015 Soothe

Character: Edward

Edward stood under the water, eyes closed as he let it wash away the day. The warm liquid ran over his body, soothing away a hard day. Edward always enjoyed the feel of water raining down on him. He felt calm under the water, letting it just fall over his skin. He also liked how fresh and knew things were when the rain was done. The ways scents were stronger and seemed to give the whole world a fresh feel.

Edward turned off the water and just stood in the shower for a few seconds, watching the last few drops drip from the shower head. He then pushed the shower door aside and got out, grabbing a towel and drying off a bit before slinging it over his shoulder and walking out into his apartment. Above he could hear a couple fighting but he'd gotten used to that. They fought often and he tried not to listen. Their business was their own as long as they stayed out of his.

Edward moved over to his dresser and pulled a drawer open, grabbing a pair of pants and underwear. He slipped them on and moved over to his bed. He could have decided not to bother with pants or underwear, as it didn't seem likely that anyone would come to visit. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. He sat on the clean blue sheets, pulling the towel up over his head and trying to dry his hair a bit more.

He tossed the towel to the side and stared across the room at the mirror on the wall. He frowned, realizing that he'd let his hair get a bit long. He made a note to go get a haircut. He lay back on his bed and grabbed the remote from his bedside table. A click and the screen came to life, set to the local news as always. The reporters might not be all that great and it was low production value but it was informative, for the most part. They did get stories or information wrong from time to time, but usually it was only small fact.

When the news cast got to the sports Edward clicked the screen off. Sports weren't important to him and the only thing after that would be the feel good piece of the day. He stood from his bed and moved to the kitchen to make some food for the night. He cooked up a simple spiced chicken with green beans on the side. Edward sat down at his table and ate. He got part way though his food before he set his knife and fork down, staring across the table at the empty seat.

Something felt wrong, maybe missing. That didn't make sense though. Edward had lived on his own before he was eighteen and at nineteen he was very used to this. Then why did he feel like someone should be there? He wasn't old enough to be craving a companion, maybe he was just in need of sating his physical desires.

Edward was pulled from his thoughts as there was a knock on his door. He got up and moved to the door, grabbing the 9mm that he kept on the table beside the door and moving so that it would be hidden behind his back. He opened the door slightly and saw that it was the woman who lived down the hall from him. He opened the door fully and waited for her to speak.

The woman looked him over and Edward ignored it. He was used to women eyeing him and he wasn't going to fault her. After all he knew she was a single mother who had lived down the hall for about a year. She finally pulled her eyes from his body and looked to his face. Edward put on a friendly smile that fooled people every time. The woman returned the smile and finally spoke. "Hello, I know that you might not know me but the thing is my daughter is selling cookies for her Girl Scout troop. I was wondering if you'd like to buy some."

Edward had gotten fairly good at playing the good neighbor. If he had his way he'd never have to talk to any of these people but that wasn't considered normal and they would think him strange if he wasn't at least a bit nice. "Well, I'm not a big fan of cookies. Though how about I give you the money for a box and you let your daughter get one on me. Consider it a thank you for the nice paper flowers that she put in the lobby last month."

The woman smiled and moved just a bit closer. "That's so kind of you. She'll want to come by and thank you herself when she finds out. I'll come back to get the payment when they're being delivered."

Edward paused for a fraction of a second, making a decision. This woman would be an easy pick up. She was obviously attracted to him and she seemed like she'd be able to satisfy his needs. He decided against it. It would make things awkward if they met in the halls and Edward wasn't looking for anything more than a single encounter. Not to mention he was fairly certain that this odd missing feeling he was having wasn't going to be fixed by simply sleeping with a woman. "Well, I should get back to my dinner."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I disturbed your dinner. Thank you again." The woman backed up a bit, seeing that Edward wasn't interested. She turned to move on to the next door.

Edward shut his door, locking it as always. He put the gun back on the table beside the door and returned to his dinner. He glanced across the table at the empty seat. He looked around the room and realized that it wasn't just the empty seat. Everything made him feel like something was wrong. He frowned, not understanding it. He pushed the feeling to the side and returned his attention to his dinner.