounds good." He grinned and followed me into an apartment. Simon was very handsome. He had Asian features and blonde hair that I could have sworn was unnatural. Overall, he had a friendly face - something that Derek didn't have. Don't get me wrong, Derek was handsome, but he was very reserved and you could tell by the way he acted that he was a guarded person. Simon was the opposite.
"So... you're Derek's brother, huh?" Taking in the man's appearance.
"Identical twins, obviously." He grinned. "I know what you're thinking, and we're not blood related. My dad adopted Derek when we were five."
"Ah so I'm sure you've got some very interesting and embarrassing stories and pictures of Derek." I joked. "I just got back from a run, would you mind if I quickly hopped in the shower?"
Simon waved me along. "No problem, I'll try and get in touch with Derek."
I showered and changed into a clean pair of shorts and a singlet. Joining Simon back in the living room, I saw that he was on the phone - presumably to Derek. I held up the coffee jug as if to ask if he wanted some and he gave me a thumbs up. 'No sugar' he mouthed.
"Oh by the way bro, you didn't tell me about your girlfriend." A pause. "You know, Chloe?" He said into the phone, but looked straight at me.
I choked on my own air, coughing and sputtering at his words. "G-g-girlfriend? No way!" I laughed nervously. By the look on Simon's face, I could tell that Derek was chewing him out on the other end too.
I turned away to pour our coffees and felt my face redden. It wasn't that I hadn't thought about it, but when I had thought about it, I wasn't in a good place. It was right after Liam and I broke up and my mind had no business delving into thoughts like that. Finally when Derek started to back away from me a bit, those thoughts left my mind - hopefully for good.
"Oh come on, bro. I drove all this way-" a pause as Derek interrupted Simon on the other end. "Fine, I'll wait for you to get back from work. I'll talk to you then." Simon hung up the phone and turned to me.
"Sorry, I just kind of assumed you were his girlfriend. He doesn't tell me much." He smiled sheepishly.
"Nope, just his roommate." I replied, trying to balance the two cups of coffee in my hands as I walked over to the couch and sat down.
"Roommate, huh?" He raised an eyebrow. "How has that worked out for you so far?"
I shrugged as I brought my coffee mug up to my lips and took a sip. "It's fine. Why do you ask? You sound skeptical."
"Derek's never been much of a social person." It was Simon's turn to shrug. "He likes to be on his own so I'm guessing he gives you the cold shoulder a lot."
"He's fine. We've hung out a bit just around the apartment so it hasn't been too bad."
"Huh," He grunted in amusement. "I would have thought he'd have scared you off by now." A chuckle passed through his lips.
My lips twitched upwards into a smile. "So how come you're in town?" I asked, pointing to the two bags he had left by the door. "Seems like you're not from around here."
"I managed to get the weekend off work so I thought I'd come down and see my big bro." He screwed his nose up. "Should have realized that he'd be out working."
"That's Derek." I grinned. "Hopefully he'll be back in a few hours."
I lifted myself off the couch to rinse my now empty coffee mug, taking Simon's with me. When he offered to help, I shook my head and told him that it was a one woman job. While I was doing my dishwashing duty, he never ceased the chatter. Every time the conversation died down, he always had something else to say. He was the polar opposite of Derek, whereas with Derek, it would be me narrating the conversation. It was nice having somebody else take the lead for once.
"Am I talking too much? I think your eyes just glazed over." He joked as he sported a wide grin on his face.
I smiled back at him. "You're fine. It's nice having somebody else be the chatterbox for once."
"That's me." Simon chimed. "So what is there to do around here?"
Simon never seemed to run out of things to say. He was an open book, from telling me about his and Derek's childhood to his love for art. He was a creative soul, which I admired in him, especially when his eyes lit up when he told me about all of the art contests that he'd won.
After a bit of banter and Simon helping me make dinner, Derek arrived home from work carrying his briefcase. He shut the door behind him and his brother jumped off the couch to give him a friendly thump on the back as a greeting. "Good to see you, bro!" Simon chimed happily.
Derek grunted and set his briefcase on the kitchen counter. "So what's the reason for the visit?" He asked as he opened the fridge, searching for food.
Simon pulled up a stool at the counter. "Well, most normal people take their long weekends to travel and see their families."
"Huh, thought you'd be spending the weekend with Mila."
Simon smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah well... things didn't really work out in that department." He mumbled.
I took that as my cue to leave the two brothers together. "I should get an early night. Nice meeting you, Simon." I said.
"Night." Both of them replied.
As I retreated to my bedroom, the boys caught up on each others' lives. Right as I was about to close the door, I heard Simon's voice lower to a volume that was barely above a whisper.
"She's cute, bro." He hinted.
It had been such a long time since somebody showed any interest in me other than Liam, and I had to admit that it was kind of nice.
For the first time in ages, I went to sleep smiling with Simon's words echoing in my head.
