I almost regretted leaving the warmth of the little bakery as the harsh winter air bit into my skin but hugging my arms around me I rushed on.
Looking around I noticed that by now the streets were not so vacant as before and the city seemed to be slowly waking up and coming to life as the cars on the road and the crowd of people on the streets seemed to have multiplied.
Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get to their destination or perhaps escape the cold weather.
Holding the bag of goodies close to my chest I looked down at the folder in my hand.
Opening it up I noticed a note on the first page by Julia,
written in red ink was a number and under it said: this is my number,
feel free to reach out to me at any time or call the office if you need anything or have any questions regarding the house, Julia.
'I hope I never have to' I thought, I didn't like causing inconveniences for others which is why I always ensured I was able to fully take care of myself in every way,
from cooking and cleaning to plumbing and being a mechanic.
Being independent though at times lonely was something I took great pride in.
It gave me confidence and also freedom.
No one should waste time and money on a plumber or a mechanic to fix a leak or change a tire or two.
Finally standing in front of my apartment I closed the folder and took another bite of my donut as I searched around in my purse for the keys.
Before I could reach for the keyhole someone opened the door.
it was my upstairs neighbors or as I would like to call him 'neighbor from hell'.
From vacuuming his house at 2am and his daily bickering with his wife on the stairway at 5am to always watching TV on the highest volume possible and throwing rubbish outside my door he made sure that my life was a living hell.
No one in this building liked me but he always made sure to let me know he hated me the most.
Seeing his face always ruined my day but, in the mornings, it was definitely a bad omen.
"Thank y-" not letting me finish he pushed past me and hurried down the street mumbling under his breath.
Shaking my head,
I entered the building almost feeling sorry for his wife before remembering she was no less of a demon herself,
but who cared anyways I was almost free from this hell hole, and this wasn't the time to take a trip down the memory lane.
Climbing up the stairs I finally reached my door and made sure to do my daily chore of picking up the rubbish left outside my door as I put the key in the keyhole.
After a few tries I realized I was holding the wrong set of keys,
the rusted bronze keys looked very old and antique, almost abnormally large compared to modern keys; they looked rather ornamental than functional.
One particular key stood out the most to me, it was almost drawing me to it even though there was nothing noticeably different about it physically.
It felt heavier, almost charged with energy. Holding it in my palm I examined it closer,
it was smooth and much warmer to the touch compared to the others.
There was a small initial on the inside that even upon closer inspection was unreadable.
A sudden loud bang of a door slamming shut brought out of the trance.
'That was really weird' I noted as I reached for the door again this time with the right key.
Slamming it shut behind me I entered my apartment and slumped against the door sighing deeply.
"Finally!" I mumbled to myself as I slid down into a sitting position while I rested my head against the door and closed my eyes.