Ivan unlocked the door of his house and entered further. The one-room house he owns with his hard-earned savings.
He hung the keys on the holder over the wall, besides the calendar, and turned on the buttons of power.
The fan above started rotating at a slow pace, taking its own time, with some creaking noise but Ivan has become habitual of it.
The white walls of the room appeared yellow when they basked in the light of a yellow bulb. Some part of the cement on the walls has peeled off, while the ceiling has some broken lines which always leaked during the rains.
He stepped further, walking past the sofa, and opened the windows, pushing it outwards.
The delicious smell of chicken noodles from a nearby restaurant went into his nostrils instantly making his stomach grow in hunger. He licked his lips sensing his craving to eat something and hastily went inside the kitchen. The small cabinet, with a wooden shelf beside it, held crockeries, a spoon holder, and some groceries and he pushed aside it all to keep his remaining money in the pickle jar he kept behind all it.
His tiny one-room house needed a renovation and for that, he has been saving up all his money. He has planned everything, from how to decorate his own little house beautifully. Not much into expensive things, he wanted to buy plain simple stuff, colour his own house, and arrange things neatly. Once keeping the money safe, he pushed the jar behind the crockeries and cutlery, arranging it like before.
Then he turned towards the washbasin. The tap got jammed because of the rusk and he wanted to replace it.
For now, he opened it with a lot of difficulty and washed his hands clean. Then he opened the small portable freezer. He picked up the cup of noodles and kept some cans and frozen food. Turning the gas stove on, he heated the saucepan with some water.
He looked around thinking about what to do then decided to clean himself fast.
Then he took a quick shower, wearing an oversized comfortable single-piece shirt that reached to his knees. His stomach kept alarmed about the rising hunger.
Once the water boiled, he tore the lid of the cup and carefully poured it into it.
From there, the haste between time and his hunger began. To stir it he tried to find the chopsticks but when his stomach growled again, he left the thought and picked up the fork.
He rolled up his sleeves and held the cup in his soft palms.
"Ssskkk, urgh" it burned his skin till he immediately came out to the living room and kept it over the chair. He wiggled his hands, feeling the burning sensation on his palms that had become red due to all the heat. He blew air to his hands, moving closer to his mouth while looking around to sort the further things.
With hasty small steps, he moved around and took out the foldable table, placing it in the proper spot, near the sofa. Then in a quick movement, he picked the cup from the chair and put it on the table, sitting opposite the small old version of the television. But the arrangement hasn't been done yet. He looked for the remote and once found it on the two-seater sofa, he tried to grab it but failed to reach his hand.
He looked at his hands and thought why they aren't long like his best friends. Then he rubbed his palms together, murmuring something inside, and stretched it to get the remote.
After three unsuccessful attempts, he realized there is no chance of growing his hands long and thus gave up.
He procrastinated to get up and pick it up and thus felt almost on the verge of throwing tantrums as his stomach kept growling but in meantime, he got an idea. He grabbed the umbrella kept near to the sofa and tried to slide it towards him.
Once the remote reached near his approach, he kept the umbrella down and grabbed it with a grin on his face.
He turned on the television.
Finally... peace!
With a sigh of comfortable relief, he leaned against the sofa and put the wholesome spoon of food in his mouth while his eyes hooked on the television. The first thing he saw on the screen was Augustus and Kai's faces.
"Ehhh, It has come in the news" well, he did expect this but something caught his eyes.
The news channel played footage of both popular personalities attending a function at the Kindergarten in Sylvester town.
There were a lot of pictures, and videos of his best friends with the crowd but not a single sight of himself.
His eyebrows furrowed as he was nowhere captured with them. When he was the one to invite them, manage the whole event, take a risk of losing his job for them, and then there was no single sight of him in the news.
"Ayeee, arhhh, what silly journalism! They came to my ceremony. That's my kindergarten. I decorated all the stuff but what do they show? My two idiots' best friends!"
Not done at all.
When he saw a woman talking about Kai and Augustus, Ivan couldn't help but roll his eyes. Ivan shuffled all the news channels but found only one news.
Kai-Augustus's appearance at the local kindergarten.
All the footage was about them. One of them has a clip of the principal with them while one of them flashed as a headline of Kai-Augustus's kind behaviour towards the teachers as they played footage under a name of exclusively captured and showed both biggies hugging someone with their backs turned at the cameras. Ivan noticed his hands wrapped around their necks and he almost choked in disbelief.
"Th-those are my hands. Argh, can't even show my face properly" he felt disappointed with the camera angle which can only capture his hands.
"I did all the decorations, planned a surprise but no! Whom are they interested in? Kai and Augustus's classy appearance and fashion statement" Then camera angle showed Augustus's gorgeous look in the designer outfit which checked their fashion statement while moving on Kai from toe to head, capturing his well-sculpted greek body barely covered in the leopard printed jacket which wrecked Ivan's nerves. He slumped the cup down with a thud looking utterly frustrated "I will bloody sue you all for showing nudity!"
The channel continued to show the popular biggies on-screen, decoding their fashion and body measurements, meanwhile, Ivan sulked hard as he was nowhere in the news with his best friends.
"You missed out on an important man!
VVIP man!
That's me!
Arhh, shitty news"
Whining out loudly he replaces it with a music channel, stuffing the food in his mouth angrily. When his mood has begun to soothe, the power cuts off at the same moment.
"SHEESH, I FORGOT TO PAY THE ELECTRICITY BILL!"
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Sylvester Town's famous Booze baron started filling up with the crowd on the occasion of Halloween weekends. Being a famous spot for all age groups, most of the people drove across the town to reach there. Crimson ribbons with the skull designs on them clung to the entrance, and the polystyrene cut shaped into a carved pumpkin was put on the various corners. The red LEDs fitted inside them so whenever they lit up, the carving on pumpkins looked eerie.
People have transformed themselves into some spooky Halloween costumes. Some of them chose to be superheroes, while some became bad villains. The decorations matched the theme of Halloween.
The barman couldn't fetch a second from serving drinks while waiters became busy taking orders.
When Ray entered the place, dressed in the black attire of a shirt and jeans, he looked normal compared to the others. He wasn't there for the Halloween party but on a date night with a girl, he always wanted to be with.
Ciara!
And to not miss a single chance to impress her, he showed up there on time just as his boss instructed him. He walked through the crowd, eyes searching for Ciara in every direction but she wasn't there yet.
Or perhaps she is!
He thought as a waiter approached him and handed a letter to him. Ray opened it and read a message on it.
'Follow the broken heart to reach my way'
A hopeful smile flashed on his face as he folded the letter and kept it inside his pocket. When his eyes fell on the broken heart stickers pasted on the ceiling, he rubbed his palms together, thinking how creative she was, and followed the way.
The broken hearts led him towards another exit of the Booze Baron club, as the noise of the crowd faded once he reached another end.
He stepped out of the club while looking around for her when he got another clue stuck on the tree. He instantly reached it and took it out to read.
'It is going to be a ride to the hell'
He smirked thinking she knows how to make anyone curious and craved for her. He started walking further, walking past the trees and getting clues that made him amused thinking about what she had planned for him! And his manly instinct hinted that he might get laid tonight and that was more than he has asked for but will be pleased if he gets it. Dwelled in her thoughts, that kept leading him to the way blindly in the chase of beauty.
He stopped once he looked around, reaching at the set-up of red candles in the middle of the forest, and a tempting scent bewitching him. He knew he had reached the right spot. Now the only thing he wanted is her to show his appearance, and satisfy his thirst.
"Ciara, I'm here baby. Don't make me wait anymore. Just show yourself" Ray gasped in his breaths when he saw his boss stepping out of the tree with an evil smirk on his face.
Augustus approached him with slow predatory steps, sensing almost every vulnerability crossed in the former's mind.
"YOU? I mean, s-sir, you are here?" Ray became perplexed as he didn't expect to see his boss there. Looking at Augustus, one couldn't comprehend what was going on in his mind. He stood in front of Ray, taping everything from his mind with one look in his eyes, and slowly tilted his head without breaking off the eye contact with his assistant.
"Che Sorpessa (What a surprise!)"
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